A Grip on Sports: Surprises abound, in a good way, this weekend on the Seattle pro sports scene

A GRIP ON SPORTS • In the spirit of the Olympics, we decided to remodel a cliché today concerning the Seahawks. They dodged an arrow Friday. Geno Smith’s knee passed all its medical tests. The collective sighs of relief in the Northwest could power a dozen Vantage-area wind turbines.

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• Depth is a thing, right? In every sport. Most especially football, though. Violent collision sport. Big, fast men hitting other big, fast men a hundred times a game. Quarterbacks, despite the NFL’s rules meant to protect them, are in the bullseye. Which means the backup at the position is probably going to have to be called upon at least once or twice a year.

This year’s Seahawk backup is Sam Howell, who started a few games for the Washington Football Team (our preferred nickname of the trio the franchise has used in the past decade), is in that role for Seattle. He had an opportunity to treat the last few practices as prep for his seemingly inevitable fill-in assignment between now and January. The consensus?

Thank goodness Smith is healthy.

That’s not unusual. Probably even preferable to the alternative, a nasty who-should-start argument pitting two evenly matched alternatives – “Alexa, please Google, Steelers, Pittsburgh, 2024 preseason camp, quarterbacks” – that leaves the fanbase in a rage.

Still, the goal is to have a No. 1 quarterback. And a 1A, not a 2. It’s one of those goals that happen about as often as the men’s U.S. National Soccer team scores.

• It wasn’t that long ago when even the impotent USMNT was outscoring the Mariners on a consistent basis. Then Jerry Dipoto and his front office made a couple pre-deadline trades. And, actually, seem to have mined a few hidden nuggets.

The most surprising of the incoming trio is Victor Robles, who never reached his potential in the other Washington. Once hyped as the Nationals’ top prospect – even with Juan Soto rising through the organization – Robles flamed out in D.C., unable to overcome poor hitting, poor defense and poor baserunning.

Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy his play?

But, after a shaky start, Robles has been everything the M’s needed since arriving as a free agent June 4. (Fed up with some boneheaded mistakes, the Nationals cut him and ate the rest of his contract.) Whether he’s been in left or filling in for the injured Julio Rodriguez in center, he’s been OK-to-stellar in the field. Since moving into J.P. Crawford’s lead-off spot, he’s been red-hot, continuing that trend last night when he ambushed Tyler Phillips’ first pitch and gave Seattle a 1-0 lead en route to a 10-2 victory. And he’s been near-perfect on the basepaths, though asking his sore hip to swipe second Friday with the Mariners leading 4-0 was probably not the best choice. In his 34 games for Seattle, Robles is slashing .367/.425/.557. That’s good.

And he’s added a fire to the clubhouse. Not a Bill Caudill-type fire. An emotional one. Again, he’s filling in for Rodriguez in that regard.

The other two pickups? Two veterans with track records. Randy Arozarena has quietly put together a .318/.464/.500 slash line in six games with the Mariners. There might be even more in October, if he holds to past performance that month. The caveat? The M’s have to be playing then. No matter. He’s a perfect fit in left.

Justin Turner is also the right guy in the right spot. Yes, he’s comparable to former first baseman Ty France in the field, which isn’t a compliment. There is no comparison as hitters, which is. Turner is willing to take what is offered at the plate. Always has been. And when that offering is a hit-me spinner in the middle of the zone? Well, he’s still capable of driving it into the stands, as he did last night with his second-inning grand slam. It drove Phillips, who had been undefeated since coming up from the minors, from the game.

The trio of newcomers have kept the good ship Mariner afloat recently. Tied with Houston in the American League West. Added hope that this year can actually still be filled with success. On Aug. 3, with the temperature climbing and the pennant race looming, who could ask for more?

• There are great races looming in Paris. They won’t take long, though. The 100-meter sprints never do. Less than 10 seconds. How long is that? Well, in 10 seconds we could get from out chair to our door – if we hurry. Sha’Carri Richardson and Noah Lyles, the two American favorites, can cover a lot more ground than that. But will they? The Olympic 100 is fickle – if your name isn’t Usain Bolt or Florence Griffin-Joyner.

Richardson and seven others will take the purple Paris track today at 12:20 p.m. (PDT). Lyles and the rest of the men Sunday at 12:50. Some 10 seconds after the gun, we will know who the world’s fastest person is. Who won the gold medal. Who every kid in the world wants to run like. And everyone else has to wait four more years to try again.

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WSU: The Cougars are trying to improve their running game. It starts up front, certainly, and the offensive line is focused on playing with a more physical nature. But it also takes productive backs. Greg Woods covers all that today in his coverage of the third day of preseason camp. … Elsewhere in the (new and old) Pac-12, the Mountain West and the nation, we have a couple Jon Wilner columns to pass along as they appear on the S-R site this morning. One is the news Washington State and Oregon State are in discussions with multiple conferences about the future. The other is his discussion with Big Ten commissioner Tony Petteti about most issues confronting college sports these days, a column we linked yesterday in the Mercury News. … Wilner also passes along this morning a recruiting summary in the San Jose paper. … John Canzano sees commissioner Theresa Gould as a huge asset for the remaining duo. He believes she will fight for them and the conference that was left behind. … The Oregon State offense is off and running. And passing too. … The Oregonian’s number series is at No. 29 for Oregon State and Oregon. … The Huskies held their third day of camp Friday – their first as a member of the Big Ten as well – and Jedd Fisch had some thoughts. So did Pat Chun. … Does it sound right to you that Oregon folks are calling being in the Big Ten a perfect fit? Not to us. Ask the volleyball team after their first trip to the Eastern Time Zone for a conference match. … Former Denver Bronco coordinator Pat Shumur is grateful for another chance in Colorado, even if it’s with the Buffs. … Utah has to start thinking about 2025 already. … USC thinks playing in the Big Ten for football is massive progress. The Trojans are making massive progress on their new practice facility as well. … Eric Bieniemy, who grew up across the street from Kim in Covina, thinks UCLA’s offense is ready for the Big Ten. … Arizona’s communication should be better this season. … Retired Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer can relate to what Steve Kerr is going through with the U.S. men’s team. She’s been there with the women. … There is one scholarship holdover and only one on the USC men’s roster. … Arizona has supplied one foreign import everything he needed. … Around the Mountain West, not many folks think the interim Utah State football coach will be named as the permanent one. … Wyoming has four experienced starters on its offensive line. … San Diego State has added experience at running back. … Can UNLV really win the conference title? … Colorado State opens practice on the same day a former coach joins ESPN. … Washington rowers had a “Boys in the Boat” experience in Paris. Well, sort of. The men’s eight won bronze. … Before we move on, we want to direct you to this Washington Post story on Howard University’s men’s basketball program. It’s for sale. A third of it, anyway. For $100 million. Not sure anything will ever come of coach Kenny Blakeney’s unusual business plan, but we’re intrigued. And wonder if Blakeney is just ahead of his time and everyone will do this in the future.

Gonzaga: Andrew Nembhard has slowly risen from a Florida afterthought to a GU star to a crucial NBA backup to an Olympic standout. His progression has to be one of the more interesting ones among Zag alums ever. Theo Lawson has the coverage of Nembhard’s big game Friday as Canada went through its Olympic pool undefeated. … Theo also had this early story on Anton Watson’s contract with Boston. Watson officially signed a two-way deal later in the day.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Sacramento State football coach Andy Thompson is looking forward to his second year leading the program. … Montana State relies on its tight ends and fullbacks. … Montana expects its new indoor practice facility to be ready next month. … In basketball news, a former Idaho State reserve player is now on the Kentucky coaching staff.

Indians: Three losses in three games? What? Spokane is in a mini-slump after dropping a 6-4 decision Friday night to visiting Hillsboro. Colton Clark filled in for Dave Nichols and has this story. … Elsewhere in the Northwest League, Everett outslugged visiting Eugene once more, 11-7. … In another 10-inning game, Tri-City handed Vancouver a 6-5 defeat.

Golf: Spokane’s Andrew Von Lossow, who won the Rosauers Open Invitational last month, continued his hot play this week. He took medalists honors in qualifying for the U.S. Mid-Amateur in Virginia next month.

Olympics: The U.S. men’s basketball team plays winless Puerto Rico today (8:15 a.m., NBC) with one goal. Win by at least five points and earn the No. 1 overall seed moving on. … As we write this morning, the U.S. women are playing Japan in the soccer quarterfinals. It is a scoreless tie headed to extra time. We have an update: Trinity Rodman, who attended WSU during the pandemic, scored in the first half of extra time to give the women a 1-0 victory and a berth in the semifinals. … If you wonder about the medal count, here it is.

Mariners: Lost in the 10-run outburst? Bryan Woo threw a career high seven innings and didn’t give up a run to the potent Phillies’ offense. … Gregory Santos is back on the injured list. The bullpen has dealt with way too many injuries this season.

Seahawks: We mentioned Geno’s knee above – and linked the Times story that appeared on the S-R site. We have more stories to pass along as well. It’s a big deal. Though it could have been a bigger one. … Nick Harris is back in Seattle. The former UW center is trying to win the same job with the Hawks. … Boye Mafa is ready for the next step. So is Riq Woolen.

Sounders: Josh Atencio played with the U.S. team in the Olympics. His Paris athletic experience is finished. But when might he be back? If it were us at 23, not until the Games were over. Oh, it wouldn’t be about having a good time in the village and watching track or kayaking or whatever. Nope. Walking in those closing ceremonies are important (wink, wink).

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• We may be a little off tomorrow morning. Our plan is to get to bed really early tonight and then wake up to watch the final round of the Olympic golf. The leaderboard is exceptional. Jon Rahm. Xander Schauffele. Scottie Scheffler. Rory McIlroy. No Kristoffer Ventura though. He shot 76 today. We will put together our column as we watch in front of the big screen downstairs. Will the idea turn out to be a birdie? Bogey? Triple? We’ll see. Until later …