A Grip on Sports: Watching a Seahawks game on TV shouldn’t be as hard as it was Thursday night
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Did you watch the Seahawks’ preseason game Thursday night? If the answer is “yes,” let me guess. You had tickets. Upper-deck, Lumen Field, maybe? Because, if you were in Spokane, or on much of the West Side, you weren’t watching on TV. Unless you were extraordinary patient.
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• The Hawks’ 24-13 win kicked off at around 7 p.m. at Lumen Field. We’re certain the game broadcast began even before then, but we can’t swear to it. Here in Spokane, KAYU Fox 28, the go-to station for Seahawk exhibitions, was locked in on a different form of football.
Spain and Netherlands were locked in a World Cup quarterfinal from New Zealand. It wasn’t finished. And wouldn’t be for a while.
Meanwhile, over in the Puget Sound area, KING5 Seattle, the area’s NBC affiliate, was having issues as well. Who knows what the problem was. All anyone in their living rooms cared about was they weren’t seeing a whole bunch of guys who won’t be on the roster in a few weeks wearing Seahawk uniforms, playing similar folks from Minnesota.
As we waited for the Hawks game to start, we began to become interested in the World Cup match. A late Netherlands’ goal tied it at one. Extra time. Fifteen minutes scoreless. Then … at 8:30 KAYU seemed to begin the Seahawk game. As anyone with access to the interweb knew, the meaningless game was at the half. For the next 10 minutes or so, we were treated with commercials. Many repeated over and over. They were preceded by white writing on the screen, saying things like Position 11, 2:00. How exciting. A peek behind the curtain.
Meanwhile, Spain and Netherlands were playing. And we had no way to see what happened. Rope us in and cut us off? Thanks so much.
Finally, the commercials ended. The Hawks’ graphics package began – and then stopped. Began again. And the pregame showed started. Yep, the game was actually somewhere in the second half. And we were being asked to watch from the opening seconds. Ya, right.
We went to bed.
• If that’s how the rest of the TV sports weekend is going to go, we’re just going to spend our time watching the Perseids meteor shower. Or a movie. Or maybe paint drying. All would be more exciting. And less frustrating.
Hopefully, that won’t be the case. After all, it’s Felix Hernandez’s weekend in Seattle. The King headed to the M’s Hall of Fame. Baltimore, the team with the American League’s best record, is in town. Seattle battling for a wild card spot.
Root has tonight’s game, at 7:10, as well as Sunday’s (1:10 p.m.). But Saturday night’s is on FS1, starting at 6:40. You know what else has been on FS1 lately, right? Yep, World Cup games. Don’t worry, though. The rest of the matches are on Fox. And mainly overnight.
Meanwhile, there is a virtual buffet of sports available. More NFL exhibitions of course – really, with the way the first week of preseason is dominated by guys trying to make the team, what else should we call them? All are on the NFL Network.
Being it is mid-August, there is plenty of baseball, of course. From all levels.
The Little League’s lead-up to Williamsport continues all day today, though the Northwest’s representative, from Seattle, was decided Thursday. SWX has the Indians’ game with Hillsboro tonight at 7, covering the minor league aspect of the game. And there are about a dozen MLB games, not including the M’s, available.
There are also a couple women’s major golf tournaments, as the amateurs are playing at impressive Bel Air Country Club in Los Angeles (Golf Channel) and the pros competing for the Open title in Scotland (Golf Channel overnight Friday and Saturday, NBC on Sunday). The men are into their playoffs, with the first FedEx Cup tournament from Memphis on CBS (noon Saturday, 11 a.m. Sunday).
That’s the schedule at least. You never know when Position 8, 2:00 might intervene. Speaking of that, Spain won, 2-1, scoring the deciding goal while we were watching Seahawks wander around some imaginary house in their uniforms. How odd.
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WSU: Despite all the outside noise, camp continued in Pullman, with practice doing what it always does, making the team better but also producing injuries. Greg Woods covers the latter here and covers one player who will play a large role in the former, Devin Richardson, in this story. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner answers questions about the week in the Mercury News this morning. … The Athletic looks at the options for the remaining four Pac-12 teams. It seems resurrecting the conference will be darn near-impossible. … Who’s to blame for the latest mess? USA Today looks at that. … The NCAA’s latest failing? Transfer appeals for second-time recipients. Even players who entered the portal under the old rules – anyone could transfer any time – are being denied under new ones – only one free transfer until graduation. Even players who were run off by Deion Sanders at Colorado or not cleared to play medically at USC are being denied. The “C” in NCAA still doesn’t stand for Commonsense. … Washington thinks its offense could be even better this season. … The Big Ten will be a big change for all of Oregon’s sports. … Oregon State’s kicker feels he will be more consistent this season. … A longtime NFL assistant is adjusting to being back in the college ranks. … Utah will be relying on a Florida State transfer receiver. … Time seems to be running out on California and Stanford. … USC has a bunch of new offensive linemen and one talented freshman receiver. … UCLA needs to be better upfront on defense. … Arizona State is headed off campus in the preseason, something of a throwback to ancient times. … Arizona had players shine on offense and defense. … Will it be? Will college football still be fun? … In basketball, Arizona’s trip to Israel is underway. … Finally, as the Pac-12 falls apart, national teams, especially in women’s soccer, will probably suffer some fallout.
Gonzaga: Jim Meehan delves into how all the conference realignment is impacting the school today and how it could down the road. … The women’s team is headed to Europe for its once-every-four-years foreign games. Luke Pickett has a preview of where the Zags are headed and what they hope to accomplish.
EWU: The Eagles are banking on a transfer linebacker to solidify a position hard hoping to improve. Dan Thompson has the story. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana State’s running back corps has a new look. … Weber State is trying to raise more NIL money.
Idaho: Colton Clark checks in with the Vandals after nine days of practice and tells us new leaders have begun to emerge.
Whitworth: The Pirates began football practice yesterday and Liam Bradford was there to document it.
Indians: Spokane took the lead in the sixth and held on to defeat Hillsboro 6-4 at Avista. Dave Nichols has the story.
Seahawks: A backup quarterback doesn’t need to be flashy. Dependable? Yes. And, as Dave Boling tells us, that’s what Drew Lock showed in the game. … If you were wondering how many starters played Thursday, the number was five. The Hawk backups dominated the Viking backups in the second half of a 24-13 victory. … Of course, Bobby Wagner did not play. But he still led. … Receiver Cade Johnson was taken off the field at halftime on a stretcher and transported to the hospital. He was listed in stable condition. … The young receivers, including WSU grad Easop Winston, had a big hand in the victory. … Ben Burr-Kirven was back on the field. That was an upset.
Mariners: Yes, this is Felix’s weekend. … If you have questions, we have some answers to pass along.
Storm: The home losing streak is over. But it took Seattle rallying from a 16-point, second-half deficit to get past Atlanta.
UFC: New Spokane resident Juliana Miller will showcase her revamped training Saturday in Las Vegas. Charlotte McKinley has this preview.
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• Looked at the long-range forecast this morning. That was a mistake. Temps are supposed to rise into triple digits. This isn’t Phoenix you know. My lawn was just starting to bounce back from the July heat wave. Until later …