A Grip on Sports: If Thursday is any indication, the only prediction we are sure of is the weekend will be fun
A GRIP ON SPORTS • What sports are you looking forward to watching this weekend? There is only one wrong answer. That would be the NFL, as that league ceded the three-day Labor Day holiday to others at the turn of the century. But just about everything else is available.
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• Ya, the NFL stuff may be eight days away – and in the Seahawks’ case, even 24 hours longer – but there are other events to fill your time. Especially Saturday.
That’s when college football kicks off in earnest. If we were making the perfect schedule for the Inland Northwest viewer, it would go something like this:
Get up early to spot the Washington State flag on GameDay. Go back to bed. Pull yourself out of bed at noon, just in time to eat that leftover pizza and watch the first half hour of Georgia’s rout of Oregon on ABC. Switch over the SWX at 1 to watch Eastern Washington open the season at home against Tennessee State. Switch back and forth between those games as often as possible, all the while checking in with the Pac-12 Network to see if UC Davis is causing California issues. At 4, with Oregon’s loss assured and EWU rolling, switch to ESPN for Utah’s kickoff at Florida. Hold your nose and for the Utes. Don’t forget to continually check Davis’ upset possibilities. If you decide the Pac-12 is on the road to extinction anyway, do not watch Utah. Instead, wait until 4:30 and flip to ABC for fifth-ranked Notre Dame’s opener at No. 2 Ohio State. Have dinner before the Cougars kick off with Idaho (on the Pac-12 Network) at 6:30. Save the Fireball for the second half. If the WSU game is a rout, have ESPN (Boise State at Oregon State) and FS1 (Kent State at Washington) ready in reserve. Make sure you have a Kent State sweatshirt nearby to wave if the Golden Flashes are close. Surf the channels for the Hawaii game. Realize there isn’t one this week. Go to bed.
Does that sound about right?
But that’s just the beginning. Did you know Florida State and LSU play on ABC at 4:30 Sunday night? Or that Clemson faces Georgia Tech on ESPN Monday at 5 p.m.?
And, of course, there is not just college football on tap. There is pennant-race baseball available, with the Mariners in Cleveland for a key three-game series. The M’s have become can’t-miss TV these days and not just because of Sam Haggerty’s Spider Man imitation.
The other can’t-miss event? The U.S. Open tennis tournament, at least as long as Serena Williams keeps playing. She has her third-round match tonight against Ajla Tomljanovic. It will be on ESPN.
And the WNBA semifinals continue Sunday morning, with both series tied at a game apiece. The Storm host Las Vegas at noon on ABC.
In other words, the camping trip probably should wait. Unless there is a satellite dish atop the tent.
• The weekend is packed, sure. But the college football season really kicked off last night. And showed once again while it is so much fun.
The first week’s games always feature a bunch of screw ups and odd happenstances. After all, despite the monetary changes, these teams are still populated by college-age folks whose decision-making processes aren’t fully formed yet. Neither are their skills. And that’s OK. Entertaining even.
Social media loved the Backyard Brawl, Pitt’s come-from-behind win over West Virginia and we did as well. But we also saw it as a metaphor for the game in these times.
The two schools, only 75 miles apart (think Spokane to Pullman), have played more than 100 times over the years. It used to a yearly event. Until both left for greener pastures, West Virginia to the Midwest-based Big 12 and Pitt to the ACC. Before last night, it had been a decade since the last Brawl.
And the two teams’ quarterbacks were, of course, transfers. From the same school, originally at least.
Kedon Slovis went from USC to Pitt in the offseason. J.T. Daniels started at USC, transferred to Georgia and then left Athens for Morgantown this summer.
That’s the norm folks. About half the FBS schools expect to start a transfer quarterback, including the two in this state. If the schools, chasing money, don’t care about ties that have bound them to other schools for a century, why should any player care about any personal bonds?
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WSU: There are no better stories to write than those about athletes returning to the game they love after an injury. Colton Clark has one today, his on Renard Bell, the Cougar receiver coming off ACL surgery and ready for his seventh year in Pullman. … The Times’ Matt Calkins has some thoughts on the Cougars today – and not just for this season. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college football, we linked Jon Wilner’s picks yesterday but we do it again today as they appeared in the S-R. We also pass along John Canzano’s. … In the Mercury News, Wilner looks at the weekend overall and what constitutes success. He also checks on who is hot and who is not. … Washington hosts Kent State with optimism, though a bunch of players who will be taking their first college snap. … The game against Georgia in Atlanta will hold many challenges for Oregon. The Ducks and Dan Lanning have a plan. … Oregon State’s offensive line is coached by a veteran with Washington State ties. … California takes on UC Davis, who will be tougher than most think. … Everyone knows Colorado’s opener with TCU will be tough. … Not as tough as Utah’s opener in Gainesville. The Gators have a shifty quarterback. … USC’s first game under Lincoln Riley (and defensive coordinator Alex Grinch) won’t be much of a test. … The heat in the Rose Bowl should test UCLA and Bowling Green. … Arizona State revealed its new starting quarterback in a rout of Northern Arizona. … Arizona will help San Diego State open its new on-campus stadium. It will be hot. … In basketball news, Oregon State did more than improve its on-court chances during its trip to Italy.
EWU: Everyone who cares about the Eagles will be focused on one player Saturday. Starting quarterback Gunner Talkington, who takes over from Eric Barriere. Dan Thompson spends his time today introducing Talkington to all of us. … He also uses this story to introduce the opponent, Tennessee State. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Portland State went into San Jose, led late but fell to the Spartans 21-17. … Northern Arizona fell at Arizona State. … Cal Poly, under former Eastern coach Beau Baldwin, struggled early but did OK after that in a loss at Fresno State. … Weber State won handily, as it should have. … Montana has a legacy jersey. … Montana State’s second-year offensive coordinator feels more comfortable. … Northern Colorado is ready for Houston Baptist. … UC Davis knows it is in a dogfight at Cal. That’s why it is playing the game.
Idaho: When the Vandals travel down the road to Pullman on Saturday, Jason Eck will probably not be reflecting on the road he’s traveled to this, his first head coaching gig. Nor will he be thinking about his longtime pal Jake Dickert, the first-year Washington State coach. Other than to try to figure out how to hand him a loss, of course. Peter Harriman delves into the deep connections between the coaches in this story.
Preps: High school football begins in Washington today as well. With Albi Stadium a thing of the past and the new downtown stadium under construction, schools had to get creative to get games in. The opener today is at Ferris High, the first game on campus in almost 30 years. The Saxons host rival Lewis and Clark starting at 4 p.m. That leads off Dave Nichols’ preview of the weekend.
Indians: Dave was at Avista Stadium last night as Spokane snapped its losing streak and gained a game on visiting Vancouver with an 11-inning 4-3 decision.
Seahawks: If the Hawks are thinking about tanking for a quarterback, maybe they should think again. … Sean Mannion returns to Seattle’s practice squad. … The Hawks were not about to pay Russell Wilson the money Denver did.
Mariners: Logan Gilbert was precise. The offense popped early. And the M’s coasted to a 7-0 victory in Detroit. … Matthew Boyd, a Seattle-area product, made his Mariner debut with a clean inning.
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• Friday of a holiday weekend. Always fun. Always exciting. Always a great day to call in sick. Wait, did we say that last sentence out loud? Oops. Until later …