A Grip on Sports: The sporting calendar isn’t as crowded this first May weekend

A GRIP ON SPORTS • The first weekend of May is upon us. Much like last weekend and the weekend before and the weekend before that, nothing much is planned in the way of live sports. Oops, that’s wrong. Take out the word “much.”

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• The first weekend in May is Bloomsday weekend. It has been Bloomsday weekend in Spokane as long as I can remember – and as everyone who reads this column regularly knows, I can remember a lot.

But not this year. Bloomsday weekend is scheduled for late September.

That won’t stop the perennial Bloomsady participants, of which we all know one or two, from training or, in some cases, even running the course this weekend. Our Ryan Collingwood talked to some and tells their story of hope – hope the race will be run in 2020.

Hopefully, life will be enough like normal in September for that to occur. Will it? There is no certainty. Not for Bloomsday, not for Hoopfest (postponed until August), not for college football, not for any large gathering of folks. There is no way of knowing what’s going to happen in eight weeks.

After all, look back eight weeks. We were excited about March Madness. The Masters was on the horizon. Opening Day. Golfing on local courses, tennis in the park and making weekly Costco runs. You know, competitive or semi-competitive activities.

Now all we have to look forward to is another episode of a tilted documentary about the Bulls.

This past week we lost a lot of summer events. Baseball’s Hall of Fame announced it will not hold an induction ceremony in July, moving everything to next year. The Little League World Series was hit with the same fate yesterday. Some soccer leagues overseas are also looking to 2021.

The big three professional leagues in this country, the NFL, MLB and NBA, are all still working toward either finishing what they started (NBA), hoping to get started (MLB) or preparing to start in the fall (NFL).

It’s gotten to the point there is a new way to judge an optimist and a pessimist that has nothing to do with a glass holding water. An optimist expects football to start on time in the fall; a pessimist expects football to start on time in the fall (of 2021).

• Here’s a shocker. I have been on a couple of Zoom meetings. Yep, I figured out how to Zoom, or whatever it is the kids are calling FaceTime these days.

You know what I am disappointed about? No one famous crashed the call. No Russell Wilson. No Peyton Manning. No Will Ferrell.

Ferrell did just that to a Seahawks’ meeting yesterday. I’m sure he was fun. But doesn’t he understand this is the NFL? That it’s important, more important than anything? He’s lucky it was a Seahawk meeting. He try that with a Patriot meeting and Bill Belichick would send out two defensive linemen to hunt him down and smash his phone and computer.

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WSU: Since leaving Washington State, receiver River Cracraft has bounced around the NFL some. Yesterday he was bounced out, waived by the Philadelphia Eagles. Theo Lawson has more in this story. … Yes, Anthony Gordon has signed with the Seahawks. But he will soon be joined by at least one other quarterback in the competition to backup Russell Wilson. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, Oregon has some top-notch receiving talent returning. … Washington’s mascot is cute. There is no denying that. … All of the Duck head coaches are taking a 10 percent pay cut. … Colorado’s special teams seem solid. … UCLA is wondering if fans will come back in the fall without some coronavirus certainty. … One website doesn’t think much Arizona State’s prospects this season. … An Arizona recruit is out for the year after suffering a training injury. … Basketball recruiting is different this spring. … Arizona has offered the son of a former area basketball coach. … The Wildcats’ foreign players are trying to stick around. … Just about every school in the conference has to wait on players and their pro decision. … Colorado athletic director Rick George has input in the name, image and likeness debate. … The NCAA has put on hold any changes to the transfer rule.

EWU: Like to run? Me neither. But Eastern’s Sports Information Director Dave Cook must. He does it every day. And for longer than just from the couch to the fridge during commercials. Dan Thompson tells Cook’s story of jogging the Cheney-area streets.

Golf: Be patient. Washington’s golf courses are trying to ramp up for Tuesday’s opening as quickly as they possibly can. Jim Meehan checked in with some courses and has what you need to know about the changes in store due to COVID-19.

Seahawks: If you were wondering why the Hawks went with a linebacker with their first pick, here’s part of the reason. K.J. Wright had offseason shoulder surgery and his return date is not certain. … The kerfuffle concerning the No. 90 is a surprise to John Schneider. … There are other pass rushers available besides Jadeveon Clowney. … The offensive line reshuffle is warranted.

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• After we finished typing yesterday, we spent some time talking about many of the same subjects with Larry Weir. The conversation is part of Larry’s latest Press Box pod. It’s worth your time, if just to hear my voice trail in-and-out as I wander around my living room. I got in about 2,000 steps while we talked. Until later …