Grip on Sports: There is a lot to look forward to and we’re not just talking about summer vacation

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Thursday is probably the best day of the week to look ahead. After all, the weekend sits just over the Friday hill. So let’s do that. Let’s look ahead. All the way to the fall. There will be some special times. Literally. Read on.

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• So special, in fact, not only will you have to wait until September to experience them, but when they get here, you’ll have to wait all day.

You see, the Pac-12 announced a bunch of the starting times (and TV assignments) for some early season football game and, if you are a Washington State fan, early isn’t the right word to use.

We now know the time of five of WSU’s first seven games. Four of them will begin at 7:30 p.m. So at least a third of the Cougar games in the 2017 season will finish sometime after 10:30.

Three of the four late-early contests (or is it early-late?) are home games, so U.S. Highway 195 will again be crowded until 1 or 2 in the morning.

And, as a special added attraction, the USC game, one of those 7:30 p.m. starts, is on a Friday night in the middle of high school football season.

If you have a child playing on Sept. 29, you probably will have to miss the Trojans when they make one of their rare appearances in the Palouse, led by possible No. 1 NFL draft pick, quarterback Sam Darnold.

That’s OK. No one ever saw O.J. play in Pullman either.

• And no one has ever accused Nike of being, well, understated. Excess moves product, right?

So it should come as no surprise the basketball tournament put together to celebrate Nike founder Phil Knight’s 80th birthday – appropriately named the PK80 – will feature an over-the top field.

That we’ve known for a while. What we found out yesterday is who is matched up with whom in the 16-team, two-division tournament over Thanksgiving weekend in Portland.

Gonzaga drew a perfect first-round opponent: A Power Five school down on its luck a bit. Ohio State has deep basketball roots, is part of one of the best conferences and should struggle this season after a poor year and huge roster churn.

Still, a win over the Buckeyes on Thanksgiving night will resonate nationally with the casual fan, no matter what their record is.

Waiting in the next round of the “Motion” bracket will probably be a rematch with one of last year’s holiday tournament opponents, Florida. Get past the Gators and then there is a good chance Duke looms in the final.

No matter what, the tournament, which also includes North Carolina, Michigan State, Oregon, Connecticut and Stanford, will be three days of excess.

• James Paxton is back. And it was like he never left.

After nearly a month on the disabled list, the left-handed starter returned to the Safeco bump last night and handcuffed the Colorado Rockies.

More importantly, the M’s won their fourth consecutive game and continued their Sisyphus-like trek to the top of Mount .500.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if we looked back at this four-game, two-city series against the Rockies and realized it turned around two teams’ seasons?

Colorado entered the fray atop the National League West. The M’s were at the bottom of the American League West. Now the Rockies are looking up at the Dodgers. And, if the M’s win today, they will have put together their best five-game stretch of the season, pulling closer to that elusive break-even mark.

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WSU: Jacob Thorpe is all over the football scheduling announcement, with his story accompanied by the Cougar schedule. The time of the Nevada home game Sept. 23, the Oct. 7 Oregon road game and the five games after the Oct. 13 game at California won’t be known until a week or two before kickoff. … Athlon has a look at the Cougars’ upcoming season. … The football scheduling dominated the conversation around the Pac-12, not only at Washington State. The Huskies’ four announced games all start after 5 p.m. Wasn’t there some sort of initiative to limit late games? Sorry, I must have dreamed that up. … Arizona has a handful of late start times as well, but the Wildcats want them early in the season due to the desert heat. … Arizona State’s football season could include some surprises. … The Sun Devil basketball team is headed to Europe. … The women’s softball World Series opens today with three Pac-12 schools. Two of them, Washington and Oregon, face each other in the first round. UCLA is also in the eight-team field.

Gonzaga: Jim Meehan has the PK80 schedule covered with this story. … Bud Withers also has a piece about the tournament on his blog. … Speaking of the PK80, rebuilding Oregon will be a part of it. … There is a lot more Gonzaga basketball news, but the most fun piece is Kyle Wiltjer’s recent statements on GU fans. And the Kentucky fans. They are causing a bit of a storm in Wildcat country. … ESPN takes a look at three of last year’s Final Four participants, including the Zags. … WSU basketball fans may recognize the name of the BYU baseball coach, and not fondly. Mike Littlewood has the Cougars back in the NCAA tournament, fulfilling a promise he made to the man who hired him. BYU kicks off the tourney today at Stanford against Cal State Fullerton. The Cardinal have Sacramento State. … Oregon’s bid for consecutive NCAA golf titles came up short. … Oregon State is in the market for a new track coach.

Chiefs: Another day, another player signing for Spokane.

Preps: The spring all-league list is long, what with all the sports that compete in the final third of the school year. We have them and I’m guessing there is a name or two you will recognize.

Mariners: The M’s continue to win and Dave Nichols continues to put together the Mariners Log. And we continue to add the links to the bottom in the morning.

Seahawks: The Hawks are in the midst of their OTAs, but little news is forthcoming as they are not open to the media yet. … Seattle signed a couple of players, including one with WSU ties. It also cut a popular running back. … ESPN has decided to get away from substance, cutting ties with most of its true journalists, while emphasizing flash. The latest name to surface as getting the ax? John Clayton, one of the better NFL reporters.

Sounders: With their stars gone and a bunch of players lame, Seattle had nothing in the tank for last night’s match in Columbus. The Crew dominated and won 3-0. … Clint Dempsey is the leader of U.S. soccer these days.

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• By the time you get off work today we will know how the Mariners fared. Will they sweep the Rockies and keep the momentum going? Baseball in the afternoon. Nice. Now how about football joining in? Until later …