A Grip on Sports: Being nimble isn’t always in the cards these days but we highlight a couple of needed examples just down the road
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Why, at times, does life throw more curveballs than Logan Gilbert? Are we hated or does it happen to everyone?
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• Our father always told us no one wants to hear about the labor pains. They only want to see the baby. Good advice. We’ve tried to remember it over the years. We won’t bore you with the current details.
Just suffice to say, if dad had been friends with Al Swearengen, he also would have agreed with Al’s favorite line: Announcing your plans is a good way to hear God laugh. Which makes adjustment crucial today. On a personal level, sure, but it also got us thinking about the fine-tuning that has to go on consistently in sports.
We start with the Mariners, who left Seattle on the high of four consecutive wins, the last of which was a 12-1 national-televised rout of the Mets. But the sweet taste of momentum was washed out of their mouth quickly Tuesday, replaced by the bitter reality of a 15-1 wipeout in Detroit, of all places.
OK, Seattle U. grad Tarik Skubal is one of the American League’s best pitchers. He leads the American League in wins (14), earned run average (2.53) and strikeouts (180). That explains the “1” in the final score. But George Kirby was on the bump for the M’s. A tight game should have been in the offing. That it wasn’t may mean Scott Servais may have to make an adjustment. Or hear more than just the Big Fella upstairs laughing.
Kirby has thrown almost 145 innings this season. It is Aug. 14. He has been … well, struggling isn’t the right word, but Kirby’s command has been suspect his last three starts – all of which the Mariners have lost.
Maybe give him an extra day’s rest before his next one? Let him reset? It would be the right move long-term. And that’s what a baseball season is. A long-term haul. The Astros know that. They have regrouped. They are playing, if not at the top of their game, at least better than everyone else in the A.L. West. They have a 1½-game lead.
To catch them, the M’s starting pitching is paramount.
Four of the five Seattle starters have less than five years of MLB experience. All four are on pace to throw more innings than they ever had. There is an invisible wall out there. No one wants any of the quartet to run into it in September.
• Every Washington State football fan is dealing with adjustments as we speak. One has to wonder how many of them are doing so with a smile on their face – and how many would have to stand on their head for us to see a smile.
The reality of what’s ahead is looming. Why not embrace it? Instead of looking forward to the now-defunct annual trip to Los Angeles or the Bay Area, why not pick one of the new road locations and make an adventure out of it?
Wait, what? Have you looked at the road schedule? Not sure the Mountain West schedule makers gave the Cougars, and their fans, a lot of exciting destinations.
Two states we would have been happy to visit, Wyoming and Hawaii, aren’t on the travel list. Oh, the Cougs play those schools. In Pullman. A late-September or early-October visit to Mike Leach’s home state would have been fun. Or early November in the islands? Ok, we’re in. No, we’re not.
About the best option is San Diego. We guess. But as native of the state, we’ve never felt a city with the same high temp every day of the year is all that exciting. Unless you are really into Legos. Then a half-hour trip up I-5 to Legoland is a must. Rumor has it, there is an attraction in which you have to walk through a dark room barefoot, trying to avoid 1,394,772 Legos scattered on the floor.
Painful. But maybe not as painful as a trip to Albuquerque in mid-November. There is a reason the government headquartered the Manhattan Project up the road during World War II. Only extraterrestrials visit New Mexico in the late fall.
The other new sites this season? Well, there is Boise in September. Or Fresno in October. The best thing we can say about both? You can visit In-N-Out. Or get great raisins. At least in Fresno.
OK, three of America’s most beautiful national parks are within a less-that-two-hour drive of the latter city, so there is that. But you better be ready to adjust. The Sierras in October? These days you never know if you’ll have to avoid a fire or deal with a snow storm. You have to plan for both. And be ready to laugh.
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WSU: With school about to begin, preseason practice will soon morph into preparation for the Aug. 31 opener. Greg Woods was at the 11th practice of the season yesterday and has this report. … We mentioned the Mountain West above. Jon Wilner does as well today, with his look at the title chase in the Mercury News. … Elsewhere in the (new and old) Pac-12, the Mountain West and the nation, Oregon State’s defensive coordinator shares some thoughts on the Beavers’ success thus far. At some point the offensive coordinator will let us know who the starting quarterback is, right? … The numbers stories from the Oregonian continue, with No. 18 for Oregon State and Oregon. … Picking Washington as your football destination not just once but twice is an interesting choice. … As practice rolls on for third-ranked Oregon, the Ducks have a couple players out and others stepping up in big ways. … There is a hall of fame defensive lineman at Colorado, though he can’t play. … Can Utah make the CFP without an every-down running back? … Confidence is important for a quarterback. … After a bad day, the Arizona State quarterbacks bounced back. … The Arizona defense had a good day at practice. … The Wildcat basketball team agreed to a three-game series with UCLA, with all the games at off-campus sites. … In the Mountain West, Nevada will bring in more than a million dollars in its nonconference games. … San Diego State’s new coach is from Colorado and he brought a Buffs’ legend with him. … Utah State’s starting quarterback is ancient. … A knee injury has felled a Wyoming running back for a while. … Suspension over, a Hawaii receiver rejoined the team. … There is versatility in the New Mexico running back room. … UNLV has to replace its quarterback, who left for USC. … Air Force has made a decision at the same position. … Finally, the Stanford women’s soccer program will face more challenges in the ACC.
Gonzaga: Around the WCC, Santa Clara is relying on transfers to boost its women’s soccer program.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Northern Colorado is hosting a football celebration soon. … In women’s soccer, Idaho State started off with an exhibition win.
Preps: OK, prep sports are still a week away. At least in Washington. But that doesn’t mean local graduates aren’t in the thick of things. We start with Gonzaga Prep (and UW) alum Devin Culp, who is trying to make Tampa Bay’s roster in his first NFL training camp. … The other story? Drew Rasmussen, the Mt. Spokane (and Oregon State) graduate who has returned recently from his third elbow surgery. The right-handed pitcher is doing something for the Rays few have accomplished.
Indians: Spokane returned home for a six-game series with Vancouver, the Indians’ closest pursuer in the Northwest League standings – second half and overall. However, they left their offense somewhere between here and Pasco. Dave Nichols has this story on their 5-0 shutout loss. … Elsewhere in the NWL, Hillsboro topped host Eugene 7-1 and Everett had little trouble with visiting Tri-City, winning 8-2.
Zephyr: The other new professional team in town starts its season Saturday, as the Zephyr begins play in the USL Super League, a Division 1 league for women. Olive Pete has a preview of what’s ahead for Spokane.
Velocity: After a scoreless first half, The Northern Colorado Hailstorm picked up the pace and earned a 3-1 win at ONE Spokane Stadium on Tuesday night. Ethan Myers was there and has this coverage of the Jagermeister Cup defeat.
Olympics: Talk about judge shopping. The Jordan Chiles decision reeks of cronyism and outright corruption. Wow. … Yes, we knew Break was out for Los Angeles in 2028. And that baseball and softball were back in. But this Washington Post story gave us some pause, what with boxing on the edge of being eliminated from the core 28 Olympic sports. At one point the sport gave us, in consecutive Olympics, Floyd Patterson, Cassius Clay (or as most of you might only know him, Muhammed Ali), George Frazier and George Foreman, quite possibly four of the five top heavyweights of all time.
Mariners: The loss did feature one fun half inning. The bottom of the eighth. Shortstop Leo Rivas throwing his 44-mile-per-hour “fastball” at the Tigers. He worked a scoreless inning. And now we all can say we throw as hard as a guy who pitched in the major leagues. … Julio Rodriguez is happy to be back and Victor Robles is happy he got paid. … The M’s are falling in the power rankings, if that’s your sort of thing.
Seahawks: The Hawks are in Nashville for their joint workouts with the Titans and the ensuing exhibition game. Seattle’s starters will get more out of the practices. … There is still quite a bit of speculation on when new center Conner Williams will actually be available. … Seattle seems to be a haven for foreign-born NFL aspirants.
Sounders: Los Angeles has two MLS teams. The one, the Galaxy, wasn’t much of a challenge for Seattle recently. The other, LAFC, will be. That’s the next opponent in the quarterfinal round of the Leagues Cup.
Reign: At least the women’s side of the pro soccer equation in Seattle includes additions of new players during the summer transfer window.
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• Ever win a trivia contest? We did. Once. In college. And the final question was right in our wheelhouse: Name the only college basketball player to score 100 points in a game. Others went with Wilt Chamberlain. Wrong. It was Furman’s Frank Selvy. We got it right, mainly because he was an L.A. Laker when we were young and Chick Hearn would mention it. A lot. Why do we bring this up? Because Selvy died yesterday at 91. Just thought we would pass it along, mainly because we owe him for the free food at the bar. Until later …