A GRIP ON SPORTS • There is only one professional all-star game that is worth spit, isn't there? Of course, it is the one that we miss the most often. Read on.

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• Baseball's all-star game has one thing going for it no other all-star game has: history. People like Hank Aaron and Sandy Koufax rubbing shoulders with Mike Trout and Felix Hernandez. The past, the present and the future seem to live together at the same moment. There is nothing cooler. But baseball's all-star game has something that works against it: timing. It is always in the middle of July. For years, I had to program the VCR to capture the game due to a loaded fastpitch schedule that always seemed to put our team in a game that Tuesday night. But really, summer nights are tough to give up in the Spokane area (we will regret losing them sometime around February), so just getting inside at 5 to watch is a chore even now, in what I call my post-athletic era. Last night it was impossible to get to the game because of travel responsibilities, which made me sad. After all, who wants to miss the game that decides which league has home-field advantage in the World Series? OK, I'm laughing on the inside. That's not why anyone watches the game, is it? It's for seeing what Trout might do – he won he's second consecutive MVP award in the A.L.'s 6-3 win – or how Hernandez will throw or even what Willie Mays might look like. Remember the year Ted Williams was honored at Fenway? If you didn't tear up over that you don't have a nostalgic bone in your body. Well, last night Koufax, the best pitcher in baseball in the early 1960s, threw out the first pitch to Bench, the best catcher in baseball in the 1970s – and probably ever. Talk about history. And my wheelhouse. I had a poster of Bench on my wall as a kid. (Also one of Pete Rose diving into home plate – or a casino, I'm not sure which – and one of Bill Freehan, another catcher I admired, as well as Brooks Robinson.) I collected Koufax's 76 Union cards – a Southern California giveaway back in the day – and guarded them like the gold in Fort Knox. I can imagine there are kids out there today who feel the same way about Trout and Hernandez and Clayton Kershaw. That's baseball. The past is always connected to the present. And the all-star game is the conduit. Even if you can't always see it.

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• WSU: Rod Jensen spent a year with Ken Bone in Pullman. Then he was out of a job. Now Jensen returns, taking a spot on June Daugherty's women's basketball staff. He replaces the affable Brian Holsinger, who has resigned. ... ESPN.com's Pac-12 blog takes a look at the special teams in the North. WSU doesn't fare too well.

• Shock: There is some finality to the Shock's incident in Las Vegas. Tom Clouse has the story.

• Indians: The Indians didn't have a game last night but that doesn't mean there isn't anything to pass along. Chris Derrick has a feature and a blog post on Connor McKay (pictured at right), whose baseball career has had a few setbacks.

• Golf: The Rosauers Open Invitational is back at Indian Canyon this year. And that makes everyone happy. Jim Meehan has an advance of the tournament.

• Mariners: The M's two all-star representatives, Hernandez and Nelson Cruz, had short nights. ... Cruz was glad he didn't participate in the home run derby. He thought the new format looked too grueling. ... The M's have had some great all-star moments. ... Are the M's in the market for a veteran bullpen arm? ... Speaking of history (and we were), the Mariners' Fab Four turned out to be Edgar Martinez, Ichiro, Felix and, of course, Ken Griffey, Jr.

• Sounders: The newest Sounder, midfielder Erik Friberg is working to get into shape. He also met the media yesterday after training. Remember, Friberg played for Seattle before. .... The Sounders know they need another goal-scoring option. ... Who are the best teams in the MLS? ... Real Salt Lake is in the U.S. Open Cup semis after a 1-0 win over the L.A. Galaxy.

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• In Southern California this week, and the weather is about as close to perfect as you can get. It doesn't matter all that much, though, as we will be in gyms much of the week. Until later ...

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