A Grip on Sports: We have questions for this Saturday, some of them actually serious

A GRIP ON SPORTS • We wonder about a lot of things. Who will draft Corey Kispert? Will the British Open morph into the John Deere Classic this weekend? What the heck is a Sugar Skull? And will the U.S. win either basketball gold medal in Tokyo? You know, important stuff.  

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• We start with the NBA draft and some news yesterday which first scared me a bit. Jim Meehan shares the players invited to attend the draft in the “green room,” the spot where certain draftees sit, wait for their name to be called and then walk up to the stage to put on a hat and hug Adam Silver. It’s a tradition.

So is one player sitting there way too long, waiting for a call that should have come earlier and doesn’t. At times it almost seems like a setup. One poor soul is almost like a groom left at the altar, except it plays out in front of millions of TV viewers.

Which is the root of my initial trepidation. What if Kispert is that guy in 2021? If he has to sit there until, say, pick 22, when Laker general manager Lebron James calls his name? That would be excruciating for him and Gonzaga fans. And give more tinder to those who wish to set the little-school-that-can story on fire.

But that shouldn’t happen. Jalen Suggs should walk up to the podium early and Kispert should follow him not too long after on July 29. More than likely when Golden State makes its pick at 14 or Washington follows at 15.

• The storyline going into this weekend’s British Open revolved around the idea no one liked Royal St. George’s much. The course in the south of England was too bumpy, too short, too aesthetically odd. And now we are finding out, too easy.

The weather has been near-perfect near the white cliffs of Dover – how many times have you seen them this week? – which means the course doesn’t have much in the way of a defense against the world’s best golfers. And the scores show it.

Louie Oosthuizen breaks a long-standing Open 36-hole scoring record with his 129. A handful of guys shoot 64. The cut is at plus-one. The final score may be something akin to a mid-May PGA Tour event instead of a major. After all, only a few players have finished the Saturday round as we write this and there already have been scores of 65 and 66 posted. And the weather is expected to stay benign.

It may be out of the ordinary but that doesn’t mean it won’t be exciting. There are plenty of major winners within shouting distance of Oosthuizen as the weekend begins. It’s just a little different, that’s all, to see such low scores.

• The Spokane Shock is right in the thick of the IFL playoff hunt. In fact, they are fighting for home playoff game.

Which means every game is important, including tonight’s matchup with the Tucson Sugar Skulls. We posed a tongue-in-cheek question at the top of this column, because we know the answer. A Sugar Skull is just another way for a fledgling league to catch your eye.

Come for the odd nickname, stay for the indoor football action.

• One last question has to be answered. With the U.S. men’s team losing players at an alarming rate – Kevin Love is the latest to pull out of the Olympics – and the women unable to defeat the WNBA all-stars or the Australian national team, what the heck is going on with our basketball prospects?

On the men’s side, after two covid-impacted NBA seasons made stars reluctant to play in Toyko, we always knew the prospects of winning a gold medal were lower than anytime since 2004. That year in Athens, the U.S. team lost three times, including in the semifinal to eventual champion Argentina.

But we should have seen this coming, since 2019 at least, when the U.S. finished out of the medals in the FIBA World Cup. The same thing could happen in Tokyo.

The women would be a bigger surprise. The nation’s best players are part of the team – unlike the men – and are favored to roll to gold. But the first couple exhibition games haven’t been the best.

Yesterday, the women led Australia by 13 points at halftime. And lost, 70-67, their first loss to the Aussies since 2010. Sure, it was just an exhibition game in Las Vegas, but it still points out a problem the U.S. squad has scoring.

There is no reason to get overly worried, however. These are exhibitions, after all, and coach Dawn Staley is using them as such. She’s trying to figure out the best rotations entering the Tokyo tournament. It’s obvious, however, she hasn’t found them yet.

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WSU: Around the Pac-12 and college sports, Oregon used two quarterbacks last season. They both talked about the experience recently. … Colorado has one standout outside linebacker. … In basketball, a Utah assistant is glad to be back in Salt Lake City.

Gonzaga: As we mentioned above, Jim has a story on Suggs and Kispert being invited to sit in the green room. … Former GU standout Zach Collins’ time in Portland seems to be over.

EWU: Elsewhere in the Big Sky, we mentioned yesterday the change happening at Portland State. The Oregonian’s John Canzano takes Valerie Cleary’s departure and uses it as a tip-off point for a column on how hard it is to be a college athletic administrator these days. It’s worth reading.

Indians: Spokane’s big comeback Thursday seems to have helped it rediscover its groove. The Indians scored seven times en route to an 11-4 win over visiting Eugene. Dave Nichols was at Avista and has this game story. … We’ve tried to keep you up to date on the minor league journey of former Indian Drew Robinson. It ended yesterday when he retired as a player and took a job with Giants’ front office.

Shock: The Shock will host Tucson tonight in the Arena, trying to improve on their 5-2 record. Justin Reed has a preview of the contest.

Mariners: After another exceptional Chris Flexen start, the M’s seemed ready to roll over the host Angels. But the bullpen cracked a little late, though it didn’t break. And Seattle held on for a 6-5 victory. … Larry Weir kicked off the day talking with Gary Hill Jr. for the latest Press Box podcast. … Evan White’s season is over as he has hip surgery. … J.P. Crawford’s rise to become one of the league’s best shortstops has accelerated the M’s rebuilding schedule.

Kraken: Seattle new NHL franchise will play in Spokane on Sept. 26. If you wanted to attend, you are too late. The tickets for the exhibition sold out in less than 45 minutes Friday. Dan Thompson has all the particulars in this story.

Seahawks: Richard Sherman entered not guilty pleas yesterday to all of the charges he faces but also expressed remorse for his actions. … The incident marks an unglamorous end to what was once the shining star of Seattle sports, the Legion of Boom.

Golf: The Open isn’t the only golf tournament this weekend. Jim Meehan spent some time at Indian Canyon on Friday and has this coverage of the Rosauers Open’s first round.

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• We will be spending time watching the Open this morning. And why not? It’s not like there is a lot vying for our attention. Except, maybe, the sunshine. And heck, that happens every day all year. Right? Until later …