A Grip on Sports: Even on crowded Saturdays like today, everyone can watch all they want as viewing options abound
A GRIP ON SPORTS • We may not watch cartoons for hours on end on Saturday mornings anymore. Why should we? The animated adventures of everyone are on every day, all the time. Just like sports.
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• Hadn’t thought about that for a while, but a half-century ago, television time was more delineated. The overlap between what children wanted to watch and what their parents were interested in didn’t exist at the level it does now. Mainly because cable was in its infancy and most everyone owned just one TV.
In our house it was simple. Dad got his choice at all times, except during the middle of the day from Monday through Friday. That time was reserved for mom and her “stories” – usually accompanied by a glass of clear liquid we only can assume was filled with an adult beverage.
Saturday mornings were ours. Roadrunner. Jetsons. Magilla. No College Game Day. No golf. Just cartoons. And Trix or Captain Crunch. Pajamas were mandatory. Stuffed animals if you had them.
The only thing that ever broke that spell was morning Little League games, starting when we were 8. Loved baseball. Not a fan of missing Quick Draw McGraw or Underdog.
These days such pressing problems don’t exist. Bought out by a conglomerate of issues, including dad wanting to watch the Food Channel, mom interested in the Marquette basketball game on FS1 and your older sister enamored of Naked and Afraid reruns.
But they are not really issues are they? Not with a television in every room and a mini-one in every pocket? Heck, even the die-hard sports fan can watch just about any event they want at any time, as long as the iPhone’s battery stays charged.
And, for the younger set, if Phineas and Firb has a new episode available, there is always a way. Our advice? Whine, cry, stomp your feet until dad gives up the big TV and goes out to the garage. It worked for our kids. Come to think of it, it sometimes even worked for us.
• One show our dad loved to watch back then was Gunsmoke. When we were young it even began with Matt Dillon involved in a showdown – though that changed later in the ‘60s as it was deemed too violent.
Now we’ve scrubbed the violence away completely – good for us – and reserve the word for basketball games. Like today.
There are many. Heck, even a handful in our own backyard – if you don’t mind mowing a lawn that stretches from here to Montlake.
That’s where the Washington State Cougar men will face their rivals in Hec Ed for the final time as Pac-12 opponents. That’s a long way of saying so long, but this is the long goodbye. The Huskies are headed to the Big Ten. The Cougars are trying to keep the Pacific Coast Conference body alive. Apple Cup meetings with conference status on the line will soon be as dead as Julius Caesar.
Washington is favored (by 1.5 points), even though the Cougars have won five of their last six and have ascended into a tie for the top three in the conference standings. The game begins at 6 on the Pac-12 Networks.
At 7:30, Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s will continue their blood feud in McCarthey, with the Zags a 4-point favorite despite looking up at the Gaels in the West Coast Conference standings. A throwback to days gone by or a reminder of how tough it is to win in front of the Kennel Club? You decide. The game is on ESPN.
Another face-off between mortal enemies is on tap in Missoula, with the Griz hosting Eastern Washington at 6. If you want to watch the Big Sky rivals go at it, you have to use ESPN+.
The men aren’t the only ones in big games, of course. The Eagle women host Montana at 2, with EWU trying to stay connected to the top of the conference. Northern Arizona, which plays at red-hot Idaho State today, has a half-game lead on the Griz and a game over Eastern.
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WSU: The Cougars played their first game without Charlisse Leger-Walker last night and it was a preview of what’s ahead. The opponent was no slouch, sixth-ranked Colorado. The defense remained stout, but the offense sputtered without its spark plug, out for the season with an ACL injury. Greg Lee was in Pullman had has this story of the 63-57 defeat. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, remember this salient fact. Lisa Leslie, who once scored 100 points in the first half of a high school game, attended USC. That’s the backdrop for last night’s performance for freshman JuJu Watkins, who set a school single-game record with 51 points. Oh, and the Trojans upset No. 4 Stanford 67-58, handing the Cardinal their first home loss of the season. … Eighth-ranked UCLA bounced back from its loss to WSU with a 78-58 rout of host California. … No. 20 Utah had no trouble with Washington, earning an 83-65 win in Seattle. … Oregon and Oregon State don’t play until Sunday. … Are the men at Oregon State turning a corner? … Oregon will go for a sweep of UCLA today. … Utah has not lost at home. Colorado will try to change that. … USC has suffered a lot of injuries this season. … Seems as if we should be surprised the Pac-12 Networks had an issue during Thursday’s Arizona game. Surprised it hasn’t happened more often we mean. UA’s Tommy Lloyd has a new summer gig. And Oumar Ballo has the same old problem. … In other news, Jon Wilner has a mailbag in the Mercury News, with most of the questions revolving round football. … There was some other news yesterday, including the SEC and Big Ten announcing they were going to work together in this time of evolution. Case in point, literally, the NLRB’s case against USC seems on the verge of changing how athletes are compensated. … The Washington roster seems to be filling up. … Is Chip Kelly really looking for a way to leave UCLA? … Oregon has finished revamping its staff. … How does a $9 million deficit sound? That was Colorado’s 2023 fiscal-year number.
Gonzaga: If two guys drawing on each other was deemed too violent years ago, how is it saying tonight’s game with the Gaels will be a war OK? Because we are all wise enough to understand the difference between reality and sports, right? It’s a metaphor or simile or something. And it’s true, in the sports sense. We’re anticipating a whole bunch of early whistles in an attempt to tamp down any overt physicality. And then a game that comes down to the wire. Theo Lawson has the preview and the key matchup.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, the two frontrunners for player of the year, men’s division, face off in Greeley today. Northern Colorado’s Saint Thomas and Weber State’s Dillon Jones. Neither team will probably win the conference title, however, so the award might go somewhere else. … Portland State and Sacramento State meet in Portland tonight. … We finally have a Montana State story to pass along after its win over the Eastern women. … Idaho State is down to eight healthy players after losing its leading scorer to a season-ending injury.
Preps: The Greater Spokane League basketball regular season is winding down, with just about every game either deciding a title or, at the least, district playoff seeding. Dave Nichols attended the former last night, as Mead hosted Gonzaga Prep with the girls’ championship on the line. The Panthers rolled 82-57 behind soon-to-be MVP Teryn Gardner’s career-high 36 points. … Dave also has a roundup of other action, with the Mt. Spokane boys clinching the boys title. … The Seattle Times has its yearly football recruiting series, with this story focusing on how conference realignment has impacted the high schools.
Chiefs: Spokane traveled to Everett and picked up a much-needed 6-4 victory over the host Silvertips. Berkly Catton’s two goals spurred the offense and allowed the Chiefs to hold on to the eighth, and final, WHL playoff spot. Dave has more in this story.
Seahawks: Leslie Frazier, who has been something of a mentor for new coach Mike Macdonald, will be joining the Hawks’ coaching staff. … A decade ago, the Hawks won their only Super Bowl title. Bob Condotta has 12 thoughts on that accomplishment.
Mariners: Yes, Seattle changed its roster quite a bit in the offseason, using mostly unconventional means. But is it actually better? … The M’s also announced more international signings.
Kraken: How did Seattle do in the unofficial first half of the NHL season?
Sounders: A veteran midfielder has decided to retire.
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• We miss those days of sugar-fueled cartoon euphoria. The best part? We would sit so close to the TV, usually covered in a blanket and digging into the cereal bowl with abandon. Or was that our boys doing that? At this age, the happy memories intermingle. Until later …