A Grip on Sports: No matter how much we are certain certainty is beautiful, we face its ugly counterpart every day in these parts

A GRIP ON SPORTS • We hate uncertainty. It’s part of our personality, we guess, described by Sigmund Freud more than a century ago. But it’s also part of being a sports fan. Win or lose, we all yearn to know what’s going to happen, even though the best part of being a fan is not knowing. It’s a conundrum, alright.

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• Uncertainty may not be native to the Northwest but it certainly has become an invasive species. And it’s almost impossible to eradicate. Want an example? How about a trio of them?

The M’s: If you are a Yankee or Dodger or, heck, even a Tampa Bay fan, you have some certainty. Same with the Pirates and A’s and Royals these days, albeit from the opposite perspective. From the first pitch in March, you know your team is going to be good – or bad. Just about every year.

M’s fans had that for two decades. Not anymore. About the only certainty this season is the team won’t be able to get a clutch hit when needed. Case in point, Julio Rodriguez.

After he chased a breaking ball well off the plate last night, striking out to end the game with the tying run in scoring position, veteran sports writer Larry Stone shared this tidbit on Twitter (or X, we’re not certain which we should use): Rodriguez has come to the plate nine times in the ninth inning or later this season “with the tying or go-ahead run in scoring position.” Each time he has made an out, six of those times striking out.

Which may just disprove today’s thesis. He’s been consistent. Consistently poor.

The Pac-12: Will it or will it not survive? Will it or will it not make a bold move? Two questions more than likely so intertwined as to be handcuffed together. The problem is, the conference’s CEOs have consistently been unable to do the latter.

Sorry to beat the drum so often on this, but even the much-reviled Larry Scott knew about a dozen years ago the conference needed to violate the old conference rulebook if it wanted to survive. Yet he couldn’t get enough support from the ivory towers to entice Texas (and five other Big 12 schools) to join. One move, giving the school the freedom to own its personal sports network, would have certainly changed how the past dozen years have unfolded. And given the West Coast’s flagship conference a future. It was too controversial back then, at least to the CEOs. So have a bunch of other moves in the ensuing years that could have gone a long way toward positioning the conference for long-term viability. But they were too radical.

Allowing the Longhorns a stand-alone network didn’t happen. But the Pac-12 Networks did. Fair trade? Stop laughing. As Bongo said, mistakes were made. And the conference’s future is uncertain.

Seahawks: We were certain the Hawks would be awful last season. The defense had shed its identity and its most revered player, Bobby Wagner. The offense would be without Russell Wilson. The coach was way too old to connect with the modern player. Disaster was just around the corner.

The playoffs? No chance.

A year later, after the emergence of Geno Smith, a rebuilt offensive line, some offseason moves to shore up the defense, including bringing Wagner back and, yes, a playoff appearance, we are certain Seattle is even better than it was back in 2021. And last year.

But there is no way to be certain they’ll be successful. It’s maddening. Why can’t we follow a team like the Packers or Rams or Patriots instead? What’s that you say? Those teams are in disarray? There is little chance any of them will be successful this season?

Are you certain?

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WSU: There is too much uncertainty – hey, that word again – swirling around the Cougars right now. Greg Woods tries to crystal ball their future but its darn near impossible. But this much is certain, unless the Pac-12 stays together, Washington State’s outlook is not good. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, two folks who have been following such things intently for years take another stab at playing Nostrad, Nost-something, ah heck, that guy who predict stuff centuries ago. Jon Wilner does it through a mailbag in the Mercury News. John Canzano does it on his blog with a couple columns. … Another view from Colorado’s point of view. … Hey, football news. We pass along this story on an Oregon State assistant to keep an eye on. … It doesn’t seem as if the conference uncertainty is hurting Utah’s recruiting. … USC is trying to rebuild its offensive line again. … UCLA has a few questions as training camp opens. … Arizona State added several FCS transfers. … The running back room at Colorado is pretty packed. … Is the offense at Arizona good enough?

Gonzaga: An NBA future seems like a longshot for Malachi Smith. But don’t count him out. As Theo Lawson tells us, he’s been counted out way too many times for such opinions to matter to the WCC’s best sixth-man last season. … The series between GU and San Diego State is a rarity these days. Two top-tier schools playing a home-and-home.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Montana has lost a tight end to injury for the season.

Preps: When she played at Lewis and Clark High, it was easy to see Briann January was a coach on the floor. Now she’s a coach on the bench. In the WNBA. And, as she was as a player, she is really good at it.

Indians: The losing streak ended last night in Eugene. Dave Nichols has this story on the 8-4 victory.

Seahawks: Drew Lock is comfortable in his role for Seattle.

Mariners: We covered the ninth-inning failures (Jose Caballero also struck out with the tying run at third and one out) in the 4-3 defeat above. We didn’t delve into Bryan Woo’s five-inning outing that was notable in that for the first time he did not strike anyone out. … Ryan Divish looks at the M’s trading options as the deadline nears. … There is little certainty the management of this franchise will make the right moves in the next few days.

Storm: Jewel Lloyd is just playing at a different level these days. A record-breaking level.

Sounders: The task is simple, if not easy. For Seattle to advance to the Leagues Cup’s knockout stage, it must defeat C.F. Monterey by three goals today. Good luck with that.

Golf: The Community Cancer Fund’s biggest golf fundraiser was once again scored an eagle Saturday at the Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course. A lot of them, in fact. Jim Meehan was there to document the golf, sure, but also the fund-raising.

UFC: Michael Chiesa’s comeback fight ended quickly, with a first-round tap-out against Kevin Holland at UFC 291. The question now is where does Chiesa go now.

Soccer: The Evergreen Premier League title will reside in Spokane once again. The Shadow defeated Yakima 4-0 on Saturday to win their third league championship.

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• We’re headed to the movies. You can rule out Barbie. We’re not the correct demographic, though Kim owned one back in the day. She probably used it to help diagram basketball sets. “OK, Barbie you post on the left block. Army-man guy with the radio, you screen for Mr. Potato Head and come off G.I. Joe’s flare screen …” It’s either going to be Oppenheimer or Tom Cruise’s latest epic. With popcorn and a drink. We’re suckers for overpriced snacks. Until later …