Vince Grippi

A GRIP ON SPORTS • A Saturday in November featuring college football games that seemed as if they should have been broadcast in black and white? All in with that. A Gonzaga men’s team that looks capable of defending at a higher level than we’ve seen in a while? All in with that as well. A Seahawks squad struck down in mid-momentum by a bunch of injures? No, that’s not good for us at all. It seems a little too early on a Sunday morning to be sharing such deep thoughts.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Most college football Saturdays in this household are built around one thing. The Washington State football game. Mainly because one member of the clan – me – is often paid to watch. And type. The upshot? A four-to-five hour stretch in which whatever network the Cougars are appearing is untouchable. For that reason, today isn’t a typical Saturday.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Apocalyptic rain pounded the homestead late – and I mean just before midnight – last night. It rained so hard for so long I worried for our home’s infrastructure. But not as much, it seems, as our little dog. Donut was beside himself, unable to settle, always looking out the window, keeping his adult friends up until Thursday turned into Friday. Well into Friday. You know, today.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • One thing about the cold, rainy nights that have hit Spokane as of late. It’s easier to get to sleep early and harder to wake up on time. In a possibly related note, the coffee disappears from the cup quicker. Heck, this morning I’m on my second cup and it’s not even 7 a.m.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There are a lot of sentences one can start with “It used to be …” A prime example? My dad and the price of candy bars when he was a kid. For the record, he said they were a nickel. Ya, sure. Anyhow, to prove the point, let’s see how many notes we can start with the phrase. I’ll go first.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Thank you College Football Playoff selection committee. And, to a smaller degree, the folks in New York who put together the NFL schedule. You basically left Monday night to college hoops. And its opening night extravaganza. Those of us who love the game appreciate it.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s finally OK to run downstairs and open the presents. To rip into the wrapping paper, to hold up what’s inside and let your grandparents post a fuzzy video on Facebook. It may not be Christmas, sure, but this Nov. 3 is almost as good. It’s the opening day of college basketball season and just about everyone who is anyone is playing.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • If you were like me Saturday and focused all your attention on the tip of the day’s sports pyramid, you were rewarded with a great World Series finale. And doomed to watch an ugly display of offensive football in Corvallis.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • What’s in a number? In a lot of ways, nothing. If you are speaking about college football. A ranking number? Upsets happen. A ratings number? With Disney and YouTube in a dispute, will today’s really capture everyone who is watching? But if you want to have something to hang your Cougar sweatshirt on, try the numbers two and 12. One’s obvious. The other?

A GRIP ON SPORTS • In need of a sugar rush? That seems easy to satisfy – whether the sugar you need is contained in a Reese’s or within the sweetest of sports, college basketball. Though tonight may be the Night of the Walking Sour Patch Kids and this weekend a left-on-the-porch-bucket of football, college hoops rises from its offseason coffin Monday. And the S-R staff helps you prepare.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Each morning, when I sit in front of the desk and pound on the keyboard, I have one goal in mind. To prove Mr. Carlson right. And if you get that reference, we can be friends.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • I know. Yes, I know. The World Series is still in mid-bloom. I know because the after-effects from Monday night’s 18-inning affair hit me as much as the Dodger bullpen. And still linger. But there is more on tap the next few days. Much more. And I’m not even including Halloween.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There were wins. There were losses. There was a stretch Monday afternoon that lasted almost until Tuesday morning in which something significant happened on an hourly basis. What’s the rest of the week going to be like?

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Where were we? Oh, yes. Thinking about how so much happens every day, not just in the world but the world of sports as well. So much, in fact, today is one of those special days. An equinox of sorts.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Will today be another of those college football Saturdays filled with surprises? It may have to be to steal the spotlight back from the result of the World Series opener last night in Toronto. Though anyone who has been watching closely lately knew the formula the Jays needed to follow to be successful.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • The weekend ahead holds promise. The promise of an epic World Series. Or not. Of a good if not great college football Saturday. And it holds the promise of yard work or movie or even a watch-it-rain type of Sunday. With the Seahawks on a bye week, it might be the worst NFL day of the year.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s a non-descript Thursday in late October. The NFL game tonight pits two mediocre teams. The World Series begins Friday. Real college hoops is a ways away. College football? That’s still mainly a Saturday thing, thank goodness. What does that leave us? Notes, of course. On all of it. More. Heck, even an FBI gambling arrest or two.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • One of the rules one learns in Column Writing 101 is to focus on the big stuff. The past couple weeks the spotlight has been aimed on the Mariners’ run to within sniffing distance of the World Series. But their magical stretch, and my focus on same, means other items have been neglected. Some of which have a sweet aroma, others stinking to high heaven.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • In about a week from now, the fans of either the Los Angeles Dodgers (likely) or the Toronto Blue Jays (less so) will be feeling the bliss and fulfillment of their team winning the World Series. The fans of the Seattle Mariners? Maybe by then they won’t be feeling what they felt last night. Or this morning. What is that? The opposite.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • The men met the moment. Were found lacking. It is a simple as that. Call it failing. Call it flopping. Call it choking if you want. Whatever. The Mariners’ most-significant playoff game ever proved too much for a group of players who faced the pressure for the first time.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There are terms we all use often. “What’s for dinner?” comes to mind. Or “It’s your turn to (fill in the blank).” One such in the local sports arena? It has to do with grabbing defeat from the mandibles of victory. A two-word one I’ve vowed to never type in this space. Even when it appears out of nowhere once again.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • One swing. Then another. All that had gone before was washed away. If this is new to you, Friday night’s tense, exhilarating, contentious American League Championship Game Five in Seattle was everything, everywhere, all at once with Mariners’ baseball, circa 2025.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • What are you doing this afternoon? Say, around 3 or 4? I know where I’ll be. Know what I’ll be eating. Tums. Like Halloween candy. There’s nothing like playoff baseball and its ups and downs to make one’s stomach roil.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • No one guaranteed it would be easy. At least no one with any credibility. But, hey, even in the Mariners’ 13-4 loss Wednesday night, there were a few positives. Julio Rodriguez hit a two-run home run to give them an early lead. And Cal Raleigh launched No. 62 later. Plus there is some history in which to take solace.