My intrepid colleague Addy Hatch was curious about how often a reference to the Zags turns up in obituaries. Addy filed the following report:

As it happens, not many people’s final thoughts are for the Zags.

Even though it seems like the Gonzaga basketball team crops up frequently in obituaries published in The Spokesman-Review, the term “Zags” appeared only 141 times in the 25,240 obits we’ve run since 2009. That’s according to Dan Gayle, the Spokesman-Review’s web developer, who ran the search.

Undaunted, Dan ran other terms to find out what authors or their families felt was important to include in those final biographies.

Sorry, Jesus.

Of the terms Dan searched, “fishing” took the top spot with 2,997 mentions. “Jesus” was mentioned 1,415 times, with “the Lord” mentioned 1,410.

“Gardening” came in second to “fishing,” with 1,707 mentions, followed closely by “hunting” with 1,596 mentions. Welcome to the Pacific Northwest.

Of sports teams, the deceased seem to be baseball fans. “Mariners” was mentioned 346 times, while “Seahawks” was mentioned 262 times. Inexplicably given our geography, but perhaps not given some of those football seasons, “Cougs” was mentioned only 76 times. Twenty-three brave souls noted their affinity for the “Yankees.”

“Dogs” beat “cats”, with 671 mentions to 322. Heck, even “birds” beat cats, with 368 mentions. Twelve obituaries mentioned “chickens.”

We’re a community of gardeners, with “gardening” mentioned 1,707 times. “Bowling” (689) bested “skiing,” (664) and “computers” (342).

And we’re musical. “Singing” was mentioned 490 times, “piano” 484 times and “guitar” 262 times.

As a portrait of a community, it’s more abstract than realism. But the broad outlines conform to what marketers have told us about local interests.

Except for that Cougs thing. Just can’t explain that.

--Addy Hatch

 

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