A Grip on Sports: So who is the better dad? Mine, who taught me to love the Dodgers, or myself, who allowed my sons to root for the Mariners?

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s Father’s Day again. Did you know it began in Spokane? (That’s a joke aimed at the local readers, who have been bombarded with that news nugget their entire lives.) So what is the hallmark of a Spokane-bred holiday? Comparisons.

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• Just about every father compares himself to one man. Yep, his dad. No matter how many years you are into this fatherhood thing – we are more than three decades – the comparisons still come up once in a while. Even in sports. We thought we would sit down today and compare our results with our father’s, an exercise that won’t compare athletic results but the relationship between father and son. Strap in and come along for the ride.

• Baseball

My dad: Praise wasn’t my dad’s way of teaching. He loved me but like many of his generation, he struggled to show it. But there was one time he did it exactly right. It was after a Little League game, one in which I had screwed up and we had lost. I was inconsolable, which wasn’t hard because he really didn’t do well at that consoling thing. But he tried. And hit a home run. He stopped the car in front of our house. Made me stop crying. Look at him. And then he told me what he thought of my abilities. How he thought, if I applied myself, I had a chance to play in the big leagues. He knew that was my goal and he highlighted my strengths and avoided my weaknesses. It was the perfect panacea. At that point in my life, my father was the smartest baseball person I knew. If he thought I could do it, then I could, crappy play that day be damned. I never felt closer to him. Spoiler alert: He was wrong about my potential but oh so right about what I needed at that point in my life. And, as the coup de grace, he instilled in me a lifetime love of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who win all the time.

Me: My sons both played baseball. One lived and breathed it. The other did it, I’m sure, because it was important to me. It was so much easier to dedicate time to the former and I did, to the detriment of the latter. My bad. If there were a chance to do all this over again I would grab it with both hands and never let go. And I would not let them become Mariner fans. Heck, if they wanted to root for the Giants, I would not stand in their way. Yes, being a Mariner fan is that bad.

Edge: My dad.

• Basketball

My dad: One fact. My father shot his free throws underhanded. With his fingers interlaced. Enough said. The only thing he taught me about hoops was how to entice a carpenter friend over to the house – he bribed him using Budweiser – to put up a hoop on the garage roof. Though even that lesson is tainted, as the backboard was never level.

Me: If you ask my boys which sport they enjoyed playing as kids, I’m sure they would tell you it was this one. The feel they were well coached, they learned a lot and had a lot of fun. They speak about it so often these days, it’s part of the reason I’m still coaching. If I didn’t screw up my own kids, I figure I’m pretty good with others.

Edge: Me

• Soccer

My dad: Soccer? What’s that?

Me: My oldest was a goalkeeper growing up. On a good team. So the action was minimal for most matches. Still, I would haul out the lawn chair and sit there as often as possible to watch him lean against a goal post for an hour or so. My soccer parent memory is an hour or so of complete boredom intertwined with five seconds or so of sheer terror. Sort of like an M. Night Shyamalan movie. Luckily, there were not many shocking twist endings.

Edge: Me

• Golf

My dad: Playing golf with my dad back in the day was a lot like a major league baseball game these days. There were a lot of swings and misses and long walks toward the right. Oh, and cussing. That was the educational part. But I give my dad credit. When I wanted to start playing he not only bought me clubs but also lessons. And I couldn’t play until the lessons were done. Smart. To this day when I am having trouble grooving my swing – every day on the course – I use those lessons to screw myself up even more.

Me: The pattern my father followed actually passed down a generation. When Ty wanted to start playing, it was lessons first, playing rounds second. Lots of lessons. And now he plays lots of rounds. Just not that many with me. I get it. Who wants to hear a cranky old man complain for four hours? If that is your thing, find a job at a retirement home and get paid for it.

Edge: My dad.

• Tennis

My dad: Stan Smith once won Wimbledon. My dad once put together a youth tennis tournament that Smith, who grew up within spitting distance of us, won. That’s the extent of my dad’s connection to tennis. Well, he did tell me about that youth tournament about 1.7 million times, so we had that connection as well.

Me: Kim and I bought really nice tennis rackets a few years back. My youngest borrowed them to play with his girlfriend, now his wife. They still have them. That’s worth some dad points, right?

Edge: Draw

• Football

My dad: I last played football in eighth grade. Got the crap kicked out of me just about every game. I was a too slow, too small offensive lineman. My dad had been a star. A punishing tackler, a vicious fullback. I know because I saw the newspaper clippings. Did he push me to play football? Nope. And for that, I am forever grateful.

Me: Only my youngest wanted to play football. Well, that doesn’t really describe his desire. He loved the game. Loved the contact. Loved the challenge. Loved his teammates. Whatever he needed, I went out of my way to help supply, even helping to coach his youth team, fulfilling the only role I was qualified for, monitoring substitutions. I believe, however, my newspaper role at that time, high school sports editor, ruined any chances Jack had to play. I wasn’t well liked and you’ll never convince me one coach didn’t take that out on my son. In that regard, I failed him.

Edge: My dad.

• Final score

Let’s see. The way I count it up, pops wins 3-2 with one draw. I hope he’s celebrating in heaven with a cold adult beverage or something. Having me for a son, he earned it.

Happy Father’s Day everyone.

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WSU: Around the Pac-12 and college sports, it wasn’t a good day for the conference at the college World Series. Stanford was bombarded by North Carolina State 10-4 in a game that ended on an immaterial, but awful, umpiring decision. And Arizona lost 6-5 to Vanderbilt in an exciting 12-inning battle. … In basketball, Gonzaga transfer Oumar Ballo is already impressing Arizona alumni. … On the football side of things, will playoff expansion help Colorado and others? … Finally, a former Colorado runner made the U.S. Olympic team in his first year after leaving school.

EWU: Two former Lewis and Clark Tiger players will reunite next season at Eastern, playing for new women’s basketball coach Joddie Gleason. Ryan Collingwood has this story on Jacinta Buckley and Andie Zylak will take the court together for the first time in a few years. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, are there too many football teams in the conference? … Yes, it is Father’s Day. So we pass along a Father’s Day story from Montana.

Preps: There were high school basketball games yesterday in Washington. Dave Nichols has a roundup of all the action. It has to be over, right?

Indians: Baseball has always been a game that unites fathers and sons, right? So does it come as any surprise the Father’s Day story we are touting has to do with the Spokane Indians, a player and his father? Nope. Don’t miss Dave’s long piece on Aaron Schunk and his dad Eric. And don’t forget to check out James Snook’s photos of Eric’s sketch pad. … In the game Saturday night, Spokane broke a scoreless tie in the 10th and won 2-1 win over Tri-City in Pasco. Dave has that coverage as well.

Shock: The fans were back, Spokane’s offense couldn’t be stopped and the Shock routed Northern Arizona, 63-37 before 3,500 at the Arena. Ryan was there and he has this game story. … Dan Pelle was also in attendance and he wrangled together this photo gallery. … Around the IFL, the Arizona Rattlers defeated New Mexico and Tucson fell to the Massachusetts Pirates at home.

Mariners: The M’s 6-5, 10-inning win over Tampa Bay was a good one for shortstop J.P. Crawford. We saw his first-inning grand slam but were in bed by the time he scored the game winner on a Mitch Haniger single. … Questions? Ryan Divish has some answers. … Juneteenth was a big hit among the M’s.

Seahawks: Everyone seems all-in with the new offense. That seems, at this point, to even include that old Marvel super hero Mr. Balance, aka Pete Carroll.

Sounders: A penalty kick gave the Galaxy a one-goal lead but that doesn’t seem to bother Seattle this season. The Sounders scored twice and earned a 2-1 decision in Los Angeles. They still have the MLS’ best record. … The Timbers also rallied from down a goal to defeat Sporting Kansas City 2-1 in Portland.

Golf: Before we get to the “major” news (puns are fun), we want to share Jim Meehan’s weekly column. He spoke with Jessica Lenihan, the Hayden Lake Country Club assistant superintendent who worked the recent U.S. Women’s Open. … They call Saturday “moving day” around the Tour but about the only real movement made at the U.S. Open yesterday was 48-year-old Richard Bland falling out of contention. Actually, though, a bunch of big names did move into the fray, which should make today a little more fun. … The guy in charge did some caddying Saturday.

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• Yesterday was fun, albeit warm. We hiked the trail that runs on the north side of the Little Spokane River, showing my older sister a side of Spokane she had never seen. We picnicked in a park – after mentioning Boo Boo in this space yesterday, I was a bit worried he might visit – and then we finished up with a milkshake from Fatburger. The way we figure it, our calorie count evened out. Until later …