It’s cold out there every day
A GRIP ON SPORTS
OK campers, rise and shine. And don't forget your booties 'cause it's cooold out there today. Read on.
• It's a little odd I mentioned "Stripes" yesterday without knowing the sad news that writer/director/actor Harold Ramis had died earlier in the morning. Ramis wasn't an Oscar winner or anything but if you want to hand out awards based on the comedies my generation quotes, he would be the runaway winner. He had a hand in so many. The best? Hard to say. There was "Animal House," "Caddyshack," "Ghostbusters," "Stripes" and my personal favorite "Groundhog Day." It's been a while since Ramis has reached those peaks, due to a variety of reasons, including a debilitating and finally fatal illness. But I know I speak for a lot of us when I say thanks for the laughs. His life was a Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. So we're going to add a few mentions and quotes from his movies throughout our post today. It's an homage of sorts.
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• WSU: Jacob Thorpe wrote an homage of sorts to Cougar guard Tia Presley today. He also has his morning post, which seems to happen over and over again. ... Utah football received some good news yesterday and some awful news.
• Gonzaga: What's wrong with the Zags? Jim Meehan examines the answer to that question in today's notebook. ... Bud Withers also had some thoughts on GU. Sure the Zags have lost two consecutive games, but it's not like they've driven off the edge of quarry or anything. They might be OK. Unless this weeks turns into a fireball. ... BYU has developed some front-line depth.
• EWU: For some reason Portland State seems to have Eastern's number, especially in the second half of games. The Vikings scored 56 points in the final 20 minutes last night in an 87-76 loss. The defeat dropped the Eagles into a four-way tie for sixth in the Big Sky. Seven schools make the postseason tournament. Jim Allen, who made the trek through the snow to Cheney last night, has the story, and Colin Mulvany has the photographs. ... I was planning on going but a golf pro told me he didn't think the heavy stuff was going to come down for quite awhile, so I stayed in Spokane. ... We found this piece from Portland. ... The Eastern women won in Portland. ... Former Eagle Taiwan Jones has inked a new contract with the Raiders.
• Idaho: Stephen Madison might be the best player in the WAC. He just won his fifth player of the week award. Josh Wright has more in this story and blog post.
• Whitworth: It only seems as if the Pirates have been kicking butt for 200 years. Heck, their record is even better than 10 and 1. They will try to win another NWC conference tournament starting Thursday at home. Thomas Clouse has the story. He also has this feature on the Pirates' top reserve, Christian Jurlina (pictured).
• Chiefs: If you need a WHL fix, we can help with this notebook from Everett.
• Preps: There seems to be prep playoff games every day. We have a roundup.
• Seahawks: It seems that the young defensive backs trying to make in the NFL look up to the Legion of Boom. ... You think the San Francisco front office is a lot like Delta? It seems to be in a little disarray. But that can't be a bad thing for Seahawk fans, can it? ... The Red Bryant decision will be about money, pure and simple.
• Mariners: You like Twitter? So does Logan Morrison. ... Major League Baseball tinkered with the rule concerning collisions at home plate but really didn't change it much. ... Willie Bloomquist won a bet. ... Lloyd McClendon is betting on his younger players. ... Another grind-it-out day at spring training.
• Sounders: If you are one of those folks who are into jerseys, we have something for you. ... The start of the MLS season is not that far away. ... Sean Okoli hopes to be on the roster when it does.
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• We'll be on the radio again today, so we have that going for us, which is nice. On 700 ESPN from 3 to 6 p.m. with Dennis Patchin and Rick Lukens. You can listen here. Anyhow, I think we should meet again. How's tomorrow for you? ...