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THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Zags are North Idaho's team, too

| April 4, 2021 1:30 AM

If the road destruction is finally complete by then, and things go as the locals hope on Monday night, Hamilton might be a good place to start the (socially distanced) championship parade later this week.

Hamilton, Montana.

OK, maybe not that far away.

But certainly not, say, Hamilton Street in Spokane, which runs along the edge of the Gonzaga University campus.

That's too close.

WITH ALL due respect to the local TV station with the catchy slogan "Our town, our team, our time," the Zags belong to more than just Spokane.

They are North Idaho's team as well — from as far north as Bonners Ferry to south to Lewiston and beyond.

There are plenty of "Go Zags" signs and Zags fans on this side of the border.

Even looking through the obituaries in recent years has told us that, but there's still plenty of Zag fans among the living.

We are reminded of that whenever one of their games is not televised by one of the "normal" channels, and a reader or two calls us needing a little help finding the channel.

EVERY YEAR during the West Coast Conference tournament, Las Vegas is dubbed "Spo-Vegas" for the thousands of Spokane fans who make the pilgrimage to Vegas, and take over the Orleans Arena to root on the Zag men (and women).

And I'm sure the good folks of the Lilac City do just that.

But in reality, many fans throughout the Inland Northwest also make that trip. But "InNo-Vegas" isn't quite as catchy.

For example, we hear plenty of stories of Vegas being the site where the retired and near-retired in the Sandpoint area convene each year to catch up.

And it's got to be ditto for Coeur d'Alene. And the Silver Valley. A Valley resident, back in Indianapolis watching the Zags in the NCAAs, was recently interviewed by a Spokane TV station, back there looking for Zag fans from the region.

Besides, where do the Zags go for relaxation and team building?

Yep, North Idaho.

North Idaho has supported the Spokane teams for years — the Shock, the Indians, the Chiefs — as well as the Zags. It's just that getting an actual ticket to a Zags home game is a little bit tougher get.

But those fans are still out there.

So if the Zags indeed capture their first national championship on Monday night in Indy, rest assured that the cheers back home will be heard far beyond eastern Washington's largest city.

Maybe even as far away as Hamilton, Montana.

And we promise to do our best not to set any furniture on fire.

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