Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

A Grip on Sports: For the NFL, this is the most super of weekends – at least as far as the games are concerned

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Super Bowl Sunday is, well, a super occasion in America. Nearly a national holiday. But it’s not all that often the game itself lives up to its hype. The two conference championship games? That’s another story.

•••••••

• This Sunday will feature better football. We guarantee it. The games to get to the Super Bowl are so crucial, it seems, that coaches will do anything, even ignore common sense, to win. Thus, great finishes and huge gaffes. Which adds up to super entertaining contests.

The NFC and AFC title matches highlight not just Sunday’s, but the weekend’s TV viewing as well. There is nothing, not even a major tennis tournament’s championship matches, that comes close.

Unless you are a huge fan of Marquette basketball and can’t wait for its grudge match at DePaul on Saturday (11 a.m., FS1).

But discounting that one person in Spokane, most everyone else is waiting until noon Sunday to get crazy. The NFC title game on Fox kicks off seven hours (or more) of entertainment, pitting the team of cheesesteaks (Philadelphia) against the best Italian food (San Francisco) money can buy.

(Sorry, ever since we started building our Seahawks’ Sundays around the food most closely identified with the opponent’s city a few years ago, we label each NFL city by its food. Man, we despise Cincy’s chili.)

The Bengals are back in Kansas City later Sunday, hoping once again to barbecue the favored Chiefs’ title hopes. That game starts at 3:30 on CBS.

How important are those two games? Important enough the PGA of America doesn’t want to compete, as the Farmers Insurance Open ends Saturday (1:30 p.m., CBS). There are few key college basketball games set for Sunday as well, with just about every game tipping before noon our time.

Saturday is a different story. There are 25 men’s games on the cable schedule, highlighted by, well, that depends on who you root for, right? If you are a Gonzaga fan, the Zags are in Portland (4 p.m., KHQ and Root). A WSU fan? The Cougars host Arizona State (5 p.m., ESPNU). You like the Groves brothers? Oklahoma hosts Alabama (11 a.m., ESPN).

Heck, if Washington State’s women are your team of choice, you can watch their game at Arizona State (5 p.m., Pac-12 Networks).

There are also NBA games, a college all-star football game and some hockey, including the Kraken hosting Colorado (7 p.m., Root) as well.

All good. But Sunday is the super day, even if there is no capital “S.”

• It’s appropriate we covered this weekend’s college basketball schedule. For most of my life, when we set down to watch a big college basketball game, Billy Packer set down with us.

We never got a chance to meet or talk with Packer alone, unlike other college hoop TV stars like Dick Vitale, Bill Walton and Bill Raferty. But it sure seemed as if we knew him. And so his death Thursday at age 82 hits hard.

It’s like losing the cranky uncle you always spent Saturdays with as your parents worked.

Packer was honest. He was not overbearing. And though he may have been an ACC honk – at least he was accused of that for decades – he appreciated college basketball no matter where it was played.

His career on the national stage began as John Wooden’s ended. And it covered the rise of the Big East, Magic and Bird, the dominance of Duke and North Carolina and the expansion of the NCAA Tournament. From the 1970s until the 21st Century, Packer was with us every time we set down to watch the NCAA title game.

We miss that. Have ever since he retired in 2008. And we’ll never have it back.

•••

WSU: The Cougars defense keyed its upset win in Tucson against Arizona not too long ago. And it was really good against the Wildcats again Thursday night in Pullman. But Washington State just couldn’t get the ball into the basket and fell 63-58 before 5,225. Colton Clark was there and has this story. … There were some folks in Pullman rooting for the sixth-ranked Wildcats. And not just the three officials and the Pac-12 hierarchy. (C’mon, we’re joking. Have a sense of humor.) … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college basketball, the next few weeks are big for everyone in the West, not just the Pac-12 schools. Jon Wilner delves into the key games. … Washington picked up another win, holding off visiting Arizona State 69-66 in overtime. … Oregon’s up-and-down season continued, with its home 75-69 win over Colorado an illustration of the entire year in one game. … Utah’s V-8 defense was just too tough for Oregon State’s four-cylinder offense to overcome. The Utes won 63-44. … Speaking of offenses not performing, UCLA’s certainly didn’t in the second half as the Bruins lost its second consecutive conference game. USC pulled away at the Galen Center and won 77-64. … At least the UCLA athletic department cut its deficit in half last year. Just wait until that Big Ten media money begins rolling in. … Before then, however, there is the issue with the Pac-12 Networks and Comcast that will have to be figured out. Wilner has more in the Mercury News. … In football news, Washington needs one more quarterback for its roster. … Utah will always attract top-end defensive backs. … Merton Hanks thinks Deion Sanders will turn Colorado around. … Recruiting is different these days.

Gonzaga: The women defeated Loyola Marymount by more than 40 points in Southern California not too long ago. The Lions were not about to let that happen again Thursday in the Kennel, even if meant intentionally throwing a player to the ground. It worked, at least for a while. The 17th-ranked Zags pulled away in the second half for a 66-55 win. Jim Allen has the game story and Colin Mulvany the photo gallery. … Jim McPhee is a legend – in Spokane legal circles. He is also somewhat remembered for his time as a great Gonzaga player. Dave Boling focuses on that second part in this column as Drew Timme gets nearer to passing McPhee on the Zags’ all-time scoring list. … Rui Hachimura’s first game as a L.A. Laker was pretty typical of what he does. … Elsewhere in the WCC, San Diego finished off a season sweep of Pepperdine with an 87-78 road victory. … Loyola Marymount is playing better and handled visiting Portland 79-60. … The best game of the weekend might be Saturday, with BYU and Saint Mary’s meeting in Provo. The Gaels’ freshman Aidan Mahaney makes a big difference for their offense.

EWU: The Eagles’ winning streaks continued. A home-court record that covers the entire history of the program. And a Division I-record-tying 11 consecutive overall. Dan Thompson has this story on Eastern’s 81-68 win over Idaho State at Reese Court. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana’s thought of turning it around in the second half of the conference season didn’t materialize. The Grizzlies were blown out 67-48 by host Sacramento State. … Montana State had little trouble with Portland State, winning 75-66 despite an injury. … Northern Colorado needs to shore up some things for the second half. … Northern Arizona’s newest assistant basketball coach is enjoying his role.

Idaho: Weber State was near-perfect in the first half of its 73-65 win over the Vandals. But as Peter Harriman tells us, UI did rally and came within a handful down the stretch. But no closer.

Preps: The GSL wrestling title once again came down to the rivalry match between Mead and Mt. Spokane. This time the Wildcats won, to create a three-way tie atop the league standings. Dave Nichols has the coverage. … Upper Columbia Academy basketball guard Mia Pierce has garnered attention of college coaches despite an injury and the school’s lack of spotlight. Keenan Gray has the story.

Track and field: There is another indoor track meet this weekend at The Podium. This one features professionals. And another John Blanchette preview.

Seahawks: Have questions? We can pass along some answers. … What we can’t answer is why Seattle’s leadership is always ignored come awards time. … There are some key dates ahead. A lot have to do with free agents.

Kraken: It took a while but Seattle got over its penalty-killing woes.

•••       

• For all of you who care, the cone of shame has to stay on a couple more days. Junior’s stitches came out yesterday but that means the urge to scratch will stick around for a while. Poor guy. He wants to cuddle as much as any 100-pound dog can cuddle but is unable. Unless his head is hanging off the coach. Until later …