A Grip on Sports: Before the football tsunami hits, let’s catch up with a couple other sports

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s going to be a busy holiday weekend. No, not catching the last few hours in the great outdoors, though that doesn’t sound bad at all. Nope. We’re talking about college football’s kickoff, which will dominate the airwaves and the nation’s consciousness. With that on the near-horizon, we better cover some other items today.

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• We’ll start with the Mariners, who have won the first two games against in Detroit, topping the Tigers last night 5-3.

It’s not that the M’s won. Against a team as bad as Detroit (the Tigers are 50-80, the second-worst record in the American League), we expect that. It is how they’ve been winning recently that matters.

Great starting pitching. Good relief work. Timely hitting. And contributions up and down the lineup.

The latter, because it has been the ficklest for Seattle, is probably the most important. Let’s use J.P. Crawford’s spot in the lineup to illustrate the point.

Crawford, the M’s Gold Glove-winning shortstop, has been out recently with an injury. (He did return late in last night’s game, so he may be ready for full-time play again.) To replace him, the Mariners first turned to Dylan Moore. On Sunday, Moore hit a key three-run home run against Cleveland, ensuring a 4-0 win.

But Moore hurt himself. And now is on the injured list. The M’s turned to a discarded piece, Abraham Toro, bringing up the veteran from Tacoma. Adam Frazier moved to short and Toro, who hit less than .200 in his earlier stint this season, took over at second. All Toro did yesterday was deliver the key hit, a two-run, seventh-inning home run that gave Seattle a 4-3 lead.

It’s the type of out-of-the-blue contributions a postseason team needs.

• Will the Sounders miss the MLS postseason for the first time? Sure looks like it.

As the regular season winds down, they are six points out of the last playoff spot. Worse, they would have to leapfrog Vancouver, Los Angeles and Portland to get there. With six matches left, it seems nearly impossible. Especially the way they are playing and the bad luck – if it’s that – they’ve been having.

Last night, a weather-delayed come-from-ahead 3-2 loss in Orlando, was an example of both.

Seattle broke out to a 2-0 lead, fueled by Stefan Frei’s outstanding goal keeping and goals from Albert Rusnak and Raul Ruidiaz. But the defense, awful all night, was non-existent right after Ruidiaz’s goal. Orlando scored in a minute, added the equalizer 15 minutes later and the teams went into extra time even.

That’s where the bad luck – again, if it’s that – came in. Orlando attacked. But a player was clearly offsides and Kyle Smith – no, not that Kyle Smith – looked to be passing to him. The off-target entry hit a Seattle defender, caromed past a surprised Frei and into the back of the goal.

The flag went up. The goal was disallowed. But video review came into play and it must have been decided – no explanation is ever given – the offsides player didn’t come into play. Even though it was obvious the defender was reacting to the threat and moved into a position to counter it, leading to the bumper-car goal.

No offsides, no goal. It was that simple. Except to the people who mattered.

This is the way it’s been going for the Sounders. They have been hurt by injuries, disorganized play and a front office that sat on its hands during the summer. Now, after doing something no MLS team had ever done, win the CONCAFCA club title, Seattle won’t even be playing for another MLS crown.

• OK, back to American football. The print version of the S-R’s annual guide was included in this morning’s paper. Don’t miss it.

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WSU: You didn’t think that was all the college football we were going to mention, did you? Of course not. Colton Clark works too hard for that. This morning he previews the upcoming opener with Idaho, though the focus is more on the changes among the Cougar program under first-year coach Jake Dickert. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college football, the Big 12 and Pac-12 are now rivals for media-rights’ money, according to Jon Wilner in the Mercury News. The Big 12 opened its negotiations early, trying to get a deal before the Pac-12. … The new rules are making some players millionaires. Others? Not so much. … If Washington is to be successful this season under first-year coach Kalen DeBoer, it will have to follow the game plan he’s laid out before. … Oregon and first-year coach Dan Lanning head to Georgia, where the challenge to a hobbled offensive line (and elsewhere) will be intense. … Jaydon Grant has done a lot in his seven years at Oregon State. … Stanford needs to start fast to shift its recent momentum. … California begins against UC Davis. … Colorado will rely on its sophomore class often this season. … Utah is not just playing a game in Florida this weekend. The Utes are beginning a run to, they hope, the playoffs. … Can USC quarterback Caleb Williams win the Heisman? … UCLA should have another high-powered offense. … If Arizona State makes a coaching change, is Urban Meyer next in line? … Arizona has at least 10 areas it needs to improve. … In basketball news, Tommy Lloyd is still mining the Baltic countries. Now he’s doing it for Arizona.

Gonzaga: Joel Ayayi is on the move. No, he’s staying in the United States. He just moved teams. Theo Lawson has this story on Ayayi’s trade from one G-League team to another. He will play this year in Orlando.

EWU and Idaho: The Big Sky football schedule kicks off tonight with four games, a couple of which are available on cable. Dan Thompson kicks off his weekly look around the conference with this notebook focused on the success last year and what it will take to replicate it. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Portland State travels to San Jose State tonight. … Northern Arizona also begins this evening, facing Arizona State in Tempe. … Weber State has an easier start at home. … A Montana receiver continues to climb the depth chart. … Northern Colorado opens with Houston Baptist.

Indians: It may not be over, but it certainly is a lot tougher. Spokane had a chance to make up some ground on Vancouver on Wednesday, as it hosted the Canadiens in a doubleheader. But losing both ends wasn’t the plan. Dave Nichols has coverage of the sweep.

Chiefs: We were over at the Arena yesterday, having lunch with one of the folks who help the Chiefs prepare for the season. The team’s training camp begins on the ice today. Kevin Dudley has this preview.

Tennis: Serena Williams would not go quietly into the good New York night. Instead, she upset second-seeded Anett Kontaveit in three sets and moved into the U.S. Open’s third round.

Seahawks: Seattle must have a plan, right? What is it? You tell us because we aren’t sure, even after hearing John Schneider speak yesterday. … We do know the quarterback competition isn’t over. … There were roster moves Wednesday. … In case you’re interested (and we’re guessing you are), Russell Wilson and Denver have agreed to a multi-year extension worth a lot more money than the Hawks were probably willing to give.

Mariners: Chris Flexen earned a lot of money with one out in Tuesday’s game.

Storm: Las Vegas had to win. The Aces knew it and rode star Aja Wilson’s 33 points and 13 rebounds to a 78-73 home court victory. The WNBA semifinal series, tied at a game apiece, heads to Seattle on Sunday.  

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• Here we are. September. Our most-hated month. Oh, the weather is fine. Great, actually. But our hatred dates back to childhood, when school always started after Labor Day. We rarely were bored in the summer, though we’re sure our dad wasn’t enamored with how often he found me inside, reading. That was the freedom we craved and loved. The time we could just sit and devour an entire book. Explore the library and find four or five more. And then hide away and read them. September ruined all that. Every year. Time was no longer ours and ours alone. We’re Sicilian. We still hold a grudge against the month. And we always will. Until later …