A Grip on Sports: There could be a wreck ahead for the Seahawks today but behind us WSU paved the way to a bowl game once again

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Ahead? Or behind? Not talking about scores, the heart of athletic competition. Talking about whether eyeing what happened Saturday comes before looking at what will happen today. It’s a tough choice. Not as difficult as driving in Italy, say, but tough nonetheless.

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• Ever notice how excellent and memorable are two different things? Take films for instance. The 1976 movie “Gumball Rally” is no one’s definition of excellent. However, one line, delivered by acting legend Raul Julia, has stuck with me forever. As Julia begins the cross-country race that powers the plot, he reaches up and rips off his Ferrari’s rear-view mirror. And utters a dozen words in a degrading accent. “The first rule of Italian driving. What’s behind me is not important.”

Not the best driving advice. But a good life lesson.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your NFL engines. Early. By 1 p.m., Seattle time, the Seahawks will have finished their ascent of Mount .500 and be headed down the wrong side. They will have lost in Atlanta to Kirk Cousins and the Falcons. They will be 3-4, en route to another mediocre year that is not good enough to get anyone excited and not bad enough to earn a narrative-changing draft choice.

It will be close. There may even be a memorable play or two. But excellence? Nope. Not with Seattle’s offensive line woes. Not with Kenneth Walker III banged up again. Not with a secondary that is looking for volunteers.

Not when the only way to describe this team’s depth is to use Gertrude Stein’s famous saying out of context: There is no there there.

After all, when it comes to football, what’s behind you does matter. Same with what’s in front of you. In the Seahawks’ case, as we watch in late October, too many of the players behind and in front are mediocre backups, not good enough to keep the franchise afloat in another rebuild-the-roster season.

• By now you may be thinking if I felt that way about what’s on tap this morning, why the heck didn’t I just begin with what happened Saturday? At least it was memorable. My response? Was it?

Let’s start in Pullman. Washington State’s 42-10 win over an inept Hawaii team was neither memorable nor excellent. In fact, it was downright boring. Which is, in a weird sort of way, encouraging. And bodes well for the Cougars’ six remaining games.

Ya, you are doing math in your head, aren’t you. WSU is 6-1. That adds up to seven. You’re thinking there are only five games left on its weird, Pac-12-meets-the-Mountain-West schedule. At San Diego State. Home for Utah State. At New Mexico and Oregon State. Home for Wyoming. Five.

Then the not-always-obligatory-but-seems-to-be-becoming-that-way bowl game.

How big a deal is a bowl game this season? Well, here is how Jon Wilner described the Cougars reaching that goal Saturday:

“Excluding the 2020 season derailed by COVID, Washington State has reached the postseason in eight of the past nine years – a remarkable stretch of success considering the recruiting challenges posed by WSU’s geography. And there are more wins coming for the Cougars, who should be favored in their final five games. Put another way: An 11-1 season is well within reach for John Mateer and Co.”

It certainly is. Mainly because Jake Dickert and his staff showed Saturday they are able to restrain their impulse to do too much. Or to try to, at least.

The Cougars were better than Hawaii. On both sides of the ball. All it took to seal the win was imposing their will. Play solid. No need for trickery. Just dominate. Do the right things over and over. Memorable? Nope. Excellent? Sure. And instructive.

As Wilner noted, 11-1 is in play. Yes, the Aztecs are always tough at home and they will be coming off a bye. New Mexico is improved. Oregon State? The Pac-12 title will be on the line. In other words, the three road games will test Dickert and his team. They will demand solid play from all three units. And yet in all three, along with the two home games, Wazzu should be favored. By a decent amount.

• Sadly, college football’s playoff expansion still won’t have a spot for the Cougars even if they finish 11-1. Because, despite adding eight spots, the postseason is still an invitational for all but the four top conferences’ champs. And no one in the SEC or Big Ten really wants to invite Washington State. Or Navy or Liberty or Boise State or Army. Anyone outside their dominion.

They will. They have to. To avoid anti-trust litigation. But one is enough. For everyone else who aspires for more, too bad. Maybe next year. Ya, right.

• If you are wondering why there are so few links following this column, and hardly any photos, the answer is simple. I spent an hour linking the stories and adding the art. There were links to every story the S-R has on its sports website this morning. And none of them took. The system crashed, logged me out and all that hour of work was lost. Sorry. I cannot duplicate all of it. I did what I could.

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WSU: As Greg Woods noticed Saturday, and shared in his game story, the Cougars simplified their attack against the Rainbow Warriors. It worked. … Greg also zeroed in on the Washington State pass rush, which zeroed in on Hawaii quarterback Brayden Schager after he had carved them up early. … Tyler Tjomsland was in Pullman and he zeroed in on the action with his camera. … We were in Spokane and watched The CW’s presentation for our TV Take. Our theme? How much the game broadcast echoed those of Root Sports with the M’s. Washington State may not own The CW – watching the in-game commercials and doing a quick Google search, we discovered it is owned by a company with conservative political views – but it certainly reaps the reward of the homer-like feel to the broadcast. … Greg also has the difference makers and helped the folks in the office with the recap, which features highlights. … Sunday’s sports section features a series of stories on many of the 15 WSU and Gonzaga alums in the NBA, which kicks off this week. The main focus among the Cougars? That would be Memphis rookie Jaylen Wells. … Theo Lawson covers all of the 15 in this story. … Ethan O’Connor is on this Athletic midseason freshmen All-American team. … Elsewhere in the (new and old) Pac-12, the Mountain West and the nation, Wilner has his usual Saturday Night Five column in the Mercury News. … As always, there were winners and there were losers. One of the former? Georgia, which dominated Texas despite a hailstorm of garbage. … Oregon State isn’t doing well in its run through the Mountain West. The Beavers fell again Saturday night, dropping a 33-25 decision to visiting UNLV. The defense played better but the offense – and the Pac-12’s officials – struggled. … Washington has four wins. With a bye Saturday, it didn’t have an opportunity to work toward the bowl cutoff of six wins. … Oregon should be No. 1 today. But are the Ducks the best team in the nation? … No. 21 SMU, like host Stanford a newcomer to the ACC, dominated the Cardinal on The Farm, winning 40-10. … California is 0-4 in its first season of ACC play. The margin of the four losses? Nine points after a late missed 28-yard field goal and a 24-23 loss to visiting North Carolina State. …  In the Mountain West, San Jose State had a new quarterback at the helm – former Cougar Emmitt Brown has been benched – and a fifth victory, as woeful Wyoming never threatened in the Spartans’ 24-14 home win.

Gonzaga: As could be expected, the Zags in the NBA dominate the S-R’s series of stories. The one who will make the biggest jump this season? That would be second-year pro Julian Strawther. Theo has that story. He also has this one on Anton Watson, about to launch his NBA career on a two-way contract with defending champion Boston. … Brandon Clarke is healthy and expects to do big things with Memphis. … We linked Theo’s story on Zach Collins yesterday but we do it again here.

EWU: The Eagles scored 38 points Saturday in their home game with sixth-ranked UC Davis. The offense needed to put up 10 more, though, if only to tie. Dan Thompson was in Cheney and has this story on the 48-38 Big Sky Conference loss. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, No. 3 Montana State rolled over Portland State in Bozeman.

Idaho: The Vandals found themselves in the second half struggling to put away a Cal Poly team which entered Saturday’s game with a 2-4 record. And though UI won 34-29, former EWU and WSU coach Paul Wulff’s Mustangs had their chances to upset the 13th-ranked Vandals. Peter Harriman has the game story.

Whitworth: The best record in the region? That would belong to the 6-0 Pirates who put away host Puget Sound late in a 42-24 Northwest Conference win. Ryan Blair led the way with five touchdown passes.

Preps: Dave Nichols starts off with his weekly Friday Night (High)Lights column with praise for Central Valley’s excellent game management. And then delves into the week’s key results. … North Central High product Ryne Sandberg has earned another honor. Garrett Cabeza has this story.

Velocity: Spokane has lost five consecutive matches following Saturday night’s 1-0 defeat on the road with Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC. Colton Clark put together this report.

Seahawks: It seems as if today’s game is a turning point. Win and rise up. Lose and fall behind. … Bob Condotta has his prediction. … From a small school to the NFL. It is still possible.

Mariners: The Yankees are back in the World Series. God help the rest of us. New York doesn’t need divine intervention. The umpires will do. Yes, I grew up a Dodger fan. And yes, I’m still not over Reggie Jackson throwing out his leg on purpose, the umps ignoring the blatant interference and the Yankees winning the 1978 Series. … Speaking of the Dodgers, they will try to get past New York’s other team tonight and set up the classic Series with the Yankees. If it happens, it will be the 12th Fall Classic between the franchises. We have been alive for five of them, two of which L.A. has won.

Storm: The WNBA title will be decided tonight in New York.

Kraken: It took overtime at Climate Pledge Arena but Seattle handed the Calgary Flames their first loss of the season, 2-1. … The Vince Dunn hit is in the past. But it is not forgotten.

Sounders: An odd red card. A 1-1 draw. A Cascadia Cup trophy headed to Portland. Those are the highlights (and lowlights) from last night at Lumen Field. The regular season is over, ending on a down-note. Seattle will open the MLS playoffs by hosting Houston in a best-of-three series.

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• Our sports-watching menu today is simple. Chicken and waffles while viewing the Hawks against Atlanta. Followed by a mandatory nap. Then our own version of Dodger dogs, loaded with mustard, onions and cheese, while watching L.A. dispatch New York to set up another World Series with, ya, New York. Between innings, some sort of tater-tot casserole to nibble on as Minnesota knocks off the Liberty in the decisive fifth game of the WNBA Finals. Or maybe a couple pierogies as we root on Russell Wilson in his first Steelers’ start. If he actually plays. Either way, Pittsburgh is playing the Jets, so we will hold our noise and hope the Steelers win. Notice a theme here? A perfect day today would feature three New York teams losing. Until later …