A Grip on Sports: The quantity of available games this weekend is up, in more sports than usual, but the quality can be questioned

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Pardon the detour but we’re out of coffee. The only coffee we like, anyway. Thought we had some more in the cupboard but were mistaken. We’re a little ticked, which means we may be a little meaner in this space today. If your favorite team becomes collateral damage as we preview the weekend, we apologize in advance.

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• Not sure if we are angry or disappointed with college football’s schedule this week. No Cougars (bye week). No major matchups of top 25 squads (Closest equivalent? The rematch of last year’s title game, No. 10 Michigan at unranked Washington). No fun (OK, College Game Day is at California for the first time, with Marshawn Lynch as the guest picker, which qualifies).

October is supposed to be the best sports month of the year – college football and NFL, postseason baseball, the start of the NHL and NBA season – but this one weekend is the exception that punches a crack in that rule.

We are charged with giving you TV tips for the weekend, however, and we will soldier on. All the while knowing it is as futile as trying to win a land war in Asia.

That Washington game is our best bet, though it’s 4:30 p.m. start time on NBC kind of conflicts with our dinner plans. OK, all we will probably end up doing is order pizza and sit in the Laz-e-Boy, but still. It’s the principle of the thing. Besides, we were sort of hoping to watch most if not all of the Pac-12 Game of the Week (literally), Colorado State at Oregon State (3:30, The CW).

The Huskies better have dispatched Michigan by 7:30, because we’re not missing Cal’s upset of No. 8 Miami as the Bears’ maul Cam Ward’s Heisman hopes (7:30. ESPN).

The morning? The joy of watching Lynch and Nick Saban interact will be followed by a rout. UCLA’s first trip to Happy Valley probably will be over by halftime, as No. 7 Penn State (9 a.m., Fox) is better than a full-strength Bruin squad, and with quarterback Ethan Garbers probably not playing, this one won’t be close.

At least there is a decent storyline to tonight’s best game. The fact Michigan State is playing a Big Ten game at Oregon (6, Fox) isn’t it. The Spartans’ coach returning to the state is. Jonathan Smith played and coached for years just up I-5 at Oregon State. Won some of the rivalry games with UO. And now he gets the opportunity to trap the Ducks again, the week before their showdown with No. 3 Ohio State.

You know, the Buckeyes might be walking into a trap of their own, hosting always physical – and annoying – Iowa on Saturday (12:30 p.m., CBS)

• You like the NFL better? The majority of Americans do. Mainly because they have the Cowboys to root against. America’s Team – is it just us, but do we not hear that nickname as much these days? – is really Prime Time’s Team. They travel to Pittsburgh, where they’ll highlight NBC’s Sunday night coverage (5:20).

The Seahawks have a chance to right the ship quickly, hosting the woeful Giants (1:25, CBS), in the game that fills out our dinner menu. What New York signature dish are we having? Tony Soprano’s last meal. Onion rings. And, because we like to think we know what he also would have ordered if he hadn’t been whacked, a cheeseburger. After all, the Giants actually play in New Jersey and they will fade to black against Seattle.

• OK, baseball is down to its final eight. The best playoff series? Sorry, Brett, it’s not the Royals at the Yankees (Saturday, 3:38 p.m., TBS). It’s the Dodgers and Padres. Two teams that despise each other in a big brother, little brother way. That series begins Saturday (5:38, FS1) and continues Sunday (5:03, also FS1).

• The WNBA has pared its playoff roster to the final four, with New York and Las Vegas meeting out west tonight (6:30, ESPN2) with the Liberty having a chance to sweep the defending champions out of the best-of-5 series.

What else is there? The NHL holds its final weekend of preseason games, though the Kraken are already prepping for their opener on Tuesday. And the NBA, which saw last season end, seemingly, last week, is starting up, with preseason games. As hard as we looked, we couldn’t find the SuperSonics. Darn. Maybe next season.

One wild card for Saturday? Kraziness in the Kennel, the annual celebration of the season’s start. Gonzaga fans will get their first chance to see Mark Few’s rebuilt roster, as SWX will carry the event beginning at 6 p.m.

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WSU: We mentioned Cam Ward and his Heisman hopes above for a reason. Dave Boling used Ward’s move to Miami as a hook to hang his column on this morning. He delved into how the new world order, vis-à-vis transfers and NIL, impacts the average college sports fan. And Cougar fans, who are above average when it comes to emotional buy-in. … We linked this Jon Wilner column yesterday, but his examination of how Gonzaga became the eighth member of the new Pac-12 ran in the S-R this morning. … Elsewhere in the (new and old) Pac-12, the Mountain West and the nation, we have picks to pass along just in time. Not just from national writers, who cover the gamut. But also from John Canzano and Christian Caple, who have a more regional bent. … The game of football is evolving fast. One recent play in a key SEC game illustrates that perfectly. … Billy Joe Hobert is another illustration. The former Washington quarterback got in trouble with the NCAA for doing something everyone does these days. He’s back in good graces and back for the Husky game with Michigan. … Oregon State tried to shore up some areas during its bye week. The game with the Rams will tell the Beavers if they were successful. … Recruiting never stops, right Oregon? … The Ducks know all about Smith’s team. And are ready. … Smith’s homecoming is tinged with sadness. … Young players are coming through for Colorado. … Utah has to get some things right during its bye week. … USC does not do a good job protecting quarterback Miller Moss. … A UCLA player transferred to Westwood from USC. … A few Arizona State players are driving in style. … In the Mountain West, service football, outside of Air Force, is doing well. … San Diego State is giving away tickets for its game with Hawaii. … A Boise State player is ready to face his old school. … Sometimes all a player needs is a chance. … Colorado State played San Jose State in volleyball. Utah State did not. … In basketball news, transfer Great Osobor needs to live up to his name for Washington. … Oregon shows recruiting never stops. … Arizona had two key players return.

Gonzaga: The move to the Pac-12? It was the right thing to do. At least that’s how a couple of well-informed ESPN analysts see it. And what they told Jim Meehan for this story. … Do you happen to have access to the B1G+ streaming service? If so, can we come over and watch the Zags’ charity game with USC on Oct. 26. We don’t have it. Hate the whole “just-sign-up-for-a-free-preview” charade (mainly because we always forget to drop it) and still want to watch. Jim has more on the game. … We mentioned Saturday’s Kraziness above. Theo Lawson has a preview.

EWU: Kendrick Bourne is coming off ACL surgery. The former Eastern star is back participating at the Patriots’ practices. And he’s fine with New England trying to trade him in the offseason, mainly because coach Jerod Mayo kept him in the loop. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, one key Montana State player took the long road to Bozeman. … It is good to love where you are playing. … In basketball news, we can pass along 10 more names in Idaho State’s list of top 50 women’s basketball players.

Idaho: Hogan Hatten returned to Moscow this week. The long snapper, now with the Detroit Lions, had some time due to their off week. He told Peter Harriman he’s looking forward to taking in the Vandals’ homecoming game with Northern Arizona. And tonight’s bonfire.

UFC: Saturday is a big night for Spokane’s Julianna Peña. As Charlotte McKinley tells us, she will finally get to meet Raquel Pennington with the UFC’s bantamweight belt on the line. The bout is part of UFC 307 from Salt Lake City.

Preps: The football week kicked off last night at ONE Spokane Stadium. Dave Nichols was there and has this coverage of Shadle Park High’s 22-16 overtime win over Cheney. … Dave also has this roundup of Thursday’s other action.

Seahawks: Geno Smith is on top of his game. And, in some ways, on top of the game. … There are reasons Jason Peters is back with Seattle. … The Giants did the Hawks a favor in 2022.

Mariners: If you couldn’t read Matt Calkins’ thoughts on the M’s ownership when they ran in the Times, we have a link to the column that ran in the S-R this morning.

Kraken: Now that the preseason is over, what do we know about Seattle?

Storm: Guard Nika Muhl suffered a knee injury while playing overseas. Most WNBA players still have to work two jobs to make ends meet.

Sounders: Brian Schmetzer is confident he and the team will get a contract extension done.

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• One thing athletics taught me was not to take criticism, even loud criticism, personally. It’s a good lesson, one I thought of this morning as I read John Stucke’s obituary of former Spokesman-Review employee Shaun O’L. Higgins. Why? More than 40 years ago, when I was a newbie desk editor at the S-R, I asked Higgins to have his marketing department create a simple promo to take up space on deadline. He liked the idea and said he would make it happen. A couple Saturday nights later, nothing. Deadline. White space needing to be filled. I sat at the computer, typed “Read John Blanchette every Sunday in The Spokesman-Review.” Gave the printout to the compositor. Hole filled. Deadline made. The next night I was working with two women in the sports department. Higgins showed up. Took me into the sports editor’s office. Ripped me the new one you might have heard people talk about. Put me in my place. Rightfully so. I was way too full of myself. He made me better. Helped me appreciate the chain of command. I always appreciated how he handled it. No punches pulled. No lasting recriminations. Heck, we even bowled on a team together down the road, a circumstance that allowed me to see him throw a 15-pound ball so hard it propelled a pin from his lane into the next one, where it spun wildly and knocked over other pins. That dressing down? It led to the two women working with me that night giving me a present. A key chain. Printed on it were two things: “I just had a chat with the boss” and a drawing of a guy with a bite out of his gluteus maximus. Still have it. The key chain, not the bite mark. Until later …