Grip on Sports: They may be built on competition, but sports like football and basketball are just another way to build relationships

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Where were we? Oh ya, anticipating Christmas. I hope it was as good to you as it was to us. In every sense. Read on.

••••••••••

• Some 50 years ago all that mattered at Christmas time, for this guy at least, was what was in the packages. A Sixfinger gun? A James Bond 007 Road Race slot car set? Maybe a new Rawlings basketball. But over the past five decades or so we’ve come to understand the best part of Christmas isn’t the presents. It presence. The presence of those who are close to you.

A song came on Pandora yesterday that was my dad’s favorite. Nat King Cole’s perfect phrasing. Chestnuts and the like. Despite the more than eight years he’s been gone, he was in the living room with us once more.

And not nearly as grumpy as he used to be. There was a smile on his face as he mouthed the words along with Nat. At least that’s what I imagined through dust-bothered eyes.

Christmas is about relationships, renewing old ones, reassuring the current ones, readying yourself for new ones.

And missing those you no longer have.

• Sports is a lot about relationships as well. There are two stories we link today that underscore that truism.

As Washington State prepares for the Big 12’s Iowa State in Friday’s Alamo Bowl, the Cougar coaching staff reached out to former colleagues in the Cyclones’ conference. The knowledge they shared should be of help on both sides of the ball.

And as Gonzaga prepares for each practice and game, there is a team manager who stands out. That would be Mac Graff, whose father has coached football for many years in the Pasco high school ranks. Despite suffering a broken back and the ensuing loss of mobility due to a hunting accident, Mac, who is related to former Gonzaga coach Dan Monson, contributes to the Zags’ cause from his wheelchair.

Two examples, two varied examples, of how relationships built through competition help form the connective tissue that is at the core of athletics.

•••

Gonzaga: Mac’s story was shared by Justin Reed in the Christmas paper. … Former Santa Clara player Phil Van Buchwaldt will get two chances to root for his Broncos in the next couple weeks. Jason Shoot has that story. … Theo Lawson has the Bulldogs seventh, their eventual ranking, on his Associated Press poll ballot. … Around the WCC, BYU is having its worst nonconference showing since joining the WCC.

WSU: We mentioned Theo’s story on the Cougars’ Big 12 connections. … Theo took a look at five of Washington State’s games against members of the Big 12. … Jason also has a story on Jim Walden’s connections to Iowa State and Washington State. … Keith Millard holds a special place in Cougar history. … As does Dan Doornink. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, the conference’s bowl season continues today in Phoenix with the Cheez-It bowl, which should be extra toasty or something. California and TCU, two schools with struggling offenses, meet in this one. … There are other bowls this week, of course, with Oregon in the Redbox Bowl, Utah in San Diego for the Holiday Bowl and Washington headed to its first Rose Bowl in many years. … Colorado is not in a bowl. … Arizona is losing another player. … The Buffs’ basketball team salvaged one win in Hawaii.

Seahawks: The Hawks are headed to the playoffs again and Pete Carroll is headed to the bank. He’ll continue to get $11 million checks from Seattle for three additional seasons. … Frank Clark is about to be paid as well. … No, Carroll doesn’t like to rest players the week before the playoffs. … Rashaad Penny has received a lot of help.

•••       

• It’s Boxing Day and I don’t have any boxing news. And, yes, I know there is no relationship between the two. Until later …