A Grip on Sports: It’s becoming more common for the margin of victory (or defeat) to have an impact on fans’ enjoyment than ever before

A GRIP ON SPORTS • In this day and age, expectations have an ever-larger impact on how we few sporting events. Part of it just be the answer to every question. It’s money, of course.

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• With gambling becoming such a significant part of everyone’s sports experience, winning and losing is in, many cases, not as important as winning and losing by a certain amount of points.

OK, we’re not trying to say it hasn’t always been important. It has. Heck, our friend Jim Walden used to say 20 years ago something to the effect college football coaches could lose, as long they covered the spread. But back then, the folks who put their money down on their favorite team did so under the radar, so to speak. It wasn’t exactly legal. Actually, it was the other thing. Illegal. But common? Sure.

Now common is in the rearview mirror. We’re all living in a Las Vegas of sorts. A bet on any sporting event is just a phone app away. And advertising? Every sports-related podcast, every college or pro competition on TV or radio, everything from reruns of Friends to new Hulu shows, are accompanied by advertisements from FanDuel and DraftKings and Bet365 and on and on.

On the plus side, you get to hear someone talk really, really quickly at the end about, we’re almost positive because they are hard to understand, gambling addiction. It’s good to know our overlords have our best interests at heart.

Anyhow, such monetary considerations have changed expectations.

Now, the average sports fan can not only be upset when his or her team loses, they can also have the same vibe when they win by a couple points fewer than expected.

And the opposite is also in play – though not with the same fury.

Let’s look at two games Saturday. Both with nine-point outcomes. One occurred in Pullman, where the Washington State Cougars were 2.5-point favorites against visiting Colorado. (Ya, that surprised us a bit too.) The other was in Stockton, where Gonzaga took on woeful Pacific, and entered as a 24.5-point favorite. (Ditto but for a different reason.)

Throughout the WSU game, Twitter (or X, if your first name starts with an E and is four letters long) was abuzz with speculation whether the Cougs could hold off Colorado. Covering the spread didn’t seem all that important. That they did both was celebrated after, sure, but it was the drizzle on top, not the lemon cake underneath.

Victory, no matter what, is still as sweet in Pullman. No need to sugarcoat it. This season is one filled with expectations, sure. But those expectations are always tempered by history. It may not healthy in some ways, but at least you don’t have to worry about not being able to make the rent if they win by two instead of three. Right?

A few hours later, we began to wonder how many phones were thrown against walls at halftime of the Zags’ 82-73 victory over the Tigers. Sure, you could say it was due to Pacific’s lead, despite entering with a winless conference mark and 15 overall losses. But some of the tweets we read sure seemed to be ticked about the financial aspect of it all. After all, anyone think GU was going to have a 26-point edge in the second half?

Spoiler alert. The Bulldogs didn’t. They did, however, win. And they pulled into a tie with Santa Clara for second place in the West Coast Conference. That’s all good, right? Even if it cost some followers a few bucks?

Uh, we’re not so sure anymore. We’re sure, after WCC-leading Saint Mary’s boatraced the Tigers by 48 points in Moraga on Thursday night, the Zags’ performance Saturday would never measure up to expectations. Unless the margin was 50.

It wasn’t about to happen. Not this season. Not on the road. Not now.

At this point in Gonzaga-time, winning, whether by one or 21, has to be enough. That has to be the high point of expectations.

It never will be, will it? Not anymore.

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WSU: Consistency is always comforting, which makes following along on social media during a Cougar game sort of like a big old piece of chicken-pot pie. No matter what, there are always complaints about the officiating. OK, we guess that’s probably universal. As is joy from winning a fifth time in the last six games. That’s where Washington State is this morning. That nugget, and much more, is part of Greg Woods’ game story from Pullman. … We can also pass along Geoff Crimmins’ photo gallery for the S-R. … We have more coverage from Colorado. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, Washington played one of its best games of the season, topping visiting Utah 98-73. The beat-up Utes are in freefall. … Oregon State followed up its upset of Arizona with a more methodical win over visiting Arizona State. … The Wildcats went into Eugene and handled Oregon with ease. The Ducks were hit with another injury. … This is a fun story. … UCLA may just be growing up. The Bruins handled host USC easily Saturday. … The Oregon women will host Colorado today, with the Buffs trying to bounce back from their loss at OSU. … Stanford has an All-American on the roster, but it might be a couple years before Kiki Iriafen is recognized as such. The Cardinal play Arizona in Tucson today. … In football news, a star Washington corner shocked folks Saturday by announcing he’s headed to Oregon. The rivals? No, can’t be. Of course, the Huskies filled the secondary spot with an Arizona transfer. College football, 2024 folks. … The Ducks have set their spring game date. … How will USC’s two-pronged defensive coordinator system work? … Finally, Washington has a great group of milers this year, led by Luke Houser.  

Gonzaga: Part of the Zags’ problems last night came via whistles. Graham Ike and Anton Watson both were hit early and often with fouls and set for long stretches of the first half. They came alive in the second, however, as Theo Lawson relays in this game story. … Jim Meehan covered another key element: The 3-point shots began to fall more often after halftime. He also has the difference makers. … Tyler Tjomsland has the photo gallery from Stockton. … The folks in the office put together a recap with highlights. … The women reached 20 wins, again, with a hard-fought 73-54 victory over host USF. Greg Lee has the story. … Elsewhere in the WCC, the USF men bounced back from the loss to Gonzaga and topped visiting Portland 76-64.

EWU: The Eagles rebounded. No, not in the way most often associated with sports. After all, they haven’t lost in weeks. We’re talking about the actual art of grabbing a missed shot. They put on emphasis on it and then did it during their 85-70 home win over Northern Arizona. Dan Thompson has that and more in this story. … The women rallied in the fourth quarter to force overtime in Flagstaff but Northern Arizona regrouped and ran away for an 89-81 victory. The teams are tied atop the standings. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, it took a huge rally but Montana’s men picked up a road win at Sacramento State. … The Bobcats had a lead until the last minute and fell at Portland State. … Idaho State won its rivalry game at Weber State. … Both the Montana State and Montana women won their games.

Idaho: It was not a good stretch run for the Vandal men, as Northern Colorado, behind Saint Thomas’ 20 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, pulled away for n 89-68 victory. Peter Harriman has the story. … The women won, though, 60-56 to UNC in Greeley.

Whitworth: It was not a good weekend for the Pirate men. They led by 14 points early but Willamette, roared back and won 85-78. The Whits lost both games of the Oregon trip.  

Preps: We watched a stream of a GSL girls’ basketball game Friday night. It was senior night at Ferris High. Only there were no seniors on the roster. It’s not unusual, though, as Dave Nichols points out in this story. What that paucity of seniors has done is to open a door for a solid freshman class, many of whom are getting more playing time than might be expected.

Chiefs: Spokane fell behind early, rallied but couldn’t get over the hump. Dave has the coverage of the Chiefs’ 5-4 loss to visiting Portland.

Seahawks: Today’s game not only are important for the four teams playing, they also have a possible impact on Seattle’s coaching search. … It’s about the players, not the coach. Uh, sure. But the coach makes a huge difference too.

Kraken: Line changes aren’t easy. How a team manages them may be the difference between a win or loss.

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• A red-headed Italian kid winning the Australian Open in a five-set comeback? Yes, please. We’re guessing, however, he’s not from the Palermo area, like our dad. We got our red hair from mom, who traced her roots to Ireland. Not sure that’s Jannik Sinner’s story. Until later …