A Grip on Sports: As times and conferences change, we have to do the same, albeit with some reluctance and trepidation

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There was a song our father used to love. It concerned smoke, eyes and, of course, love. We think about it this time of year. Often. Except we change the word “eyes” for “nose.” And there is nothing we love about smell of a wildfire.

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• The smell wafted in the window this morning, jarring us from a pretty deep sleep. Thankfully, that’s all it did. Our fight or flight response to the aroma of woods burning not too far down the road may have pushed the adrenaline button, but it did not force us to have to evacuate or anything, which makes us a lot luckier than those in the region who have.

We had them in our thoughts this morning as we settled into our chair, beginning our morning habit of searching the InterWeb for stories and information concerning our local sports teams. It’s something we’ve done pretty much every day for more than decade.

We have a routine. Arise. Wash the sleep from our eyes. Brew coffee. Change glasses. Sit down in our home office. Fire up the Mac. Visit bookmarked newspapers and other trusted sources of info as needed to help you stay up with the sports you care about.

It’s rarely changed since we first started doing this a dozen years ago. Throughout that time, our No. 1 priority has been Pac-12 news, for a variety of reasons. You know them. We don’t have to type out a list. But you also know the Pac-12 of the past 13 years is no longer the Pac-12 of next month.

Ya, it saddens us too. We’ve articulated why over the past couple years, so we won’t delve into the main reasons today. We will add one, though, we hadn’t thought of until recently. We have to change what we do. And, darn it, we hate change. Abhor it. At least when it comes to our work habits.

But we can’t bury our head in the rich Palouse soil and pretend nothing has happened. We have to expand our horizons, as tough as that may be.

Starting today, we are adding a subsection to the WSU part of our links. We are changing the label “Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation” to “Elsewhere in the Pac-12, the Mountain West and the nation.” And we will do so until the Pac-12 schools – WSU and Oregon State – finish up their football scheduling agreement with the best Group of Five conference in the nation.

It’s not a small change. It means adding more bookmarks, adding more reading, adding more time each morning as we try to run down news from some of the West’s smaller big cities, home to the dozen football schools linked with the Pac-12 duo this season. There won’t be that much, at least for a few of the out-of-the way schools. But we will try to pass along anything we find.

While not ignoring the departing 10 members.

Why are we continuing to keep up with the Arizonas and UCLAs of the world? A bunch of reasons, many of them having to do with habit and tradition. But we have one guiding force here. An optimistic view someday the 10 will return to a re-made Pac-12.

“Pollyanna, you have a call on line 3.” Ya, we know. We’re supposed to be cynical. And we are. Usually. But the recent sea changes in college athletics, while some actually overdue, have resulted in so many dumb decisions, we can’t believe there won’t be some course correcting down the road. Atop that “we-screwed-up” list? The death of regional conferences. At least for non-revenue sports.

For now, we’re going to stay in touch with what’s happening with Cal and Stanford. With ASU and Utah. Oregon and Washington? Many of you care deeply about those last two schools – we are a regional column, after all – so it wouldn’t matter if they were playing games halfway across the world, everyone would want to know the results.

Wait a second, they sort of are. Playing halfway across the world. Or will be this late summer, fall, winter and spring.

To summarize, the 10 abandoned WSU and OSU. We’re not abandoning coverage of those schools. But we also are adding more this football season. At the same low cost to you folks.

• Yes, we know whatever stories we find may be behind a paywall. And you may not be able to read it. We face the same dilemma. Often. However, we don’t know what you spend, what news sources you subscribe to. And everyone has a different list. Heck, what Kim purchases is different than ours. She could care less what The Athletic has to say about the Mariners’ recent trades. We don’t have much use for many of the Apple News sites she invests her time and money into. It’s the way of the world in 2024.

We’ll just keep pointing out what we feel is interesting for fans of the Cougars, Eagles, Seahawks and the like. You can choose to agree enough to invest in the sites. Or not.

We budget quite a bit each month to stay informed. That number will go up some. And, no, we’re not reimbursed for it. It’s part of doing business. The right way. Truth be told, the money we invest is well worth the return. We are better informed. Can write opinions based more in fact than conjecture. And, yes, we know that isn’t common these days. We don’t care. When you can remember the Pac-8, you also remember what it means to try your darndest to get it right. Every freaking day.

• OK, enough about how we are changing our sausage-making process. Back to the deli aisle. The M’s are actually trying to get better, though the Ryne Stanek trade only makes sense if you think Jerry Dipoto has been handed a budget that requires some cost-cutting – something that the ownership’s track record makes us believe is true. As poor as Stanek has been lately, when he’s been good, he’s a help to a bullpen that is still a little short. There is more revamping needed even with the addition of Yimi Garcia in the trade with Toronto.

We also all know the roster needs more additions if Seattle is to win the A.L. West. Or earn a wild-card spot. And give the tough-as-a-$12-steak rotation a chance to shine in the postseason.

• The Olympics? Kim raved about the opening ceremonies. We tuned out when we got overwhelmed by the cartoon-nature of some of it. Which was quickly.

The competitions are going on full-tilt this morning. We will be tuning in as soon as we get done here.

And, yes we hope that is quick enough to watch some men’s gymnastics. It’s a once-every-four-years habit. And has been since we were 7-years-old. Or so.

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WSU: Djouvensky Schlenbaker. Leo Pulalasi. Dylan Paine. Wayshawn Parker. Which of those young men will separate themselves during preseason camp and become the Cougars’ No. 1 running back? That’s a question Greg Woods asks this morning, though he can’t answer it. Only those four can. We can’t wait to find out. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, the Mountain West and the nation, we will focus on Oregon State info first each day from now on. Like this story about the schedule. Or the Beavers’ number story as the Oregonian’s series continues, with No. 36 for them and Oregon. … The Ducks have a new, highly experienced quarterback in Dillon Gabriel as they enter the Big Ten. … The Huskies have a new, highly experienced running back to help the offense as Washington enters the same conference. … Colorado didn’t need any transfer help at quarterback. The coach’s kid starts. The Buffs did add a running back, though. … If realignment messes with USC’s rivalry game with Notre Dame, we will lose it. Our plan of attack? Run for president. Win. And restore the rivalry game through our first executive order. Heck, call out the National Guard if we have to. … Yes, we agree with this ranking. … We will do some catching up today, linking Mountain West football stories that might have been around for a while, like these from Wyoming, Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State and New Mexico. We also have a look at the Broncos’ special team stars, ticket sales at Fresno State, Hawaii recruiting, UNLV’s quarterback competition and Utah State’s athletic director talking about the in-flux football program. … Colorado State not only has MWC goals, the Rams would be well served if they have a better season than Colorado.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Montana won one fewer football game than it wanted last season. The last one. In the national title game. The Griz hope to get back. … Down Interstate 90, Montana State has high hopes for this season as well. … As we say, recruiting never stops, as the Bobcats have proof of that today. … Dan Hawkins has joined his son’s staff at Idaho State. Talking with one of the Bengal football players recently, we now know what he brings to the team. Old-school values. … UC Davis not only has one of the conference’s best players, Lan Larison is one of the nation’s best.

Indians: Home runs have dominated the series in Eugene, with Spokane belting the key ones Friday in a 13-5 victory. Dave Nichols has the coverage. … Elsewhere in the Northwest League, Vancouver picked up a 2-1 win at Hillsboro, allowing it to stay two games behind the Indians in the second half standings. … Everett and Tri-City were tied at one after nine innings. Both scored a run in the 10th. Then the visiting Aquasox plated two in the 11th. No matter. The Dust Devils scored three in the bottom for a 5-4 victory.

Velocity: Back to USL play. Finally. Spokane welcomes Charlotte to ONE Spokane Stadium tonight at 7. Justin Reed has a preview of only the team’s third league match since May 19.

Olympics: Opening ceremonies aren’t for us. We aren’t the target audience. We get it. Closing ceremonies are not our bag either. But in-between? Well, we’re all in with women’s 400-meter freestyle race this morning. Mainly because we’ve come to know, in a fan-sort-of-way, Katie Ledecky since she was in her teens. And wonder if she still has it in her late 20s. To be honest, we hope so. … Not sure many folks had Canada on their 2024 Olympic Scandal bingo card.  

Seahawks: As if anyone thought differently, Geno Smith has shown he’s the best quarterback the Hawks have. Sam Howell? He’s struggled. But he’s the backup and training camp is about getting better. Right? … Seattle brought back an older, healthier safety.

Mariners: Who knew all the offense needed was the hint of change. Not even the change – Randy Arozarena, who, along with his family, watched his former team, the Rays, play from the stands Friday – itself. Or maybe it’s just playing the woeful White Sox, on pace to loss 100 games for a second consecutive season, something the franchise has never done. Whatever. Seattle scored eight runs in the top of the first, Jorge Polanco added a two-run home run in the fourth and George Kirby threw seven shutout innings in the 10-0 victory. As an aside, we missed all the M’s runs. We were late getting to the game, arriving in time to watch Kirby throw his first pitch, and then stepped outside on dog duty just before Polanco stepped to the plate. In our defense, neither the eight-run inning nor the final home run could have been foreseen, considering the nature of the team’s offense – White Sox pitching be darned. … Trades. Great. But more of them are needed, right?

Sounders: We may not have seen the M’s score their runs Friday, but we saw both of Seattle’s goals in their 2-0 win over visiting Minnesota in something called the Leagues Cup. OK, we saw the video highlights. But both were well-earned scores.

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• We started working before dawn today. Knew we had a lot to share, even if the S-R doesn’t have a printed edition on Saturdays anymore. We have found the day to be a great one for traveling a bit farther from the beaten path, as we did this morning. Hopefully, you are on-board for our latest adventure. We are sure we will visit sites unseen in recent memory. (Ya, we went for the “see-what-we-did-there” double meaning. Sorry.) Until later …