A Grip on Sports: Spending time watching TV this weekend might force an inner debate, and soliloquy, before you can decide to sit down and root for your favorite team

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Are there certain sporting events you are planning on watching this weekend? It’s OK to say no. Really. It may just be so beautiful outside in the Inland Northwest that staying in, sitting in front of the TV for a couple hours and sipping on a Diet Pepsi would seem, well, wrong. Now, after the sun goes down, everything changes.

•••••••

• We’re sorry, Eagle fans. You’re stuck.

Your men’s team has won seven consecutive games. It hosts Northern Arizona on Saturday. And it starts at 1 p.m. Thank goodness the game is on ESPN+. If you can get decent cell coverage on the Rocks of Sharon, then everything should be just fine.

Either that or you walk around Turnbull a couple hours, then spend the heart of the afternoon at Reese Court watching another win. You can always stop by Zips on the way out of Cheney and call it a day.

But it’s a spring-like conundrum all right. Whether it is nobler in the mind to miss out on a late-season key hoops game. Or to take up the remote and watch as, say, the Vandals host Northern Colorado (1 p.m. ESPN+) and skip the yard work. It is a sea of troubling choices, that’s for sure.

There is no such choice with Gonzaga. The WCC’s schedule makers have been nice. As a way of bidding adieu to the all-powerful Zags, the conference has scheduled an end-of-the-regular-season road doubleheader that has the potential of resulting in two titles. Or two (somewhat small) disappointments.

The women kick it off at 5 p.m. in Portland (ESPNU). Against what’s lately been their toughest rival, the Pilots. Win there and no matter what happened in Corvallis four hours earlier, Lisa Fortier’s team will have at least a share of their final WCC title. But if Loyola Marymount – LMU and GU are 14-3 – loses at 13-4 Oregon State (1 p.m., ESPN+), then the Zags could stand alone. Or vice-versa.

The men have an even tougher assignment. Saint Mary’s. Moraga. A 7:30 p.m. start on ESPN. The Gaels needing a win to A) earn a share of a fourth-consecutive WCC regular season title; and B) bolster their NCAA tourney bon-a-fides. Mark Few’s team? They have already clinched their share. And the top seed in Las Vegas. At the least, an NCAA at-large berth. But this is the Bulldogs’ final WCC regular-season game. Their final conference game in the Gaels’ red-hot gym. The final chapter in their long goodbye to a conference they’ve owned for a quarter century.

Washington State? The Cougars have just been renting the past couple years. The lease is up Saturday. The men finish in Malibu against the long-ago king of the WCC, Pepperdine (5 p.m., ESPN+). The women host Saint Mary’s (noon, ESPN+). Then both will enter the WCC tourney needing to win the thing. Or their Pac-12 journey restarts in early March.

• Wayne Tinkle, whose basketball education began at Ferris High long ago, will not be accompanying Oregon State on the Beavers’ reentry into the Pac-12. The school announced Thursday they have fired Tinkle, fives years after he led one of the more amazing NCAA runs in West Coast history.

The former Montana player and coach seemed on his way out in Corvallis about this time back in 2021 after seven seasons with the Beavs. But his 14-12 team wouldn’t allow it. The Beavers improbably won the Pac-12 Tournament. Grabbed its NCAA berth. And then did what seemed impossible. Won three games and reached the Elite Eight.  

Instead of a pink slip, Tinkle was handed an extension. The next season OSU finished 3-28.

Despite winning Wednesday night over USD in overtime, athletic director Scott Barnes decided to end the Tinkle era Thursday. The Beavers are 16-14 heading into Saturday’s finale at Santa Clara (5 p.m., CBS Sports Network).

Oregon State is 176-204 in Tinkle’s 12 seasons. That’s not good enough these days. The bottom line is not just the record, though. It’s also the bottom line. Money matters, whether it is raising it or generating it through fan excitement and engagement.

The Beavers have been lagging in those things since 2021. And this summer will have a new face leading the program.

• What else is there to miss this weekend while walking the dog or puttering in the yard? Not much. Oh, the NHL is back. (Will someone please tell the Kraken?) And the NBA. Spring training games. Golf from Florida. NASCAR from Texas. The MLS. But nothing in the major category.

It’s OK to put on a sweatshirt. Lace up the Hokas. And wander. You might even need a little sunscreen. Or an umbrella.

•••

WSU: There is a truism in sports. Fathers love to watch their sons play, no matter what. And no matter how far they have to travel. Greg Woods’ story today is about an extreme example, sure, but it certainly proves the truism. Cougar Ri Vavers (fixed from earlier) has traveled half-the-world to play in Pullman. And his father, Maris, has done the same, coming from Latvia to watch his son play basketball throughout the West Coast. … The Cougar women began their regular-season-ending homestand last night by topping last-place Seattle U. 69-55 in Beasley. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, we have a couple stories about Tinkle’s firing to pass along, including a column from John Canzano and this Athletic story that ran in the S-R. There are also other pieces from Oregon, highlighted by Bill Oram’s Oregonian column about Tinkle the man, not the coach. And this story from Missoula. … There are a few really good college men’s games this weekend. And all are on TV. … Colorado playing at Houston tomorrow probably isn’t one of them. … Neither is whomever Utah is playing. Oh, it’s Arizona State. In Tempe. Well, that could be closer. … This is a good question. And not just for Arizona. … San Diego State’s win over Utah State has Aztec fans smiling. … The Oregon State women set up their showdown with LMU by routing visiting San Diego 83-49. … Stanford seems to be back on track. … California is stumbling a bit. … Can Arizona State earn an NCAA spot?

• In football news, who are the favorites in this fall’s Pac-12 race? Jon Wilner has his choices in the S-R. His list starts with Boise State. … We linked this Time story yesterday about Washington not hiring an offensive coordinator. It is on the S-R website today. We link it again. … If you had Husky questions, Christian Caple tried to answer them. … Warren Sapp will not be back with Colorado this fall. … Boise State also has a new defensive line coach.

Gonzaga: The Zags’ biggest WCC rival. Randy Bennett’s Saint Mary’s program, of course. Jim Meehan has seen almost all of the important matchups over the years so he’s the perfect guy to write this chapter of the S-R’s West Coast Conclusion series. … Theo Lawson is also the perfect guy to describe Graham Ike’s final home game. … The women finished up their home season as well last night and did it the right way. Winning a tough, taut game over Saint Mary’s. Greg Lee was in the Kennel and has this coverage. … Former men’s star Corey Kispert returned to Washington D.C. last night and torched his former team for a career-high 33 points. … Elsewhere in the WCC, there are a couple bubble teams in the conference. At least according to The Athletic.

EWU: We mentioned the Eagles have won seven consecutive games. That streak, combined with Portland State faltering down the stretch, has moved Eastern within two games of the Vikings. The Eagles are tied with Montana State for second at 10-6. They got there Thursday with an 82-72 home win over Northern Colorado, snapping the Bears seven-game winning streak. Dan Thompson was in Cheney and has this story. … The women’s up-and-down season included a down note Thursday with a 70-65 loss at UNC. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, want to get healthy? For the men, playing Sacramento State helps. At least it did for Montana. … A win doesn’t always mean good health. Ask Montana State. The Bobcats won their showdown with Portland State but lost a key player to injury. … The Montana women saw their losing streak stretch to seven in Sacramento. … Montana State stayed within a game of Idaho with a road win. … Montana has questions entering spring football this year. … UC Davis added a veteran coach to run its special teams.

Idaho: Despite missing starting point guard Kolton Mitchell (bad back), the Vandals routed Northern Arizona 78-58 in Moscow. Peter Harriman has the coverage. … The women kept their one-game lead atop the Big Sky with an easy 85-57 win in Flagstaff.  

Whitworth: The Pirates host the Northwest Conference men’s basketball tournament, beginning tonight against Lewis & Clark at the Fieldhouse. The four-team tourney will decide the NWC’s NCAA automatic berth.

Preps: There are 10 GSL teams still playing in the State basketball tournaments, all of whom will be in action Saturday. Dave Nichols has a preview of every game. Some games are loser-out. Others? The outcome decides seeding for next week.

Mariners: Winning in the spring isn’t the most important thing. Staying healthy is important. So is seeing the young guys. For some, prepping for the World Baseball Classic was atop their list.

Bloomsday: With a couple months until the race, the organizers revealed this year’s poster Thursday. At a place where it’s possible (and fun) to do carbo-loading. Mathew Callaghan has this story.

Seahawks: The Hawks’ 2025 NFLPA report card looks a little like mine did in elementary school. A lot of As and high Bs. And one F. My failing? Math. The Hawks? Lumen Field. Is it time for new turf?

Kraken: We had a smart remark above about Seattle’s post-Olympic re-start. It has yet to really get going. The Kraken lost 5-1 at St. Louis on Thursday.

•••       

• Just an update for you. Our lawn looks the same this morning as it did yesterday. No one left the house, grabbed a rake and cleaned it up. Any volunteers? No? Then I guess I’ll have to do it. By March. Until later …