A Grip on Sports: The trick today is to have more than one TV available for college football’s best treats

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s Halloween. Which means, by the sports calendar, it’s the last Saturday without Pac-12 football. Doesn’t mean it’s an empty day, but it does mean next Saturday will feature much more action.

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• How good is Clemson? Let’s rephrase that. How important is Trevor Lawrence to Clemson? We find out this morning. The top-ranked Tigers, the defending national champions, host Boston College without their star quarterback, sidelined with a case of COVID-19. Now, the Eagles aren’t Alabama or anything, but it is a decent test for Clemson and its true freshman backup quarterback.

And it’s also how your day of college football should start (the game is on ABC starting at 9 a.m.), after watching for the WSU flag on GameDay, of course.

There are other interesting games, too. There should be. There are two-dozen listed in the S-R sports section’s On the Air feature for today.

A half-dozen of them start at 9, and one – Nevada at UNLV – begins at 7:30 tonight, a second or two after we will have turned off our front lights.

The best treats? Besides full-sized Milky Ways, you mean? How about Michigan State at Michigan (also 9 a.m. on FOX), Mike Leach’s Mississippi State team at second-ranked Alabama (4 p.m., ESPN) or third-ranked Ohio State at Penn State (4:30 p.m., ABC).

My sleeper pick? That would be unranked Texas at sixth-ranked Oklahoma State. The Longhorns are going to drop 40 on the Cowboys today. It might not be enough, but it should be fun.

• Sean Connery died this morning. He was 90, so his death isn’t one of those sad stories about a life taken too soon. Or unexpected. Still, it hits deeply for movie fans.

Connery will always be known as James Bond, and rightfully so. He was so perfect for the role in the 1960s, when tough and cool had to be portrayed in equal parts. He did that. He did it better than anyone.

But it was some of his other movies I will remember, mainly because they hit me in the heart at certain times of my life.

The most important of those is “Robin and Marian,” an off-beat, off-kilter look at Robin Hood and Maid Marian. It is a love story, not an action one. A story about love that endures throughout a life, no matter the circumstances, no matter the forces aligned against it.

I saw it with Kim. It was either the first or second movie we saw together (we can’t figure out if it was this one or “All the President’s Men,” because that’s about the time we started dating off-and-on). The ending made me cry. Yep, a 20-year-old male crying on an early date with a female. It just wasn’t done in 1976. And yet, here we are, some 44 years later. That woman became my wife and my life partner. There’s a little of me that believes Sean Connery had something to do with getting this journey started.

• You know what I’ve looked for all week? Bread. Dutch-crunch bread in actuality. It’s a San Francisco treat, one that I was hoping to find and use for tomorrow’s Seahawk meal of the week.

But alas, I’ve been unable to find anyplace in Spokane that makes and/or sells it.

I’m still looking. It’s part of our NFL meal plan, to search until we find something or try to cook it. Making bread, though, isn’t on our agenda. So if today’s search proves fruitless, we’ll be switching to clam chowder or something for tomorrow. Or maybe we’ll invoke the once-a-year Seattle-is-at-home clause and serve Seattle-style hot dogs.

We’ll see.

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WSU: The Cougars have always been good at mining walk-ons for important roles. That won’t stop because of the coaching change. Theo Lawson has a notebook today that covers one walk-on from Spokane who probably is in the mix at receiver. … A linebacker has joined the commitment group from 2021. Theo has that story as well. … Around the Pac-12 and college sports, we can pass along a depth-chart look at Washington’s defense. And a mailbag. … Oregon still hasn’t decided on a starting quarterback. And a couple of tight ends have been out. … One Oregon State star thinks it’s about time to win. That’s it. Win. … Colorado has named its starting quarterback. Sam Hoyer played safety last season. … Utah is about to ascend into college football royalty. … USC has had a few missteps with its football program recently. What else is new? Will the Trojans win the South? … A UCLA running back is heading away. The Bruins had some false positive tests. … Jayden Daniels has to be better for Arizona State. … Traveling will be a challenge for everyone, including Arizona. … In basketball news, there are extra days hidden in the new conference schedule. … Colorado has leaders off the court as well. … Utah is trying to rebuild the nonconference schedule again. … I’ve said this before. I want this book for Christmas. Earlier, if anyone has a hankering for a gift. (Did you get the hint, Kim?).

Preps: The first round of Idaho’s state football playoffs took place last night and our Dave Nichols ventured out to Post Falls. The Trojans fell 44-41 to Mountain View. It’s part of Dave’s roundup.

Seahawks: There is hope. Not much. But hope that Jamal Adams and Chris Carson can play Sunday. … Alex Collins is coming back. And Damon Harrison might play as well. … Voting is important for some Hawks.

Mariners: Is Lou Piniella going to return to managing, like Tony LaRussa? No chance. … The M’s need to look at these free-agent relief pitchers.

Sounders: Is this the best Sounders team ever? We’ll see.

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• Need good news? Does this suffice? McRib’s. More like McYummy. … Don’t forget. The clocks have to be reset tonight before bed. Daylight saving time ends. Being an hour early for church tomorrow isn’t as bad as the spring, when an hour late comes into play, but it is embarrassing nonetheless. … Have a happy, safe, quiet Halloween everyone. Until later …