The Front Row with MARK NELKE Jan. 6, 2011

So now that we are six days into 2011 and we’re down to, what, only 15 more bowl games left, it’s time for 5A Inland Empire League boys basketball play to start heating up.

Coeur d’Alene (7-3, 1-0 5A IEL) got things started with a 53-44 victory at Lewiston on Tuesday.

Lake City (9-2) opens league play on Friday, hosting Coeur d’Alene in the annual Fight for the Fish game at 7:30 p.m. (The girls’ Fish game between the two schools is scheduled for 5:45 p.m.)

It’s the 13th spirit competition between the two city rivals. Coeur d’Alene won the Fish last year, and Lake City has won the Fish seven out of 12 times.

And the most dominant team of the three local squads, defending state 5A champion Post Falls (9-0), opens league play Saturday at Lewiston, then plays host to Lake City on Tuesday and travels to Coeur d’Alene on Jan. 14.

Only two of Post Falls’ wins have come by less than 12 points — an 86-83 triple-overtime victory at Hermiston (Ore.), and a 72-67 home win over Ferris of Spokane. The Trojans’ average margin of victory thus far has been 15.9 points.

I SPENT a little time in western Washington over the holidays.

Other than the fact they still don’t know quite what to make of snow — how to function in it, what to do when it turns to ice — it was interesting to observe their take on Washington’s victory over Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl.

Depending on who you watched, heard or read, you would have thought the Huskies’ 19-7 victory signaled a return to glory for the U-Dub.

OK, so it was a decisive victory, and quite the turnaround from the 56-21 drubbing the Cornhuskers laid on the Huskies in September in Seattle. But what did Nebraska have to prove after being forced to play somebody in a bowl game that they already played in the regular season?

But then again, that’s not the Huskies’ problem. Their problem is they head into next season without their best player the past four seasons, Jake Locker, as they try to build on their first bowl appearance since 2002. Remember, they had to win their last three regular season games, including a last-minute win at Washington State, just to make it to a bowl. And the win over Nebraska gave them a final record of 7-6.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s good for Northwest football when the Huskies are good. As it is now, Oregon is outstanding, the Huskies and Oregon State are fringe bowl teams, and WSU is showing signs of life.

But U-Dub has a little more work to do before it can be compared to the good ol’ days under Don James.

AS FOR the Seahawks, I was not surprised to see them beat the Rams last week to win the NFC West and make the playoffs — albeit it with a 7-9 record. Seattle played aggressively, the Qwest Field crowd was a factor, and the Rams appeared to play timid. They threw shorter and shorter passes as the game went on, dropped any long passes that were thrown, and seemed to forget that Steven Jackson is a pretty powerful runner.

And if the Saints play that way on Saturday, the defending Super Bowl champs will march right back to New Orleans with a loss — and it wouldn’t matter if the Seahawks trot out Charlie Whitehurst or Matt Hasselbeck at quarterback. Or even Rick Mirer.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via e-mail at mnelke@cdapress.com.