A Grip on Sports: As fires rage, taking homes and memories, it’s hard to focus on football and other areas of sports

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Quite a few people these days live in the house in which they grew up. That’s not the case for me, but if it were, I would be writing somewhere else today. The old family neighborhood, a place filled with homes that date back 100 years, is under an evacuation order as wildfires burn through the Southern California mountains. It’s something I never thought I would see.

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• It’s not as if wildfires are new to the hills that rub up to Sierra Madre, the mile-square enclave in which I grew up. Heck, in the mid-1960s, dad grabbed his work gloves, a shovel and joined in fighting a fire that burned to the edges of the 12,000-person community. And a few years later I can remember looking north toward the Mt. Wilson TV towers, watching flames hop across the mountain ridges I  explored during the summers.

But an evacuation? Never. Not while my dad, who was born in a house nearby a century ago this July, was alive. Now the place I used to shoot hoops, bounce a rubber-coated baseball off a concrete-block wall, hack away at plastic golf balls, swing a weighted bat for hours on end and dream of a major league future, stands empty.

How sad. And how sad it is thousands throughout the area, the second-largest metropolis in the nation, are forced to flee, leaving everything they own behind as they try to outrace flames burning through neighborhoods just like the one outside your front window.

It’s not just houses that burn in wildfires. It is memories. Years and years of them. It happened once to my sister in the mountains near Yosemite. It happened to an old friend in Malibu years ago, as he lost everything he collected over a 40-year baseball coaching career. It happens. Too often.

St. Rita’s, the school and church where I learned most everything I needed to get through this life, is also empty today. There is a building still in use there in which I attended third and fourth grade. My father did as well. Hopefully, it will still be there tomorrow.

I believe Sister Andrea would be proud of me this morning. I said my prayers for folks dealing with the firestorms. Added in thoughts for everyone over the years who have dealt with the same. It’s all we can do. That and cherish our memories.

• Sorry for the personal public-service announcement. Back to our regularly scheduled programming. Which means, of course, sports.

I really didn’t realize until this morning the college football playoffs resume Thursday night. Kind of assumed the semifinals would be a weekend event. Stupid me. Forgot to factor in the NFL playoffs. The 1,200-pound elephant of the sporting world, stomping out any competition – and trumpeting after.

So, we get the Orange Bowl on Thursday night. Penn State. Notre Dame. Two Big Ten schools in philosophy if not in affiliation. Friday night it is the Cotton Bowl. Texas. Ohio State. The Comstock Lode of future NFL talent.

All four schools at-large picks. All had to win two games, the first at home, the second a neutral-site bowl game. Battle tested. Ready for whatever. How fun.

• In the more mundane world of NFL franchises that failed to make the playoffs, the Seahawks’ decision to hand the offensive keys to Ryan Grubb a year ago seems stranger every day.

To be more precise, every time head coach Mike Macdonald talks.

Throughout the season one could tell Macdonald was frustrated by how often the offense threw the ball. That always baffled me. For two reasons.

Macdonald was the head coach. Wasn’t it within his rights to tell Grubb to run the darn ball more? But, more importantly, what did he expect? It was obvious in his two seasons at UW, Grubb was a pass-80%-of-the-time guy. It’s not like he was going to magically become a 50/50 play caller because he was in the NFL. He was going to dance with the philosophy that got brung him.

In hindsight, it sure seems as if Grubb was John Schneider’s choice. And Macdonald had to live with it. For a year. Now maybe the young coach will get to pick the guy he wanted all along.

• Macdonald has made his pick at the quarterback position. He made it clear Tuesday he hopes free-to-go-wherever Geno Smith returns. But that won’t be Macdonald’s choice, not at the amount of money Smith will want. It will be up to Schneider and trustee/owner Jody Allen.

The negotiations will be interesting to watch unfold. Not just between Smith and the Hawks. But between Macdonald and Schneider as well. To sign Smith, Seattle may have to pare elsewhere to stay within the cap. It’s a salary-limit dance every front office and coaching staff engage in each season.

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WSU: There is no salary cap, per se, in college football these days. Nor are there much in the way of limits. If there were either, maybe the Cougars’ roster wouldn’t be rebuilt through players from new coach Jimmy Rogers’ old school, South Dakota State. Greg Woods has this story on Rogers’ latest additions. And, by the way, remember the new world order. Jake Dickert leaves. Takes a bunch of players with him. Cougar fans bemoan losing their favorites. Jake Rogers comes in. Brings in a bunch of players with him. Cougar fans rejoice. South Dakota State fans? What else? Bemoaning. … Same thing happened in basketball, right? David Riley’s team is a collection of returning players and Eastern Washington (plus other places) transfers. It has taken them a while to melt together on the defensive end. They seem to have done that recently. Greg has that story as well as they prep for Pacific – and Gonzaga on Saturday. … Jon Wilner looks at the recent West Coast coordinator hires in the S-R, including the Cougars’, and grades them. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Wilner also has his CFP semifinal picks. I’m a little worried. I agree with both. … Washington grabbed a key defensive transfer from the portal. … That’s because recruiting never stops, does it? Oregon is attracting talent from all over out of the portal – and enticing others to stick around another year. The latest Duck is a former Tulane running back everyone wanted. … Oregon State lost a longtime quarterback that led the Beavers to a late-season win over WSU. … Utah’s athletic director met with the media yesterday. … USC is dealing with change on the offensive side of the ball while closing in on its newest assistant coach. He’s from Colorado State. … How does UCLA look at the offensive skill positions? … Arizona State won’t have to find a new quarterback. Sam Leavitt is coming back. … Among the future Pac-12 members in the Mountain West, before we head there, the MWC added another football school to help fill the void that will happen in 2026, when the five schools leave for the Pac-12. It’s Northern Illinois, meaning the conference will no longer be limited to a) states with mountains; and b) states in the West. Conference names are no longer descriptive. They are just marketing. … In basketball news, the Washington women are playing well. They topped visiting Wisconsin 79-58 last night for their fifth consecutive win. … The 25th-ranked Utah State men won their first road game as a ranked team, topping San Jose State. … Boise State took apart visiting UNLV 81-59 last night. … In a battle of future Pac-12 schools, host Colorado State smothered Fresno State. … San Diego State matches up with Air Force tonight. … Tommy Lloyd did something with Arizona his old boss and mentor couldn’t: defeat West Virginia. The Wildcats did it on the road Tuesday.

Gonzaga: The Bulldog men have a speed bump en route to their showdown with WSU. San Diego is in town tonight. Jim Meehan has a preview of the game as well as a look at the key matchup. … Point guard Ryan Nembhard is on the Wooden Award midseason watch list. Theo Lawson has that covered. … Greg Lee has his women’s basketball notebook and he leads with the WCC battle Saturday in Pullman. Gonzaga, the conference’s dominant program for more than a decade vs. Washington State, the newcomer with hopes of a title. … Before we move on, we can send you to this Washington Post story on Corey Kispert’s recent resurgence with the Wizards. … Elsewhere in the WCC, Saint Mary’s men stayed atop the conference standings by dominating Loyola Marymount 81-56 in Moraga. … The USF women lead the league and are looking to add to their hot start at Oregon State tomorrow.

Preps: Mead High’s boys had to deal with most of the nonconference without senior leader Nash Dunham. He came back last night and helped the Panthers top visiting Ridgeline. Dave Nichols was there and has this story that covers both games. … Dave also has a roundup of other GSL action and another one covering the small schools.

EWU and Idaho: Around in the Big Sky, the conference has re-upped with ESPN. Gone all in, actually. Adds Friday night football games. That’s not good news for Montana high school football. … Now that Montana State’s season is over, ending with Monday’s FCS title loss to North Dakota State, the Bobcats will have to deal with the transfer portal losses…. Cal Poly added a former Pitt quarterback from the portal. … Sacramento State went even deeper, adding a former Alabama and Texas receiver who has been out of football for two years. … Portland State also picked up a trio of transfers. … In basketball news, as we always say, recruiting never stops. Ask the Idaho State men. … Weber State will head to Pocatello on Saturday. A fan bus, hired by former star Dillon Jones, will follow along.

Seahawks: Just who might the Hawks try to hire to take Grubb’s place? … It wasn’t just the offensive coordinator who struggled. Heck, you might be right arguing Grubb would have run the ball more with a better offensive line. There are some areas to shore up no matter who they hire. … The whole Smith soap opera will be interesting to watch unfold. And it will also be crucial to next season.

Kraken: Where does Seattle stand at the midpoint of the NHL slog?

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• After my dad and stepmom died, we sold the family homestead. It was totally remodeled inside. And sold again. Now a family with young children own it, just as was the case in the 1960s. I don’t know them at all but hope they are alright and the kids aren’t too scared. Until later …