A Grip on Sports: We expect it to happen but we also don’t believe firing Servais will change the M’s fortunes

A GRIP ON SPORTS • What type of animal would we be? If we were a salmon, we would be heading out to sea when our friends were trying to get past the Columbia River dams. A lemming? We would avoid any cliffs. A goose? We’re headed north this week. But we aren’t any of those things. Just like we aren’t someone who wants Scott Servais fired. Not now.

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• Our memory isn’t what it once was. But we can remember June 19. It was a Wednesday. An almost perfect day, with the temp in Spokane rising into the mid-70s. The sun came up that day a few minutes before 5. We watched it rise above the pine trees northwest of our home. Perfect. Except for one thing. The sky was red.

We ignored the warning. Why wouldn’t we?

The Seattle Mariners had won eight of their last nine games. An 8-5 road-trip-opening visit to Cleveland boosted their American League West lead into double digits. All seemed right in our little sports world. It wasn’t.

When the sun rose today, it was also accompanied by a red tinge. But the coloring felt like something more than an easy-to-ignore warning. It felt different. Like blood in the water. Scott Servais’ blood.

The M’s have played 50 games since that June day. They have lost 30 of them. Meanwhile, the hated Houston Astros have posted a 35-16 mark in the same stretch. From 10 games back, the Astros start today five games ahead the West and, after winning 11 of their last 12 games, look like a juggernaut.

The response among Mariner fans? Fire Servais.

From X to Reddit to whatever social media app you want to cite, Servais’ job has become the price of the fans continuing to care.

As if axing the manager will magically fix everything.

It won’t.

Look, we’ve complained about Servais’ choices more than once. Closer to a dozen – this month alone. That’s our baseball right, written into the game’s constitution and rule book and on the back of your ticket stub. Don’t check. Just take our word for it. And take our word for this: Firing Servais isn’t going to result in the Mariners turning the ship around and sailing into the playoffs.

In fact, it might just signal it’s time to man the lifeboats.

We all know what the real problem is. The folks who own the shipping line are doing things on the cheap. Always have. They aren’t invested in getting the packages across the water first. They just want to earn the most money they can. In that, they are winning with this franchise. On the field? Nope.

With a way-too-limited budget, every roster decision Jerry Dipoto and company has to make comes with more of a gamble than the ones other contending teams face. To win, longshots must finish in the money more than 54% of the time.

At the deadline, the offense-bolstering moves yielded a low-cost-yet-decent hit (Victor Robles), an expensive-but-small one (Randy Arozarena) and a middling return (Justin Turner). The additional hope the supplements would light a fire in the players already in the clubhouse seems to have fizzled.

With the deadline bullpen additions turning out to be more like Fire Marshall Bill than Mike Marshall, hopes of an August like last year are gone.

None of this is Servais’ fault. In fact, he may get an assist in the one big win of late, the resurrection of Robles’ career. The former Washington National cited Servais’ encouragement to just be himself as a key to his outstanding play.

All is white noise, however. Showing Servais the door in late-August isn’t the cure to what ails the franchise. Heck, even getting rid of Dipoto won’t make an iota of difference. Not when the actual issue resides above their pay grade.

The franchise has a lot going for it. Seattle is a great place to live. The ballpark is beautiful, the media friendly and the fanbase starved for a winner. The right deep-pocketed owner or ownership group could be successful. What’s in place now? No chance.

Failing a change there, any move is just putting lipstick on a lemming. The little guy may look a bit cuter but it’s still going to run right off the cliff.

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WSU: If the designation of John Mateer as the starting quarterback – or “QB1” as the kids like to say – was any form of a surprise, we probably would have dedicated the top of this feature to it today. But it wasn’t, not if you’ve been paying attention to preseason practice. Greg Woods has. He also has this story on Jake Dickert’s decision. … Remember how Mike Leach wasn’t a fan of Gardner Minshew running? We do. It’s a bit ironic that it is Minshew’s legs that gave him the edge in the Raiders’ quarterback race. … Elsewhere in the (new and old) Pac-12, we passed along Jon Wilner’s most-recent mailbag when it ran in the Mercury News. It is on the S-R website today. … Wilner also takes a stab at predicting the Big Ten standings. That piece runs in the Mercury News. … John Canzano has his weekly mailbag, with Pac-12 questions. … One of the two survivors, Oregon State, is the subject of this Nick Daschel mailbag. … The numbers stories on the Oregonian website roll on, as we enter the final dozen with No. 12 for Oregon State and Oregon. … Oregon is a national title contender but the Ducks are nicked up, especially on the offensive line. … There is still a Herbert playing in Eugene. … An Arizona State transfer could play a big role for Colorado and its defense. … Utah has unveiled a new Ring of Honor. The first inductee? Quarterback Alex Smith, who led the Utes to an undefeated season. … Speaking of quarterbacks, Miller Moss, as expected, will start for USC. … An injury turned an Arizona State safety into a student of the game. … How close is Arizona to being ready for the start of the season? … In the Mountain West, we can pass on an Air Force preview from Corvallis. … Recruiting always happens, as Utah State can attest. Same with Colorado State. … What was behind Boise State’s choice of starting quarterback? … When Hawaii hosts Delaware, the footballs being used will have more significance than usual. … The new San Diego State quarterback is happy, not satisfied. … As New Mexico searches for a new athletic director, the football season prep rolls on toward the opener against Montana State. … A UNLV receiver is a preseason All-American. Same with Arizona. A Colorado defensive back. And a few Oregon players. … On the basketball court, another former assistant has rejoined the Oregon staff.

Idaho: There are a couple pieces of news on the UI front today, both available on this link to Peter Harriman’s story. Peter covers Mark Schlereth’s recent visit to Vandal football practice. When you consider most of the players grew up watching Schlereth talk football on ESPN or elsewhere, his presence as an alum of the school was a welcome one. Another person many of them saw on TV, Dennis Patchin, will replace Chris King in the radio booth. Patchin, who has done Vandal games in the past, is retiring from his day job as KHQ’s sports director at the end of the month. Why anyone would retire but still work is beyond our comprehension. Oh, wait. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, the opener at New Mexico will be a test for Montana State. Maybe a win, too. … Idaho State held its last scrimmage before its opener at Oregon State but did it without our choice for starting quarterback, Hunter Hays. He’s injured. … Portland State is the new home of a national high school basketball tournament.

Preps: It has been our experience a large majority of high school athletes understand and take pride in sportsmanship. Which is why we applaud the Greater Spokane League’s efforts in this area, as shared in this Dave Nichols’ story. However, the folks who watch the games may not reach that same high standard, so what’s to be done there?

Mariners: We had a flashback last night. About the second inning we felt as if we had been transported to 1965, Sandy Koufax was on the Dodger Stadium mound, facing Juan Marichal and the Giants. As the innings rolled on, the sense of déjà vu did as well. Until the seventh when Gavin Lux’s home run made the Gia…, er, Mariners, losers. A one-run lead was good enough, though L.A. added a couple more for a 3-0 victory. … If you are wondering why we wrote what we did today – and wonder if it will be outdated by this evening – there was this one little line in Ryan Divish’s story: “they’ll be spectators for MLB’s postseason with changes to leadership expected” (emphasis ours). … We linked this Athletic story on Robinson Cano a while back. It ran in the S-R today. … Though Everett isn’t contending in the Northwest League, the M’s minor league affiliate features a trio of prospects that will help the major league club be good enough to tease us all with dreams of glory, but never get over the hump. Sorry. We’re a little down on the franchise and its ownership group right now. … Turner made his first trip back to Dodger Stadium. Some would love it if he were to return for good. … Guess what player has keyed the Diamondbacks’ turnaround? Yep. A former Mariner.

Seahawks: Bob Condotta takes his years of experience covering the Hawks, adds in some aspects of his WSU education, tosses in a couple guesses and comes up with his thoughts on the 53-man roster that will open the season. … He has Connor Williams on the list, of course, with the new center practicing. … Tight end Brady Russell has exceeded expectations. … A lot rides on health of key players, including former WSU star Abe Lucas. … Derrick Hall had a highlight-worthy play against the Titans. … Not sure what record the Hawks will have to finish this season. But here is a projection.

Storm: Two games since the Olympic break. Two losses. History repeating itself?

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• You’re stuck with us. We got a clean bill of health yesterday. Weight down. Blood pressure down. Heck, everything but our cholesterol dropped, and it’s still OK. Yep, being retired agrees with us. Even if you may not agree with our opinion about Scott Servais – or anything else. Until later …