Grip on Sports: Now we have to wait almost 12 months for Hoopfest to return
A GRIP ON SPORTS • The major league baseball season lasts 162 games. The college basketball season is seven months long. But Hoopfest, one of the most fun events of the year, lasts just two days. And now it is over. Read on.
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• In October, we may look back at Hoopfest, 2017 and realize it lasted as long as the Mariners were above .500, but that’s another story.
For now we are focusing on the two days we did have. You know, there are 363 (or 364) days every year without Hoopfest. So the two we get better be perfect.
The weather reached that standard this year, which is nice. And so did the surprise guest.
That turned out to be Kevin Durant, the Seattle Super Sonic, er, Oklahoma City, sorry, no, Golden State Warrior forward who came to Spokane toting a championship ring and a willingness to be impressed.
He was.
And who wouldn’t be with the way Spokane transforms its downtown for two days a year? It becomes the world’s largest basketball venue, a game near and dear to Durant.
One of the Durant’s Warrior teammates, former WSU guard Klay Thompson, was once on the Hoopfest poster. And he probably tried to prepare his co-worker for what he was getting into.
Yet it seemed as if Durant was gobsmacked. The crowds, the atmosphere, the love of the game all seemed to impress a guy who has played basketball all around the world.
“It makes me smile, man,” Durant told the S-R’s Whitney Ogden. “Basketball is just so precious to me and the game is just so much fun and I want everybody to experience the amount of fun I have when I play. (Hoopfest) is sparking a lot of young kids.
“Hopefully we’ll see a lot of NBA players come through here.”
Maybe not, but the two recent Gonzaga commitments, Anton Watson and Brock Ravet, both played in the tournament’s youth divisions over the years, so there’s that.
Of course, Durant didn’t just make an appearance because he’s heard so much about Hoopfest. Nike, his other employer, introduced his new shoes at the event, and Durant wore them in his walk from the Grand Hotel to center court.
No matter. Money grab or not, Durant’s visit just took Hoopfest’s last day up to 11. And gave us one more thing to remember over the next 363.
• There was a lot to watch on television yesterday as well, but nothing was better than the final hole of the Travelers Championship.
Jordan Spieth, leaking oil all day as he coughed up a lead, was in a one-hole playoff with Daniel Berger. His second shot on the par-4 18th found the bunker some 60 feet from the cup.
Spieth holed it. Then chest bumped his caddy. The birdie was enough as Berger’s tying putt just missed.
Golf is a pretty staid game. It wasn’t late Sunday afternoon.
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Indians: The series at Vancouver resulted in three Spokane losses, the latest 8-3 on Sunday. The Indians return home tonight to host Tri-City. The Dust Devils lost to Everett yesterday. Elsewhere in the Northwest League, Eugene won as did Hillsboro.
Hoopfest: Whitney has the coverage of the Hoopfest elite divisions, which included quite a few local players in the finals. Colin Mulvany was also at center court and has a photo report. … It was hot yesterday as the event wrapped up around downtown.
Mariners: The three-game series with the American League West-leading Astros wrapped up yesterday with an 8-2 loss. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t one play that may have made a difference. There was. And it was a comedy of mistakes, or it would have been if, in the end, the call was right. It wasn’t. … We have our weekly column, looking at the difference between the M’s at home and on the road. … Seattle has played almost three weeks without a break. It seems to be having an effect. … Houston is the gold standard of the American League these days, and it shows. … It was hot in Seattle yesterday. Scott Servais knows how to deal with it. Now.
Sounders: A 1-0 lead. A red card. Two Portland goals just before half. A second half with just 10. And yet, when Clint Dempsey scored in extra time, somehow Seattle came away with a point on the road with a 2-2 draw. It didn’t make the Timber faithful happy. … San Jose decided it was time for a coaching change.
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• On the first work day back in Spokane in a couple weeks, I have a list of errands a mile long. Starting with getting the air conditioning checked. It’s not a good time for it to be making some awful noises. Until later …