A Grip on Sports: Any win is a good win in the NFL as the Seahawks proved Sunday against the Broncos

A GRIP ON SPORTS • What the heck is “a good win?” Isn’t that phrase redundant?

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• While we were walking yesterday evening, we were bombarded by folks on social media decrying the Seahawks’ season-opening victory as not being a good win. Or a good-enough win. It triggered a verbal response, which we really can’t share here. And some thoughts.

In the professional sports world wins are, in and of themselves, always good. That’s what you are competing for. Wins. Not style points. Not ratings. Not public acclaim. Wins.

Look at the standings today. It shows the Seahawks atop the NFC West following their 26-20 victory over the Denver Broncos at Lumen Field. Nowhere does it list their good or bad or mediocre wins. Just wins. Losses. Simple.

If, after the NFL’s long slog is over, Seattle has more wins than the other three teams, it wins the division. And all anyone will remember about yesterday and the ensuing weeks is whether the result went in the left side of the ledger or the right.

The other aspect of calling something “a good win” is it presupposes that a bunch of different types of bad wins exist. There is actually only one contender in that category and the Romans came up with a name for it 2,300 years ago.

Win a game and lose a bunch of key players to injuries? It’s a Pyrrhic victory, so named after a Greek general won two battles with the Romans and yet, due to the army’s casualties, ended up losing the war.

But a bad win? In a couple weeks no one will remember how poorly the Seahawks’ offense looked in the first half. Nor will they worry themselves about the special teams’ blunders. All they will do is look at the standings, count the wins and say Seattle is in good shape. Or not.

• We love that clarity about professional sports. It’s all about winning. Not character development or changing the world. Win and it’s good – or should be. It isn’t always that way, of course, among the fanbases scattered around the nation. Heck, there are certain teams whose fans wear big old stars and would find something to complain about after a 50-point victory.

Those people don’t exist among the Seahawk faithful, of course. There is no way the Hawks will ever win a game by 50 points. Not with this offensive line anyway.

We’re not complaining, mind you. And don’t going telling people we are. We are just pointing out, quietly and calmly, the group su … uh, stinks. Just like last season. Just like, well, pretty much every season in our recent memory.

It’s not that the five guys up front – four of them new starters – got miraculously better after halftime. Mainly, it was first-year offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb realizing he was trying to make a five-star meal out of ham and eggs. Sometimes you have to keep it simple if you want to eat.

And the Hawks did eat, at least ate better, in the second half. They ran the ball. Asked the offensive lineman to knock people back. Kept it simple – or simplified it some, as in the NFL even run-blocking schemes have to be at least a little polished. Opened holes. Opened doors, too. Opportunities for Geno Smith to throw the ball happened after halftime due to the improved running game.

It all sort of clicked. Enough anyway. To get a win. And that’s what matters.

• We watched the game yesterday at the home of life-long Bronco fan. A level-headed one at that. And, no, that’s not an oxymoron when referring to football fans. There are a few level-headed ones out there.

Though we were focusing our attention on the Hawks and their first-half struggles and he was locked in on the visitors, at halftime, as we enjoyed an exceptional salad prepared the only non-football aficionado in the room, we agreed on one thing: We had just witnessed an awful half of football.

High school. College. NFL. Any level would have looked at that first half and gagged a bit. Unless the viewer liked to watch two teams in the last category making miscues more expected of the first group.

Muff a punt? Fall on the darn ball. Get beat on a run from your endzone? Don’t grab the guy. Get free outside the pocket and try to find a receiver? Don’t throw it to the guy with three defenders in-between.

You know, football can be a simple game. Sometimes it has to be. With a simple result. Win or lose. Sunday, the Seahawks did the former. Good.

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WSU: We were impressed with David Gusta the first time we saw him. Thought from the get-go he had an NFL future. Said so to a friend who works in Bohler. And then watched as he did all the dirty work last season without much recognition. Now the defensive lineman is getting the latter. He’s the main focus of Greg Wood’s rewind of the Cougars’ 37-16 win over visiting Texas Tech. But even now, Gusta’s name doesn’t appear until the 10th paragraph of Greg’s story. Such is the life of an interior lineman on both sides of the ball. … If you read this column regularly, you know we attended our 50th high school reunion last weekend. That included taking in the football game Friday night, where we ran into former Cougar offensive lineman Andrew Roxas. We covered Roxas’ career in Pullman, juggling the mandate of staying unbiased and the reality of having an alum of our high school included on the roster. Roxas is doing well, married with two daughters and building a career in law enforcement as well as in martial arts instruction. … Elsewhere in the (new and old) Pac-12, the Mountain West and the nation, despite posting a second season-opening victory, neither Washington State or Oregon State moved up in the second edition of Jon Wilner’s Best in the West rankings in the Mercury News. … Both rose in the Athletic’s rankings of every FBS team but they stayed joined at the hip in that one. … The SEC is dominating the A.P. poll. … And is in control of the playoff picture. … Oregon State prepped for the Civil War by setting a defensive record in the shutout at San Diego State. … Washington, which will meet the Cougars this weekend in the first early season Apple Cup, did a lot right in the win over visiting Eastern Michigan. … Stanford started slowly. Finished strong in winning handily over Cal Poly. What did we say before? Any win is a good win. … Ask Oregon. Well, no, don’t. There is a lot of self-examination going on in Eugene right now. … Colorado lost. At Nebraska, a team the Buffs defeated last season. Is it possible to put a good spin on it? … The No. 1 concern in Salt Lake City? The status of Cam Rising’s fingers. … Over-reaction: USC is playoff bound. Could be. Long way to go, though. … Arizona State’s offense did well Saturday. … It was harder than it probably should have been but Arizona won. … In the Mountain West, any first is important. For San Jose State on Saturday, it earned its first win at Air Force. Ever. …  Utah State was knocked around by USC. There were still a few positives though. … Boise State may have the Heisman frontrunner – literally. … Fresno State just does not lose to FCS schools. … UNLV set records in its easy win. … Nevada let a win slip away.

EWU: The Eagles plucked their own feathers a bit in their 35-32 overtime loss to Drake on Saturday. Their 10 assessed penalties cost them 115 yards and kept their offense from really taking off. Dan Thompson delves into this and more in his look back at the home defeat. … How did the local NFL players do this weekend? Taylor Newquist answers that in this story, starting with Cooper Kupp’s performance against Detroit. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, the second half was awful for Montana. … Montana State wore new uniforms but had the same result. … Northern Colorado was overmatched at Colorado State.

Indians: The regular season is over. It ended with, appropriately, a 9-2 win at Everett. Appropriate because Spokane won 79 times this season, 11 more than the next closest team. The Indians also won both the first and second halves of the Northwest League season. All that stays on this side of the border Tuesday when they open the best-of-five championship series at Vancouver. Dave Nichols has all the particulars in this story. … Elsewhere in the NWL, Vancouver defeated visiting Eugene 8-4 to build momentum for the playoffs. … Hillsboro edged Tri-City again, this time 3-1 as both teams ended their seasons.

Zephyr: The season is young. Spokane has yet to lose. Yet to win, either, after another draw Sunday. This time the USL Super League match ended 1-1 against Brooklyn FC at ONE Spokane Stadium. Colton Clark has the coverage.

Preps: Did you see former Central Valley High punter Ryan Rehkow’s record-setting punt for the Bengals on Sunday?

Seahawks: We start this link-fest with Dave Boling’s column on Mike Macdonald’s first game. It was all about giving his team some clarity – and some adjustments. … The 26-20 victory was, of course, also Macdonald’s first win as a head coach. The defense was most-responsible for it and the offense was most-responsible for the tight margin. … Excuse me? Yes, that was Marshawn Lynch whispering in Macdonald’s ear in the middle of Sunday’s game. Wow. … Tyler Lockett has always been a closer. This coaching staff is just acknowledging that. … There are always grades. … The loss did not go over well in Denver. … The Chiefs are still the team to beat in the NFL after week one.

Mariners: Edgar Martinez was sort of a see-the-ball, hit-the-ball, type of guy. Hone your swing with intense work, then clear the mind at the plate. Make educated assumptions on what pitch will appear where and hit the crud out of it. Simple. It’s that simple, clear-minded approach he’s trying to bring to the M’s. It was evident Sunday in their 10-4 win in St. Louis. … Luis Castillo had to leave early despite the large lead. He had a strained hamstring.

Reign: Seattle earned a 3-2 win over Angel City, kept their road momentum going and drew closer to a playoff spot.  

Tennis: World No. 1 Jannik Sinner won his second Grand Slam title of the year, defeating American Taylor Fritz in straight sets in New York. He added the men’s U.S. Open trophy to the one he won in Australia long ago. Whether he should have even been allowed to play is still being debated in tennis circles, after he failed two steroid tests but was cleared of wrongdoing.

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• It’s time to start the long road home. Get to visit relatives on the way. But, ultimately, all roads this week lead to Spokane. For us anyway. Until later …