A Grip on Sports: The weekend awaits and there may be some time to both watch football and wrap presents

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s not the final weekend of 2023, but it’s close. There’s even a word for the second-to-last – and it’s our favorite one in the English language. Penultimate. Ultimate, from the Medieval Latin meaning furthest or last. And Pen, from the tool we use to write such a cool word. It’s 2023’s penultimate weekend and we are here for it.

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• That last sentence? Growing up in the 1960s, all we could think of was being alive for the 21st Century. Flying cars. Trips to Mars. People from other planets walking the Earth. We knew we would be ancient – 44 years-old in 2000 – but we didn’t care. We were promised lifespans would be 120 year or so, meaning middle age was still down the road.

None of it has come true. Though we have to admit the lack of flying cars hurts the most. Being lied to by The Jetsons cuts deep. George always seemed like such an honest dude.

Twenty-three years into the 21st Century, one thing the Jetsons promised has come true. Football is played in the sky. Which brings us to our TV weekend sports report.

Despite all the sports that populates Friday, Saturday and Christmas Eve, there is only one game that really matters. The Seahawks at the Titans. Ten a.m. Sunday morning. On CBS. From Nashville. A team with a bruising running back against a team coached by a guy who wished he had Derrick Henry in his prime. But that was almost as long ago as The Jetsons’ prime-time run, though it probably seems like only yesterday to Pete Carroll.

Henry touched the ball 20 times last week against the Texans. He gained a total of 10 yards. It was the worst performance from an NFL running back since at least 1948. This from a guy who, not that long ago, seemed good for 120 to 130 yards rushing each Sunday.

Which means he gashes the Hawks for 150 this week? If he does, Seattle can wave so-long to its playoff chances. The Seahawks must win. And keep winning. At 7-7, they are clumped with a bunch of teams near the bottom of the NFC race. Tiebreakers aren’t their friends. Winning is paramount.

• There aren’t a lot of local college basketball games to watch between now and Santa’s arrival. Just about every men’s team played in the past couple days and have off until the last week of the year. There is a women’s game today in the Kennel, with Gonzaga hosting New Mexico, but that’s only available to watch on ESPN+. It’s a desert of sorts until you unwrap that new 184-inch 4K monstrosity on Monday morning.

Between now and then, you’ll have to be satisfied with watching Rick Pitino’s St. John’s team trying to take down UConn (Saturday, 5 p.m., Fox) or Maryland visiting UCLA (tonight, 6 p.m., ESPN2) in a game The Jetsons’ writers might have been excited about – but in the real future will just be a Big Ten matchup. Oh, and there is a tournament in Hawaii, but the field is pretty non-descript.

Football flies above all the rest, of course. Whether it be another mediocre bowl game – there is one today, the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl, pitting Georgia Tech and USF on ESPN at 3:30 p.m. – or the NFL, football is everywhere this weekend.  

There are seven bowl games Saturday – the best pits James Madison vs. Air Force in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl at 12:30 on ABC – and a couple NFL contests that either pit AFC North bruisers or will be a rout.

The NFL, as we mentioned earlier, will be on Sunday as you try to figure out how to wrap a bicycle so it looks like a Playstation. Besides the Hawks’ game, we are most intrigued by Detroit playing at Minnesota – root for the Lions because it helps Seattle’s chances – and expect to most entertained by Dallas at Miami.

The Sunday night game? The NFL Network scheduled New England at Denver at 5:15 for one reason only. If your kids want to stay up late, put them in front of this one and watch them zonk out by 5:30. Then the rest of the night, and weekend, is yours.

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WSU: The final nonconference basketball game of the season played out for the Cougars in the Spokane Arena last night. And it ended up being Washington State’s best nonconference win. Even if Boise State entered with a NET ranking of 73rd. WSU, despite having a 9-2 mark, is ranked 44th after the 66-61 victory, the last before Pac-12 play opens in a week. Greg Woods has the game story. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, the 10 departing conference members caved yesterday, agreeing to a tentative plan that will allow for this year’s money to be distributed 12 ways but also acknowledges their responsibility for any debt that might be assessed after they are gone. Jon Wilner explains the particulars. So do others from around the nation. … This Florida State news is why the duo is wise to keep the Pac-12 going. … We mentioned liabilities above. One possible one is being hashed out in a NLRB meeting room concerning USC and its players. … John Canzano takes a look at the bowl games. … Washington has the nation’s best offensive line. … Oregon State is happy for the Pac-12 settlement as well. And for the final WCC vote that approved the membership next year for non-football teams. Oh, and for the series with Oregon. … This bowl game may show Utah as vulnerable but next year will be OK. … Stanford decided not to stay in the Pac-whatever. It may cost the Cardinal. … USC picked up another UCLA transfer. The end of times must be near. … We finally have an Arizona State signing-day story to pass along. … In basketball news, Oregon is getting healthier, though the Ducks, who defeated Kent State 84-70 yesterday, may have suffered one big loss. … Oregon State started slowly but ended up hammering Idaho State 76-57. … Colorado routed Utah Tech behind improved free throw shooting. … Utah learned a lot in nonconference play. … The Oregon women picked up their best win of the season, defeating Oklahoma State. … After a slow start, No. 8 Colorado rolled over Northern Colorado. … A Stanford player is in a slump. … USC has not slumped all season and held off Long Beach State.

Gonzaga: We saw the video of the dunk Anton Watson threw down, the one Theo Lawson addresses in this rewind of the Zags’ win. And it took us back in time, to about this time of year in 2014. Watson was an eighth-grader and had the same run at the basket in an AAU game at G-Prep. Only his tomahawk attempt, in front of his older brother Deon and his friends, was interrupted by an opponent who decided he didn’t want to get dunked on – so he hammered Watson into the wall. As coach, we had a rule with Anton then. If he made his first dunk of a game, he could keep doing it. If not, he had to stop trying. After he pulled himself off the floor, took his free throws and came to the bench, he was surprised, and angry, to hear us say that his attempt was a fail. No more dunking. It didn’t take him long to realize we were joking.

EWU: The Eagle men had Washington on the ropes in Hec Ed last night but the Huskies outscored Eastern by 10 down the stretch to escape with a 73-66 win. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, winning means more money for Montana coaches. … Idaho State signed 14 players including a quarterback. … In basketball, Montana’s women won a tournament title. … Montana State picked up a win over North Texas. … Sacramento State lost to Cal Poly. … The Weber State men also won. … So did Northern Colorado, with the Bears winning 83-79 at Air Force. … Sacramento State rolled over Bethesda 100-45. … Northern Arizona has an assistant coach that is about the same age as some players.

Idaho: The Vandals couldn’t find the basket in the second half and lost on the road to UC Riverside 82-67. … Former UI quarterback Gevani McCoy has made his transfer choice. He’s headed to Oregon State. Which means he gets to face WSU at least once more.

Preps: With Wednesday the first day of the NCAA football early signing period, a few local players inked letters of intent. Dave Nichols has this story on a couple headed down the road to Idaho. … As school winds down for 2023, there is still competitions ongoing. We can pass along a roundup of Thursday’s action. … The Mead girls are atop the A.P. State 3A poll.

Chiefs: Dave also has a story on Spokane coach Ryan Smith being picked to lead Canada’s team at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2024.

Seahawks: This is still Geno Smith’s team. But there is an alternative if he can’t go. … Smith is a lot like Russell Wilson in one regard. … Artie Burns has been filling in the secondary.

Kraken: The next home game will be at T-Mobile. The Winter Classic ice is coming together.

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• We had some issues this morning. But we overcame them. The Interweb sometimes is a pain. Until later …