Grip on Sports: It’s no fantasy; the college football weekend around here starts on Friday night

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Sign of the apocalypse No. 1,720: An email arrived in the inbox this morning wondering if I wanted to play fantasy hockey. Yes, fantasy hockey. Wonder how co-workers would deal with hearing someone talk about that all day? Other than at Molson’s headquarters, of course. Read on.

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• Fantasy sports? C’mon. The real thing is hard enough to keep track of these days. 

It’s Thursday morning and already the Washington State football game is only about 36 hours away. That’s not enough time to get ready. And kickoff is also at the same time as a couple interesting high school football games. That doesn’t seem right either. If you want to root on the local high school team in its rivalry game, then the Cougar game is out. Or vice-versa.

But remember, Larry Scott, by his own admission, is partly a media executive and not just a conference commissioner. No wonder it’s all about the TV ratings, not the butts in the stands.

Or on the field. Heck, it’s the fourth week of the season and four Pac-12 schools – let’s see, divide 12 by four and you have, yep, one-third of the total – have byes this weekend. Three weeks in and it’s time for a weekend off? Wouldn’t it serve the players better to have the weekend off a couple weeks down the road when the bodies are even more beat up?

Nope, can’t take weekends off in November. That’s a sweeps month and ratings are crucial.

At least with the Cougars playing tomorrow night that leaves Saturday for other games, like Stanford at Oregon or Arizona State at Washington – or if you are into live football and the triple option, maybe Cal Poly at Eastern Washington. That’s fun, a whole Saturday without having to worry about how much Cougar Gold to put out for the friends and how much to hoard for a grilled cheese sandwich during the Seahawks’ game Sunday.

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WSU: Theo Lawson writes a story about Cathedral High today and, boom, I wander down memory lane. The Phantoms were in the same league in high school and were not all that good back then – more than 40 years ago. The thing I remember most was the ghost drawing on the spirit button for the Cathedral football game. It looked like Casper after a party with Cheech and Chong (hey, it was the 1970s, I needed to use 1970s references). Anyhow, Cathedral is better now and a pipeline for Washington State. … Theo also picks this week’s games and posts a transcript from yesterday’s live chat. … USC’s Clay Helton is trying to stay positive this week. I’m positive if the Trojans lose to Washington State, you can start posting odds on the next Southern California coach. It won’t be Tee Martin.

Elsewhere in the Pac-12, it’s time to start picking games. … Arizona State has basically owned Washington recently, but that should change this weekend. … Whether Oregon is ready to return to the national spotlight will be decided against Stanford. … Oregon State’s defense has played well but the Beavers have yet to face Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate, or anyone like him. … UCLA is still trying to figure out what’s up during its bye. … Utah is already getting ready for Washington State. 

Gonzaga: A Lithuanian star, Martynas Arkaiskas, committed to Gonzaga this morning.

EWU: The Eagles’ running game was supposed to revolve round Antoine Custer. But he’s been injured. And yet, as Ryan Collinwood’s story shows, it is still productive. … Around the Big Sky, Montana State is getting healthier. … Montana has a pretty good-sized right tackle. … It’s odd, but games against North Dakota count in the conference standings, even though the school has left the league. Idaho State has the challenge this week. … UC Davis got to see a packed house at Stanford. Well, sort of. … Northern Colorado has a new quarterback. … Portland State has a reliable running back. … Southern Utah has an offensive gem. … Weber State has a defensive one.

Idaho: The women’s golf team has been productive and Sophie Hausmann is leading the way. 

Whitworth: The women’s soccer team had little trouble with Whitman.

CCS: The volleyball team is still undefeated.

Chiefs: The ice is back in the Spokane Arena and so are the Chiefs. Dan Thompson has this story as they prepare for the Western Hockey League opener. … Elsewhere in the WHL, Portland is trying to figure out the future. … Everett is ready for some reinforcements.

Preps: It is Thursday, so that means there is a lot of prep sports to cover. We will start with cross country, with a preview from Steve Christilaw and a roundup of Wednesday’s action. … There is the Pick 6, with Dave Nichols and Sam Adams matching picks from football games. … There is also a Press Box pod featuring Dave, who talks prep sports with Larry Weir. … Justin Reed takes a look at the volleyball season. … Finally, we have a soccer roundup.

Seahawks: The offense is struggling. So will Chris Carson get the ball more? … The outside noise is starting to get louder. … There are a bunch of injuries on the offensive line, but there are also players coming back. … Russell Wilson’s hamstring is giving him trouble. … This isn’t the defense we thought we would see.

Mariners: They may not make the postseason but at least the M’s can say they won the season series with Houston. That’s a big deal, right? No. … James Paxton wants to pitch again this season. … The M’s will keep its short season A franchise in Everett. 

Sounders: Seattle finally lost. That’s OK, but the way the Sounders lost isn’t. Stefan Frei just gave a ball away at the end and it cost a draw. 

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• Some personal news. I will be on Larry Weir’s Press Box pod today, though I don’t know what we will talk about. Probably a little bit of everything. … I also am writing a story for The Athletic that is a bit different. I’ll link it when it appears. … Finally, I’m thinking about washing the windows today. Or should I hire someone to do it? What’s your call? Until later …