A Grip on Sports: There are certain anniversaries that should be remembered forever, not just for the events but what they represent

A GRIP ON SPORTS • We’ve been on this planet for 67 trips around the sun. And in each one, on June 6, we have stopped, thought about what happened a half-a-world away, and remember. Say some thanks. And wonder how we would have handled being on one of those beaches. Not well.

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• The D-Day anniversary is always worth a few moments. Even if there are very few folks walking this planet anymore that were intimately involved with the most-important day of World War II. The Longest Day, as it was known for decades. The beginning of the end.

And the end for way too many courageous young men who gave their last full measure for all of us – and by us, we mean anyone who came after who didn’t want to live under the yoke of fascism.

One of the common discussions we had with our father, who was in the South Pacific on June 6, 1944, concerned those who didn’t survive. That day. That war. And what was lost because of their sacrifice.

A whole generation stripped of many of its finest. Finest minds. Finest future leaders. Finest athletes.

No one knows.

Dad always mentioned one or two of his friends who were, in his words, destined to better than Babe Ruth, had they returned, but that was his usual hyperbole. No one will never know if one of the many whose time on this planet ended on Utah or Omaha Beach might have been just that. The world was deprived of their talents, and the talents of millions of others across the planet, because one or two people thought their lives and their visions were ordained from on high.

And tried to impose those visions on the world.

It’s a tale as old as time itself. As is the tale we always need to tell on D-Day for time immemorial. How good people, seeing the evil in the world, stood up. Gave everything they had. Drove that evil back. That’s what the day really honors.

• Such days always got our dad talking about Ted Williams.

Dad enlisted in 1942. Stayed in the Navy until 1946. Didn’t feel it was too much of a sacrifice, even if it cost him his chance at playing baseball, his first love, professionally. Four years for a national purpose.

But what happened to Williams, that grated on him.

The Red Sox star lost three prime years during World War II, like many of his peers, including Yogi Berra, who took part in the D-Day landings. He also lost much of two others, as Williams was called back to fly jets in Korea.

It’s not hard to extrapolate his career statistics adding in those lost years.

The MLB records he set – for example, on-base percentage – would still be atop the lists. And there is a chance he would have ascended to the No. 1 spot of such statistical categories as runs batted in, runs, walks and more.

But that’s conjecture. Reality? He was one of the greatest hitters of all time and one of the greatest fighter pilots in history. Remember him for both.

• There is another anniversary today. One that pales in comparison, sure. Maybe 1/80th as important. But it’s a day golf fans want to remember.

A year ago, the PGA Tour announced it had reached an agreement-in-principle with the LIV Tour. The economic war was over.

Peace in our time? About as accurate as Neville Chamberlain’s assessment.

One year later, there is no final agreement. The two tours are still holding parallel seasons. The best golfers in the world only get together four times a year – the next one is next weekend, at Pinehurst, N.C., for the U.S. Open. Though the two sides are talking, LIV doesn’t seem to be going anywhere and neither do the occasional witness-protection-resemblance of PGA Tour leaderboards.

What’s happened in the past year? The PGA’s players, blindside by the agreement announcement, have re-asserted control of the Tour. And the Tour’s board. For a true truce to be reached, the terms will have to meet the players’ wants and needs. And that won’t be easy.

There is still hope the differences can be overcome. The thoughts of betrayal submerged. Social consciousness put on the back burner. After all, money trumps all. And a resolution will mean more of that for everyone.

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WSU: We would have added our thoughts to what Greg Woods wrote this morning concerning Myles Rice – as a proxy for all other collegiate transfers. But after reading his column, there was nothing we would have added. Yes, Rice’s choice of words could have been better, more articulate, but there isn’t anyone who was as articulate at 20 as they are as a wizened adult. This is the new world order folks. Every player in every sport at every college is a one-year commit. That’s it. And, we’re guessing, even that time span might end up being altered unless some sort of collective bargaining agreement comes into play. That’s the next step. And it’s still a way down the road. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, the NCAA track and field championships opened Wednesday. We have stories on the athletes from Oregon, California and Colorado. …. The numbers stories continue for Oregon State. … What will Colorado’s roster look like? … What would Utah look like if Kyle Whittingham had made a different decision in 2010? … An Arizona player left the portal and will return to the Wildcats. … The Beavers lost their women’s soccer coach and an assistant basketball coach. … The last of their transfer women’s basketball players to find a new home found it. … The Utah men’s roster is not done, even though the Utes have brought in six new players. … Former Arizona basketball player Chase Budinger has made the Olympics. As a beach volleyball participant. … Oregon State has one of the best baseball players in the nation in Travis Bazzana. How do we know? He’s a Golden Spikes Finalist.

Gonzaga: Former Zag walk-on Connor Griffin continues to ascend the coaching ladder. It’s been a long journey from the Portland area to Brooklyn, where Griffin is headed as an assistant coach when the Summer Olympics are done. Jim Meehan lays out the road map Griffin has followed since leaving Gonzaga almost a decade ago. … We passed along the news a while back former GU player Hunter Sallis is returning for another year at Wake Forest. Why? This story answers that question. We’ll add our two cents after watching Wake practice last fall. Former Idaho assistant Steve Forbes, the Deacons’ head coach, builds tight relationships with his players. … The S-R local briefs column we pass today along leads off with academic performance grades.  

EWU: The CFL season is about to get under way with Beau Baldwin part of it. No, actually. Not just as an injector of talent, which he has been for more than a decade. As a coach. Dave Cook has a look at the local players in the league. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, the conference has its share of NCAA participants, from schools including Northern Arizona, Montana State and Northern Colorado.

Preps: There was a change made recently concerning the Lewis and Clark High football coaching staff. Garett Cabeza has a story that covers the District’s actions as head coach Joe Ireland and two long-time assistants were fired. 

Indians: The Northwest League first-half race is starting to really tighten. The Indians lost again last night, this one 11-2 to visiting Hillsboro, meaning there are three of the six teams within 2½ games of the first-place Indians. Dave Nichols has coverage of the game from Avista. … Elsewhere in the league, Eugene did not pick up ground, losing at Tri-City 7-2. … Vancouver moved back to .500 with a 13-3 win at Everett.

Mariners: Baseball is weird. The M’s seemed to have a huge starting-pitching advantage last night. But they couldn’t solve Joey Estes. Their lone run came in the ninth, when Julio Rodriguez turned around Mason Miller’s 102-mile-per-hour fastball for a 402-foot dinger. But a pitch Cal Raleigh catches 999 times out of 1,000 wasn’t, the A’s scored an unearned run in the fifth and went on to win 2-1. … Give it a rest. The M’s deserve more praise. You don’t have to trust the front office to do that, right? … Andres Munoz has back spasms. He’s going to pitch through them.

Seahawks: How about the special teams? All anyone is talking about around the NFL are the new kickoff rules. We don’t understand them. Yet. We’ll stay ignorant until the opening kick of the opening game. And then yell at the officials about whatever the heck it is we see. That’s just us. How about you? … The defense will have a new look, sure. But we will all understand that, right?

Sonics: The NBA final series open tonight in Boston. Who you got?

Kraken: The Stanley Cup finals open Saturday in Miami. Who you got?

Storm: Former Cashmere standout Hailey Van Lith was named to the 3x3 team for the Paris Olympics. She will be joined by former Stanford star Cameron Brink. … Did P.T. Barnum have it right? The WNBA is a great case study right now to determine if all publicity is good. From what’s happening with Caitlin Clark to Angel Reese’s recent issues, the league is at some sort of crossroads, that’s for sure.

Horse racing: Not that anyone is all that invested in a non-Triple Crown year, but the Belmont is Saturday. Not at Belmont Park. It’s being renovated. And not at 1½ miles. The race, at Saratoga up state, will be 1¼ miles long, like the Kentucky Derby.

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• While perusing the Interweb today, we found this story on Ozzie Smith. Another trip for us down Memory Lane. Our first introduction to Smith was when he was playing shortstop for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Came into Irvine our senior year and did things defensively we had never seen before. Also had like 11 hits in 12 at-bats in the three-game series. What a wizard. Until later …