A Grip on Sports: Bright lights and the big city lead to some unexpected revelations
A GRIP ON SPORTS • “I awoke last night to the sound of thunder. How far off I sat and wondered. Started humming a song from 1972.” OK, so we fudged the lyrics a little bit. We don’t remember 1962. But we remember last night, when Spokane was inundated with thunderstorms. And hit with only a smattering of sports news worth opining about.
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• What was the song we were humming, you ask? One we heard on Sirius’ ‘70s on 7 the other day, “I Saw the Light” by Todd Rundgren. Appropriate, no? Goes with the lightning flashing in the sky and is just obscure enough – it’s never been rediscovered after being featured in a Quenton Tarantino movie, though it was in “A Very Murray Christmas” a few years back – to get us thinking about weird sports stories.
Like this one the S-R ran this morning concerning the Utah Jazz, whose Western Conference semifinal with the Clippers is tied at two following last night’s loss in Los Angeles. The only deep connection Spokane has with the Jazz is John Stockton, who last played an NBA game in 2003. So, yes, there is a link, albeit one becomes more and more in the rear-view mirror with each passing day.
Then there is this story from Seattle, where the M’s defeated Minnesota last night 4-3. No, that’s not the odd story, though any Mariner win this year is seemingly a surprise, considering their “circumstances.” (Yes, that’s a nice way of saying they stink.) This odd story concerns Mitch Haniger. You might recall the M’s best hitter fouled a ball off his left knee in his first at-bat Sunday. We’ve heard this song before, including the time that he fouled a ball off the ground and into his groin. That led to a couple years worth of issues, seemingly, and a whole bunch of missed games.
The odd part about this most recent painful carom? It looks as if the oft-injured Haniger won’t be headed to the injured list. His knee is only bruised.
It’s a June miracle.
As is what seems to have happened to Gonzaga distance runner James Mwaura. A huge bureaucracy like U.S. Track and Field has done the right thing. Bent the rules – or at least clarified them in such a way as to benefit an athlete. As John Blanchette reports, Mwaura will be allowed to run in the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials’ 10,000-meter race Friday.
Mwaura posted his qualifying time at the NCAA championships but hadn’t provisionally entered. The letter of the law, if anyone could understand it, seemed to indicate he couldn’t run in Eugene this weekend. An appeal was launched and has seemed to fallen on open ears. Good.
Want some other good, but not surprising, news? If the college football playoffs expand, as has been proposed, each Pac-12 school could receive as much as $27 million a year from the pool of cash that would be created. Is that a big deal? Well, considering they receive $9 million now, yes it is.
An extra $18 million a year would go a long way in Pullman toward pulling the Cougars out of a yearly deficit that is threatening to swamp the school’s resources. Or, you know, allow for the next football coach to make $9.3 million a year. It all depends on the priorities.
Actually, though, if the latter were to happen, the flashes of light and loud booms coming out of the southern sky wouldn’t be another thunderstorm.
It would be the Washington State faculty and students staging a revolt.
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WSU: The pot of gold at the end of the playoff-expansion rainbow better materialize, unlike the Pac-12 Networks fantasy money. Jon Wilner takes a look at what an expanded playoff could mean, as does Stewart Mandel with The Athletic. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college sports, Washington basketball coach Mike Hopkins is doing some introspective thinking. … The conference women will play one more season of 18 league basketball games then expand to 20 in 2022-23. … Oregon State’s athletic director expects the football stadium to be fully open and the Beavers to make a bowl. A freshman who may have been able to help make the latter materialize is out with an injury. … Arizona State’s schedule doesn’t look daunting. … Arizona is headed to the college World Series having not lost consecutive games in more than a month.
Gonzaga: As we mentioned (and linked) above, James Mwaura should be running this Friday at the Olympic trials. John has the story. … Around the WCC, BYU’s newest guard wants to lead the Cougars to the NCAAs this season.
Preps: Basketball season is winding down. Dave Nichols has a roundup of Monday night’s games.
Mariners: Jake Bauer’s first home run for Seattle turned out to be the game winner.
Storm: Candice Dupree is still trying to fit in with Seattle.
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• After standing on guard at the picture windows early this morning, watching the storms retreat to the northeast, we had trouble getting back to sleep. In fact, the sun was starting to herald its arrival when we did. Sorry for any typos. We’re not at our best form. Nothing a nice nap won’t fix, however. Time to schedule three. Until later …