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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

A Grip on Sports: Maybe a red field mirrored in the athletic department’s ledgers is not the best choice for Eastern

Eastern Washington quarterback Eric Barriere has given Eagles fans many reasons to cheer during Saturday games at Roos Field.  (Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review)

A GRIP ON SPORTS • As we deal with the penultimate May weekend, what do we have to show for it? The Mariners are sick, though not in a metaphorical way. And a budget doctor may be needed for the Eastern Washington University athletic department.

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• Let’s start with the second subject first. EWU Interim President David May announced his recommendation yesterday for Eagle athletics. It was expected. And well covered by Greg Mason in this story.

What May is going to sell the Board of Trustees is a stripped-down version of Eagle sports, one that remains a football-laying FCS member but has fewer sports (more than likely), less overhead (if that is possible) and a smaller budget (certainly).

How much more Eastern can pare from its athletic department is a question we’ve asked for years. After all, there are just five men’s sports listed on the department’s website now, with two of them, cross country and track, using some of the same athletes. But don’t despair. There are seven women’s sports.

How does that compare to the other powers in the Big Sky? Montana has the same five men’s sports but eight women’s (the Griz play softball). Montana State still offers skiing for both genders, along with five other men’s sports and six women’s. Weber State? Six and eight sports, respectively. Portland State? Five and eight.

In other words, Eastern doesn’t have a lot of fat to slice, if any. As John Blanchette points out in his column this morning, the Eagles don’t have a spending problem. They have a revenue problem. It’s something the report the school commissioned from The PICTOR Group, designed to help guide this decision, identified as well.

The bottom line about the Eagles’ bottom line? If Eastern athletics wants to continue to being, well, Eastern athletics, more money has to be found somewhere. And that somewhere probably isn’t going to be the administration offices. It has to be from the community. And by community, we mean people everywhere that say they support Eagle athletics. To keep it at a level those folks can be proud of, there will have to be more financial buy-in.

We’re not sure that will ever happen.

• Just like we’re not sure everyone on the Mariners’ roster will ever consent to receiving the COVID-19 vaccination.

That hesitation finally bit the M’s in the bullpen this week, as four relievers are out due to either having the virus and/or being in close contact with whoever does. That can’t help a team that is struggling to stay above .500 and keep their season relevant. Again.

We could laugh. We could just say “Mariners,” shake our head and everyone else would laugh too. The franchise is a joke in a lot of ways. But this isn’t a laughing matter. Not when the world is trying to overcome a sickness that has shut it down for more than a year. Make that two sicknesses.

One is the coronavirus. Millions around the world have died. Millions more were close. Others have dealt with long-term impacts. Others were sick, awfully sick. And millions either sailed through or didn’t get sick at all, coloring the view of the disease for millions of others.

But it’s the other sickness, that of a lack of trust, that is infecting the Mariners (and many others) now. The inability to have faith in the medical and scientific community has undermined vaccination efforts in all walks of life, more so in some regions of the world than others. But everyone pays a price.

Including the Mariners and their fans.

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WSU: Around the Pac-12 and college sports, everyone seems to have questions about the upcoming changeover in the conference office. … The NCAA softball tournament is underway and the conference struggled in some ways last night. Washington, UCLA and Arizona won. Arizona State was eliminated while Stanford and Oregon dropped into loser-out play. … Oregon is figuring out its offensive line starters. … UCLA has a lot of experience in that area. … Utah is using the transfer portal often.

Gonzaga: Mark Few has decided who will replace Tommy Lloyd on his basketball coaching staff. It’s Tommy Lloyd Jr. No, just kidding. It’s the next best thing, Stephen Gentry, the former Zag walk-on who has come up through the assistant coaching ranks at schools such as Baylor and Illinois. Jim Meehan has more on the hire in this story. … The baseball team continues to roll, defeating USF 3-2 last night.

EWU: As we mentioned above, Greg has a story on Eastern’s athletic decision and John weighs in with his thoughts. … That news overshadowed a hire yesterday. The Eagles have picked former Seattle U. assistant Joddie Gleason as their new women’s basketball coach. Ryan Collingwood has that story. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, a former Mead High basketball player is leaving Montana. … Weber State football coach Jay Hill is happy there was a football season, even in the spring. … The Wildcats added a player to their basketball roster.

Preps: Dave Nichols put together a roundup of GSL basketball action last night. … Before that, however, he spoke with Larry Weir for the latest Press Box podcast.

Indians: Dave was also at Avista to witness Spokane lose to Everett for the first time this week, 8-6, snapping a three-game winning streak.

Shock: Spokane is in Boston to face the Pirates in IFL action tonight. Ryan has a preview.

Mariners: Though the region’s attention might be on the four relief pitchers quarantined in San Diego’s Omni Hotel, the host Padres didn’t care. They pounded any pitcher Seattle put on the mound en route to a 16-1 win. … Some folks with computers did care and shared their thoughts. … The 20,000 major league player debuted last night and, probably fittingly considering how many catchers they have used in their history, it was a Mariner backup catcher. And no, the M’s haven’t signed Jacob Nottingham 20,000 times. It just seems that way.

Seahawks: DK Metcalf had some things to say. … So did Bob Condotta as he answered questions. … The draft class, as small as it was, is all under contract.

Sounders: Nico Loderio is out with another injury and won’t be back for a few more weeks.

Storm: Mercedes Russell is back with the team.

Golf: Phil Mickelson became the first 50-plus player since Sam Snead in 1966 to lead the PGA at its halfway point. He’s tied with Louis Oosthuizen, with Brooks Koepka lurking a stroke behind.

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• I’m not sure I ever enjoyed watching golf more than I did yesterday. Part of it (a big part) was the company, as my son joined me for much of the day. Part of it was the tough conditions, which made a bunch of great players look something akin to my buddies. And part of it was knowing I was totally wrong about Patrick Reed, who made the cut on the number. If he wins now it will be a miracle. Until later …