Grip on Sports: Thanks mom (and grandma) for always being there to cheer for us
A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s Mother’s Day, so it seems mandatory to write about mom. And sports. Or there will be heck to pay. Read on.
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• My mom wasn’t a sports fan. She tolerated it, sure, because I loved baseball and basketball and football and golf and she loved me.
But she wasn’t all in. Except when I was playing. Then she would sit in the stands dutifully rooting for her little tiger. OK, it was a corny nickname, but that’s what she called me.
She understood baseball but I never really thought she liked it much.
Maybe it goes back to the roots of my parents’ marriage – and divorce.
The story used to make the rounds in the family of my dad’s big break. It was the summer of 1947. Dad was in the midst of winning more than 20 consecutive semi-pro games in Southern California, back when semi-pro baseball meant something.
A Giant scout came a calling. He sat down with dad after one of his wins, talked with him about his age – he was 22 – and offered him a contract. They needed pitchers on a team in the South somewhere, and he wanted dad to fill the spot.
It was, the scout said, probably my dad’s last chance to play the game he loved professionally, considering his age.
My dad wanted to sign, but he had a pregnant wife at home. He wanted to run it past her.
As the story goes, my dad asked. And my mom said fine, but when he got back in the fall, she wouldn’t be around. She wasn’t going to wait for him. They argued. And my dad didn’t sign. His family and his soon-to-be-born daughter were more important. His last chance was gone.
It was a sore that festered over the next 30 years. I had heard the story when I was young and never believed it. Except my mom confirmed it when I was in college and had some important decisions to make.
As see saw it, she needed to save my dad from making a mistake. Maybe she did. But he spent the rest of his life wondering what might have been.
I think my mom understood that. Though she hated seeing me play some sports – football especially – she always encouraged me to give my best, to play with a passion, all out. She said, more than once, I needed to give my best so I never had any regrets.
Maybe she had her own, non-sports-related ones. I never found out. She died relatively young, two years after my parents divorced.
When I think of her now, it’s often of her voice. How she supported me with it, no matter what game I was playing.
It’s a happy thought, one I will never regret.
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WSU: There is a rule proposal before the NCAA to allow freshmen to play four football games and still use a redshirt season. Jacob Thorpe talked with the Cougar coaches to see how they might utilize such a change. … Jacob also has a story on Grant Porter’s actions this week. … Swimmer Anna Rosen won the Pac-12’s sportsmanship award. … The baseball team won another series, besting UCLA 7-3 yesterday. The Cougars have won four consecutive series. … Running back Alijah Lee, who scored a touchdown against Idaho last season, is transferring to Montana. … Around the Pac-12, Oregon believes it has the right quarterback in place. … Arizona’s Kadeem Allen is going through his job interview.
EWU: It is Mother’s Day, after all, so Jim Allen has the sports story covered. His subject: Eastern women’s basketball coach Wendy Schuller (pictured). Don’t miss it.
Preps: It was a busy Saturday in prep sports, and we will start with track, where Greg Lee has this story on Lewis and Clark’s Anna Rodgers. … It wasn’t a good Saturday for Gonzaga Prep’s baseball team, which lost twice. … We also have roundups of action around the area in softball, soccer, tennis and baseball.
Mariners: Dave Nichols’ Mariner Log covers the third consecutive loss in Toronto. We added the links. We’ll be back tonight with a column. We’re thinking about the injuries.
Seahawks: The rookie mini-camp continued yesterday and there are a lot of wonderful stories to be told, from the defensive lineman who thought he might never walk again to the offensive lineman who may get a shot at five positions. … There is a lot of competition at the receiver position. … There is so much going on it’s better to just hit the high notes quickly.
Sounders: Seattle played an awful second half and lost, 4-1, at the Chicago Fire last night. … Real Salt Lake lost again.
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• I’m sad to read this story. Sad about the mistakes that were made, sad that litigation seems to be the go-to move and sad a good idea – a youth-specific golf course – may suffer the consequences. Until later …