Grip on Sports: August is always hot – in inumerable ways

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There are about 437 subjects we could focus upon today, ranging from the Seahawks to the Mariners, from Pac-12 football to the Big Sky, from soccer to basketball. The last full month of summer is filled with just about everything. Read on.

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• Yes, it is August. The one month when I was young it was possible to get out and just do summer things.

People decry how organized youth sports have become these days but I’m 60 and my early summer months were never my own back in the 1960s and ‘70s. There was Little League, Babe Ruth, Colt and American Legion baseball then too. And it dominated my summer time.

Until August came around.

No more baseball. Pop Warner football was a ways away. It was time to shuck off the shoes, burn your feet a little on the hot asphalt and play some over-the-line. Or hop on the bike and ride it wherever your legs could take you. Or run up and down the Sierra Nevada mountain trails near our cabin, jumping into the lake when it got too warm.

It was my time. Nothing to do but be a kid. August was always perfect.

Well, nearly perfect. There was the looming end of summer, of course. The books that had to be read before September, the clothes bought  – I went to Catholic schools with uniforms or dress codes, which made that chore a bit easier – and school supplies stocked.

But on August 1, those worries were still down the road. The road ahead seemed endless, with endless possibilities. Maybe it was a day to build a fort. Or to see if Bailey Canyon’s spring had dried up yet. Or spend an hour or two playing an imaginary baseball game with a rubber-coated hardball and a concrete-block wall.

As Archie and Edith Bunker would “sing,” those were the days.

• What’s happening these days? Well, the Mariners moved over the .500 mark for the second time this season, with a rally in Texas yesterday. The Hawks have already settled in nicely to preseason practice. WSU coach Mike Leach will hold a conference call with the media this afternoon, where he will tell us all which Cougar player is most like a Game of Thrones character. (Cody O’Connell as The Mountain?)

That’s what August is about in 2017. Football, baseball and little of everything else.

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WSU: Yes, Leach will talk with the media today. The Cougars kick off preseason practice tomorrow in Pullman. Their second non-conference game is against Boise State, which Athlon rates as the eighth-best for the Pac-12 conference. (See if you can catch the factual error in the magazine’s writeup.) … How good has WSU’s running back recruiting been lately? A player who couldn’t crack the depth chart will be the go-to guy at BYU this season. … Around the Pac-12, Washington’s Azeem Victor has bounced back from his leg injury. He will help key a Husky defense that is still expected to be really good despite some secondary losses. UW practiced yesterday for the first time. … The heat gripping the Northwest has forced some practice schedule changes for Oregon State. … Oregon’s recruiting has improved already, especially in its home state. The Ducks also opened practice yesterday. … Utah’s best defensive back, Chase Hansen, is injured. He will miss preseason practice. When he will be back, no one knows. … Colorado has put an emphasis on special teams. … The Mercury-News’ Jon Wilner previews camp for Stanford and California. … Sam Darnold had a rare bad day at USC’s practice. And then he wasn’t allowed to talk about it. … Toughness and Arizona State. Do they go together? … No one at Arizona is satisfied right now.

EWU: More honors rolled in for Gage Gubrud and defensive tackle Jay-Tee Tiuli. … Around the Big Sky, Montana State begins preseason practice this week in preparation for its opener at Washington State. … Portland State hopes to bounce back this season. … Southern Utah opens camp today. … Missed this while I was out of town, but North Dakota lost one of its best players for the season. … With a new coach in place, Idaho State has a new outlook. … Northern Arizona is assimilating quite a few freshmen.

Idaho: The Vandals begin practice tonight on campus. Our Theo Lawson has this quick advance.

Indians: The Northwest League is taking its All-Star break – the game is in Hillsboro tonight – so there were no games Monday night.

Preps: My friend (and favorite all-time umpire) Chuck Stewart has this story on Central Valley star Emily Westerberg being inducted into the Arizona State Athletics Hall of Fame.

Mariners: Robinson Cano hit a laser that bounced off the wall in the top of the ninth inning yesterday and spent a little time admiring his handiwork in the box. Maybe that’s why he was thrown out at second base in a bang-bang play. No matter. His shot scored two runs that were the difference in a 6-4 M’s win, putting their record at 54-53 as they begin a tough August stretch. … The non-waiver trade deadline passed and the M’s didn’t do much. Others did, however. … Mitch Haniger is doing OK, all things considered. … James Paxton was the player of the week, along with the Rangers Adrian Beltre. … The Cubs are giving Steve Bartman a ring.

Seahawks: Kam Chancellor wants to get a deal done that keeps him in Seattle. This just in: He did sign an extension. … Top draft pick Malik McDowell is on his way to Seattle. … The Hawks spent their second day on the practice field and we learned some things. … The Hawks re-signed linebacker Mike Morgan. … The weight of expectations are bearing down on Eddie Lacy.

Sounders: Seattle signed a midfielder but will lose one of its better players at the end of the season.

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• So will the Mariners move above .500 and stay there for a while? Hasn’t really happened yet, has it? If it does, it means they have a real shot at the postseason. (This is a paragraph I used a couple weeks ago; I felt it was appropriate to recycle it today.) Until later …