Grip on Sports: Can Russell Wilson make this Monday night special?

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Monday Night Football. Dandy Don, Frank and Howard. Those were the days. Appointment television. It’s appointment television tonight as well, if only to see Khalil Mack chase Russell Wilson around. Read on.

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• My dad hated Howard Cosell. I’m not sure it was Cosell’s voice or his New York manner that bothered him more, but dad wasn’t buying whatever Howard was selling. Yet, he still watched. Every week. It was the NFL, it was Monday Night and it was on ABC.

You know, one of the Big Three Networks. Back when most places only received three. Over the air, depending on sunspots and antennas. 

There are 500 channels these days, some devoted to NFL football 24/7. There’s more, but is it better?

Really, it depends on your interest. If listening to Don Meredith wax poetic about his times trying to sneak past Tom Landry after curfew is your glass of Coors, then the old days were better. If watching every scoring play from every game is your equivalent of a robust IPA, then these days are better.

It’s the difference between the wing-T and the spread. Or Fran Tarkenton and Wilson.

Which brings us to one of the hallowed spots of the NFL, Soldier Field. Land of snow and wind, of Dick Butkus and Mike Singletary. It’s where the Hawks are this week, hoping to use a patched together defense to slow the Bears’ offense – why couldn’t Jay Cutler still be in town? – and relying on Wilson to do his thing. If they let him.

Rumors are swirling around the league Wilson is in high demand. The other NFL teams are smelling Seahawks blood in the water and are sniffing around, wondering if Seattle wants to commit to a complete rebuild. If so, then the quarterback with a short-term contract – two years – might just be available. 

Let’s rephrase that last sentence. If so, then the most explosive and intriguing quarterback with a short-term contract – two years – might just be available.

And if Wilson has one of those nights in Chicago on a national stage? You know, three touchdown passes to receivers only 12s have heard of, two or three long runs in key spots, a Tarkenton-like escape, as Mack and his cohorts chase him, to keep alive a last-second drive, that type of night. 

And yet the Hawks still lose and drop to 0-2?

If that happens, the rumors will intensify that he’s a wanted man. The three first-round-pick price tag that was floating around over the weekend would sound reasonable. And true.

Except to those of us who follow the Hawks. After years of rooting for, and excusing-the-antics of, an NFL-best defense, there is little to latch on to these days. Only Wilson. He’s our Dandy Don and Howard and Mr. Goodie-Two-Shoes, Frank Gifford, all rolled into one package.

He’s the Northwest’s biggest professional football star. And he’s about to take the Monday Night stage once again wearing Seahawk colors. That’s cool. Not Howard Cosell cool, maybe, but cool.

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WSU: It’s a short week. Well, the week is still seven days, but the showdown game with USC, the Cougars’ Pac-12 opener, is Friday night. It’s on ESPN. So everything is compressed. Which means there is little time to look back on what happened Saturday. Theo Lawson does it today with the focus on the offense. … The soccer team is still perfect heading into Pac-12 play.

Elsewhere in the Pac-12, the polls are out and the conference isn’t all that well represented. There are reasons. … One of the conference’s nationally recognized programs, and this week’s Washington State opponent, USC, is not only having offensive issues, the Trojans won’t have their starting kicker the rest of the season. … Washington will host Arizona State this weekend. Both schools have things to work on, though at least the Huskies are coming off a win. … Stanford heads north to Eugene, with Oregon’s Justin Herbert looking for a signature victory. It sure wasn’t last week’s. … Oregon State will host an Arizona team finally coming off a win. … Utah’s best hope is that the Pac-12 South will all self-destruct. It’s starting to look that way. … Colorado joins the Utes with a bye this week. California and UCLA also have byes. The Bruins can really use theirs, as the 0-3 start is built on mistakes.

Gonzaga: The women’s soccer team picked up a draw yesterday.

EWU: Around the Big Sky, Northern Colorado is trying to build a foundation, hoping it will pay off soon. … Montana’s special teams ultimately let it down. … Montana State received some surprise contributions.

Seahawks: Will you be watching tonight? … The defense is so beat up, Mychal Kendricks, who was signed a couple days ago and is expected to be suspended shortly, will play a lot at linebacker. … Can the Hawks run the ball, thus slowing down Mack and the Bears’ front?

Mariners: They came close, but the M’s fell just short of sweeping the Angels despite a Daniel Vogelbach home run. … Part of the M’s problem yesterday is a lot of them were sick.

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• No matter what part of the house you were in as a kid, when the four notes of the Monday Night Football theme music blasted out of the Motorola or Zenith, you came running. It was time for some football. I’m not sure it’s the same way these days, mainly because I’m not as in tune with family dynamics anymore. You know, empty nesters and all that. When the music plays, the cat looks at me as if to say “don’t you dare move; I’m comfortable in your lap and I have claws.” Until later …