A Grip on Sports: July is finally here and that means summer is in full bloom and ready for all of us to grab ahold
A GRIP ON SPORTS • And so it begins. The only really free month of summer, July. Why do we say that? It’s simple. June contains school. So does August, if you include fall sports practice. Which leaves us the month in the middle. The creamy center of summer’s tasty ice-cream sandwich.
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• Which reminds us. Eat an ice cream sandwich today. Or a slurpee. Or a milkshake. Something that screams summer. It’s hot in these parts – how about where you are at? – and the air is dry. Summer. So, something cold is mandatory. As is an old-time rock and roll soundtrack in the car. Songs with a summer bent. From “Summer in the City” to “The Boys of Summer.” And anything in the Beach Boys catalog. Played loud. Loud enough to drown out the honking from those behind us as we cruise down a country road at 27 miles per hour, windows down, air caressing your (thinning) hair.
Take what summer gives you, bite into it, let the juices run down your face and smile. It’s the right time for it.
• Sports? Oh, sure. It’s what we’re here for, right? OK, we’ll try. July isn’t jam-packed, that’s for sure.
It’s the month of all-stars in a way. At least in baseball, which holds its All-Star Game in Seattle on July 11. Too bad the M’s are so, well, average, they probably will only have one representative wearing the god-awful uniforms. (As an aside, can we please go back to each player wearing the home or away uniform of their team?)
The other all-star happenings? Well, England holds two of its most-star-studded events, what with Wimbledon, which finishes July 16 and the British Open, which is the weekend of July 20 through 23 in Liverpool. (Note to self: Make a Beatles playlist for that week’s cruising.)
France also holds its all-star event, the Tour de France, which finishes in Paris on the 23rd.
But in these parts, you know, the land of the hot dog and apple pie, July is, professionally at least, all about baseball. With a little golf, summer league basketball and auto racing thrown in.
Though that’s just for those who get paid. Hopefully, the month will be about everything and nothing at the same time for those who have their annual reprieve from the classroom. Street hockey one morning, pickup hoops at the park the next. A bike ride to Riverfront Park or a walk through the woods. Kicking the soccer ball around in the backyard or watching the sun set from Cliff Drive. All the things that make July an incredible month.
• Let’s hope it’s an incredible month for the Mariners. Or 2023 will go down in team lore as the year that wasn’t.
Wasn’t any fun. Wasn’t savable. Wasn’t anything anyone wanted.
The M’s finished 9-15 in June after last night’s 15-4 loss. (We went to bed with the score tied at four in the seventh. Woke up this morning, checked the results and almost spit up our coffee.)
We had heard the team held a players-only meeting before the game and immediately began wondering when the shakeup was coming. Such things rarely have the result intended. Most of the time they are followed by, well, what happened last night. A loss that kills any momentum.
We expect some sort of bombshell this week – unless the ownership has issued a directive to hold off until after the All-Star Game. It would make sense. Who wants every national baseball writer and commentator coming to town asking questions about why Scott Servais was fired or Jerry Dipoto canned or Teoscar Hernandez was traded. It would kill the good vibes of the game – as if those weren’t already dead, what with fans booing the team off the field recently.
Our guess is simple. If the M’s are still floundering at the break, something big will happen July 12.
• Is there an end in sight for ESPN? The self-proclaimed world-wide leader is leading in one thing these days, cost-cutting. A whole bunch of big names disappeared from the roster yesterday, including many who have become members of our household during NBA and NFL games.
Add in the recent axing of Neil Everett and many of the network’s most well-respected voices will no longer be coming into your living rooms anymore.
Disney is cutting costs. ESPN is owned by the mouse. Ergo, ESPN has to cut costs. Those who lose their jobs suffer the most. But we do too. Part of the charm of watching sports on TV is loving or hating those who deliver it to you.
Those folks become so familiar as to mean something to all of us. Turn on the network, see Jeff Van Gundy or Steve Young and know what is coming your way instantly. Love it or hate it, it is familiar. Comforting. Hug-like.
This fall will seem different, that’s for sure.
• A quick note. We’re taking off July 4th. We’ve had a tradition since we retired of doing something special that day, usually including an early morning hike. We’ve planned our excursion out this year and, expecting a warm day, we want to get out as the sun comes up.
Donut is all in. So is Kim. We’ll let you know if our enthusiasm grows.
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WSU: The football recruiting news should lighten up this month, though the first week could be filled with announcements. Still, there is a dead period in place. Not before the Cougars earned a promise from a couple more players, however. Colton Clark has this story. Remember, though, as football slows, basketball picks up. July is a key month for hoops. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, Kirk Schulz was wrong. The school president told WSU’s regents in mid-June he expected a finalized media rights deal in a couple weeks. By the end of the month? Seemed reasonable to assume such. It didn’t happen. That delay, again, is the focus of this Jon Wilner column. … By the way, San Diego State told the Mountain West it wouldn’t be leaving the conference in 2024. Negotiating ploy? Or something else? … We mentioned football recruiting. Wilner passes along this summary of recent events in the conference. … Washington has been on a roll and added another recruit yesterday. … Colorado has recruited many sons of former recognizable players. … Utah rates high in the rankings. … Better players mean some former contributors aren’t playing as much for Colorado’s basketball program. … Arizona State’s former women’s coach, Charli Turner Thorne, has joined the Phoenix Mercury’s staff.
Gonzaga: Rui Hachimura got paid. Big. The former GU star signed a three-year, $51 million contract with the Lakers as NBA free agency began. Jim Meehan has more in this story. There is also coverage from Los Angeles.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, UC Davis has added some things to the football fan’s experience. … Weber State’s women have added a player to their roster. … Finally, there was one of those big letters in the hills near our town. It was an M and stood for Monrovia, where my sister attended high school.
Preps: A recent soccer camp at North Central High had a different focus. More than just teaching the sport. Ignacio Cowles explains in this story.
Indians: If Spokane had a lights-out bullpen, it might be undefeated. Instead, there was another blown lead last night in Vancouver. Dave Nichols has this story on the 4-3, 11-inning loss.
Mariners: We already mentioned last night’s loss. What a debacle at the end. … If you like writing “K” in your scorebook, this Mariners team is for you. … Perfect games are rare. Two dozen of them, in fact, in baseball’s long history. Liam Bradford has this story on three that have deep Northwest ties.
Kraken: Seattle has some free agents of its own to deal with before it can look at the market. The Kraken let a couple of players become free agents without restrictions and made qualifying offers to others as the signing period began.
Storm: It looks as if Gabby Williams will be coming back soon.
Sounders: Seattle hosts the Houston Dynamo today.
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• It seemed to us, when we were young, summer was all too short. The days of grape juice bars and rose-colored sparklers passed quickly. Just as our feet were toughening up enough to deal with the burning asphalt, it was time to start wearing shoes again. Good times. We miss those days. Until later …