A Grip on Sports: What does August hold? The rest of the Olympics, baseball at all levels and then, thankfully, college football’s return

A GRIP ON SPORTS • What does August hold for us? Besides heat, smoke and a sprinkle or two? On this first day of the last full month of summer, we know there are more Olympic medals to come, sure. And college football games as the month winds down. In between? Baseball. And more baseball.

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• Have you ever been around a herd of elephants? We haven’t. Not outside of a wild animal park. But we’ve read – we do a lot of that instead of, you know, actually experiencing – when one is a around, other animals get out of the way.

Which brings us to the Olympics. The elephant in the world athletic room.

Over the first 11 days of August, finishing just in time for us to celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary, ever other major sport is content to stay out of the way. Why pop your head up when it will just be crushed in Leon Marchand’s wake?

We get it. The only counter programming that will even gather something of an audience is baseball related, from the MLB games that fill our evening hours to Little League regionals, which will dominate ESPN this weekend.

The time difference with Paris has allowed us to keep up with the Mariners. It is up to you to decide if that is a good or bad thing. At about 4 p.m. Wednesday, we were firmly in the “my-goodness-this-is-awful” camp. Such are the vagaries of a 162-game, more-than-half-the-year season. But considering Seattle’s team – after the M’s win we often refer to them as the Northwest’s team – is still in first place in the American League West, we really shouldn’t complain much.

Besides, after the Olympics leave Paris, put Los Angeles on the 2028 clock and NBC goes back to infomercials in the morning, August will seem dull, won’t it?

Thankfully, our obsession with organized youth sports has gifted us with a bunch of 11- and 12-year-olds playing baseball in rural Pennsylvania. The Little League World Series, ESPN’s late-summer extravaganza, begins Aug. 14. Eleven days later we find out which group of preteens is the best baseball team in the world. At least in the world of Little League.

The games from Williamsport act as a bridge of sorts this year. Spanning the gap from the Olympics until college football begins Aug. 24. There may not be any marquee games – Florida State at Georgia Tech? Please – that first weekend but at least there are a trio of games featuring Mountain West schools, allowing Washington State (and Oregon State) fans a preview of this season’s foes.

The season of change gets going in earnest the last weekend of the month, with such top nonconference matchups – for now – as Clemson at Georgia, Miami at Florida, Notre Dame at Texas A&M and USC vs. LSU in Las Vegas.

From there we don’t have long to wait until those outstanding conference rivalry games such as California at Florida State, Colorado at Central Florida and UCLA at Rutgers. What joy.

• Isn’t it funny football was king in conference realignment but Olympic sports have ascended the social media throne for the Power 4 folks this week? And they are all claiming the medals won by Pac-12 athletes?

Take Marchand, for example. He swam in this year’s NCAA meet for men’s champ Arizona State. Of the Pac-12. After it ended he turned pro. And now he’s winning medals, as well as hearts, for France in Paris. Oh, and for the Big 12.

Wait, what? No way. Next thing you’ll tell us, the ACC is claiming Katie Ledecky, who graduated from Stanford in 2020. You know, when the Cardinal lost the chance to win a fourth consecutive NCAA women’s title due to the pandemic.

• There are battles for gold medals going on each day in Paris. But there are other peripheral races as well. No, not medal count or conference supremacy (see above). We’re talking about PGA player of the year votes.

There are two contenders: World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, winner of six tournaments and the Masters, and No. 3 Xander Schauffele, who won the PGA Championship and last month’s British Open. If either wins the gold medal, we’re sure it will have a major impact on the end-of-year voting. After Thursday’s first round at Le Golf National, defending gold medalist Schauffele has an advantage, as he was in second place, 6-under, two strokes back. Scheffler, who played earlier, shot a 4-under 67 and is four strokes back of leader Hideki Matsuyama of Japan.

But wait. Once the Olympics end, the duo must jet back to the States, as the FedEx Cup Playoffs begin Aug. 15 at Castle Pines Golf Club south of Denver. The end-of-season race to Eastlake is another event on the August schedule.

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WSU: Practice has started. The preseason camp is underway. Before you know it, school will be in session. As if that matters anymore. Anyway, Greg Woods was up bright and early Wednesday to document the first workout of the new Pac-12. We’re guessing, due to experience, the vibe was not much different from the old Pac-12 one. The Cougars are going to be the Cougars no matter who they play. … The Olympics’ main event, track and field, begins today. Former Washington State hurdler CJ Allen has to wait until Monday to begin his attempt at winning the most-stacked race in the competition, the men’s 400-meter hurdles. John Blanchette, one of the best track writers in the country, has this preview. … Elsewhere in the (new and old) Pac-12, the Mountain West and the nation, the 10 departing schools are still, officially, on the conference rolls today. Tomorrow? They scatter to the winds. … The lone holdout with the Cougars? Oregon State, which opened preseason camp Wednesday in Corvallis. The Beavers have a new look at head coach and with the roster but expect big things. … The Jedd Fisch Era began at Washington on Wednesday with the first practice of training camp. We’ll have to wait a while to see if it is more like the Don James or the Tyrone Whittingham eras. … The Oregonian’s number series continues, with No. 31 for Oregon State and Oregon. … The Ducks are experienced and deep. Dan Lanning’s preseason camp reflects that. … California opened its first camp as a member of the ACC. … Stanford did the same a few miles southwest. … Colorado has a new defensive coordinator and a new look. … Defense is all that is on Utah coach-in-waiting Morgan Scalley’s mind. … DeShaun Foster is able to laugh at himself. That bodes well for UCLA’s first-year coach. … Size matters up front defensively, something USC is aware of acutely. … Arizona State has an up-and-coming defensive lineman. … Arizona is smartly taking it easy with its stars. … Utah athletes make up the main part of Canada’s 3x3 women’s team. … Around the Mountain West, who will Utah State call on to be its permanent football coach? The Aggies have a lot of other questions to answer as well. … Boise State has a tradition of special team standouts. … Wyoming’s first practice included some offseason momentum. … Recruiting never stops, not for Hawaii anyway. … There might be more room for visiting fans at San Diego State home games this season. … New Mexico has an opening for an assistant athletic director. … UNLV has high hopes for this season. … Colorado State has important position decisions to figure out.

Gonzaga: The women’s basketball team will play New Mexico this season.

EWU: Former Eastern star pass rusher Samson Ebukam, coming off his best NFL season, reportedly tore his Achilles at Colts’ training camp and will miss the season. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana and Montana State each have a Buck Buchanan Award nominee. … The denizens of the Bobcats’ running back room are pulling for each other. … A former UNC football player is part of the school’s latest Hall of Fame class. … Northern Arizona opened camp Wednesday. … Cal Poly and Portland State start today. … In basketball news, Matt Logie had a different pace this summer for Montana State.

Idaho: The Vandals opened preseason camp with new faces dotting the roster. Peter Harriman tells us in this story who stood out in Moscow.

Indians: Spokane had a chance to once again walk-off Hillsboro in bottom the ninth Wednesday. But the rally was derailed and the Hops held on 3-2. Dave Nichols was at Avista Stadium and has this story. … Elsewhere in the Northwest League, Tri-City held off host Vancouver 5-4. … Everett routed visiting Eugene 16-9.

Spike & Dig: The summer volleyball tournament returns this weekend with the most teams and players ever. Considering the outdoor event was founded in 1992, that’s saying something. Alexandria Osborne has this preview.

Olympics: Women’s sports are having another moment in these Olympics, with the bronze medal-winning U.S. women’s rugby squad the pacesetter around these parts. Virginia Carr and Claire Lyle talked with local folks about it. … Steve Kerr has brought load management from the NBA to the Games, hasn’t he? He gave Joel Embid the game off as the U.S. matched up with outside-orientated South Sudan, relying on wings and guards more. It worked, with a 103-86 blowout win in a rematch of a recent one-point exhibition. … We mentioned Ledecky before. And yes, the ACC claimed her dominating 1,500 freestyle gold medal-winning race. Of the 20 best times ever in the event, including the world and yesterday’s Olympic record, Ledecky holds, checks notes, all of them. … The women’s all-around finals in gymnastics highlight today’s schedule. … After a terrible World Cup and a coaching change, the U.S. women’s soccer team looks quite a bit different. … Our favorite story of the day? Maybe it’s because we still have Olympic dreams – only when we are asleep – but it’s this one by Jerry Brewer.

Mariners: Mistakes were made. By the players and manager Scott Servais. Injuries played a part as well. Bottom line? The M’s fell 3-2 in 10 innings to Boston and head home tied for first with the Astros. … George Kirby paid tribute yesterday to the recently passed Tim Wakefield by throwing a knuckleball as his first pitch in Fenway Park.

Seahawks: Though Geno Smith had yesterday off, he and Riq Woolen have stood out the first week of camp. … Tyler Lockett. Veteran player. Not an old man. … Russell Wilson has another chance to start anew.

Reign: This isn’t the same Seattle team we’ve seen for years. Not even close. The Reign closed out their Summer Cup experience with a shutout loss against Portland. Small consolation award? The Thorns’ Summer Cup run is over too.

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• The first round of the men’s Olympic golf competition seemed slow. Turns out, it was due to thunderstorms. We don’t have the final scores to pass along. Sorry, we can’t tell you how Kristoffer Ventura finished. For all you Norwegian golf fans out there, we apologize. Until later …