A Grip on Sports: No tacos on this Tuesday but we do have questions overflowing with spice

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Everyone has questions. We do too. Answers, though, are harder to come by. To wit, why did it take Florida four tries to win the Stanley Cup? Or is Ty France really the Mariners’ best option at first base? Will the U.S. Olympic track and field squad include a 16-year-old? What’s the weather going to be like for Hoopfest?  

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• We’ll take that last one first. It won’t be perfect. And by perfect, we mean a 70-degree day Saturday, with just enough clouds to offer some respite from the sun. And then a much warmer Sunday, allowing under-used muscles some help getting loose.

According to the most-trusted people in America, the national weather service folks, both days should include plenty of clouds and a high temperature somewhere in the low 80s. If that’s the case, fine. No 90s. No asphalt melting. No rain. No complaints. Now, if the jumper doesn’t fall, that’s on you.

• Baseball coaches love to say something to the effect “momentum is tomorrow’s starting pitcher.” Pithy, sure. But also true. The guy on the mound is crucial to success. Not the most crucial, though, if you are examining professional sports. For that honor, we turn to hockey.

The guy in the net makes all the difference, good and bad. And emotionally.

The Florida Panthers went into Monday’s Stanley Cup Game Seven drained. Drained of confidence. Poise. Momentum. They had won the series’ first three games. Lost the next three. And were on the precipice of the worst collapse in pro sports history.

But they had a few things going for them. The hometown crowd, which counts for less in the NHL than, say, the NFL or Indiana high school hoops. They had a little puck luck. And they had Sergei Bobrovsky in goal.

Bobrovsky made a few stand-on-your-head stops among his 23 saves. His Oiler counterpart, Stuart Skinner, missed the most important shot of the night – Sam Reinhart’s that snuck through past late in the second period. Add it up and Panthers held on to top Edmonton 2-1.

And denied infamy another victim. The lesson? Momentum met an unbreakable goalie and lost once more.

• It’s too bad Bobrovsky wasn’t playing first base for Seattle in the eighth inning Monday. More than likely, he would have slid 18 inches to his right and used his chest to knock down Yandy Diaz’s top-spin grounder. Instead, France waved his glove weakly at a ball that bounded over his shoulder, allowing two Rays to score and hand the M’s a dispiriting 4-3 loss.

Oh, sure, Tampa Bay would still have tied the game. Even if France had kept the ball in the infield with two outs – a baseball axiom since Babe Ruth wore knickers – the tying run was going to score. Closer Andres Munoz, called upon to try for a four-out save, was late reacting to the opposite-field grounder and didn’t seem to have much chance to beat Diaz to the bag.

But we’ll never know, will we? Once again on this road trip, the Mariners couldn’t make a key play.

• Was there anyone in Eugene, or the nation’s capital, or, heck Ottumwa, Iowa, who wasn’t rooting for Quincy Wilson to make the U.S. Olympic team? The 16-year-old 400-meter runner was the hero of the track and field trials’ first weekend, setting personal bests and high school records in making Monday’s final.

But storybook endings rarely appear, and there wasn’t one for Wilson. At least not yet. His sixth-place finish in a race won by another surprising Quincy (Hall) means Wilson won’t automatically make a trip to Paris. But his stretch run, in which he passed three veterans, and his week-long performance, including a 44.59 in the semis, could earn him a spot with the relay group.

Once again a U.S. federation faces a choice. Take a popular young athlete without the experience or years of paying dues, risking alienating those with longer resumes, or make the just-got-here fans happy.

It played out one way with the women’s basketball team. We expect the opposite choice to be made here.

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WSU: Football recruiting is all the rage in late June. High school seniors-to-be are offered scholarships and accept them publicly. It’s a tale as old as time. The Cougars added two more to their 2025 class, giving them a cool dozen. Greg Woods has information on the two latest defensive players who say they are headed to Pullman. … The Warriors don’t seem hellbent to sign Klay Thompson back. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner takes some time in the Mercury News to look at the upcoming Big 12 basketball race. … Monday included more recruiting news from Washington, Arizona, Colorado and Utah. … John Canzano had his usual mailbag with a couple of unusual questions. … The Oregonian’s football numbers countdown continues. We can pass along No. 68 for Oregon and No. 67 for Oregon State. … Colorado’s Tristan da Silva awaits his NBA chance. … A California alum has not only captured an Olympic spot in the hammer, she’s one of the favorites. … If you are wondering, Tennessee held off Texas A&M, barely, to win the NCAA baseball title 6-5 in Omaha.

Gonzaga: Hooptown’s Hall of Fame this year adds one of Spokane’s greatest high school players, though most people nationally think of Adam Morrison in a completely different way. He’s either that overhyped guy with the mustache and floppy hair who helped Gonzaga take another step in the national consciousness, or he’s the guy who failed in the NBA. The high school star? That’s correct. The other perceptions? Mainly wrong, as Dave Boling outlines in this story on Morrison, the Hooptown honor and his current out-of-the-spotlight life. … Kentucky and GU have agreed on a date for their game in Seattle. It will be Dec. 7. Theo Lawson has all the details in this story.\

Preps: The Cubs unveiled the statue of Ryne Sandberg outside Wrigley Field. It was a touching day, for Sandberg and for Cub fans. For us too. We still have a video of our oldest son at a young age with Sandberg, part of a commercial for the first Hoopfest that ran on local TV. He still has the memory of meeting Sandberg, Mark Rypien and John Stockton during the shoot.

Idaho: The Vandals stayed in-house for their next women’s basketball coach, replacing one-year rental Carrie Eighmey with her top assistant, Arthur Moreira. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Northern Arizona’s most successful athlete is turning pro. In track and field.

Indians: Spokane ran away with the Northwest League’s first-half title, ensuring a spot in the postseason title series. But everything hasn’t been perfect. There’s been good stuff, sure. Bad too. And the downright ugly. Dave Nichols delves into all of it.

Mariners: Speaking of ugly, France’s effort on Diaz’s ground ball qualifies. Another key play after Bryan Woo’s injury-related departure – also ugly – was a botched pickoff attempt from reliever Taylor Saucedo. We didn’t see a good replay but we’ve seen France’s inability to move quickly in such cases before, so we will assume the worst. Add in his steadily declining offensive production – 2020 was his best season with the M’s, with an OPS of .815, but that key metric has steadily dropped since, to this year’s .698 – and one has to wonder if, at 29 years old, his best years are in the rearview mirror and it’s time for a change. … Jorge Polanco returned from injury last night as Seattle reached the season’s halfway point. Went right back to second base. Was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and is hitting .190 for the year. But he has an offensive track record, including last season, of success, something the M’s are counting on in the second half. … We passed along The Athletic’s first pitching evolution story yesterday. There’s another one today.

Seahawks: Seattle added another running back to the roster, one with UFL experience.

Olympics: There was a number of other stories from last night’s track and field trials besides Wilson. There was defending champion Athing Mu’s awful fall in the women’s 800 meters, costing her another Olympic chance. Oregon’s Cole Hocker sprinting away to win the 1,500 in a meet record. A former Oregon State star, Kaylee Mitchell, winning the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase. And the women’s 5,000 meters also including a local (to Oregon) medalist. … The swimming trials were successful in a lot of ways. … With Cameron Brink’s knee injury, the women’s 3x3 basketball team had to make an addition.

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• There’s a fly in our office as we finish up. A big one. Or is it a spy camera? No, we’re pretty sure it’s just a fly. Sent here to warn us not to kill any more of its brethren or a price will have to be paid. Funny, it looks a little like that guy who makes the Apartment.com commercials. You know, the Jurassic Park gadfly. Jeff something or other. Until later …