A GRIP ON SPORTS • Isn’t it amazing how quickly the abnormal becomes the normal? Just last week all we could think about was the Seahawks opening training camp and the dawn of a new NFL season. Now it already seems to be akin to an old helmet, beat up, marked and smelly. Read on.

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• By the way, every time I type the word “abnormal,” I think back to Abby Normal, that famous old scientist portrayed by Peter “The Brain” Boyle in “Young Frankenstein.” And yes, that is my favorite Mel Brooks movie, mainly because Mel Brooks never appears on screen. But I digress, even if the NFL is the 7-and-a-half-foot monster of professional sports. The Hawks aren’t even a week into preseason camp and already the routine seems to have set in. Everyone covers what happens on the field and give their impressions of it. Everyone writes features on players who are in the spotlight consistently or those who we hardly know. Everyone shares notes and tidbits from what’s going on around camp. It’s the same every season. Which is probably why it becomes so familiar so quickly. The names change but the stories rarely do. The same will happen next week as all of our local college teams settle into their routine of fall camps. The really funny part about that is each of them have settled into a hierarchy as well. Out at Eastern, the Eagles will once again do their drills and prep for the season with an eye on a Big Sky championship, maybe even another national championship. But before those things happen they will be trying to defeat a Pac-12 school early in the season. Just like the past few years. Down in Pullman the Cougars set their sights on respectability, defined in their part of the Palouse as a season that includes enough wins to participate in a bowl game. That has been the goal for more than a decade, and a goal that has proved elusive most seasons. Across the way in Moscow, respectability has a different definition. A bowl game seems like a fever dream, so the Vandals open camp just hoping for more wins than the year before. So this season the goal is two wins – though three or four would be better. And, hopefully, no canceled games. That would also be nice. Seems like a routine goal, doesn’t it, but one UI wasn’t able to meet last year thanks to a hurricane and a game scheduled in Florida. Whatever, by this time next week we’ll be clamoring for the games to start, that preseason camp seems “boring.” How easily – and quickly – Abby Normal becomes Randy Routine.

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• WSU: You know what’s not all that normal? A day with only a couple WSU-related links. We can pass along a season preview from Salt Lake, a Ted Miller piece on the Pac-12 and, most interestingly, Jon Wilner’s thoughts on Larry Scott and the conference’s media landscape.

• Gonzaga: The golf fundraiser for the Community Cancer Fund at the Coeur d’Alene resort seems to have been another huge success. Jim Meehan has this story on the event, which is one of the ways Mark and Marcy Few give back to the community.

• Idaho: Paul Petrino will begin his third season as the Vandals’ football coach Wednesday. He spoke with Sean Kramer and the media yesterday, leading to this blog post and Sean’s story in today’s paper. ... Former women's coach Mike Divilbiss came under some criticism in a recent report on Illinois basketball.

• Indians: The all-star game between the Northwest League and the Pioneer League is tonight at Avista Stadium. Chris Derrick has an advance and a blog post with more.

• Preps: Greg Lee’s weekly youth notebook wraps up the girls’ side of the summer basketball season, along with other items

• Seahawks: About the most interesting thing to come out of Hawks’ camp yesterday were the details of Bobby Wagner’s contract. It isn’t front-loaded as re most of the Seattle contracts the past few years. The big money is on the back end. ... Jimmy Graham (pictured) seems to be off to a strong start and his presence may just change the Seattle offense a bit. ... The defense and its new coordinator are getting to know each other. ... There are probably more questions on the offensive line than anywhere else. ... Well, thanks to Kam Chancellor’s holdout, there might be more in the secondary. ... Ricardo Lockette is trying to put the Super Bowl play in the past. The other Lockett in camp just wants to show off his skills. ... Of all the distractions at camp, Marshawn Lynch isn’t one of them.

• Mariners: Remember the date. Aug. 3, 2015. The day Ketel Marte played his first game in centerfield. If he becomes the next Adam Jones, you’ll want to remember it fondly. If he becomes the next Jeremy Reed, you’ll want to cite it and say, “what were they thinking?” ... Remember, too, the M’s won the game 8-7, though the ninth inning was a rough one and Felix Hernandez almost didn’t get his 13th win of the season. ... For a long time we’ve heard Jesus Montero is a Triple-A hitter. So maybe the teams the M’s have faced recently have Triple-A pitching?

• Sounders: Obafemi Martins may return this week from injury, but it’s still doubtful. ... No matter what, the Sounders need to get better at defending set pieces. ... Don’t expect the next CBA to be as owner-friendly. ... Seattle is a trailblazer among MLS teams when it comes to the use of analytics.

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• As you may not know due to (lack of) age or a faulty movie education, Peter Boyle played the monster in Young Frankenstein. The monster with the abnormal brain. There is a connection between the late Mr. Boyle and my father that I will share someday. Until later ...

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