A Grip on Sports: The mid-point of the year includes one of Spokane’s highest high points, at least in the hoops universe

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Like a lot of you, this Saturday actually will be a long, tiring day for us. Filled with sunshine, sore feet and basketball. Loud music, even louder players and the occasionally too loud spectators are on the agenda. It may not sound all that appetizing but we can assure you today’s full-meal deal downtown, otherwise known as Hoopfest, is worth every hour we invest.

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• Yes, we used to play. When shoes with pumps in the tongue were all the rage. Thanks goodness those monstrosities have aged out. Then again, so have we. We are in spectator mode. Or, this year at least, ready to help as a volunteer. Not full time, mind you. Our recent surgery has limited what we can do. And how long we can do it. But we’ll try to contribute.

It’s the least we can do after more than 15 years of experiencing the ups and downs of Spokane’s most populated civic event.

The ups? Playing on Sunday a couple times. Being with great friends. Watching our kids pick up a winner’s T-shirt. Actually making a bracket final – once.

The downs? Actually making a bracket final once. After our fourth player was hurt in the first game and we had to navigate a multiple-game loser’s bracket. At age 43, having not worked out for a while and only joining the team late in the week leading up to Hoopfest when the team’s real player was injured. Talk about licking wounds for a month afterward. Wow. And owie.

Oh, and there was also that time when a friendly media-division game turned ugly and we found ourselves tossed to the ground while trying to break up a brewing fight. Injectable testosterone can build muscles, sure, but the side-effects may be detrimental to bystanders’ health.

The ups are much more fun. And more common. There was a time when we would drive the Aerostar van – yes, we owned one (two, actually) of those lemons – downtown early Saturday morning, park it in a huge lot, and live out of the back of it for the next 36 hours or so. Everyone in the family was involved. Except the dog, who had to stay home.

The weekend is different now. Less physically taxing. Unless we want to watch someone up by the Arena, followed by another can’t-miss game a half-hour later by the Davenport. We’re not a scooter, Lime or otherwise, these days, so leaving early and arriving late is about the only option.

A basketball first-world problem, isn’t it? Today, Spokane is first-world in hoops, that’s for sure. On top of the world, actually.

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WSU: One former Washington State track athlete moved into the finals of his Olympic Trials event, while another came up short. C.J. Allen not only moved on, the 400-meter hurdler posted the second best time in the semifinals. Brock Eager failed to qualify for the men’s hammer final. … The NBA draft is finished. Free agency looms. And it looks more and more likely WSU alum Klay Thompson will be leaving Golden State. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner has his Friday mailbag and the top questions are about the Cougars and the Beavers’ plans. … We missed this Athletic story about football rivalry games under the new world order earlier this month but still wanted to pass it along. … The Oregonian’s football numbers countdown rolls on. We pass along stories on the No. 64 for Oregon State and Oregon. … Recruiting continues and we have news to share from Washington, Oregon and Oregon State. … And a quarterback story from the Ducks. … How good will Arizona be? … Colorado had a strong NBA draft showing. In fact, the soon-to-be defunct Pac-12 led with nine players picked. … One of those was USC’s Bronny James, whose selection by the Lakers is historic and full of intrigue. … Even in the world of basketball, it is sometimes not completely who you are but who you know.

Gonzaga: There will be a short reunion next month between Mark Few and Jalen Suggs. The former GU guard was picked for the U.S. Select team, the group that helps our Olympic squad prepare for Paris. Few, of course, is a U.S. Olympic assistant. Theo Lawson has all the particulars. … Theo also has some schedule news, as there is a report Nicholls State will visit the Kennel on Dec. 18. The Colonels would be the first known home game on the Zags’ slate.

Idaho: We could have put this story in a Hoopfest section, but because the Vandal basketball teams held the clinic yesterday, we slot it here. Olive Pete and Hazel Guieb have this story on Friday’s downtown youth basketball instruction.

Indians: Kyle Karros and Bryant Betancourt had four hits each as Spokane eased past host Everett 8-4 Friday. Dave has more in this story. … In other Northwest League action Tuesday, host Eugene doubled up Tri-City 14-7 and Vancouver defeated Hillsboro again, this time 5-2. The Canadians have yet to lose in the second half’s first seven games.

Chiefs: Well, that seemed pre-ordained. Or not. But whatever the odds, Spokane star Berkly Catton being picked eighth overall in Friday’s NHL draft by the Seattle Kraken was certainly serendipitous. Dave Nichols covers Catton’s selection by the region’s franchise.

Mariners: Who needs home runs? Not the M’s. Not on a Friday night when they handed out a J.P. Crawford bobblehead featuring the team’s home run trident. Crawford did score the winning run, sprinting home from third on a Cal Raleigh topper in front of the plate in the bottom of the 10th. The 3-2 victory also included Seattle tying the game in the ninth without hitting a ball out of the infield. … A roster move was made to give the M’s a starter in the place of injured Bryan Woo. … The front office folks use numbers to direct more than roster construction. … Another familiar name from our childhood left us Friday. Orlando Cepeda was a bull of a Giant.

Seahawks: Speaking of roster construction, is there any chance Bob Condotta already knows what Seattle’s will look like? Maybe.

Kraken: We found out the answer to yesterday’s question who Seattle would pick in the first round of the NHL draft Friday. It was someone who lots of folks in Spokane have watched play. We cover that aspect of the selection in the Chiefs’ section above. … The No. 1 pick was pretty much a certainty and the San Jose Sharks wasted no time in taking Boston University’s Macklin Celebrini, a player with Bay Area ties.

Storm: Seattle has momentum – and the struggling Wings next on the schedule.

Sounders: Two key players won’t be playing as Seattle tries to continue its unbeaten streak when its hosts Chicago tonight. … Monday’s game with Uruguay more than likely has to end one way for the U.S. National Team if it wants to advance in the Copa America tournament. The U.S. must win. Not just compete. Not draw. Win. And even then the two teams for sure moving on from the pool may be decided by goal differential. … The staid sport of soccer is actually on the cutting edge of technology, at least in the Euros.

Olympics: TV pays a lot for the right to broadcast the Game. OK, NBC paid a lot. And these ones will be missing a trio of female faces who, if they were included on their respective U.S. teams, could have helped NBA attract more eyeballs. … The track and field trials in Eugene are winding down. There was a blazing fast men’s 110-meter hurdles final as well as the semis in one of the glamour races for men and women, the 200. … The middle distances still need to finish. … The field events are also nearing the end of the road.

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• We kept our column short today because we have a lot to get done before we head downtown. If you are joining us, stay hydrated and wear comfortable shoes. … By the way, we meant to link a story in this space yesterday. Realized around sunset last night we never put the link in. Did it then, but felt bad we left everyone hanging. We again link this story about a long-distance football player for our alma mater. Or maybe, if you read early Friday, for the first time. Until later …