Grip on Sports: As the days without school dwindle, the days before the first prep football game also shrink

A GRIP ON SPORTS • You know whose shoes you don’t want to walking in right now? Someone in, say, the fourth grade. This is a tough time of year for them. It’s still hot, the days are still long and yet mom is dragging them along for “back-to-school shopping.” The four worst words in the English language when strung together in that manner. Read on.

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• As someone who has experienced this transitional time of the year from both sides, I know there are mixed feelings. The kid in me still screams for more summer, more bike riding, more baseball, more fun. The parent in me wants it all over, wants the days back, wants the highly structured schedule to return.

The grandparent in me – I’m not really one yet, but have the prerequisite years on the tires to fill the role – doesn’t give a darn.

All he’s looking forward to is football season.

See, those two things go hand-in-hand. Back to school and football. Have, seemingly, forever.

It’s also one of those chicken-or-egg questions. Does back-to-school shopping or football practice come first?

All over the Inland Northwest kids are sweating at high school football practice today. Is their shopping done? Judging by the empty shelves I saw Wednesday at Walmart (my first thought was a horde of locusts somehow got past the octogenarian greeter), I’m guessing yes.

Which means little Jacob and Joshua (sorry coach Walden, there really are only a few Jimmys and Joes anymore) can concentrate on passing and running and missing tackles.

High school football really is a rite of passage, even if you don’t play. The non-believers have to justify their actions in the halls, and the boys’ bathrooms, all year long. And you better be sitting in the stands come Friday night, giving at the very least moral support for those who did do the sweating in August.

As the days without school wind down, it’s a cruel irony the sun is still high in the sky and the asphalt remains hot to the touch. It’s as if nature is telling the child in you to run, to rebel, at the very least, to hide.

School, books, the math teacher’s dirty looks. They all around the bend. Thankfully, so is the game versus Sky High.

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WSU: Kyle Sweet is part of an impressive pipeline from his high school, Santa Margarita. How impressive? How about Klay Thompson and River Cracraft? That’s pretty good. But neither of them were punters, which is a role Sweet will fill this fall. Theo Lawson has the story. … Theo also shares the news Ernie Kent has filled one of his two remaining basketball scholarship with a player who does well what Thompson excelled at: shooting. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, my favorite story of the day concerns a spat between Arizona State and Grand Canyon College. … Washington is in its third week of preseason camp and all that entails. (A hint: boredom.) … Oregon State’s basketball team was in Barcelona yesterday and way too close to the terrorist attack. They are all well, however. … The Oregon State football team is ready for Jake Luton to lead. … Oregon wants to cut down on its mistakes. … So does USC, though the Trojans are taking a novel approach to combatting them. … The tight ends will play a big role in Colorado’s season. … The same can be said for Utah’s wide receivers. … UCLA has a backup quarterback with skills. … Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez has something else pulling at his focus these days.

EWU: These days, the second-most important player on a college football team may just be the backup quarterback. There’s a good chance he’s going to see action sooner or later. Jim Allen has a story today on the player who has earned that role at Eastern, Eric Barriere. … Around the Big Sky, Portland State football coach Bruce Barnum had his hand slapped for inappropriate contact with an athletic department staff member. … Gunnar Amos is settling back into the quarterback role at Idaho State. … One Montana defensive player wears a special number. … Montana State’s defensive line has experience and inexperience. … A Southern Utah safety enjoys one particular snack.

Preps: You want to know what’s going on in GSL football? Greg Lee tells you what he found out this week. … Stop me if you’ve heard this before. UW’s top basketball commit is moving to Seattle for his senior year and will play for Brandon Roy.

Indians: A 3-0 lead didn’t stand up. But thanks to Miguel Aparicio’s ninth-inning, run-scoring single, the Indians pulled out a 4-3 victory over Vancouver last night at Avista. Whitney Ogden has the story. … Elsewhere in the Northwest League, Eugene pounded out all of one hit and lost, 3-0, at Hillsboro. … Everett handled Tri-City again.

Chiefs: Two Spokane prospects earned provincial honors this week. … The Silvertips signed a couple of foreign players and are about ready to open camp.

Mariners: There is about a quarter of the season remaining. And there is more than half of the American League involved in the wild-card chase. The M’s are one of those teams and they begin a road trip today that will last the rest of the month.

Seahawks: Seattle hosts Minnesota tonight at CenturyLink and though it is just a preseason game, there is plenty to keep an eye on. Including the running back situation. And the offensive line, where the Hawks just extended the contract of center Justin Britt. That’s noteworthy. … The Tramaine Brock signing is still causing ripples in the Seattle media waters. … Michael Bennett, and his social justice gene, never seem to rest.

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• If you have a student in the Spokane schools, he or she has less than two weeks of freedom left. That is all. Until later …