THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Another wild weekend — frogs or no frogs

So, has anything been happening in our little sports universe over the past few days?

I’ve been on a frog-gigging trip to the middle of nowhere with a few pals, so I’m out of the loop.

Got a bucket of frog legs for this week’s dinners, though.

Yeah, right ...

You KNOW I’m just kidding.

Shoot, this might not even be gigging season — if there is such a thing.

But sports over the weekend?

I’ve got plenty of thoughts, and I’m sure you do, too.

Just one disclaimer to get started, however …

I actually don’t know a thing about the TCU-Georgia scrap for the college football title on Monday night.

This column had to be written before the game, or you wouldn’t be chewing it up this morning.

Deadlines, right?

Meanwhile …

The weekend was crazy, plain and simple.

The best I can do today is touch on some things — bite-size recaps, if you will — and then write full columns on some of the biggest news items later in the week.

Fair enough?

SEAHAWKS …

The story of the week, no question.

If you were dreaming of the playoffs on Sunday morning, you had to be thinking long shot.

Sure, the Hawks might escape the Rams one more time, but then to ask the Lions — eliminated from a postseason shot an hour or so previously — to walk into Lambeau Field and beat the Packers, well …

Not all that likely.

But …

Here we are.

Seattle got away with all sorts of craziness (Jason Myers hitting the goal post with a potential game-winner at the end of regulation), and somehow outlasted the Rams 19-16 to finish the regular season 9-8.

“It was ugly, really ugly, but we’ll take it,” said QB Geno Smith.

Then on Sunday night, the surely disappointed Lions played like their hair was on fire, came from behind to grab a lead, picked off Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers down the stretch, and knocked off the Pack 20-16.

How about that insane hook-and-ladder play at the end as Detroit kept the ball on its final drive?

“We knew the situation (being eliminated from the postseason) during pregame warmups,” said Lions coach Dan Campbell, “but it didn’t matter.

“The guys came in wanting to prove something, and they got it done.”

Meantime, the Seahawks — and thousands of fans — celebrated the Detroit victory at watch parties all over the Northwest.

Wild!

ZAGS …

Mark Few has insisted that his team does not have the same “margin for error” as Gonzaga has enjoyed over the past several seasons, and he wasn’t kidding.

On their first conference road trip, the Zags absolutely STOLE a game at San Francisco, looking nothing but ordinary, getting outhustled, and trailing all the way — until Rasir Bolton went crazy in the final five minutes.

Bolton has been kind of quiet so far this year, but he exploded on the Hilltop, hitting four 3-pointers and converting a follow shot with seven seconds left to seal a 77-75 miracle.

How fortunate was Gonzaga?

All-Everything dominator Drew Timme scored just 11 points on 3-for-16 shooting from the floor.

Two nights later, the Zags had to come from 14 down at Santa Clara — owing an 81-76 victory almost entirely to Nolan Hickman.

Say what?

Yep, Hickman suddenly looked like one of the country’s best point guards (no joke), ran the offense brilliantly, scored 20 points and knocked down the late 3-pointer that finished off the Broncos.

There’s plenty more to discuss about the Zags and how things look going forward, and we’ll get to all of that in the next few days.

For now, though …

Whew!

WAZZU …

The Cougs opened a two-game swing through the desert with a 77-71 defeat at Arizona State, thus falling to 6-10 overall and 1-4 in the Pac-12.

WSU already had lost at least a half-dozen close games to everyone from Prairie View to UCLA, and it looked like Kyle Smith’s gang just didn’t quite know how to win.

So, of course …

They turned up in Tucson on Saturday, led from start to finish and promptly dispatched fifth-ranked Arizona, 74-61.

It was Wazzu’s first road win against a top-five team since …

EVER!

Cougs post man Mouhamed Gueye (24 points, 14 boards) totally schooled the Cats’ previously powerful Oumar Ballo, and WSU tossed in 3-pointers from everywhere.

When Arizona made one final run, even the 6-10 Gueye went out and banged a corner 3-ball to wrap it up.

“I looked up with about a minute and a half left, and the crowd was leaving,” Smith said with a laugh.

“I had to go: ‘Focus! Focus!’“

Thus …

Perhaps those close losses weren’t a mirage, after all.

Smith is building something solid, and the Cougs could be a tough out the rest of the way.

MARINERS …

Yo, Jerry Dipoto knows how to dust off the checkbook for a free-agent hitter, after all.

Seattle has agreed on a one-year, $7 million deal with 35-year-old A.J. Pollock, a very decent left fielder with a solid hitting history.

The signing makes a lot of sense, since the Mariners really want to give young and talented prospects Jarred Kelenic and/or Taylor Trammell (both left-handed hitters) a shot to prove they can hit big-league pitching on a regular basis.

Kelenic and Trammell have shown promise, but they’ve been overmatched at times — particularly facing left-handed pitchers.

However …

Pollock is a right-hander who has blistered lefties almost his entire career — and his tenure with the Dodgers from 2019-21 has given him the taste of winning on almost a daily basis.

Although he had a bit of a down year in 2022 — slashing .245/.282/.681 with 14 homers — those numbers came in his first and only year with the White Sox.

Pollock played almost every day last season (489 at-bats), so he didn’t get to feast mostly on left-handers — a luxury he should enjoy in Seattle.
 He’s got a decent track history against all pitching, as well, with 11-year numbers of .276/.332/.801.

The addition of Pollock gives the Mariners a chance to stick with their young guys’ development in left, while providing a veteran safety net.

More on the Mariners’ overall outlook later this week, as well, with spring training edging ever closer.

Still …

Glad to know they hadn’t locked up the safe.

Email: [email protected]

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”