THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: December 22, 2013

Aside from a beef stick, a wiener dog calendar or more 49ers gear, here are a few other "presents" that would be nice to see in a few days:

* That the Inland Empire League could be able to play the Greater Spokane League again in football.

That hasn't happened since 2009; since then, the GSL has played an all-inclusive league schedule, with no room for nonleague tilts. And word has it there will be no IEL-GSL football games in 2014.

Meanwhile, the 5A IEL teams have had to travel all over the Northwest to fill their schedules - though games like Coeur d'Alene vs. Bothell, Coeur d'Alene at Highland, Chiawana at Lake City and Skyline of Sammamish, Wash., at Coeur d'Alene have been worth the extra gas.

But really, who wouldn't want to see Coeur d'Alene or Lake City play Shadle Park next season, and see how they defend the most prolific passer in the history of the GSL? And if the GSL is worried about making the long road trip across state lines, I'm sure any of the North Idaho teams would gladly make the bus ride to Albi Stadium in Spokane.

It's got to be more appealing than week after week of bus rides to western Washington, the Tri-Cities or eastern Idaho.

The GSL has six 4A teams and four 3A teams, and runs into similar issues the 5A IEL and the 4A IEL ran into in football, with the bigger schools beating up on the smaller schools. That's why all the IEL schools no longer play each other, though the GSL schools still do.

I'm told the GSL coaches don't mind playing the North Idaho schools, but their administrators like the schedule just the way it is.

* That Gonzaga could go back to playing the University of Washington in men's basketball - or maybe play Oregon or Oregon State every now and then?

The Huskies pulled the plug on playing the Zags a few years back, presumably because they were tired of losing to the "small Jesuit school from Spokane."

Truth be told, the fans would like the game more than the teams would. The Zags have no problem finding teams nationally to play - though it's probably time to put that series with Memphis to bed. And the Huskies take a hit, image-wise, with each loss to the Zags.

Washington State plays Gonzaga every year, and some years that has been competitive. But the Zags haven't played Oregon since 2000 at the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu. The two teams haven't met in a regularly scheduled game since 1973. And Gonzaga and Oregon State haven't played since 1991 - long before Zagmania started.

* That eastern Washington (and some North Idaho) sports fans don't have to live through another day like Saturday.

First, Eastern Washington's football team was well on its way to a return to the FCS title game for the first time since 2010. The Eagles led by 10 points, at home, against a team with a backup quarterback. But EWU let Towson score twice in the final minutes to escape with a 35-31 victory.

It was the second straight year Eastern had a chance to make it to the national title game, but lost in the semis at home.

Eag-ing it?

Then, Washington State was moments away from its first bowl victory in 10 years, but came down with fumble-itis and let Colorado State score the last 18 points in a 48-45 victory over the Cougars in the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque.

With the arrival of Mike Leach as coach in 2012, WSU has been trying to distance itself from the negative things in the past. Most notable in that quest was trying to erase the phrase "Coug-ing it," WSU's remarkable ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Well, after Saturday's meltdown, a Google search of that phrase will likely pull up a story on Saturday's game - in the old days, Saturday's game would have been the definition of "Coug-ing it," but who uses a dictionary anymore?

Meanwhile, the Zags lost to Kansas State, but regular-season losses in college basketball are nowhere near as devastating as they are in college football.

Seahawks fans have to hope none of this bad karma rubs off on their team, which at the moment is in the best position to win the Super Bowl.

Then again, EWU was in good shape until the end on Saturday, and so was WSU ...

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.