A Grip on Sports: If you are keeping score at home, it almost seems as if the score is COVID 19, Sports 0

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Where were we? Oh, yes. Thinking about the fact there are two tough opponents for every sports team right now: The one on the schedule and COVID-19. The latter seems to be winning more and more often.

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• The Seahawks’ opponent today, on the field, is the Chicago Bears. The way the Bears’ season has gone – they have been even worse than Seattle for the most part – that wouldn’t be a big deal. To be truthful, considering the stakes (none), it still isn’t. Win, lose, it makes little difference in the Hawks’ future.

But the team Seattle will trot onto Lumen Field this afternoon isn’t the one most of us have come to expect. There are the usual injuries – Jamal Adams’ loss is the first one that comes to mind – every team faces 15 games into an NFL season. Then there are the unexpected absences. The ones because of the virus.

There are players who are going to miss today’s game (1:05 p.m. on FOX) because they are in the health and safety protocols? Which ones? Who knows? The list grows longer at a moment’s notice. Or a player is cleared just like that. Just how such changes will impact each team’s performance is unclear, but when they have a combined 19 losses, does it really matter?

What does is the trend we are seeing around the nation with the coronavirus. The numbers are rising again, mainly because the newest variant is extremely contagious, if not as debilitating. The relative ease which people are contracting the virus is wrecking sports schedules at all levels.

The NFL, NBA and NHL have been affected. The Winter Olympics, which are only weeks away, will be as well. But the one sport that seems most at risk right now is college basketball.

The Pac-12 has been hit hard. With USC, UCLA and now Stanford, on pause, the next week’s schedule has been decimated. Washington, which had been out for while earlier this month, is jumping in, filling a gap in Arizona’s schedule created when the Wildcats’ upcoming trip to Los Angeles was postponed.

High school sports are on their usual Christmas hiatus but when they return, the ones in Washington will be operating under stricter rules. More testing. More emphasis on wearing masks. More worries.

The next step seems obvious, at least at the prep level. If the worry is about spreading the virus through contact, then having people in the stands probably isn’t a good idea. It takes away from the high school experience, sure, but not nearly as much as having a season stopped mid-stream.

One thing is certain. Over the next few weeks everyone who plays a sport will have to deal with some sort of disruption due to COVID-19. It might be as extreme as having games cancelled. It might be as unobtrusive as holding a team meeting remotely. But it will happen.

At this point it looks as if the seasons will roll on. How teams deal with it will be crucial. Disruptions in the norm are the norm in sports, right? This is, in the competitive sense, just another one. A dangerous one, sure. Out of the ordinary as well. But just a new form of adversity in a world full of it.

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WSU: Around the Pac-12 and college football, Oregon has arrived in Texas for the Alamo Bowl. There may be more Ducks skipping out on the game. … Should games like the Rose Bowl even be played? If a place like California is putting in disruptive coronavirus rules, maybe it should rethink having 100,000 crammed into the stadium. … Utah will face Ohio State in the game, hoping to break a two-game bowl-losing streak. … Colorado is trying to navigate the new recruiting world. … Headed into the Holiday Bowl, UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson navigates everything with the help of his mother. … An Arizona State running back is headed to Ohio State. … In basketball news, Stanford earned a spot in the Diamond Head Classic title game. Then the Cardinal had to stop playing due to COVID-19. … A former Colorado coach hasn’t found the joy he expected after leaving Boulder. … Next weekend’s games in L.A. were called off on Christmas Eve. That’s just one of the issues Arizona has dealt with recently.

Gonzaga: Nolan Hickman shows a maturity to his game on the court. And the freshman from Seattle also shows more of the same off the hardwood. Jim Meehan shares just how mature Hickman is in this story. … Around the WCC, BYU finished third in Hawaii and, maybe more importantly, was able to play every game.

EWU: Jeff Ogden was not just a standout receiver for Eastern a couple decades ago. He was also went on to have a career in the NFL, not as a star though he did where the Dallas Cowboy star. Now he’s dealing with the health issues many longtime football players deal with. And Ogden has written about his struggle. Dave Cook delves into Ogden’s life and his book in today’s S-R. … Another Eastern alum, Cooper Kupp, has ascended to the top ranks of the NFL’s current receiving rankings. … Around the Big Sky, Montana State is headed to Frisco, Texas, after huge changes in the program. The Bobcats hope the game goes on. … Montana suffered a bunch of injuries this season. The good news? They helped build depth for next year. … In basketball news, MSU has a special shooter in its lineup.

Seahawks: We linked this story two days ago when it ran in the Times, but this piece on Dan Doornink’s battle with COVID-19 appeared in today’s S-R as well. … To get Jimmy Graham (now with the Bears), the Hawks gave up center Max Unger. Their offensive line has never been the same. … There is a lot to watch today even if the outcome of the game won’t be important in the playoff picture.

Mariners: The Hall of Fame ballot this year has a lot of questionable characters. And tough decisions.

Kraken: Seattle’s top prospect still has things to do before he heads to the NHL.

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• It was a quiet Christmas in the Grippi household. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t impactful. The older I get, the more I appreciate the special nature of our family gatherings. Small but special is how I would describe them. Thanks to Kim, our house is always filled with love, no matter what the circumstances. What could be better than that? We’ve been blessed. Until later …