A GRIP ON SPORTS • If there is a more frustrating team to follow these days than the M’s, I’m not sure which team it would be. So I decided to take a day off yesterday. Not watch. Not listen. Go my merry way. Then they sucked me in. And may have lost me for good. Read on.

•••

• Actually, Lloyd McClendon sucked me in. Or, to be more precise, his Lou-Piniella-esque tantrum in the third inning did it. When I heard the screams coming from downstairs as the drama unfolded, I was compelled by some unseen force to get out of my chair and shuffle into the TV room. And what a sight lay before more. McClendon, his hat long gone by this time, berating the third-base umpire, a fellow he has a history with from last season. I immediately demanded a full accounting. Thanks to the magic of digital recording, I was able to see Brett Gardner strike out swinging on a 3-2 pitch and head back, appropriately, to his seat on the Yankee bench. And I was able to see the aforementioned third-base umpire, Tony Randazzo, rule there was no swing. What the heck? A quick fast-forward later, I got to see A-Rod check on a two-out, 3-2 pitch in the dirt. Now this time it didn’t look as if Steroid-Poster Guy actually swung but I’m pretty sure Mike Zunino figured he was owed one. So he began pulling a Gardner, as we like to call it, walking toward his dugout, all the while asking first-base umpire Will Little for the strike call. Little demurred. About calling a strike anyway. He was anything but demur in talking back to Zunino, who must have said something really interesting. After all, umpires don’t usually have as quick a hook as Little had. Stop laughing. OK, they all do these days. Anyhow, McClendon raced out said one or two words and Little let him have it with a thumb. And that began the explosion that even Piniella would have been proud of. It didn’t make any difference, of course. Such things never do. All it assured was getting me interested in the game, sort of, and getting McClendon a seat in the clubhouse. Neither of us, probably, had the courage to watch the bottom of the ninth, when the scapegoat-de-jour, Fernando Rodney, blew another save, his third already this season. By then I had already turned off the lights and hit the sack, having received more than my usual dose of excitement from this impotent team. There was no way my heart could handle the Fernando Rodney Experience. When I awoke this morning, I saw that he had ruined Mike Montgomery’s chance for a win – it was the left-hander’s first major league appearance and it was a good one, six innings of four-hit ball – and the M’s chance to inch closer to .500. Instead, they fell further behind the Astros in the West. And lost me. This team has me fed up. I can either stew in my own juices, get ticked off on a nightly basis or I can find other interests to keep me entertained. Cribbage maybe, or reading about the inner workings of FIFA. Both seem better. At least I don’t know how they will come out. With the M’s, the end seems predictable. The end of games, the end of the season. It’s hard to anticipate anything positive with either.

••••••••••

• WSU: The college football hall of fame ballot was announced yesterday and Cougar great Mike Utley was on it. ... This year’s team will have one more receiver come the fall. Jacob Thorpe has this blog post on Tavares Martin. ... Klay Thompson has been cleared to play.

• Gonzaga: Silas Melson will try to earn a spot on the U.S. U19 team for the world championships.

• EWU: For those of us who have been around a while, the name Dave Dickenson is pretty familiar. The former Montana quarterback is also on the hall of fame ballot. I’m sure a lot of Eagles would vote for him.

• Seahawks: Quarterback Russell Wilson was at OTAs yesterday and was available to talk with the media. You think they asked him about his contract negotiations? You think he said anything substantive? If you answered yes and no, then you would be correct my friend. No matter what he said, however, you knew there would be stories. ... The biggest impression from yesterday’s session? Jimmy Graham is a big dude, and seems even bigger in the red zone. Yes, he will make the offense better.

• Mariners: What can we say. The M’s had a 2-1 lead going into the top of the ninth. They lost 5-3 in 11. That hurts. Rodney’s blown saves are really beginning to haunt this team. ... Montgomery did his level best in his spot start. For some reason the M's sent Mayckol Guaipe down to make room for Montgomery on the roster. Guess you don't want to reward outstanding pitching.

• Sounders: The biggest news worldwide in sports yesterday was the unexpected resignation of Sepp Blatter as FIFA demi-god. If you are wondering why Blatter stepped down just days after winning reelection, you probably should read this.

•••

• OK, I know I talk a good game. I act as if I have given up on the M’s, as if I’ve jumped off the bandwagon. But I can’t and won’t. I’ll sit there each night this summer – or day as is the case today – and watch or listen. Maybe I’ll have my hands over my eyes or fingers stuck in my ears occasionally, but I’ll still pay attention. After all, I’m the type of guy who slows down to look at car wrecks. Until later ...

---

---