A Grip on Sports: Today we flit from across the pond to the M’s and college hoops’ interminably long recruiting schedule

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Are we in the dog days of summer yet? Or does that designation have to wait until August? At least in the season’s final full month, football begins, so there is something to build a sports column around. Today? We flit from here to there like one of those butterflies in our backyard.

•••••••

• We start in the British Isles, where Rory McIlroy accomplished something no other man has ever done. And Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz did something not many 20-year-olds have either.

Their wins in the Scottish Open and Wimbledon, respectively, are prelude for this weekend’s British Open, the oldest major golf tournament on the planet. Which is a needed respite of tradition considering all the crud going on in professional golf these days.

But back to the past weekend. The Wimbledon men’s final started, seemingly, as a march to a 24th Grand Slam title for Novak Djokovic, the 36-year-old who seemed to not have aged at all over the past decade.

Spoiler alert: He has. And it showed as Alcaraz, after dropping the first set 6-1, won the next two sets, relaxed a bit in the fourth but had enough gas to win the deciding fifth.

In so doing, he became the third-youngest men’s champion, behind Bjorn Borg and Boris Becker. The youngest singles champion regardless of gender? That would be 16-year-old – yes, you read that right – Martina Hingis in 1997.

McIlroy was once golf’s version of Alcaraz or Hingis, but he’s slowed some as he’s matured. Now 34, he is still among the game’s best – he was ranked third in the world heading into the week – but had yet to win in 2023. By birdieing 17 and 18, McIlroy is the first person to have won the British, Irish and Scottish opens. That’s the Isles’ Triple Crown, right? And he enters this week’s major at Royal Liverpool – he went wire-to-wire to win there in 2014 – as a favorite.

• On this side of the pond, we’re still more interested in baseball this time of year. Though the Mariners better kick it into gear soon or it will be another in the long litany of lost summers for the franchise.

Some folks have this notion trading for Shohei Ohtani would be the boost the M’s need. While it’s hard to argue with the sentiment, it’s also hard to ignore one salient fact. Los Angels owner Arte Moreno has said more than once the team is not trading Ohtani if the Angels are in the playoff hunt.

If you believe the Mariners are still alive for a postseason berth, then how could the Angels not be? They are one game back of Seattle in the standings and are dealing with some injuries at the moment. Once Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon return (and Ohtani’s fingers heal up), the Angels are just as much a factor as Seattle.

If Ohtani hits the market? Sure, make a play, even if there is no guarantee the free agent would sign with the M’s. But as long as the Angels stay in the hunt, don’t expect it to happen.

• July is also a month of high school/college basketball. Another month, we should say.

The two are intertwined as part of the recruiting dance college coaches do each year with recruits. A dance that has become a bit like the old marathon competitions that happened during The Depression.

With the transfer portal taking up almost all of college hoops’ offseason – grad transfers can leave the day before schools begins – and the high school recruiting schedule have been expanded a few years back, college coaches have no offseason anymore. The staffs at Washington State and Gonzaga and Eastern and everywhere have to be on the road or hosting potential players from April to August.

And that is burning them out. They want change. The only question is, will the NCAA listen? We’ll see.  

•••

WSU: Speaking of recruiting, the Cougars have been rebuilding a basketball roster that lost eight members from last season. With so many new players headed in, Smith sees the offseason workouts as crucial to understanding how everything fits. He talked with Colton Clark last week for this story. … One of those who left, Mouhamed Gueye, finished up NBA summer league play Sunday. His day is chronicled in this roundup. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, the future of college conferences is hard to predict. Impossible, maybe. … Utah is always among the conference favorites. … Are Deion Sanders and Colorado going to revolutionize college football.

Golf: The 36th Rosauers Open Invitational came down to the final holes. That’s when Conner Robbins put together enough birdies to hold off amateur Zach Stocker for the win. Jim Meehan was at Indian Canyon and has the story.

Indians: For the second time this season, Spokane was shut out. This time, it was a 4-0 defeat in Tri-City. Dave Nichols has the story.

Storm: The WNBA is making noises about expanding. OK. But the players believe there are many more issues to work on before that happens.

Mariners: Bryce Miller returned from his blister, the pitching was lights out and the M’s salvaged a 2-0 victory against the Tigers. … Ask M’s fans before the season who the offensive MVP would be and a bunch of names would have emerged. None of them, however, would have probably included JP Crawford. But the veteran shortstop may be the frontrunner after 90 games. … Eugenio Suarez is being counted on to give the Mariners a lift down the stretch. … Ken Griffey Jr. is in the middle of a push to have a legendary home run derby at the next All-Star game site.

•••       

• We ventured far afield this morning to give you more than a smattering of news in the world of sports. On July 17, that is sometimes called for, right? Of course, on Sept. 17, we won’t have to. Until later …