What female Gonzaga football fans would look like...

Thank god... thank god they got rid of the sport in the 1940s.

That's a lot of GU tickets

Over at the radio show, we had a listener named Mondo come in studio to show off his latest art project... all his Gonzaga season tickets in a frame. Pretty impressive eh?

Giacoletti says he's not interested in Toledo

The Spokesman-Review's Jim Meehan has this little nugget on Gonzaga assistant coach Ray Giacoletti.

The Toledo Blade reported in today’s edition that Gonzaga assistant coach Ray Giacoletti is the frontrunner for the Toledo Rockets’ head coaching job. The short article is incorrect, Giacoletti said Wednesday.

“Print it: No interest, not going to happen,” Giacoletti said in a brief telephone interview. ”I don’t know where it came from or why or how. … It’s not even an option either direction.”

Giacoletti is good friends with Toledo A.D. Mike O’Brien, which might have prompted the speculation. Toledo is replacing Gene Cross, who resigned after two years with an 11-53 record. The Rockets were 4-28, 1-15 in the Mid-American Conference, last season.

Mark Few has said his coaching staff was getting looked at. Zag fans should keep a close eye on what is going on here...

SWEET ZAGS!

The Gonzaga Bulldogs Women's Basketball team has been dominant all season in the WCC. Tonight, they clinched their first trip to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament in school history.

SEATTLE -- Twenty minutes in December made Gonzaga fearless in March. No one more so than Vivian Frieson.

And because of Frieson, the Bulldogs are headed to the regional semifinals and Texas A&M is going home, ending the Aggies' dream of a Final Four trip three hours from campus.

Gonzaga's do-everything senior scored 23 points, including the go-ahead 12-footer with 17 seconds left, to lead seventh-seeded Gonzaga to a 72-71 upset win over second-seeded Texas A&M on Monday night in the second round of the NCAA women's tournament.

That little Jesuit school from Spokane is making tournament noise again. But move over guys, it's the ladies' turn now.

"It means the world to me. Me and Heather [Bowman] have been a part of a lot of firsts here at this university," said Frieson, who added nine rebounds, five assists and four blocks. "It felt great to go to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 2007. It felt great to win our first game last year against Xavier and it feels even better to go to the Sweet 16."

Better get your season tickets now, I have a feeling seats are going to start becoming VERY tough to find next year. 

Zags might be in a pickle with the Orange

The line for the GU-Syracuse game has been released and the Zags are 7.5 point underdogs. What does that mean? Well nobody is expecting a miracle at midnight a la Cinderella, but hey...

Many Zag fans think that if GU were to play a 1-seed, than Syracuse would be the easiest draw. Hence there is some optimism that the Bulldogs could pull off the upset. If they were to do it, it would be one of the biggest signature wins in the school's history. Is it possible? Yes, but is it likely?

This team has been up and down all season, evident by their losses in the WCC to lesser teams, and that's a sign of their youth and inexperience. So would it be smart to say that maybe they don't realize how monumental a task it will be to defeat Syracuse? Is that a good thing? So many questions, and I can't say if I expect this to be a competitive game or a blowout. It really could go either way and it wouldn't surprise me at all.

Keep in mind that this is in Buffalo, and Syracuse will have a definite home-court advantage. And did anyone notice that the Zags had no bench points in their win over FSU? That is not exactly a welcoming stat.

Matt Bouldin makes cover of Sports Illustrated

Matthew Bouldin, ladies and gentlemen! ... don't look up his shorts.

Gonzaga Bulldogs, and Canada's only remaining WWI vet have died

Sorry Zags fans, but last night's game sucked. Sucked. SUCKED. There was roughly 50 people in the gym at LMU to see the best team in the WCC (probably because a 6pm game is terrible for LA traffic), and apparently the boys in blue never showed up. I would go into detail but ever time I talk negatively about GU, I get angry emails and texts, so I'm just going to let it go.

Gonzaga 66, Loyola Marymount 74

In other news, the last remaining Canadian Veteran of WWI, John Babcock, has died at the age of 109. That is big news in itself, but the man had lived in Spokane since the 1930s.

Babcock, who has lived in Spokane since the early 1930s, became a bit of a celebrity in the last few years, especially in Canada. Well wishes for his birthday in July 2009 were sent from Queen Elizabeth II, and the guest list included the Canadian consulate who joined Babcock and his family at the Rosauers on North Division for birthday cake, French fries and tartar sauce.

“I was deeply saddened to learn today of the death of John Babcock, Canada’s last known First World War veteran,” Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a news release Thursday. “As a nation, we honor his service and mourn his passing.”

“John Babcock was Canada’s last living link to the Great War, which in so many ways marked our coming of age as a nation,” Harper added, noting that 650,000 men and women served in the Canadian forces during WWI.

With Babcock’s passing, Frank Woodruff Buckles, 109, of West Virginia, is the only surviving American World War I veteran.

Babcock was born in 1900, on a farm near Kingston, Ontario, Canada; he outlived 10 siblings.

He enlisted in the Canadian Army during WWI, at the age of 15. 

The thing with losing a living link to the past is that you're losing an actual person who experienced history. After that, it's whatever the history books say... which is tend to not be the most accurate things in the world. However, very cool that he was living in Spokane. How about that?

Your Gonzaga hangover

Shaking the cobwebs off (hey, it was a late night for me), last night's Gonzaga game seemed a bit odd for me. Usually St. Mary's puts up a hell of a fight against the Zags and that was true in the first half. However, they came out after halftime looking like Ashlee Simpson during a bad SNL performance.

Which was a shame, St. Mary's took advantage of Gonzaga's now-patented slow start, hit some threes and looked like they showed up to play. I'm not saying I was rooting for the Gaels, but it's good experience for the Zags to be in a dogfight with a very good team because now it is something they now won't experience against the a WCC opponent until the conference tournament.

Gonzaga used a 16-3 run in the second half to pretty much wrap things up and it was all pillow talk after that. I think my brain went into basketball cruise control about halfway through the second - either that or I was nursing some alcohol because I just lost 20 cents on CentSports.com because the Gaels didn't cover the spread.

Couple things I noticed:

- I have a man crush on Elias Harris. He had 19 points and was the studly German he should be. Hoping he'll make a nice addition to the Cavs next year.

- St. Mary's Omar Samhan led all scorers with 21 points and all rebounders with 11, yet the student section decided to chant "overrated." Not even a completely trashed EWU student section would stoop to that level. The 2004-2007 GU student section was something to behold. This years student section sits on their hands too much, whines about fouls too much and doesn't know a damn thing about basketball.

Gonzaga loses to San Francisco, world ends

Gasp! I can't believe it happened but Gonzaga University laid an egg against a WCC opponent. Nevermind it's a young team that could make free throws if they were putting watermelons in a swimming pool, this is an outrage to Zags fans everywhere.

I would be surprised if season ticket holders even renew their seats after this season, after all they merely were the 8th ranked team in the country. After all, when you load up on that fine Jesuit tradition and the March Madness moments - this is simply unacceptable for the Bulldogs. 

(Gag. Hurl. )

These long tortured Zag fans drive me nuts. Sure they've been playing like crap but before this season the city of Spokane wasn't sure Gonzaga was even fielding a Div. I basketball team considering all the new faces on the roster. Sure last year's team looked lack-luster against WCC opponents, but they were woefully overrated  despite Final Four aspirations and even their run to the Sweet Sixteen was a bit by backdoor tomfoolery.

(And you're lucky that the team played in the ho-hum WCC because they sleep-walked for half the season. Zag fans wont talk about this. They were completely devoid of any passion or fire whatsoever. My least favorite Zag team ever.)

This year's team has probably met or beat expectations - just don't keep talking to me about how much better Gonzaga is better than other schools in college basketball. They're lucky they play in the WCC, and despite that luck, sometimes it runs out.

San Francisco showed last night that the Bulldogs are mortal and they have a long ways to go. People will jump up and down and talk about how "crappy" this team is... and then in a month when they're playing in the tournament, it will be like this never happened.

I cheered for Gonzaga for the first time in a LONG time

A note to Gonzaga fans out there, you guys are are kind of ridiculous.

Sitting at the bar last night watching the Bulldogs trail Santa Clara for most of the game, fan depression reached ultimate mass when they were down by double digits.

Problem was... there was 11 FREAKIN MINUTES LEFT.

After supposed die-hard Zag fans shut off their televisions - evident by the amount of texts and twitter updates I received on my phone - I thought to myself "well this is just ridiculous, GU's the better team, they have a chance for a final push to cut that deficit."

I started talking to my friends around "you know what, Gonzaga is going to win this game." I dunno, call it premonition, call it me being a snooty a-hole sipping on my martini, but I figured I'd go against the grain. After hearing everyone say the Bulldogs were playing like fecal matter, I decided I'd give the uber young team the benefit of the doubt. When you're a bunch of sophomores, you don't always come out with your best game.

I started cheering as soon as Gonzaga started proving me right. Santa Clara froze up since they haven't played this big of game... ever... and the Bulldogs took control of the game. Now there's  hitting a few threes and take the lead, that's not taking control of the game... then there's dictating the tempo and out hussling the other team on the floor. That's taking control of the game.

One the Zags took the lead, I knew it was over. Check please.

So question for all you Gonzaga fans, why did you jump ship so quickly?

The Gonzaga Bulldogs drinking game

Want to have more fun watching your Gonzaga Bulldogs? Here's the handy-dandy Bulldogs drinking game that is sure to get you sloshed before the second half.

Take on drink everytime...

- TV Broadcaster and former Michael Jordan whipping boy Craig Ehlo says something that makes you question his soberness.
- Dimitri Goodson misses a three pointer. Take two drinks if he makes one.
- You see an ugly GU female student when they cut to the crowd. It's amazing the percentage of hot/ugly girls in the student section, it's at least 20:80.
- The announcer says "brought to you by Les Schwab Tires."
- They mention the 1999 Elite Eight run by the Zags, any pan to the banners hanging from the Kennel is also fair game.
- Robert Sacre smiles (sorry I'm trying to get you guys really drunk)
- Something causes you to think "The Zags can't guard the three!"
- Mark Few flashes his patented "about to strangle a puppy" face.
- Somebody says "I think the WCC is catching up to Gonzaga in terms of competitiveness."

Chug a beer everytime...

- Gonzaga pushes the lead over a WCC opponent to 20 points. Keep in mind you'll probably chug a beer every WCC contest.
- Casey Calvary is mentioned by the announcers. Chug two beers if they mention him breaking the backboard at the Spokane Arena.
- Spike hops in on the broadcast, trying to interrupt Craig Ehlo being drunk.
- Photo of John Stockton is shown with the old-school Jazz jersey.

Finish the Keg when...

- They show footage of Adam Morrison crying after losing to UCLA.
- Gonzaga is bounced from the tournament.
- Richard Fox breaks his chair on-air during the radio broadcast of the GU game.

There are the rules. Live by them.

Gonzaga the best team on the West Coast?

While the Pac-10 continues to be terrible, Gonzaga keeps climbing the polls and probably could be considered the best team in the western United States. I'm usually the one saying that Zags are overrated but not this season as they've slowly but surely moved up in the polls after one quality win after another. Nobody in the big "BCS" conference of the Pac-10 can even take a sniff close to Gonzaga or even some teams in the WCC. Wow, how weird is this season?

Gonzaga continued to climb up the rankings, moving up to 15th in the A.P. poll and 10th in ESPN/USA Today. GU (14-3) moved up two spots in A.P. and four in the other poll. Saint Mary’s lost a few votes in the ESPN/USA Today poll, receiving 16 compared to 25 last week, after its home loss to the Bulldogs.

The Zags were No. 10 in ESPN/USA Today’s final regular-season poll last season and finished 13th after advancing to the Sweet Sixteen.

Keep in mind that Gonzaga played the toughest part of it's conference this last weekend and came out smelling rosey. Assuming they don't have a brain-lapse and get upset, it should be all downhill for Gonzaga the rest of the season.

Epic Video: Casey Calvary is laughing somewhere

Happened at the Zag game, delayed the game for about 58 minutes much the shagrin of my buddy Danny at the radio station who was running the sound board for the game. At least we got to see the janitor come in and almost caused the broadcast to go off the air. AWESOME...

Questions I have after this weekend of sports...

1. After beating the 49ers, are the Seahawks really gonna go on a run and ruin their draft picks? I'm assuming that the Seahawks and 49ers were basically playing for third and second place in the NFC West this year, which honestly doesn't carry a whole lot of weight. Give the Hawks credit, they did win their fifth game of the year but also keep in mind that San Francisco did a couple of things to give the game away. This also confuses the direction of the Seahawks, do you rebuild? Do you bring in some free agents to fix things?

2. Is Casey really the biggest Colts fan in the Northwest? My fellow blogger Casey Knopik must be thrilled that his team defeated my Titans. That probably ended their postseason hopes but you never know. Now Casey has an undefeated team to root for and is the only fan in the Pacific Northwest (except for our good friend Bart) who roots for the Colts. Seriously?! Where are the other Colts fans? They're all located where there are no mountains, large women and corn. Wonderful.

3. Is it time to panic if you're Gonzaga? Whaaat? They lost to Wake Forest? A solid ACC team? Say it aint so! But one thing the Zags should be worried about is their student fan section. As soon as the Demon Deacons tied up the game, that section died and never came back. Lame.

4. Why is Skyline so damn good? So Spokane's Ferris Saxon's couldn't hold a candle to the Skyline Sparatans in the 4A State Football Championship, which makes me very, very sad. Skyline's QB will be going to BYU while Ferris' QB will be going to WSU. Who do you think got the better end of the deal there?

(Interesting question actually. Since BYU allows no drinking whatsoever on campus or withing 1,000 miles, I'd rather go to Pullman, suck at football, and sleep with like 40 girls because I'm on the football team. Score one for the Ferris kid going to WSU!)

5.How did UW defeat Cal? I dunno, but Casey is going to gloat about this as well. What a jerk.

Thoughts on Gonzaga beating WSU

Boy did the Zags ever come out and lay a big fat egg in the first half. And part of the second half.  To a team that everybody expected them to handle somewhat easily (a seven to 15 point victory). This Cougar team came out with more energy and speed but for once I've got to say that Gonzaga showed some real backbone and character in this win.

And that's pretty hard for me to admit.

By coming back from a 13-point 2nd half deficit and defeating a WSU Cougars, the Zags: Next Generation showed that they can fight through a poor night of performance and still win. That's usually the stuff of veteran teams but I guess Gonzaga is skipping the introductory courses on that. And this wasn't against a daisy of a  team either. WSU now looks like they're going to compete for the Pac-10 title because frankly everyone else in that conference except for UW sucks.

Matt Bouldin showed up big, scoring 28 points, Klay Thompson of the Cougars who was leading the nation in scoring was limited to just 15. Elias Harris was fantastic with 21 points in the second half and 24 for the game.

I thought this was over and was drinking heavily from the Cougar Kool-Aid. But the Zags stormed back. Give them credit. They deserved it.

JustSON Numbers: Looking at Gonzaga's win and Eastern's loss

Okay perhaps nobody in Spokane really noticed that Eastern Washington was playing out in Cheney against old Big Sky opponent Boise State. It ended in a 82-69 loss for the Eags, largely because they got off to a cold start and pulled to within one in the second half after eventually succumbing to the Broncos.

How cold was their start? Well look at this...

TOTAL FG%
1st Half: 11-42 26.2%

Ick. Need to shoot better guys, and don't just try to jack up a bunch of threes all the time.

And now on to the Zag game that I'm sure you all missed. Good win for Gonzaga over a quality Wisconsin team, and it looked like they were in control for most of the game. I think that you have to credit it to the Zags ability to hold the Badgers to just 39 percent shooting as it seemed that they never got it going. Meanwhile, Matt Bouldin actually showed up in a game against a solid opponent, scoring 18 points. 

Lots of college basketball, who's happy we're in season now?

JustSON the Numbers: Gonzaga's Defense

While it's nice for Gonzaga fans that the Bulldogs pulled out the 76-72 win over the Colorado Buffaloes, there are still some question marks that arose from the game. Namely the defense of the men's basketball team since the Buffs shot 53 percent from the field and 46 percent from three point land. Factor in that Colorado only went to the line 18 times means that this team isn't exactly as physical as billed.

Now, I don't want to go all "2012: End of the World" on Zag fans because they won the rebound battle while Steven Gray and Matt Bouldin both had nice games. One thing I've been hearing about this team is how "gritty" their play has been and even though today's game was decidedly sloppy, I heard a lot of good things about the teams effort.

And effort, something that last year's team was lacking until the WCC Tournament, is exactly what the Bulldogs need an influx of.

I might have to become a closet Gonzaga women's basketball fan

Because there's a lot to like about this coach, starting with the coach and going down to all the players. Oh and they're good. They just knocked off Pac-10 opponent USC and made it look fairly easy.

There wasn’t much the Gonzaga women’s basketball team did wrong in its home opener Thursday night, other than letting USC score the final eight points of the game.

But all that did was make the Trojans’ 70-58 loss before 3,206 fans at McCarthey Athletic Center – the fifth-largest crowd for the women – look closer than it was.

“This was a good win,” Bulldogs coach Kelly Graves said. “I was really proud of our team. I thought we played a good basketball game, especially defensively. I thought the first half we did about as well could have done defensively. I loved the energy.

Looks like Spokane is getting behind their team.

The Zags wont be as bad as we all thought

Several questions were answered last night, and despite it being a lost, it looks like the Zags will be a force this year after taking Michigan St. to the limit 75-71. I'll be the first to say that they proved me dead wrong and surprised a lot of other people. This is gonna be the year they falter? They won't win the WCC? They won't win the tournament? Um...

Gonzaga led most of the way and turned back numerous Michigan State rallies. But in the closing minutes, the second-ranked Spartans finally caught and passed the Bulldogs on Durrell Summers’ 3-pointer at the 3-minute mark and went on to claim a 75-71 men’s basketball victory Tuesday at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich.


Summers’ 3 – his only 3-point attempt of the game – put Michigan State on top 68-67, its first lead since briefly moving in front 47-45 with 11:50 remaining. Summers created just enough open space after coming around a screen at the top of the circle to hit his clutch shot.

And with Portland looking pretty pedestrian against Eastern Washington, I'm thinking the Bulldogs will be tops in the WCC this year once again. As much as that pains me to say it, I think its true.

Epic Photo: Another Gonzaga NBA Bust is born

Since when is the last time that a soft post player with motivation problems succeeded in the NBA? Just a question.