Rivalries are fun until we’re the someone who gets hurt
A GRIP ON SPORTS
Rivalries are fun. Except when your rival is head-and-shoulders more successful than your team. Then rivalries are sad. Crying in your diet soda sad. Read on.
• Honestly, the only time I've ever really rooted for the St. Louis Cardinals was when my former teammate, Todd Worrell, was their closer. That was a long time ago and it didn't last long. But I've been rooting for the Cardinals – hard – all week. It hasn't done much good. See, the Cards are playing the Giants and, well, you know. The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that. There are only a few things in life I hate: Brussels sprouts, sprinkles on doughnuts and the Giants are all on my short list, with the last one way above the others. A vegetable and a candy are easily avoidable but San Francisco? Lately, in even-numbered years, not so much. The Giants won the World Series in 2010. They won it again in 2012. And they may just win again this year. Really? What have I done that was so awful that the Giants continue to win titles and the team of my youth, the Dodgers, and the team of my old age, the Mariners, continue to flounder in mediocrity? I treat animals well, I say grace before most every meal and I floss at least twice a day. I've covered my bases. All I really want is for the Giants to finish their season before the Dodgers. Heck, I know there is no chance the M's will do better than the guys in orange and black, so I don't even ask for that. Just let San Francisco go down before the boys in blue, please. But no. There are the Giants, playing baseball the way I enjoy, with defense, pitching, solid fundamentals at the plate, you know, the way the game is supposed to be played. I only have one hope now. Another solid, fundamentally sound team, the Kansas City Royals. But even that hope is a jab to the heart. Ever look at the Royals' home uniforms (pictured above)? Look familiar? Yep, they are almost a perfect imitation of the Dodgers' unis. That's supposed to be the sincerest form of flattery but all it really does is mock us Dodger fans. Our team has a Yankee for a manager, an overpaid, over-hyped outfield and bunch of guys who think hitting behind the runner is something for sissies. The under-paid, under-appreciated, unknown Royals run and leap and fly about like the early '60s Dodgers, playing a brand of baseball thought to be extinct. A brand of baseball the guys in the real Dodger uniforms should be playing. Talk about irony. Oh, and you can add one more thing to my list. I hate October.
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• WSU: The Cougars were back on the practice field yesterday and Jacob Thorpe was there. He put together this practice report afterward but that was just part of his busy Wednesday. He held a live chat on the blog, passed along the news Connor Halliday (pictured) is now on the Maxwell Award watch list and gave out grades for the Stanford game. And he made his picks in the paper. ... Today he has his usual morning post with links. ... ESPN.com's Pac-12 blog has its midweek mailbag. ... The conference is at the halfway point and we haven't really figured anything out.
• EWU: Jim Allen has his Big Sky notebook today, with most of it centered round Eastern.
• Chiefs: It seems as if Seattle is the only team Spokane is playing right now. It's also fine with the Chiefs, who won last night 4-1 at the Arena. Chris Derrick was there and has this story and blog post. ... Jesse Tinsley was also in the house and has the photographs. ... The Americans were quiet at the overage deadline.
• Preps: As usual on Thursday, we have a handful of high school stories to pass along, from a roundup of Wednesday's action to the Prep Page stories. But before we get to those, we also have Jim Allen's coverage of a GSL girls' soccer match while Greg Lee was at Idaho's 5A Region I title match, won by Lake City over rival Coeur d'Alene. ... Greg also has a feature on a University running back, senior Bryce Williamson (pictured). ... And Greg's column concerns the football aspect of the Cd'A/Lake City rivalry. ... Greg and Sam Adams make their picks of the week. ... Finally, Bill Pierce checks in with his prep almanac.
• Seahawks: After a poor offensive performance against the Cowboys, and some animated conversations on the sidelines, the Hawks' offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell had some explaining to do. He did it. So did Doug Baldwin, who was the animated guy. ... Pete Carroll spoke as well yesterday but his news was even more somber. It was about injuries. Middle linebacker Bobby Wagner (pictured) isn't going to play this week and may not for a few more weeks. That's not good. Without him, it will be hard for the defense to return to form. ... Carroll did lighten up the mood some when he spoke about an Australian rugby star trying to make the NFL. ... The Rams will offer more of a challenge than their record would indicate. They always do. ... Michael Robinson has some questions about the Hawks' offense.
• Mariners: Taijuan Walker is still considered one of the best minor league prospects in the game.
• Sounders: Coach Sigi Schmid explains why a USL team is important to the Sounders. ... The MLS commissioner isn't happy with the U.S. Men's National Team coach – and he said so. ... Power rankings are such a cliché. ... San Jose fired its coach and hired Houston's.
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• Another day, another list of chores to get done. I'm starting to think a full-time job has some advantages over this retirement thing. Until later ...
