A Grip on Sports: When it comes to sports, Saturday showed the Great Divide is not a geographic term

A GRIP ON SPORTS • After watching a few sporting events Saturday, we realized there is a great divide in this country. A wide one. And it has nothing to do with politics.  

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• Two good teams from secondary conferences. Two powerhouses. The matchups yesterday were delicious. Except they weren’t.

We sat down to watch Gonzaga host Eastern Washington, hoping for a tight game in the Kennel. We didn’t get it.

We sat down to watch Washington end the Chris Petersen era by facing Boise State in the Las Vegas Bowl, hoping for a tight game. We didn’t get it.

What we did get is the never-ending knowledge there is a divide in this country. The haves in college sports have a huge edge on the have-less folks.

Over the past couple decades the Bulldogs have built themselves into one of the former category. It wasn’t easy. It took a lot of work – and money. But Gonzaga is there, among the best college basketball has to offer year-in and year-out.

Down the road (and not that far down the road), Eastern has spent the same time treading water. Oh sure, some years, like this one, the Eagles are the class of the Big Sky. But that’s as high as the basketball program as ever risen. That’s not to say that’s as high as the program may ever rise. But a breakthrough run in the NCAA Tournament? That hasn’t happened yet.

If it does this season, there was no indication of it yesterday in McCarthey. The differences in the teams was so immense as to be palatable. The Kennel was as quiet as a church the day after Christmas. Gonzaga was coming off a stretch of games that should have drained its tank to empty. And yet the Zags dominated, winning the game in the first 20 minutes.

Sure, Eastern didn’t play well. But what makes the Eagles great offensively, spreading the floor with potent outside shooting and then driving through the open gaps to the rim, just didn’t work against Gonzaga. Besides, it’s a rare defensive team that can stymie GU’s offense and EWU isn’t one of them. It all added up to a yawner of a game.

That’s too bad. Eastern is better than it showed. And still is an odds-on favorite to make the tournament, where it will surely face a team of GU’s talent level. Let’s hope that one goes a bit better.

• Boise State had hoped to make one the New Year’s Six bowls this season. After all, the Broncos were 12-1 and, seemingly, should have been the top-ranked team among the Group of 5 schools after winning the Mountain West title.

Instead, they were spurred for Memphis. And sent off to Las Vegas.

Not a bad consolation prize if you are a reprobate partier, but not quite the Mecca of college football bowl season.

Especially when you are matched up with one of the muddled middle of the Pac-12, a team coached by your former leader who is getting set to ride off into the sunset – at least for a little while.

Yes, the Pac-12 did not include one of the nation’s four best teams this season. And yes, the conference members were not always at their best when playing outside foes in the preseason. But this bowl game highlighted the differences in talent between an occasional-blue blood like Washington and a blue-turf-legend like Boise State.

The Huskies were just more physical, faster and more athletic at every position. They were motivated. They were well-coached. They deserved to win handily and they did, 38-7.

The divide between the two teams was obvious. It was not debatable. And it was on display in our living room.

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WSU: How good will the Cougars’ bowl game be Friday night? Thanks to the contrasting styles, many national observers think it will be among the most fun to watch. Theo Lawson ran down their comments and put them together in this story. Incarnate Word had no answers for Isaac Bonton and Washington State yesterday, with the Cougars winning 87-59 at Beasley. Peter Harriman filled in for Theo and has this game coverage. … The soccer coaching staff was named the best in the nation. That’s part of our local briefs for this Sunday. … The women’s basketball team didn’t have a great day yesterday. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, Oregon State is looking for a new quarterback. … Arizona State will not have Eno Benjamin in its bowl. Who will replace him? … Arizona will have a new quarterback next season. Sort of. And a new receiver. … Utah will have some seniors playing in its bowl. … Stanford is losing its best tight end to the NFL a year early. … In basketball news, Colorado upset No. 13 Dayton on a buzzer-beater in overtime. … Oregon got past Texas Southern, but it wasn’t easy. … Texas A&M snapped Oregon State’s winning streak. … California lost to Boston College. … Stanford is 11-1 after edging San Diego. … Arizona State lost to Creighton. … Arizona lost again, this time to St. John’s. … San Diego State dominated Utah. … UCLA lost its chance to upset North Carolina through turnovers. … USC got past LSU at the Staples Center.

Gonzaga: With Kansas’ loss early yesterday (Jim Meehan had a quick story about it), the Zags knew they had a chance to become the No. 1 team in the nation if they handled Eastern. And did they. Jim writes about the game and the keys to the win. John Blanchette writes about the poll ramifications. And I wrote about the TV coverage. … Dan Pelle covered the game with his camera and has this photo gallery. … The folks in the office put together a recap with highlights. … Around the WCC, BYU dominated inside and raced past Weber State. … USF is 10-3 after beating UC Davis. … Pepperdine’s late run lifted it past Northern Arizona. … Pacific got past Idaho State. … Saint Mary’s won at Nevada.

EWU: Ryan Collingwood covered the Eastern side of things from the Kennel. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, James Madison had little trouble with Weber State in one FCS semifinal. … North Dakota State had no trouble with Montana State in the other.

Idaho: The Vandals struggled to score and lost by 28 at South Dakota State.

Preps: Post Falls won the Tri-State wrestling tournament yesterday at North Idaho College. … We can also pass along roundups of basketball action from girls and boys.

Seahawks: The Rams had a chance to upset the 49ers last night and failed. Now the last game of the year will decide the West, no matter what the Hawks do this afternoon against Arizona. … Seattle will be down some key players today. A lot of them. … Chris Carson will be available.

Mariners: I am all for this. I know many others aren’t. But if there ever was a sport better suited for computerized officiating, baseball is it. It is about time to give it a try.

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• Some days God just blesses you. Kim and I arrived at See’s Candy yesterday and, get this, there wasn’t anyone there. By the time Kim had purchased all her “Santa candy,” the line was more than a dozen folks long. If we had been 15 minutes later, the visit would have taken another hour. It gave us enough time to have breakfast and gird ourselves for a Costco visit. We were living on the edge – and loving it. Until later …