A Grip on Sports: The past 24 hours haven’t been good for a lot of folks

A GRIP ON SPORTS • We awoke this morning trying to determine which sports entity in the world has suffered the worst 24 hours. The U.S. gymnastics team, which lost Simone Biles to injury and the gold medal to Russian athletes? The Astros, who blew a seven-run lead to the M’s? The Big 12, who saw Texas and Oklahoma make their exodus to the SEC official? WSU, which not only has to deal with the Nick Rolovich vaccination fallout but also being picked last in the Pac-12 North?

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• A lot can change in 24 hours. Ask Biles, who a day before was being hailed, rightly, as the GOAT among gymnasts.

Then she landed awkwardly and her team competition was over. As were the U.S. hopes for another gold medal.

It’s been, as always, an up and down first week for U.S. Olympics. The gymnastic second-place has been balanced by a teenager from Seward, Alaska, Lydia Jacoby, winning gold and her high school classmates going nuts – and viral, via a video. The softball team played for gold (and lost 2-0 to Japan), the men’s basketball team is just trying to survive.

Welcome, to Tokyo and the 2020 Olympics. In 2021.

• The Pac-12 football media day began this morning with the release of the coaches and media votes on the upcoming season. It will continue throughout the morning with interviews with players and coaches from each school. In other words, the usual.

And, also in usual fashion, Washington State was picked to finish last in the North. OK, not so usual recently. But the Mike Leach era seems to be officially, finally, completely over. Now the responsibility is on Rolovich, who is dealing with a peripheral issue of his own design.

Rolovich is the only Pac-12 coach who will not be in attendance. The only one not vaccinated. The only one who will have to deal with questions related to such issues as possible Covid-related forfeits, missed games, conflict with the school president and athletic director. Not the only one with off-field issues, sure (we’re looking at you Herm Edwards), but the only one in the Covid genre.

Keep checking in here, as Theo Lawson, who wrote the Rolovich-related story we linked above, will be updating consistently as the day progresses.

• It’s funny. I wrote this the other day about the Mariners and trading veterans for long-term prospects: “It doesn’t seem like the right play if the goal is to actually compete for a championship in 2022. And that’s supposed to be the goal, right? The goal of the past few years of wandering in the wilderness, of gaining extra seasons of club control, of keeping prospects at the Tacoma training site in a pandemic year? Watching bad baseball night after night has to be rewarded someday, doesn’t it? And it can’t just be what we are seeing this July, which is pretty darn good and fun baseball.”

And a friend who shall not be named doesn’t think I don’t find this recent stretch of Mariner baseball exciting. Guess I could have been plainer, which is why I added the emphasis this morning. I thought the point was clear. The past few years have been awful. The past few weeks have been fun. The future needs to be even better.

More like last night, without the deficit part.

Houston broke out in front 7-0 early. Bad news, right? Nope. An opportunity, one the M’s didn’t miss. They scored three in the fourth and fifth innings. After a Houston run, the M’s added one in the fifth. Then Dylan Moore stroked an eighth-inning grand slam and the Mariners won 11-8.

It was the type of win that can propel a team to, dare we say it, the playoffs. And made the Astros’ Monday a very bad day.

• Speaking of a deficit, the Big 12 is sure facing one. Not of the financial type, though that is coming. But of prestige and influence. The two most-dominant schools in the conference are leaving. By 2025 at the latest and more than likely a lot sooner.

What will happen to the rest of the conference? No one know. But we do know it won’t be pretty. Or nice. Or pretty.

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Olympics: The Biles’ injury is the big news, of course, but how big is unknown as of now. … The women’s soccer team moved on but just barely. … Naomi Osaka, like the U.S. softball team, was also upset. … Canada won the bronze. … The U.S. women’s basketball team got past Nigeria.

WSU: We have more from the media day to pass along already, as Theo has a story on the poll as well as the preseason all-conference team. Max Borghi and Abraham Lucas were selected to the first team. … Former Washington State athletic director Jim Sterk has stepped down at Missouri. It was a surprise. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college sports, Jon Wilner previewed the day. … USC was picked to win the South and Oregon to win the North. The Ducks are the favorites to win the title. … Washington was picked to finish second. … Oregon State wasn’t last in the North. … Arizona has to face some questions. … Arizona State earned the third spot in the South.

Gonzaga: There is a great story on former assistant Tommy Lloyd from the Athletic. Most of the stories passed along are ones you may have heard before but they are fun to hear again. … Jalen Suggs seems to be headed to Toronto. But if the Raptors pass on him, will he drop a long way?

EWU: The Big Sky held its media day Monday in Spokane. The commissioner called out anyone who hasn’t been vaccinated as the numbers are lagging. Dan Thompson has a notebook. … Around the conference, Weber State was picked to win. … Montana expects to compete, as does Montana State. The two will meet on ESPN. … Idaho State and Northern Colorado are expected to bring up the rear.

Idaho: The Vandals’ Tre Walker is the preseason defensive player of the year. Peter Harriman has that news in this piece.

Chiefs: Tyler Johnson is headed back to Spokane. With the Stanley Cup. It will be here Thursday.

Mariners: Will the 11-8 win propel the M’s to new heights? If so, we may have to build a statue to Moore. … The Royals are looking to trade Whit Merrifield. The M’s seem to be interested. … Jarred Kelenic is getting better.

Seahawks: The roster countdown continues. … Making the final roster won’t be easy. … Jamal Adams will be at training camp as he works on a new deal.

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• You know what is hard? Waking up in the morning, seeing the overnight Olympic results and knowing you won’t be able to watch until later in the day. In 2021, that doesn’t seem right. Or the correct way to maximize interest. And money. But what do we know? The people making the decisions have millions of numbers at their fingertips. And bigger brains than us. All we know is we don’t like it. Until later …