Housing Zag students, and other stuff

NOTES AND quotes while wondering what David Perlman is doing these days.

Perlman was a colleague of sorts, a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. He left the paper three years ago, saying he was looking for “other projects and challenges.”

Thing is, he was 97 at the time — and just turned 100.

I hope he hasn’t applied to be our Cheap Seats columnist.

The Press might be tempted by his loyalty, since he spent 77 years at the Chronicle.

Moving along…

YIKES: Gonzaga has a problem.

The visit by North Carolina on Dec. 18 will be one of the biggest games in Zags history — at least at The Kennel.

Unfortunately, all on-campus housing will be closed for the Christmas break when the Tar Heels arrive — meaning students who want to cram in to see the game and go nuts won’t have a place to stay.

Everyone but upperclassmen (who are allowed to live off campus) will be homeless for three days.

Care to house a Zag just before Christmas?

HMMM: Speaking of the Zags, they are fresh from beating Michigan State 103-87 in a closed scrimmage held in Denver.

The Spartans are loaded and are ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press preseason poll. The Zags are ranked eighth.

Better yet, Gonzaga pulled it off without Killian Tillie, who is still rehabbing from minor knee surgery.

However…

The Zags handled the Spartans in a closed scrimmage last year, too.

A few months later, Gonzaga was knocked out of the NCAA tournament by Texas Tech in an Elite Eight game.

Michigan State reached the Final Four — then also lost to Texas Tech.

Maybe the only lesson here is that the Zags have the athletes to compete with anybody.

I’ll take that.

BOO: Remember when Carli Lloyd was the darling of women’s soccer in America?

Lloyd was the leading scorer as the U.S. won the World Cup in 2015, but she was relegated to the bench in all but one game as the ladies defended their title in France this summer — with Megan Rapinoe taking center stage.

Now we find out that Carli was ticked about it.

“There’s no denying it,” Lloyd told ESPN. “I deserved to be on that field that whole World Cup, but I wasn’t.

“It sucked. It absolutely sucked.”

Lloyd said not getting a prime-time role affected her relationships with her husband and her friends.

My advice: Go see a therapist, Carli.

HOPE: You’ve probably read or heard that the Mariners are now the only team in MLB that has never reached the World Series.

The Nationals made that official when they swept St. Louis to earn a date with Houston.

Two things to note here…

First, Seattle saw first-hand what kind of talent it takes to win a World Series (2017) and then advance to another one.

The M’s were 1-18 against Houston this year.

The second item is a little better: Depending on which publication you check, the Mariners’ minor league system is now ranked anywhere from second to sixth in baseball.

GM Jerry Dipoto’s step-back plan could bear serious fruit a couple of seasons down the road — the proper reward for trading most of his best players (and their fat contracts) for legitimate prospects.

And by the way, the only player Dipoto discarded who’s eligible to appear in this World Series is Washington reliever Roenis Elias.

Elias and Hunter Strickland were shipped to the Nats on July 31 for three minor leaguers, including lefty Taylor Guilbeau.

Guilbeau shot up through the M’s system and appeared in five games for Seattle.

He’s definitely part of the Mariners’ future plans.

Nice work, Jerry.

MISSING: Now that another version of the XFL has returned and the Seattle Dragons are part of it, I admit I’m disappointed.

Where is the famous “He Hate Me”?

That was the name on the back of Rod Smart’s jersey when he played for the Las Vegas Outlaws.

I think an XFL team should sign “He Hate Me,” even if the guy is now 42 years old.

Oh, and did you know that Rod Smart went on to be a regular kick returner for the Carolina Panthers, took one kickoff back 100 yards and played in the Super Bowl.

I’ll tell you Smart’s reason for the “He Hate Me” name some other time.

But damn, it was a great idea.

*****

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Steve also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball once monthly during the offseason. The weekly edition will begin Nov. 5.