A GRIP ON SPORTS • The TV was on last night, but that wasn’t what was keeping my attention. Instead, I was glued to the iPad as social media blew up with more reports of New England “cheating.” Read on.

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• If you read either the ESPN or Sports Illustrated reports on the New England Patriots fast-and-loose regard for the NFL’s rules, you probably expected the franchise to be humble and meek in the league’s opening-night game. And you might have expected the logistical people to make sure everything worked just right in front of a national television audience. Ha. If you expected that, you haven’t learned anything about Bill Belichick and the Pats – or their fans. It’s pretty obvious by now the Pats like to “bend” the rules. There is more smoke around the team than in Spokane late last month, so must be at least some fire. But its fans, led by deposed ESPN talking head Bill Simmons, aren’t giving an inch. They don’t believe their team can do anything wrong. They think the NFL is out to get them. And they feel Roger Goodell is a buffoon. OK, that last one isn’t just their feeling. Still, how many fanbases would taunt Goodell as the Pats’ fans did last night? "Where is Roger" indeed. Hopefully he was holed up with his investigators, Inspector Clouseau and Max Smart, trying to get to the truth of the allegations contained in this week’s media reports. Or he was in charge of last night’s radio system. Seems, “somehow,” the frequencies got crossed between the teams. Jeez, don’t you think, after all the stuff that splattered against the fan this week, the Pats’ game management folks would have made sure everything worked right, that there was no whiff of duplicity? With most teams, sure. But with the Patriots and Belichick, I’m guessing it was done on purpose. “You think we cheat, then deal with this,” they may have said, followed by a bad word that will be heard about every 12 seconds in the new Whitey Bulger movie. He was a Boston gangster, wasn’t he? A guy who got away with pulling the wool over the authorities’ eyes for years and years? Interesting. He finally got his comeuppance after years of taunting the powers that be, but it took seemingly forever and a change of leadership at the FBI to get it done. It’s funny, but the New England fans taunting of Goodell might be what brings the entire Pats’ enterprise down. The league looked weak last night and that’s on Goodell. The brand is being tarnished from within. That could hurt the bottom line. And that’s the only sin big enough to force a change. A new commissioner may just feel he has to go all Judge Landis on rule-breakers. We’re not talking just the piddling stuff, like under-inflated footballs (though that’s just another example of a mindset), but the other, more insidious actions that affect competitive balance, all detailed in the two stories. A new guy in the commissioner’s chair may not be Robert Kraft’s buddy. He (or she, as Condoleezza Rice seems to want the job) may think he or she has to make his or her bones by ferreting out any rule-breaking. Then, maybe, the New England fans will have something to really chant about.

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• WSU: The Cougars are in the Garden State to face Rutgers tomorrow (a 12:30 p.m. kickoff around here). Jacob Thorpe will be there but before then he has a story on a receiver that hurt the Cougars last season as well as a morning post with links. We’ll add some more links but before we get to those we also need to point out the Pac-12 released its basketball times and television networks yesterday. Jacob covered WSU’s game with this blog post and story. ... Mike Leach’s big contract and small number of wins doesn’t sit well with John McGrath. ... This is the second consecutive year Rutgers and WSU have met, though the Scarlett Knights wouldn’t come to Pullman last season. Two teams playing a home-and-home is getting rarer, so when it happens, it needs to be praised. ... If you are looking for help with your picks, here are some to peruse. ... California’s offense is better because its players are better. ... Stanford’s defense just needed to reload.

• EWU: A week after dealing with one of the better FBS schools on the road, the Eagles face a talented FCS squad – on the road. Northern Iowa will test the EWU defense. The guy in charge of that group is new this season in one sense. But, as Jim Allen’s story explains, he’s been around a long time. ... Jake Rodgers was cut by the Falcons last week but he’s still looking for an NFL shot. Jim has more in this story. ... Jim also held a live chat yesterday, has a blog post with information on Northern Iowa and has a morning post with links. ... Portland State follows up its big upset of WSU with a key game at Idaho State. The Vikings are contemplating the program’s future. ... The Missouri Valley and the Big Sky conference are meeting more and more often. ... The Eagles’ four-match volleyball winning streak ended last night against Florida.

• Whitworth: The Pirates open their season by hosting Southern California’s Whittier College, alma mater of a former president. Tom Clouse has an advance.

• Chiefs: Spokane won its first preseason game and they did it against hated Portland in the Tri-Cities.

• Preps: The two games at Albi last night featured a lot of scoring, but only by three teams. In the opener Mt. Spokane got past Eastmont 41-34. Greg Lee has the story. In the nightcap Mead routed Southridge 39-7. Greg also has that story. ... GNL volleyball opened league play last night, with Cheney earning a big win.

• Seahawks: Poor Kris Richards. He earns his first chance to be a defensive coordinator and one of his better players holds out. Though his uniform may have been on the practice field yesterday, Kam Chancellor wasn’t and won’t be. ... Earl Thomas will be though. ... Who is going to win in the NFL? Who knows. ... The Times has a guide for fans.

• Mariners: Another game, another shutout by the M’s. This time it was Felix Hernandez, which is a lot more expected. Felix went eight scoreless innings in the M’s 5-0 win over Texas. ... Nelson Cruz returned to the lineup and hit his 40th home run. ... Does Lloyd McClendon deserve another year at the helm of the M's?

• Sounders: Sigi Schmid rejoined the team yesterday, wouldn’t discuss what his health issues were and said he won’t be traveling to this weekend’s match with San Jose.

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• With the University of Idaho playing at USC tomorrow, I am filling in for Dennis Patchin on 700 ESPN. You can listen here if you like. Keith Osso, Rick Lukens and I will be on between 3 and 6 p.m. Until then ...

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