Get ready to rake, autumn is here
A GRIP ON SPORTS
Summer is unofficially over in the Inland Northwest. The Cougars are playing a home football game. In the more than 30 years I've lived in this area, that's always seemed to be the unofficial kickoff of autumn. Read on.
• No disrespect to Eastern or Idaho or Whitworth or all the high schools in the area, but there is one football elephant in the Inland Northwest and that's the Cougars. Even in down years, Washington State still draws the biggest crowds and the most interest. Heck, I learned that first-hand in the fall of 1983 when Randall Cunningham (pictured) and UNLV came to Albi Stadium to play WSU and the only seats I could snag were in the south end zone. It was OK, though. End zone seats are always the best for watching line splits and blocking schemes and the like, so that's what I focused upon. When I could focus. One thing I learned that day: Cougar fans are darn good at tailgating. And quite hospitable, even to strangers. It helps, of course, to be wearing crimson. That game was in late September, back when the Pac-10 played just eight conference games and a non-conference game could actually happen after the official onset of fall. Such things rarely happen anymore, gone like the days when WSU played in Spokane. But the Cougars don't need to anymore, not with the palace Martin Stadium has become. (They don't need to play in Seattle either, but that's another column.) But the tailgating hasn't changed. If anything, it's gotten more elaborate and refined. Instead of some sort of light beer in the coolers, it's some other sort of light beer that costs a couple dollars more. And instead of hamburgers containing 20 percent fat, it's down to seven. Heart healthier, you know. But the smiles and laughs and fears are still the same. Cougar fans, no matter who their beloved team is playing, always hope for the best and expect the worst. In that they probably think they are alone – or at least more practiced at it. They aren't. It's the natural order of things everywhere except maybe Alabama, USC, Notre Dame and the like. So grab a cold one – in my case these days it's a cold diet coke – and cheer your team on. After all, it's autumn, no matter what the calendar says.
• In my youth, fall was highlighted by the Fall Classic, the World Series. My team, the Dodgers, seemed to always be in contention in the 1960s and early 1970s. That's where last night took me. As I listened to the Mariners battle the A's, I floated back to 1965, an eight-year-old lying in bed, listening to Jerry Doggett (no one on the M's broadcast team reminds me of Vin Scully; they all sound a bit like Doggett, however) and hoping beyond hope the Dodgers would pull one out. Usually I fell asleep before the final out and I would have to run to the breakfast table and check the L.A. Times to see if Ron Perranoski had held the lead. I doubt Perranoski (at right in picture) ever shot an arrow, real or imagined, in his life, but when Fernando Rodney notched his last night, it meant I could head to bed. And that the M's had pulled with a half-game of the A's with Felix on the mound tonight. Even when you are a 57-year-old, pennant races are special.
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• WSU: If you are headed to Pullman (heck, even if you aren't), Jacob Thorpe has you covered today. His advance looks at the Vikings' two-headed quarterback scheme while his morning post takes you to stories all over the West Coast. He also has keys to the game, starters for PSU and a post from yesterday on the departure of Teondray Caldwell. ... Bud Withers checks out the PSU coaching staff, which includes a couple of former Washington State assistants. ... ESPN.com's Pac-12 blog has its usual mailbag and it contains a WSU question. ... The blog also has what to look for today around the conference. ... Portland State has a fun football history, even if the present isn't anything to smile about. ... WSU's undefeated soccer team rallied for a win over host Gonzaga, 2-1.
• EWU: With Jim Allen and the Eagles having the Saturday off, we thought we better run down a few Big Sky links to keep your appetite satisfied. For example, Montana hosts South Dakota tonight in what could be an entertaining non-conference game. ... Sacramento State hosts Weber State in what could be an entertaining conference game. ... Southern Utah's tough-as-nails schedule continues as they host South Dakota State. ... North Dakota hopes to get on the winning track but doesn't expect to today.
• Idaho: The Vandals host Western Michigan today and John Blanchette has a short advance as well as more on the Linehan family in this blog post.
• Preps: There were not a lot of close games last night in the prep ranks, though many were tight for a while. Greg Lee had one of each last night at Albi, with Coeur d'Alene pulling away in the second half for a 31-8 victory over Ferris and Moses Lake rallying for a 19-16 overtime win over Lewis and Clark. ... Jesse Tinsley has photographs from both games. ... Tom Clouse covered Gonzaga Prep's easy 17-0 win over Bellarmine Prep while Chris Derrick was at Central Valley where Lake City routed the Bears, 57-21. ... Lakeland also won easily, defeating East Valley 41-10 while University rallied in the fourth quarter to edge Post Falls, 37-27. ... We can also pass along a roundup of GSL games and another from around the area.
• Seahawks: The Hawks are headed down the coast for Sunday's game against the Chargers. Do you have questions about San Diego? Here are some answers. ... Pete Carroll had some things to say about this weekend. ... Want to know more about Zach Miller and Ricardo Lockette? Here you go. ... Newcomer Marcus Burley needs to come through for the Hawks. ... The NFL and its players have agreed upon a new drug policy.
• Mariners: It must have been fun in SoDo last night, what with the M's hosting the A's in a key game and the Sounders across the street facing Real Salt Lake. Fun, until it was time to try to get home. ... It seems Logan Morrison's home run, which gave the M's the late lead in a game they would win 4-2, came within seconds of Obafemi Martins' goal for the Sounders. You could hear the reaction to both over the radio. Wild. ... James Paxton hasn't been sharp recently – he seems to nibble a lot – but he was good enough last night to keep the M's in the game against Oakland. ... Rodney tied the Mariners' record for most saves in a season. ... Dustin Ackley returned to the lineup though his bat didn't contribute.
• Sounders: The match was tied in the final seconds – really – when Andy Rose found the back of the net and broke Real Salt Lake's heart. The 3-2 win not only put Seattle four points ahead of the Galaxy – they've played the same number of matches – but eight up on Salt Lake. ... There was a red card in the second half and even the Salt Lake folks felt it was deserved. RSL played a man down the rest of the way. ... Though Salt Lake scored first, Sigi Schmid wasn't worried about his team.
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• That's it for this morning. If you are staying up late tonight to catch the Cougar game – yep, the new Pac-12 means WSU plays seemingly nothing but night games – then stay up a bit later and listen to yours truly stumble over names like Breshears and Palacio and Vaeao and Leach on the radio. Our postgame call-in show with Dennis Patchin can be heard on KXLY 920 AM around here and on TuneIn radio on your smartphone and tablet. Until then ...
