A Grip on Sports: Yes, the opinions contained within our mine and, yes, they are all correct – most of the time
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Our dad used to have a phrase he used about excuses that was pretty profane. We think he learned it in the Navy somewhere. Later in his life, he would interchange the word “excuses” to “opinions,” keeping the rest of the sentiment intact. We thought about him, and his colorful phrase, yesterday.
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• To be honest, we think about dad every day at some point. Or points. Whether it is sitting under a tree on warm day, or trying to straighten our back after getting out of bed or just using any of his many off-color phrases, we realize often we are his son.
Good thing. One thing he believed in was always speaking your mind. It wasn’t a cheap enterprise for him over the years, probably costing him much not just financially but in friendships, business connections and, ultimately, matrimony. It was those costs that taught us lessons he may not even known he was teaching.
Which brings us to yesterday. And this column. Our column. With our opinions.
We received an email yesterday from a reader of our column. Two things were obvious. This emailer, who will remain nameless as we are not one to kiss somebody off and tell, was not happy with this paragraph about Apple TV+ grabbing so many Mariner Friday night games:
“Thanks Bill Gates for ruining the city’s reputation by putting Microsoft in the area; and doesn’t anyone in Cupertino remember it was Seattle-based University of Washington that submarined the company’s deal with the Pac-12?”
His anger was obvious within the rest of the email. But so was one other piece of news. He did not understand what this column is.
It is a collection our opinions, as are every column in a daily newspaper. Everyday.
He wondered why such ramblings were not labeled as opinion if such statements were, in fact, opinions. And if they are facts, then what are our sources?
We guess the column’s title, A Grip on Sports, wasn’t a big enough clue of what was ahead. Nor was our ugly mug staring out of the computer or pad or phone on the top of the mess a visible-enough landmark.
Our bad.
When the M’s win, as they did last night, the score of the game usually appears here. It’s a fact. When we write Ty France hit a home run that was the difference, that’s another one. But when we write we find ourselves rooting for France – he attended the same high school as our wife Kim, though decades later – but also are sure Seattle needs an upgrade at first base if it wants to win a World Series soon, that’s an opinion.
We don’t have to write a letter to the editor, as was suggested in the email. We write one to you folks every day. Right here. You don’t have to agree with the opinions contained within but they are ours. They are truthful. From our point of view. They are thought-out, even if you think that might not be true. And, yes, they are stupid sometimes.
Our dad never said this. But we’re sure he would agree. Every opinion is right. And wrong. At the same time. The person that has it sees it as right. And there is always someone who will see it as wrong.
• We received another email yesterday too. It came, we think, from someone in St. John, home of our favorite farmer-built, six-hole golf course, which, though it has been expanded to nine holes, still holds that title, awarded as it was in my younger years. And where Bill Hays worked his magic from the basketball sidelines long ago.
This email had a much nicer tone. It was a get-well one. Thanks JH. We are trying.
• We linked a column earlier this week from Jon Wilner. It was in the Mercury News, which means lots of you didn’t get to read it as it is behind the paper’s paywall. But it is in the S-R this morning, so you can catch up with Wilner’s opinions on the best athletes in Pac-12 history. We already shared our thoughts on his top 10, but felt it might behoove us to share them here. We stuck with Wilner’s criteria, which included not just college but pro careers as well as what the person meant to the world at large. Here is what we wrote a couple days ago:
“(Wilner) posted his list on the Mercury News. We would quibble with placement, believing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was either one or two, but we would only change out one or two folks. If another baseball player is needed – and with the number of NCAA titles the conference has, one is – we would take Arizona State’s Reggie Jackson – 1966 college player of the year, Hall of Famer, 563 MLB home runs, five World Series rings – instead of a guy who pumped up his body with illegal drugs. We also believe Henry Rono was the most dominate distance runner the conference ever produced, but we understand Steve Prefontaine being on the list.”
One could rightfully ask why we wouldn’t substitute John Olerud for Barry Bonds, if we were looking for another baseball player. We thought about it. But even though Olerud had the best season ever for a college baseball player in 1989 – he was Shohei Ohtani three decades before Ohtani become a major league sensation – his post-college career, while productive, wasn’t as productive on or off the field. He was good, maybe even better than that, but not exceptional.
Still, looking back at what Olerud did in 1988, hitting .464 with 23 home runs, 21 doubles and 81 runs batted in while posting a 15-0 pitching mark, with a 2.49 earned run average and striking out 113, is mind-boggling.
A list of greatest college players ever? Olerud has to be in the top five. Maybe, as Baseball America decided, he belongs at the top of the list, at least for the 20th Century.
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WSU: Around the Pac-12 and the nation, Wilner has a mailbag in the Mercury News today and the first question touches on Washington State, Oregon State and the future. … He also delves into what was said at the Big 12 meetings this week. … Football recruiting never stops. John Canzano visited with one of the most sought-after sophomore – yes, we wrote sophomore – quarterbacks on the West Coast. … Oregon State is thankful it recruited enough running backs after a big portal defection. … Stanford rode NiJaree Canady’s arm to an 8-0 win over Oklahoma State and stayed alive in the softball World Series. … UCLA is back on the Oklahoma City diamond today. … The NCAA baseball regionals began Friday. Oregon State defeated Tulane in Corvallis, setting up a showdown today with UC Irvine. You know the Beavers are in trouble, right? … Oregon won in Santa Barbara, defeating WCC champion USD and setting up today’s game with host UCSB. … Arizona is the only Pac-12 school to lose, falling to Grand Canyon in Tucson. The Wildcats are in the losers’ bracket. … In basketball news, Utah continues to rebuild its roster.
Gonzaga: Joel Ayayi may not have stuck with the NBA, but the former GU standout is having fun, it seems, playing in France. Theo Lawson tells us about his season and where he’s headed next year. … Hey, we linked this story from The Athletic earlier this week as well. The sports site ranks the Zags second heading into next season.
Idaho: There was only one way the Chris Gonzalez situation was going to play out. The Vandal volleyball coach was going to become the former Vandal volleyball coach at some point after the allegations of verbal and emotional abuse surfaced. That point came Friday, when Gonzalez resigned. Thomas Clouse has the rest of the story, including the cost of the investigation thus far. It was almost $400,000. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana picked up some key football transfers in the portal. … There is also Weber State news to pass along.
Indians: It wasn’t the best of nights for Chase Dollander but the starting pitcher gutted out five innings. Dave Nichols tells us that wasn’t enough for Spokane to pick up another win, though, as it fell to visiting Everett 4-3. … Elsewhere in the Northwest League, Eugene picked up a game on Spokane, topping host Hillsboro 4-3. … Vancouver swept visiting Tri-City, 1-0 and 4-3, as the teams made up an earlier rainout.
Mariners: We mentioned Ty France’s game-deciding home run above. We didn’t mention Bryan Woo was lights out. And threw just 66 pitches. Someday, of the trends continue, every team will keep 12 pitchers, they will all throw an inning a game and there will be a rotation in which they get a certain amount of rest. It’s bound to happen. … Lucky the M’s won 5-4 over the Angels and now lead the West with a .542 winning percentage (that will never get old). Or today’s column would have been filled with our opinions about Brant Brown’s firing – Jerry Dipoto finding his scapegoat among them – and how the guy who signs the players never seems to pay a price when they fail. … Angel Hernandez is no longer a major league umpire. Yes, we know your first thought was to insert a line about Hernandez never really being a major league umpire.
Storm: The team made a roster move, cutting a bench player.
Golf: We turned on the Canadian Open yesterday and what did we see? Clarkston’s Joel Dahmen near the top of the leaderboard. We’re guessing Jim Meehan did the same, as he has this story of Dahmen’s 5-under 65, putting him in third place heading into the weekend.
Kraken: Will Disco Dan be just what Seattle needs on the bench?
Reign: The newest era of the U.S. Women’s National Team begins today with a match against South Korea in Colorado. Emma Hayes will make her first appearance as coach.
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• We just happened to glance at the weather forecast for the coming week. Sunny and 80? That’s the June we love. And rarely see in these parts. Shorts, flip-flops and cold drinks, here we come. Until later …