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.

Candidates for the WSU head coaching job

Brandon Hansen - Led his NBA Jam team to a 50-0 record and unlocked the Rookies team. Also have watched "Hoosiers" completely drunk more than any man on earth (except for Bill Simmons) and could grab onto the leg of a player better than Jeff Van Gundy.

Gargamel - I'm sure he would have no problem bending the rules a little to get the top recruits and if they lose, he could always blame it on "those pesky smurfs!" in post-game interviews.

Isiah Thomas - Well, WSU wont have to worry about any NBA team snatching him away.

Gene Hackman - Did you see the work he did in "The Replacements" and "Hoosiers?" When he's not busy kissing Barbara Hershey he can sure get the most out of his players. And there's got to be a Jimmy Chitwood-esque player floating around somewhere in the Palouse. The only thing is, WSU boosters would have to hold a home-town meeting at a barber shop and tell Hackman things like "This is the way we do things in Pullman" and "Are you a god-fearing, upstanding, Christian man" just to get the full effect.

Paul Wulff - As long as he wears those sweatpants during games, he can win as many basketball games as football games and we'd be fine with it. And Casey also wants him to find a hat that fits.

Bobby Knight - It's obvious he wants to get back into coaching judging from the way he brings a yellow notepad on screen during his ESPN gig. Why not have him bring his sweater and throwing ways to Pullman where he's sure to pack all the seats at Beasley and make every media person tippy toe around the Arena. Not to mention that he also plays Guitar Hero.

See Ya Tony Bennett!

Hey Coug fans, remember when this football season made this year feel like the worst ever?

Well it just fell down to a whole new level.

Men's basketball coach Tony Bennett will take Virginia Job.

A source close to the school's search confirmed the report this afternoon. Virginia fired coach Dave Leitao recently.

Bennett was a hot item a year ago after taking the Cougars to a second straight NCAA tournament. He turned down a chance to go to Indiana, and also rebuffed advances from Marquette and LSU.

Coug fans... get off the ledge, seriously. There's more coaches out there. Maybe his dad will come back... who wouldn't want to come to Pullman? 

Somebody better lock all the windows above the second level on the WSU campus now.

Epic Photo: This is what Arizona State getting upset looks like

The Washington State Cougars are heating up at exactly the right time after they defeated No. 11 ranked Arizona State 51-49 in Pullman, Wash. today. This makes them a very, very dangerous team headed into the Pac-10 Tournament. What are the chances of them making the NCAA Tournament?

(Photo by Dean Hare/AP)

The worst jobs in sports

Working in sports is great. Instead of going to an office everyday you're going to the stadium and you're always in the limelight. However, there are some positions that you should just never take in this industry.

Youth Sports Officials - Okay, think of the worst berating a professional official has every received. Times that by 10, multiply the people doing it by about 30 and you pretty much have the atmosphere of a youth sporting event. Sports parents are the worst human beings on the face of the planet and guess who they love to hate.

Stephon Marbury's Therapist - Boy, you have fun trying to dig through that brain of his.

Crowd Control Management for Santa Clara - I don't know if you watched the Gonzaga-SC game last night but fans threw stuff onto the court, ON TWO SEPERATE OCCASIONS, causing technicals to be called and pretty much swinging the momentum of the game towards the Zags favor. Here's what the Broncos head coach had to say:

Santa Clara coach Kerry Keating implored to crowd to refrain from throwing objects, but later in the game, his team was hit with another technical when another object was thrown from the stands. Bouldin made two more free throws.

"That's not fair to our guys," Keating said of the fan or fans who threw the objects. "It's not fair to everyone in the gym who's there to watch a game in a great environment."Whoever it was, I hope they understand that they hurt our team tonight."

Bravo crowd control.

Arizona's assistant coach that focuses on defense

Now I bet you're wondering why I'm mentioning all these college basketball games. Simple. Last night was an amazing night for college basketball. Anyways, WSU defeated the Wildcats last night 69-53 in a fun game for Cougar fans but if you were from Arizona you cringed everytime a Coug player was left wide open or allowed to drive to the basket.

They stood around more than county road workers on the clock. But hey, maybe they wanted to keep WSU's postseason hopes alive.

That guy that always brings out the stools for WSU players to sit on during timeouts

Every timeout. This guy waddles out there with these fold out stools under his arms and sets them out for all the players. They get done with the time out and he has to fold them back up and retreat to his position ready to unfold at a whistles notice.

Really? A chair folder? That's like one step below the guy who squirts the water bottle into each individual athletes mouth.

But hey, he's more active during a basketball game than Shaq.

The Los Angeles Clippers Championship Parade planner

Haven't really had a whole lot to do...

If you have a pulse, you live in Eastern Washington and like sports...

Then you'll be watching Washington State host Gonzaga next Wednesday. Why?

- Because you can't get tickets to Eastern Washington's drive to a Big Sky Championship title (or because their games aren't on TV)

- Because Jeremy Pargo dunking on tall people and having him shove his crotch in their face is just funny.

- WSU students always make good television. Still waiting for the Pullman version of COPS.

- Aron Baynes probably goes cow-tipping.

- It would be nice to see the Seattle Times and PI scramble with their unbiased journalism to somehow make it seem like the Huskies are still the most important basketball team in the state.

- Tri-Cities is not involved in any way.

- It's better than watching WSU Football