A Grip on Sports: It’s easy to see where we’re headed, at least in the next few weeks
A GRIP ON SPORTS • We’re having the window cleaners out to the house today. As summer turns to fall, and the leaves turn, we want a clearer view of all that vibrant color. The same could be said of what’s going around here in sports.
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• And there is a lot to observe. Where is Washington State headed, both in the future and this already-fun football season? Same with the Mariners, who righted the ship at least for Tuesday night. The Seahawks don’t have a chance to change perceptions for a few more days but proved they won’t stand still. And what’s going on in the Big Sky? Is it that good?
• While arguing in a Colfax courtroom Monday, an attorney for Pac-12 commissioner George Klivakoff made it clear the conference’s bylaws weren’t being violated, mainly because the last seven departing schools haven’t given formal notice they were leaving. That argument seemed wax-paper thin then and even more so today.
Why? Well, two of those schools, Washington and California, will be holding board meetings today with the express purpose of completing the process of joining their new conferences. Today. The day the Pac-12 was scheduled to hold a board meeting to decide the future of their old one. How odd. If the UW and Berkeley meetings aren’t formal notice, what is?
Let’s put that baby to bed, shall we? Ten teams are leaving. For sure. The conference’s future is up to Oregon State and WSU to decide.
And this football season’s future, for those two schools, will be decided in some measure Sept. 23. The last of the old Pac-12 will meet in Pullman that evening on national TV, both probably undefeated and ranked in the top 25. All that really should be on the line is who gets to be the home team in December’s Pac-12 title game, but neither, if they prevail in court, would be vindictive enough to impose a rule like that, would they? Nor could they, certainly. They agreed to the current format.
But it would be fun to watch the fireworks.
• The days are growing shorter. So is the MLB season. Last night’s uplifting 8-0 win over the Angels, and the other contenders’ results, lifted the M’s back into a wild-card spot. Oh, they are tied with Toronto, but being tied with the Blue Jays is a win for Seattle, as, under MLB’s tiebreaker rules, the Mariners hold a commanding lead.
The first tiebreaker is head-to-head, of course, but the teams split their six games. The next is intradivision record – the M’s vs. the West, the Jays vs. the East. That kills the Jays. They are 12-25 in those games, with 14 remaining. The M’s also have 14 left with the West but they head into them 25-13. If the teams win the same number of games down the stretch, it is impossible for Seattle to lose that edge.
• It’s hard to improve an NFL team after the season begins. An injury hits and, unless there is some sort of salary cap magic available, you are hamstrung. Ask the Jets, who saw Aaron Rodgers go down for the season with a torn Achilles.
The Seahawks are dealing with health issues with both of their starting tackles. How did they respond? They sign 41-year-old Jason Peters. Now Peters was exceptional at times – nine Pro Bowls – during his 18-year NFL career with, mainly, Buffalo and Philadelphia. But he spent last season as a backup in Dallas and played sparingly.
Does he have something left? The Seahawks believe so. And believe he is their best option.
• Idaho is darn good. May just serve national notice how good when they play in Berkeley on Saturday. An upset of a Pac-12 school, this season at least, would open eyes. Ours are already open.
Eastern Washington isn’t at that same level, but they came within an interception of upsetting Fresno State last week in Fresno, no easy feat. Heck, the Bulldogs won in Big Ten country – at Purdue – the week before and are favored this week at Arizona State.
The Big Sky has six teams ranked in the FCS’ top 16. Eastern is receiving votes in the polls. Clearly, the Sky is among the best conferences in the nation. Again.
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WSU: Have the Cougars caught the nation’s fancy? Seems like it – if Saturday’s ratings mean anything. Greg Woods delves into those numbers, which had the game with Wisconsin as the eight-most watched of the day, despite three other huge games overlapping. … Greg was also on the field at the end of the win, and experienced the students’ rush first-hand. He asked the players how they came through it. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, win games, win Heisman Trophy brownie points. Jon Wilner runs through the conference’s top 10 candidates this week, with two WSU players on the list. Albeit in the lower half. … John Canzano loves the connections sports, and sports writing, make. We do too. … Washington usually plays well on the road. Except when the game is on grass, not the fake stuff. Michigan State has grass. … Oregon State spent $161 million renovating Reser Stadium. But the school did not update the sound system. Oops. That’s going to be done sometime this season. … Oregon has renovated its defense a bit. And the Ducks’ efforts have paid off. … It will be expensive to watch Colorado and Colorado State play Saturday. No wonder. The Buffs are 2-0, and the nation’s darlings, under Deion Sanders. … Utah’s injured tight end Brant Kuithe talked about working his way back from his torn ACL. … The USC corners need to play better according to Alex Grinch. … To help UCLA’s secondary shine, the front seven is putting pressure on the quarterback. … As we mentioned above, Arizona State hosts Fresno State. … Justin Flowe is becoming more settled in with Arizona’s defense.
Gonzaga: As usual, the Bulldogs’ nonconference schedule has to be pieced together until its officially released. Another game, this one an exhibition, was revealed yesterday by Lewis-Clark State. The Warriors will be in Spokane on Nov. 3. Jim Meehan has that story. … The Maui Classic won’t be in Lahaina this season. Not after the wildfires. It will be held in Honolulu. Theo Lawson has more here.
EWU: We had some thoughts on the Big Sky above. Dan Thompson, who is much more informed, has some news in his weekly conference notebook. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana State finally has some players from a local high school. … Cal Poly has to put its thrashing at San Jose State in the rearview mirror.
Idaho: The Vandals have all the pieces to make a deep run in the FCS playoffs. But don’t take our word for it. We offer these thoughts from the Palouse. … California should have its top running back available against the Vandals. Jaydn Ott left the Auburn defeat with an injury.
Preps: Dave Nichols has this roundup of Tuesday’s action in the area.
Mariners: Woo who? Nope. After getting a bit of a rest, Bryan Woo took the mound Tuesday night and shut out the Angels for almost six innings. The bullpen finished the job in the much-needed 8-0 victory. … It’s a good step toward recapturing their August mojo. … Julio Rodriguez is proud of his 30/30 season. He just wishes he could have reached that milestone in a win.
Seahawks: We mentioned the signing of Peters above (and linked Bob Condotta’s story). We link it again here. … How can the offense adapt? … The Lions had enough weapons to take down Kansas City in the opener. … The Times is looking back at the 2013 Super Bowl season, going game by game. Here’s the look at the opening week against Carolina.
Storm: Gabby Williams makes more money playing overseas than in Seattle. But the WNBA has a rule you have to leave your overseas team and be in the league on time. She’s decided she won’t do that next year. She’s not coming back.
Kraken: The NHL has a rule, players of a certain age, if cut, have to return to the junior ranks (think Spokane Chiefs). But Seattle won’t have to do that if it cuts Shane Wright. The Kraken received a waiver.
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• Thanks for those of you who reached out about our dog Junior. He’s up and down. His good days, like yesterday, give us hope he’ll be able to lie in the sunshine for a while yet. He loves being on the deck, soaking in the rays, occasionally barking at folks walking by on the trail. Then again, who doesn’t? Until later …