THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: A few holiday gift ideas in the sporting world

TO WASHINGTON STATE FOOTBALL, a coach who sticks around longer than one year. 

Maybe that’s just the lay of the land these days for programs like this. But loyal Coug fans deserve better. 

Guess it could be worse. Some programs are where coaches go and see their careers die. 

A PARADE. 

It could be for the lovable Zags. 

It could be for the Mariners. 

It could even be for the Seahawks. 

The lovables have, what, NINE starters? Yes, the Zags got destroyed by Michigan but have been otherwise impressive. Besides, the NCAAs are a six-round crapshoot, and the “best” team can get bumped off at any time, and often does. 

You could have made a case for a parade this past season for the Mariners, who should have beaten the Blue Jays, who should have beaten the Dodgers. 

There’s no clear favorite in the NFL this year. The team that is usually penciled in as the favorite won’t even make the postseason. And last year’s champs have been a bit shaky. Some of this year’s “top” teams are more like pretenders — they haven’t done it at this level in a while. 

That leaves the NFC West, where you could make a case for any of the three teams. 

The 49ers are nowhere near as strong as they have been, but they are finding ways to win games — and the team that deprived them of two Super Bowls in the past six seasons won’t even be in it. 

Of the three, the Rams have actually won a Super Bowl recently (2021). L.A. has the offensive firepower — but the Rams are also capable of gagging away a game, as was the case Thursday night. 

The Seahawks are reaping the benefits after finally moving on from the old head coach. They are still capable of playing a stinker of a game — but also have the talent to find a way to win said stinker game. 

MORE THAN ONE berth to state for 6A high school teams in North Idaho. 

Or at least, a chance at a second berth. 

It’s a numbers game, I know, in Idaho high school athletics — the more teams in your district, the more berths to state. 

And the north, with fewer schools and spread across six classifications, has fewer teams in its districts. 

The debate came up a few years ago, when District 5 (southeastern Idaho) in 5A boys basketball had three strong teams, but only one could qualify for the eight-team state tournament. 

Up here, since Lewiston dropped down a division in 2024, the 6As are down to three teams — Coeur d’Alene, Lake City and  Post Falls. 

This year, since Post Falls played down a division in boys and girls soccer for the second straight year, 6A District 1 didn’t even get a full berth to state. The district champ had to play a state play-in game, and both boys and girls district champs from the north lost. 

In basketball, only one team will make it to state — there is no state play-in from the north. 

That’s a shame, but them’s the rules. 

The good news — there’s talk of either expanding the state tournaments to 12 teams, or creating more play-in games, or using MaxPreps ranking to determine the at-large berths after the district champs are penciled in. 

That won’t help this year, but ...

It might make a nice Christmas present soon. 

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.