THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: 'I am a reporter. I am not a cat'

Yep, it’s time for our weekly notes and quotes, but first…

A lot of you may remember the more famous member of our household, Sammie the World’s Greatest Cat.

Or as she’s more commonly known, Sammie TWGC.

OK, on Tuesday I was hooked into the Zoom media call with Washington State basketball boss Kyle Smith.

If you’ve done some Zoom events — which have been hard to avoid in the Covid era — you know that most participants appear via video in a little box.

When a coach or athlete is available to take questions, the host (someone from the university communications department), calls on reporters in turn — so that everyone can get involved.

Anyhow, I hit the “Raise Hand” button on my laptop screen, curious enough to ask Coach Smith about the ups and downs of playing so many freshmen.

At that exact moment, naturally Sammie TWGC decided she wanted some face time.

So, she jumped into my lap and put her whiskers right up in front of the computer screen.

Sammie still knows how to wow an audience.

Right, moving along…

ITEM: It was no shock that quite a few readers weighed in with their own opinions after my sermon on who might be (and who shouldn’t be) considered a GOAT.

For instance, reader Joe Flinn offered this take…

“The sport of rodeo has individuals who would easily make your list of athletes.

“George Paul rode 79 bulls in a row. No bull rider before or since could even get a sniff of this remarkable achievement.

“Donnie Gay won eight world champion bull riding titles. Most likely that record will stand for a long time, or even forever.”

Good shout, Joe.

Honestly, I’d also like to identify some of the more famous bulls — and that’s not a joke.

I had been thinking about four-legged athletes, in any case.

The great Secretariat comes to mind, arguably the most dominant thoroughbred racer in the history of horse racing.

But there are more sports and athletes that we haven’t touched yet, and some are legends.

More to come on this, no doubt.

ITEM: No need to panic.

Despite all the hoopla, Russell Wilson isn’t going anywhere.

Sure, he dropped some hints over the past couple of weeks, suggesting that the Seahawks need to get him better protection — a fair request — and also that he’d like to have more input into team decisions.

Russell’s health is the big issue.

Wilson has been sacked 394 times in his nine years with the Seahawks, including 47 last season.

Besides the fact that it’s no fun to have giant people chasing you with the intention of inflicting serious harm, Wilson has struggled to keep the Seattle offense moving at times.

So, yes…

The offensive line needs some retooling, with a long look at center Ethan Pocic and left guard Mike Iupati.

The Seahawks haven’t gotten a ton of production from the tight end spot, either in blocking or receiving.

Still, we can start with the fact that Wilson isn’t headed out of town.

Let me borrow a line from another organization here, and quote Packers CEO Mark Murphy — when he was asked whether Green Bay might let Aaron Rodgers simply move on.

Murphy said no, and added: “We’re not morons.”

Neither are the Seahawks.

Not only would Seattle come up short in trying to find a replacement for Wilson, the team would also take a $39 million dead cap hit for 2021 if Russ were traded.

In other words, it makes no sense in terms of cap space or putting the best possible team on the field.

It’s an awful lot easier to find blockers it is than to go hunting for Hall of Fame quarterbacks.

ITEM: You Gonzaga junkies absolutely want to grab the March issue of Sports Illustrated.

It’ll be available for public sale on Feb. 23, and a few Zags are the cover stars.

Along with a huge title that says: “The Program,” there is a neat posed photo of Coach Mark Few along with Corey Kispert, Drew Timme, Jalen Suggs and Joel Ayayi.

The copy lays out the timeline of Gonzaga’s success story (plenty of which you know already), adding interviews with Adam Morrison and Casey Calvary, among others.

Morrison compares Suggs to Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal, and Calvary puts Suggs’ recruitment in unique perspective.

“[Suggs is] here for a year. He’s gonna go pro, but he picked Gonzaga to help him make that transition,” Calvary said.

The matter of future recruiting also is addressed, with a focus on Gonzaga’s bigger and better targets.

SI’s entire package makes it clear that Gonzaga is no longer a Cinderella story.

The Zags are now big boys on the block.

Email: [email protected]

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. “Moments, Memories and Madness,” his reminiscences from several decades as a sports journalist, runs each Sunday.

Steve also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball which is published each Tuesday.