A Grip on Sports: Enjoy this last day of the NFL’s regular season as we enter eight months without the RedZone
A GRIP ON SPORTS • This is it. The last chance. The final time. Doomsday.
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• What is causing me to type such angst-inducing words? The last Sunday of the NFL’s regular season, of course. It may be just the beginning for some – not for the region’s team but more on that in a moment – but for the average Jo NFL fan, it is the end.
The end of being able to park you behind on the couch and watch hour after hour after mesmerizing hour of action on NFL RedZone. Hour after hour of fast cuts, occasional replays, every touchdown and field goal. All without any regard about who is winning or losing – except, maybe, on your betting slip, if that’s your thing.
Or your fantasy team, whose season probably ended weeks ago.
No, today isn’t about whether the Lions or Vikings are the NFC’s top seed. Nor is it about Denver’s playoff hopes – sorry Kent. It’s about soaking in as much of Scott Hanson as you can one last time until September.
Enjoy it.
• Thankfully, it’s raining outside where I am. Not snowing. No need to shovel. No need to go out into the weather at all.
Maybe it’s beautiful where you are. Sorry. But today is the final time this football season for the RedZone experience, so instead of sunny and 75, my guess is you would much rather be in one of those Midwest cities where the ice and snow and Arctic cold have you house-bound. At least until Hanson thanks everyone who made this season possible.
No, not Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen or Dan Campbell. We mean Patrick, the key grip or Josh the producer or Dan the guy who holds the bathroom door as Hanson sprints to answer nature’s call.
• This afternoon the Seahawks should show up a time or two on Hanson’s monitor. They are playing in Los Angeles, against the newly crowned NFC West champion Rams. A team with a game next week and hopes of one the week after. Toward those last ends, Sean McVay has decided to rest key players today.
It doesn’t matter to him if Seattle wins its 10th game of the season. Or if the Hawks join select company. One of only two teams with 10 wins since the playoff expanded to seven members and still not invited to the party. All that is immaterial – to McVay.
To Mike Macdonald, John Schneider and everyone connected with the Seahawks’ decision-making? It matters a lot.
A 10th win helps justify last offseason. The change. Goodbye Pete Carroll, hello someone under 70 running the football team. After all, the bottom line – did Seattle make the playoffs? – has the same outcome as Carroll’s last season. But a 10th win signifies progress. Signifies a small manifestation of success. Signifies Macdonald is on the right path.
And allows all of us who draw Social Security to delve into our past, recall a famous TV line that was all the rage in the turbulent ’60s and say “missed it by that much.”
• Will the Hawks leave So-Fi Stadium victorious this afternoon? They better. McVay’s strategy of resting key players not only impacts his team but puts more pressure on Macdonald’s. What would is say about Seahawks if they don’t win?
Not sure we want to think about it. Too ugly. And would make the next month or so pretty darn sour for the Seattle faithful.
• Turns out all Gonzaga’s men needed was to return to West Coast Conference play. Catch a breather, take a breath and regroup. They did all that this week. The result Saturday was another blowout, this time on the road at Loyola Marymount. A 96-68 laugher built by the re-emergence of Michael Ajayi and Graham Ike and Khalif Battle.
Four games in eight days? It was the perfect prescription for what ailed the Zags.
• But this isn’t your older brother’s WCC.
After the Bulldogs administer their typical beatdown of USD on Wednesday in the Kennel, they will host Washington State at McCarthey on Saturday at 6 p.m. And, after their 91-82 win yesterday against visiting USF, the Cougars are no pushover. They boast a 13-3 overall record and a 3-0 one in conference. WSU hosts Pacific on Thursday before the Gonzaga showdown.
• One last note. This is what I wrote Friday: “There are eight other games between now and Sunday night which feature one ranked team, including our pick for an upset, No. 15 UCLA at Nebraska.” Hey, it came true.
Why did I believe the Bruins would fall? It goes back to what we saw of UCLA the past few weeks. Mick Cronin’s team is so aggressive defensively, it is overly reliant on receiving a favorable whistle to win against a somewhat evenly matched foe. Two weeks ago: North Carolina is 24-of-35 from the free throw line in a 76-74 Bruin loss. Last Saturday: Gonzaga is 5-of-8 in a 65-62 UCLA win. Yesterday: Nebraska is 25-of-29 in its 66-58 win at home. The Bruins’ physical, hands-on, test-the-officials defense passed muster just once in the three matchups.
Who could have seen that coming?
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WSU: Yes, Greg Woods was in Beasley yesterday and has this game story, accompanied by Geoff Crimmins’ photos. … Greg also has to keep his eyes on the transfer portal, though Saturday’s news was of the incoming, not the outgoing. He has this story on reports highly thought-of South Dakota State running back Angel Johnson will rejoin Jimmy Rogers in Pullman. … The WSU women also picked up a win at home yesterday, topping Pac-12 cousin Oregon State 66-52, snapping the Beavers three-game winning streak. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner has a notes column which leads off with some thoughts on what athletic director Anne McCoy told Greg on Friday concerning the Cougs’ football assistant coach payout pool. Wilner sees the $4.5 million salary pot as a key indicator WSU is serious about its big-time status. … John Canzano also has a notes column, also mentioning the Cougars. … How good (or bad) was Jedd Fisch’s first season? … After its blowout in the Rose Bowl, where does Oregon go from here? The Ducks have certain spots to fill in the portal … Oregon State continues to mine the portal for local players who might want to return home. … Just how good was Colorado’s season? … In basketball news, Washington’s men would sure love to see a few more fans in Hec Ed. Maybe dropping Oregon State and Arizona State and Stanford for Rutgers and Nebraska and Northwestern wasn’t the best thing for attendance. … There were two games yesterday that featured soon-to-be Pac-12 members squaring off. In Logan, Utah State struggled with woeful Fresno State but won. … Boise State never could solve San Diego State’s defensive puzzle and lost to the Aztecs at home. … Arizona has righted the ship, topping Cincinnati on the road Saturday. … Even down a key contributor, Oregon’s women gained another Big Ten win. … Cori Close was smart. The UCLA coach spent as much time as possible with John Wooden before he died.
Gonzaga: The games are adding up for the Zags, and for those who cover them. Theo Lawson was on the road again and has the game story from Gersten Pavilion as well as pairing with the folks in the office on the recap with highlights. … Jim Meehan delved into Ajayi’s mini-hot streak and what it means for GU going forward. Jim also put together the buzzer-beater notebook. … Tyler Tjomsland was also in L.A. and has this photo gallery. … Back in Spokane, Greg Lee was in the Kennel as the women won again, handling Santa Clara easily as Yvonne Ejim reached the 2,000-point mark in her illustrious career. … Elsewhere in the WCC, the Oregon State men dominated San Diego in an 81-54 win at Gill Coliseum. … Saint Mary’s dominated Portland 81-58.
EWU: If the Eagles want to compete consistently during conference play, they have to play better on the defensive end. They did Saturday night on Reese Court, as Dan Thompson documents in this game coverage of the 68-63 victory over Montana State. It may have been the best defensive performance for Dan Monson’s team this season. … The women lost at Montana State 66-54. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Tommy Mellott is the Walter Payton Award winner as the FCS’ best offensive player. Now he will try to lead Montana State to the FCS title Monday night against North Dakota State. … In basketball action, the host Idaho State women handed Northern Colorado another loss. … Weber State made Northern Arizona work to win on the road. … Northern Colorado’s men held off visiting Idaho State in overtime. … Northern Arizona handed Weber State a road loss. … Sacramento State edged Portland State 56-53 in California.
Idaho: A last-second shot – two of them in fact – did not drop and the Vandals dropped a 73-71 decision against visiting Montana. Peter Harriman has the game story. … The women picked up a road win in Missoula.
Whitworth: The Pirate men bounced back from their surprising Friday night defeat against Pacific Lutheran to top visiting Puget Sound 97-88 Saturday.
Preps: Dave Nichols has two roundups to pass along. One is on the games featuring GSL schools. The second highlight the exploits of the smaller schools.
Chiefs: Dave’s main job Saturday, however, was to cover Spokane’s first home game of 2025. The undermanned Chiefs received a boost from an unexpected source and topped visiting Kamloops 3-2.
Seahawks: No matter what happens today against the Rams, it doesn’t look as if Ernest Jones IV will sign with Seattle until after he solicits offers from other teams as a free agent. … We rarely pick games, even those of the Seahawks. But we always try to pass along the selections of others.
Golf: Indoor, made-for-TV golf competition is coming to a living room near you starts Tuesday night. Are you interested? We are related by genes to someone who plays in a winter golf league using a simulator, so they probably are. Those of us over 50 – usually golf-on-TV’s sweet spot – may not be all in at first.
Kraken: The Climate Pledge Arena lights went out 10 minutes into Seattle’s matchup with Edmonton. The power returned quickly, though the Kraken’s on-ice performance didn’t get a spark until late and they lost 4-2.
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• Enjoy the last day of the NFL’s regular season. Come April, you’ll wish you had. Until later …