A Grip on Sports: No matter what the calendar says, spring in the sports world has sprung upon us
A GRIP ON SPORTS • There was baseball on my television yesterday. The sun was streaming in the window at an odd angle. I think I saw a bud on one of my trees. You know what that all means, right? It’s nearly spring.
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• As an English major, I spent four years of college reading poets extolling the regenerative powers of spring as it pertains to love. As Shelley might have said, malarkey.
OK, it may well be true. When you get to be, I don’t know, older than 25, it really doesn’t matter anyway. What does matter is the regenerative powers of spring as it pertains to sports.
What other season has everything? The three major sports all flourish in spring. Hey, who in the back just yelled out “there’s no football?” What, you haven’t been watching the XFL? And you’re not going to be glued to your TV for the NFL combine and the draft? Football plays a big role in spring, circa 2020 and we’re here to celebrate it like everyone else.
Basketball has leaked so far into spring these days the NBA doesn’t finish until summer. At least it seems like it.
And baseball. Oh the odes to baseball and spring I’ve read over the years. It’s almost as if Cupid shot one of his arrows into Grantland Rice’s behind back in the day, spreading the love of the game like some virus from Asia – and ensuring 100 years of writing about the sound of the bat, the smell of the grass and the banging of the trash can.
But spring is more than that when it comes to sports. There is golf – look, flowers in bloom in Georgia – and tennis and auto racing and volleyball and pickle ball and on and on and on.
Spring is the season of renewal, for sure. And you better renew all your cable and streaming subscriptions or you’ll miss out on being able to speak intelligently at the water cooler next Monday – or the modern equivalent, Twitter.
Wait, what? Spring is still more than three weeks away? To quote Byron, malarkey. The calendar doesn’t matter anymore. It’s all about the state of mind. If the sun is shining, the temperature hits 50 and the dog is happy to sit on the deck all afternoon, spring has arrived.
Besides, the M’s are on a two-game losing streak. What says spring better than that?
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Gonzaga: So we were wrong. What a surprise. The Zags only fell one spot, to third, in the Associated Press poll. Jim Meehan has all the numbers concerning GU’s recent polling and rankings. … He also spoke with Larry Weir for the latest Press Box pod. … Jim Allen has the same for the women, who moved back up to 11th nationally. … Elsewhere in the WCC, not only is BYU moving up the rankings, the Cougars are earning an entertaining reputation.
WSU: Around the Pac-12, we watched one game on TV last night, Oregon’s win at Stanford. Sabrina Ionescu set a standard that may never be equaled and did it on a day in which she also spoke at Kobe Bryant’s public memorial. … Besides the Ducks, who will win the conference title, the women are still trying to figure out their seeding. … Who will win the men’s title? That’s still not determined. But Arizona State has the inside track. However, UCLA looms this week. … Arizona always has a challenge or two on the Los Angeles trip. … Taking a charge was dangerous for one Utah player. … In football news, Washington quarterback Jacob Eason is an enigma to NFL scouts. … A Utah player will go through the combine, then have shoulder surgery. … Dennis Erickson is going into Oregon State’s Athletic Hall of Fame. … Maybe Karl Dorrell will end up in Colorado’s some day. He was introduced as the school’s new football coach yesterday. … Arizona State started spring football yesterday with a revamped coaching staff.
Idaho: As his senior season winds down, Trevon Allen took some time to talk with Peter Harriman about his Vandal career.
Preps: We can pass along a roundup of Idaho boys basketball action from Monday.
Mariners: J.P. Crawford is expected to be the M’s shortstop for the next decade. He’s trying to build a foundation for that. … The final score yesterday? It was 16-12 in the Cubs’ favor. Does anything scream “spring training” more than that?
Seahawks: What may the Hawks be looking for this weekend at the combine? … There will be new drills. … Greg Olsen made it official yesterday, signing his Seattle contract.
Sounders: If Seattle wins the Champions League, it may attract some casual fans. But it won’t make or break the franchise.
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• We wrote about spring and sports today. John Blanchette wrote about overused sports phrases. Welcome to the virtual world’s Muppet Show balcony. Call me Waldorf. Until later …