A Grip on Sports: With so much change so quickly, what is a sports fan supposed to do?

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Change can be hard. Constant, sure, but that doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. It gets even more so when it occurs in a part of your life, like sports, in which you don’t expect it to happen at such a breakneck speed.

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• Sports revel in tradition. What happened in the past is constantly compared to what is happening in the present. Older generations see it as a rout, as their memories always are a three-touchdown favorite. Younger folks flip the script, knowing what is happening today is just the continuing evolution of advancement, meaning the sports of now are the best they have ever been.

But both agree comparisons are easier and more astute when the two have some semblance of, and relationship to, each other.

When change happens too fast in the sports arena, as it seems to each day in the 21st Century, then confusion begins to creep in. There are few touchstones on which to anchor our perceptions.

And nowhere is change happening quicker and in more areas than college sports.

Players as amateurs? Conferences a collection of geographical neighbors? Rosters set in stone for years? That’s the past. The present is NIL, UCLA and USC in the Big Ten and the sci-fi-like portal.

Hard to comprehend, especially if there is a depth of memory.

Over the past year, the Pac-12 has struggled to stay relevant. Heck, to stay alive as an entity. The blows, from the fiasco that was the Larry Scott tenure to the Los Angeles schools leaving and the ensuing year-long hunt for a financially secure media deal, have shaken the conference to its core.

But that’s not where the earthquakes end. Each conference school has been hit with uncertainty, having to use the most precious resource of them all, time, to ensure their future status. Even with an investment of that commodity, though, you ask anyone associated with conference schools if they know what the future holds and, if they are truthful, they’ll answer no.

Which means there is even more uncertainty among the fans and supporters of each school.

Eighteen months ago, Northwest folks who wore purple or green sweatshirts on fall weekends felt secure in the knowledge of where they stood in the college hierarchy. Then USC and UCLA left them at the altar and eloped with a bunch of rich Midwesterners. Talk about pulling a rug. All of a sudden, everyone who followed a Pac-12 school was questioning what was next.

In the Inland Northwest, most of those folks are proud of the crimson they have in their closet. But they also know where they stand in the new college world order. Fear began to creep in. And it’s only grown since.

Washington State may be, today, a member of a Power 5 conference but nothing is assured for tomorrow. Especially not wins.

The two major sports folks brag about, football and men’s basketball, are the ones whose underpinnings have changed the most in the past few years. The courts have granted freedom to athletes in two major areas, financially and geographically. No longer are they stuck to one school as an unpaid employee.

Deals are struck on a daily basis, the NCAA is either unwilling or unable to control it, and rosters are revamped constantly. Places like Washington State are seemingly in the process of becoming developmental schools for deeper-pocket competitors.

Like always.

Ya, we said it. The more things change, the more they stay the same. There is more of it, and it happens more often, but when has WSU not been at a disadvantage in attracting players? Challenges have been a way of life in Pullman, which is why the school doesn’t have as much success as the deep-pocketed and big-city rivals it has to deal with every season.

But success is still possible, even as the earth moves consistently. And we can prove it. Tomorrow. Tune in then.

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WSU: In today’s news, another Washington State baseball player will begin a professional journey. … Former Cougar basketball coach George Raveling has always been a mentor to others. He still is. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, realignment worries are real. There is one constant in all this change and its money. Everyone wants more. … Heck, the Big 12 is still trying to entice bigwig schools to join its party. … The Pac-12 announced the women’s basketball matchups and we can pass along stories on the schedules of Oregon, Oregon State, Colorado and Arizona. … USC will have a star to highlight this season.

Gonzaga: The NBA summer league continues in Las Vegas and Theo Lawson continues to document the success of local players. Today he can share his thoughts on Julian Strawther’s best game as well as the performance of Chet Holmgren, whose best outing might just be his last.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Weber State filled a couple assistant coaching vacancies.

Preps: The new downtown stadium has a name, though we’re still struggling to understand it. “ONE Spokane Stadium” is what the school board and facilities district have settled upon. Yes, the ONE is all uppercase but the three letters aren’t an acronym for something like Only Neighbors Enjoy or the like. According to Elena Perry’s story, it’s meant to emphasis the unity of the community that will use it. That everyone has a part in it. OK then.

Mariners: Seattle’s All-Star Game is done but MLB’s regular season doesn’t resume until Friday, so we can still look back. Liam Bradford starts us off by examining the supposed curse of the Home Run Derby. … There were parts of the game you shouldn’t have missed. … There were a lot of cheers and boos, which begs a question. … The M’s will start the second half without a key part of their coaching staff. … The first half was marked by great pitching and suspect hitting. … Even after Oakland’s mayor tried to set Rob Manfred right concerning the city’s outstanding offer to the A’s for a new stadium, baseball’s commissioner is still touting John Fisher’s false narrative. Hey, did you know Manfred works for the owners?

Sounders: The winning streak in San Jose came to a sudden halt with a 2-0 loss to the Earthquake. … The U.S. Gold Cup team had a distinct “we’re-really-tired” feel Wednesday night and it led to a penalty-kick loss to Panama in the semifinals.

Storm: Jewell Lloyd was out with a foot injury. Seattle was finishing up a long, hard road trip. No surprise then the Storm lost 85-75 in Atlanta.

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• We knew the All-Star break would give us some time to delve into the personal feelings some folks have about college athletics’ recent changes. What we didn’t know is it would take us more than one day to get to all our thoughts about them. At least the time is available. Unless, of course, the Pac-12 announces its new media rights deal today. Until later …