A Grip on Sports: It will be a fun weekend, especially if Cal Raleigh continues to throw people out

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s harder to remember what day of the week it is when you don’t work the typical Monday-through-Friday schedule. Or have a job that at least gives some stability and structure each week. We did check, however. It is Friday. It is also early September, so you know what that means. A weekend jammed like northbound 195 an hour after a Cougar football game.

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• There were times when we covered Washington State, we cursed 5th Congressional District voters for voting Tom Foley out in 1996. Not over political views, but short-sidedness. After all, if Foley had remained Speaker of the House, maybe U.S. 195 would have four lanes all the way to Pullman by now.

There is always going to be pork, right? Why not use it to ease our work – and play – travel?

Anyhow, there will be a gigantic traffic jam Saturday night. How do we know? A top-25 nonconference opponent is visiting the Palouse, with 19th-ranked Wisconsin returning the travel favor after last year’s WSU win in Madison (4:30 p.m., ABC). The place will be sold out, whether you refer to “the place” as Gesa Field or Martin Stadium. It will also be rocking. And it will be sad reminder of what is going away.

College football is losing its regional identity. It’s soul in a way. Wisconsin is part of the Big Ten. A long-time part, actually. Next year, two Northwest schools will be part of the Big Ten. That doesn’t make sense. Even less sense, actually, than booting Foley when he was in a position to build a high-speed tram or something to Pullman.

Ok, enough griping. Let’s get to the point. What’s on tap this weekend? How is this for a list?

– A playoff-preview series continues in Tampa, with the Mariners facing the Rays. Tonight’s game starts at 3:40 PDT on Root, where all three games will be. Saturday is at 1:05 (also FS1), so it should be over by the time the Cougars kick off. And Sunday? The finale starts at 10:10 a.m.

– The U.S. Open tennis tournament will have one American woman in Saturday’s 12:30 p.m. (ESPN) final, as Coco Gauff powered her way there Thursday night.  And, if Ben Shelton can upset Novak Djokovic today, then a man as well for Sunday’s final (12:30 p.m., ESPN).

– The college football schedule isn’t all that compelling, though the Pac-12 has six matchups with other Power 5 conferences as it tries to ensure its best year is its final one. Besides WSU and Wisconsin, the next best (considering we’re locked into Wazzu at 4:30) is Utah at Baylor. That starts at 9 a.m. on ESPN. The best game overall? We would have to go with No. 3 Alabama hosting 11th-ranked Texas on ESPN at 4 p.m. But again, the WSU conflict.

– Then there is Sunday. The NFL. The Seahawks. (Or, more importantly, the RedZone.) The Hawks host the Rams on Fox 28. The game, and season, kicks off at 1:25 p.m.

• The save became part of MLB’s official lexicon in 1969, the same year baseball went to divisional play. It’s been a defining part of pitching since. But last night, in the M’s 1-0 series-opening win at Tampa, it shouldn’t have been awarded to Andres Munoz. Nope. Cal Raleigh should have earned it.

Let’s take you through the catcher’s game-saving ninth.

Munoz came out the of the pen to hold the lead. But he started by hitting Luke Raley, who had been successful in 14-of-16 stolen base attempts this year. On the fourth pitch to Taylor Walls, Raley read Munoz well and took off for second. But Raleigh’s throw was even better than the jump and he nailed Raley.

Two pitches later Walls walked. Instead of two on and no out, the Rays were one and one. But Munoz was still struggling. His first pitch to Jonathan Aranda was high. Lucky for him, however, Raleigh pulled it back in and home plate umpire Junior Valentine called it a strike. That was crucial because Munoz threw three more balls before striking out Aranda as Walls stole second without a throw.

Harold Ramirez pinch hit with the tying run in scoring position. Munoz did not throw a pitch in the strike zone but Ramirez, seemingly sitting on the slider, couldn’t catch up with any of the inside heaters. Finally, with a 2-2 count and Ramirez not knowing what was coming, Raleigh asked for one decent slider. Munoz threw it, Ramirez missed it and the M’s had the win.

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WSU: The rare nature of Wisconsin’s visit is highlighted in Greg Woods’ preview this morning. … How is this for experience? The Cougar volleyball team have 16 players who are in their last year of eligibility. Jim Meehan has more in this story. … Washington State and Oregon State have been waiting. Waiting for the Pac-12 Conference attorneys and financial folks to tell them how the conference’s assets (and debts) are supposed to be allocated under the bylaws. The two left-behind schools can’t move forward without the information. But the conference office is moving at a glacial pace when, at the least, a grandpa-in-a-school-zone speed is needed. Jon Wilner has one question of us: Did you expect anything better? … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, Jon also has his picks in today’s S-R. … John Canzano and Christian Caple share their game picks as well. … If you have questions about Washington, we can pass along some answers. … Oregon State will show off the remodeled Reser Stadium on Saturday when it hosts UC Davis. … There are connections between Saturday’s foe, Texas Tech, and the Oregon coaching staff. The Ducks, and the conference, need the road win. … Not only is Colorado a hot ticket in Boulder right now, the Buffs under Deion Sanders seem to be hitting the recruiting trail hard. He knows if he takes another job, all those players can follow him. … This is a story we’ll see often this season. It’s going to cost Utah fans more to follow their team next year. … UCLA faces San Diego State on Saturday. … The newest USC tailback likes to block. Shades of Marcus Allen? The Trojans face Stanford for the final time as Pac-12 foes. … A freshman is helping Arizona State’s special teams. … The Arizona offensive linemen have to know more than one spot. … In basketball news, Colorado made some staff additions.

EWU: When the summer began, defensive lineman Jacob Newsom felt as if he had been left behind. His position group had been decimated by players leaving. But, as Dan Thompson tells us, Newson is all in with the new group. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Northern Arizona heads to North Dakota this weekend. … Cal Poly travels up U.S. 101 to face San Jose State. … Sacramento State opens its home slate with a new quarterback. … In Oregon State, UC Davis has a daunting road test. … Weber State has one too, at Northern Iowa’s indoor house of noise. … Idaho State travels less than 100 miles down the interstate to take on Utah State. … Incarnate Word has become an FCS power. Now Northern Colorado will try to upset one of last year’s playoff teams. … Montana State has a running back who is ready to show what he can do. … Montana leaves Missoula to face Utah Tech, which lost at MSU by 43 points last week.

Idaho: Cornerback Marcus Harris has one goal. To be the best at his position in the conference. Colton Clark has this story on the redshirt junior’s quick start in pursuit of that goal.

Preps: The weekend of football kicked off last night with Mead defeating visiting U-Hi 21-0 at Union Stadium. Dave Nichols was there and has this story. … Dave also his preview of tonight’s games as well. … There are other sports going on and we can pass along a roundup of Thursday’s action.

Indians: The quest for a .500 second-half finish ended last night in Hillsboro. With three games left in the second half of the season, Spokane is 28-32 after the 6-2 loss to the Hops.

Mariners: The M’s scored early on a Mike Ford RBI single. Luis Castillo made that lone run stand up until turning the game over to the bullpen. … Jarred Kelenic is in his rehab stint. The M’s are going to need the good Kelenic down the stretch. … Should Eugenio Suarez win a Gold Glove? … Toronto is back in the American League wild-card hunt, as the Rangers fall back. … Dominic Canzone made a great catch yesterday. He has earned a regular role.

Seahawks: Clint Hurtt is making a defensive change this season. The coordinator is going to be up in the press box during games. … Is the Hawks’ group of receivers special? We’ll find out. … Seattle is kind of a trendy pick in the NFC West. Maybe it’s because Geno Smith has solidified his spot. The Russell Wilson trade looks pretty good.

Storm: Former Seattle star Sue Bird has a new temp-gig.

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• We tried to watch the United States’ heartbreaking 113-111 FIBA World Cup semifinal loss to Germany as much as possible as we wrote this morning. One thing we discovered. The ESPN+ feed runs the same commercials as the rest of the network’s channels. You have to pay extra for it and you get commercials? Nice system. Until later …