A Grip on Sports: Some days, even sports has to take a back seat around here

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Today is Memorial Day. It is intended to be a day set aside for us to contemplate those who left their homes, lives and family to defend their country and never returned. We believe in that intent.

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• “Saving Private Ryan” has many scenes that catch the mood and feel of war. And its aftermath. But none had more of an impact on me personally than one that doesn’t include a single word of dialogue.

It is the scene on the Ryan’s farm, as the mother washes the dishes in the sink and sees a car heading down the dirt road to her front door. As she opens the screen door, you are looking over her shoulder while she sees an Army officer and her pastor step out. She knows what it means and she slowly sinks to the floor.

The simple act of a mother collapsing in sorrow hits hard every time I see it. And illustrates what Memorial Day means.

My father and his older brother answered the call to defend our freedoms in World War II. Both served in the Pacific, my dad in the Navy, Uncle Johnny in the Army. Both returned. But both lost friends. Friends from childhood and friends from the service.

My dad would remember them on Memorial Day, usually with a quiet toast of Miller Hi-Life and burning some sort of meat on the grill. It seemed right to him, so it always seemed right to me too. It was his way.

His brother? I’m not sure. Uncle Johnny saw a lot more death while he served. He spent many years living in California’s high desert, commuting hours on end to his job but always retreating away from people for his nights and weekends. It’s how he wanted it.

My guess is he had seen enough of what people do to each other in the war. He didn’t want a lot to do with them anymore.

Uncle Johnny was among the first to hit the beach in the Philippines (and told a wonderful story about sitting with his buddies watching Douglas MacArthur “return” over and over again so the newsreel would be just right). He battled in the jungles there and elsewhere. Though he didn’t talk about it much, while shooting at his place, he matter-of-factly admitted to killing often and seeing others killed. The way he mentioned it still haunts me – mainly, I guess, because it was obvious even to a young man it still haunted him.

My father always felt uncle Johnny’s experience changed him. He returned from the war physically, sure, but the person he was before he volunteered never really came home. I would have liked to have known that man.

• One way my uncle memorialized his time in the service? Tattoos. His tattoo of choice was a Polynesian dancing girl, a tattoo that adorned more than one spot on his body. By the time I saw them, in the 1960s, they had transformed from taut works of art into sagging, stretched out ink that looked so sad it made me promise myself I would never make that mistake – a promise I’ve kept even as many of my peers join the legions these days with art adorning their skin.

Looking back on it now, it hits me it was a way for my uncle to remember the good things he experienced in the midst of four years or so of carnage, terror and sadness. Each one probably meant something important. Or some night of debauchery he needed to exile the demons. They were his own memorial to a thousand days in hell.

So be it. Here’s to you uncle Johnny. And to you dad. You both returned to your mother’s front porch. You both were able to hug her again. To walk the streets of Sierra Madre. To live, love and laugh. To have a life you were proud of, I’m sure. And because of what you went through, we are too. Thanks for it all.

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WSU: Around the Pac-12 and college sports, after a long wait, one Colorado football player will finally meet his head coach. … Oregon will have a new nose tackle. … Though Arizona didn’t win the conference’s softball title – UCLA did – the Wildcats might be the best team in Oklahoma City.

Gonzaga: There will not be a NCAA baseball regional in Spokane. We found out last night. Justin Reed watched the announcement and wrote this story. This morning at 9, the Zags, who won the West Coast Conference automatic berth, will find out where they are headed. Our money is on Eugene. … Around the WCC, BYU’s backcourt looks more impressive than it did a week or so ago.

Whitworth: The Pirates’ Nick McGill finished third in the NCAA Division III decathlon, earning All-America honors again. That information leads off Chuck Stewart’s roundup of local college track results.

Preps: Jazmine Redmond has made more than one mark on the Spokane basketball scene. Now the former Mead and Gonzaga player is making another as University High’s coach. Dave Nichols has this story. … A former Mt. Spokane star finished off her softball career with Seattle U. recently. Chuck has that information as well in this local briefs column.

Indians: Eugene rallied late and handed the visiting Indians a 2-1 defeat in their series finale. Dave has that story.

Mariners: A dozen seems right. The M’s handed the Rangers their 12th consecutive loss at T-Mobile Park as Texas lost its 12th consecutive road game on Sunday. Yusei Kikuchi led the way in Seattle’s 4-2 win. … Ty France is back from the injured list and hitting well again. … Marco Gonzales is expected back soon as well.

Seahawks: It seems as if Russell Wilson has a new infatuation. Julio Jones wants out of Atlanta and the Hawks are interested.

Sounders: Austin is new to the MLS this year and haven’t been doing well. But it did well enough yesterday to earn a scoreless draw with the West-leading Sounders. … It could have been worse. It was for Portland.

Storm: Dan Hughes decided it was time. A few games into the WNBA season, the Seattle coach decided to retire. Odd.

Auto racing: Age seems to be less material than ever in sports. Tom Brady wins the Super Bowl in February at 43. Phil Mickelson wins his sixth golf major at 50. A week later Helio Castroneves wins his record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500 at age 46. Castroneves may be the most remarkable in that he wasn’t even a full-time member of an Indy-car team going into the season. But he won yesterday, outlasting all the accidents and mistakes so inherent at Indianapolis.

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• Sorry if you were expecting me to write about sports this morning. I was as well. But it didn’t come out that way. And if you’ve ever lost a loved one during or after their service, you know why. Until later …