Grip on Sports: There was a whole lot of interest in Vernon Adams’ math final

Friday: When you were in college, did anyone, other than your parents, care if you passed your math test?

Vernon Adams takes one final math test as an undergraduate and ESPN is ready to broadcast the results. Which tells you something. About us.

We love sports so much we want to know everything we can. So what’s the tipping point between interested fan and obsessive maniac? Was there any time (Thursday) when you started to worry you may just be falling across the line? Or did it just seem normal to be monitoring all forms of communication, from social media to news sources, to discover whether or not this one person would pass a test?

As for the world’s obsession with sports, I’m not sure anyone can explain it well enough to justify (Thursday). I wonder if our great-grandparents cared as deeply? I wonder if Joe Louis’ next fight or Babe Ruth’s stomach ache or Seabiscuit’s hoof history led to discussion after discussion in the barber shop or café or water cooler? Are we the same as they once were, just with different tools?

Has sports always held an outsized importance in our culture; in the world’s culture? Sounds like a great subject for a master’s thesis, doesn’t it? Maybe it can be what Vernon Adams works on at Oregon. After all, as our interest in his math test (Thursday) showed, we care deeply about his academics.

Thursday: It is Thursday, right? After what happened earlier this week I wanted to double-check. It’s a big day in a lot of places, but very little, if anything, can top the size of the Wednesday in Seattle.

Of course I missed most of it, “it” being Hisashi Iwakuma’s no-hitter against the Orioles. I was either en route or in Lewiston, where I spent the afternoon perspiring profusely. While watching a bunch of football players sweat even more. Yes, I spent the day watching Washington State practice, joining the newly svelte Jacob Thorpe in carrying the S-R banner during a 105-degree day. But it was a dry heat.

When I finally got back to Spokane,  the replay of the M’s game was on TV. I walked through the door, saw it was the fourth inning and said “Oh, you’re watching the replay.”

The two people watching the game didn’t know they were watching a replay. They had, like me, been busy during the day. But told it wasn’t live, they prepared to switch the channel. I cautioned them not to do that. It was worth watching.

Of course, they had to find out why, then settled in to watch  the fifth no-hitter in Mariner history.

Iwakuma was sharp, sure, but I’ve seen him sharper. The M’s made some nice plays behind him, sure, but I’ve seen Kyle Seager and Austin Jackson make better ones. And yet Iwakuma threw a no-hitter against a good-to-decent team. Which just speaks to the vagaries of baseball.

Just like the fact  the last three American League no-hitters have been thrown by M’s pitchers: Iwakuma (Wednesday), Felix’s perfect game in 2012 and the six-pitcher no-no earlier that season. All different. All special.

Wednesday: Could it happen? Could the Mariners actually make something of this godforsaken season? Probably not but it would be just like them, after we’ve lost all faith, to tease us with a tantalizing stretch run.

Can you remember all the way back to 2007? Seth Smith can. The M’s outfielder made his debut in September of that season. Right in the middle of the greatest stretch run this side of the Miracle Mets. The Rockies were 76-72 when he joined them, went on the incredible tear and rode it all the way into the World Series – where they were swept by the Red Sox.

Could something similar happen to the Mariners?

No. Unless.

OK, “no” is a better answer without the “unless.” But let’s examine what’s been happening lately. The team is starting to hit. Yes, it coincides with Ketel Marte and Jesus Montero joining the lineup, but they are just part of it. Robinson Cano has been hitting. Mark Trumbo, he of an average somewhat akin to his weight, has grooved his stroke and is on fire.

Others are chipping in at opportune times, like Austin Jackson, who had the game-winning hit in the 10th inning (Tuesday) night. The M’s have won seven of their last 11 games.

All of those facts are positive. But there are too many negatives.

How about the bullpen? It’s still a landfill fire. Jackson’s heroics wouldn’t have been needed (Tuesday) night if the bullpen had done its job. But it hasn’t done it that often so why would it would change now?

Because it will have to if the M’s are to jump over eight teams to make the playoffs as the second wild card. If the M’s are 21-7 in September (as the Rockies were in 2007), they would still need help to make the playoffs.