A Grip on Sports: Another tradition begins today in the Spokane area, the routine of high school football practice

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Routines are important. They allow the Average Joe or Joeletta to accomplish routine tasks without thinking. To establish a comfort zone. To succeed. In life and sports.

•••••••

• Such thoughts creep in with the start of school right around the corner. Though it’s been years a morning routine was embedded in the Grippi family firmware, the little routines, from the eldest’s way of eating cereal to the daily ritual of siccing the slobbering dog on the youngest to pry him from his bed, pop into my head every once in a while.

As do thoughts of a local high school football coach’s favorite saying during practice. “Run it again.” Yep. “Run it again” was his way of making offensive execution routine. Of building a base that allowed his team to play fast, to play without thinking, of just doing and getting it done.

Such notions are in play on this sunny Wednesday mainly because football practice officially starts at Washington’s high schools.

Throughout the state, from fields wedged into a crowded urban block to those hard by acres of rolling wheat, young men (and the occasional young woman) will grab their helmet and run, not walk, from the locker room to a sun-drenched practice. And return in a couple hours drenched in sweat.

It’s a late-summer ritual that morphs into the preeminent fall one at high schools across the land. Friday Night Lights isn’t just a book, movie and TV show. It’s part of the essence of the high school years, whether you play or not.

And yet those competitions are just the tip of a sport that rivals the North Atlantic iceberg that put the Titanic under.

Even before today, the players’ summer has been filled with weight lifting. Camps. Passing tournaments. Senior-run workouts.

Coaches have been busy organizing equipment, practice plans and player development.

Athletic directors work behind the scenes to make sure the paperwork is in order – in this day and age of the transfer, an even more-crucial task – as well as the schedule and the scheduled folks needed to keep the lights on each Friday night.

All in the hope of making success as routine as possible. Which is why, all over the area today, there will be shouts of “run it again.”

• The local college football programs have been running everything on both sides of the ball over and over for a couple weeks now. The pros? A month.

That’s about the only difference between the two anymore. Well, that and the inconvenient truth that, no matter how many times a college player transfers or how much NIL money he’s receiving, he still has to attend class.

I know. It seems awful weird to be talking about such things anymore. But it’s still part of the experience. And the payback of playing football (and all other college sports).

Yes, going to class in-person isn’t as common as it once was. Not just for athletes. For everyone. But when you travel as much as FBS football teams do these days, staying connected academically through whatever way you can is crucial for moving toward the ultimate goal: graduation.

You thought I was going to type “the NFL,” didn’t you?

Nope. That’s such a small percentage of the players at your favorite college as to be nothing more than a dream for more than 98% of them. The majority of them, even now, are using college football as a way to earn a college degree. And, hopefully, build a foundation for success in life.

In that regard, those who play college football are not different than the rest of the students in their classes – virtual or in-person. Except they are paying for tuition with their body, not their wallet.

It’s a currency that only remains in the bank for a few years.

While the account is overflowing, they have to invest it. To barter it for as much as its worth. Sometimes that means leaving a place you love for someplace that offers better dividends. Sometimes it means being laid off and having to find a new place of employment. And sometimes there is just constant growth with one company until goals are reached.

Lost in the hubbub and blather these days about the portal and contracts is the joy so many football players – and their families – earn from walking in the spring. The joy of four or five or six years of hard work paying off in a diploma.

It’s part of the routine. Still. And that should never be forgotten.

•••

WSU: Around the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, my favorite story of the day? Auburn pulling what we call “an Alabama” and just claiming football national titles out of the blue. Seven of them, actually, dating back to early 20th century and including recent ones the Tigers have no true claim to, like 1993 (they were on probation for egregious NCAA violations). I believe there are two or three national titles Washington State should claim and I will share them with you as soon as I can come up with funny-enough reasons for their inclusion. … Jerry Brewer throws shade at the Big Ten and SEC in the Washington Post for their fight over the future of college football. After all, the two conferences are the main reason there are so many issues today. … Oregon State’s depth chart is taking shape. Include at linebacker. … Who will be Oregon’s starting quarterback? Going into camp that seemed an easy question to answer. Is it still? … Andrew Luck’s playing career was derailed by the pain of too many injuries. But he’s still a competitor. It’s just now he competes by trying to erase Stanford fans’ pain of losing and replace it with the joy of winning. … Colorado State has a receiver who is more than willing to step into some big shoes. … Colorado is still tweaking the offensive line. … Utah will follow the Big 12’s rules concerning injuries. But that’s all. … Can Utah State find enough players in Utah to build a core for its program? … USC is reeling a little from a court ruling about an offensive lineman’s eligibility. … A receiver for Arizona State is succeeding even if the Sun Devils’ facilities aren’t good enough. … Arizona is starting to prepare for its opener vs. Hawaii. … A Boise State assistant has deep roots with the program. … San Diego State has had to replenish its tight ends’ room. … In basketball news, Washington men’s assistant Tony Bland is reportedly leaving Seattle to join Kansas’ staff. … Arizona State has dipped into the local high school ranks for its latest staff addition. … Finally, Olympic gymnast Jade Carey enjoyed her time at Oregon State enough she’s staying in Corvallis as an assistant coach.

Gonzaga: I’m really not sure how many times I’ve typed the following line. Recruiting never stops. Certainly not for the GU men. Theo Lawson has another story about a four-star recruit, Cameron Holmes, listing the Zags in his final six schools. Even before he’s made a visit to Spokane. Officially, that will be Nov. 7.

EWU: There was a temptation to add my two cents above to Dave Boling’s column today. But Dave has already paid the entire bill. His subject is a man near-and-dear to Eastern fans’ heart, the Voice of the Eagles (in caps), Larry Weir. There is something so perfect about a radio announcer spending almost his entire career focused upon one school’s athletic programs. Especially when that person is as talented as Larry is. … Elsewhere in the (current and future) Big Sky, next up in Montana’s position previews is the defensive line. … If experience is only available at one spot, offensive line is as important as any. Idaho State has that. … Two Big Sky schools are playing ranked teams this weekend. UC Davis, ranked eighth nationally, is at No. 11 Mercer. And Portland State hosts 10th-ranked Tarleton State. Both games will be on an ESPN network. … In basketball news, the conference has decided to keep the postseason tournament in Boise until at least 2031.

Idaho: One of the givens in the Big Sky Conference is every school is proficient on offense. It’s been that way since time, or at least the conference’s time, began. Just about every team can move the ball. The successful programs? They excel at stopping, or at least limiting, that movement. Over the two weeks of preseason camp, the Vandals have been showing improvement on the defensive side of the ball. Every practice has allowed the defense to become more comfortable with the new schemes and coaching staff.

Preps: The Washington Post looks at sports-oriented prep schools’ growth nationally. We link the piece because the phenomenon has finally spread to the Inland Northwest.

Indians: Another subject we could have blathered on about for paragraphs on end today? Eddie Gaedel. Bill Veeck. And Otto Klein, the Spokane Indians’ senior vice president. But we didn’t. Mainly because Dave Nichols took care of it with this story. … Dave also took care of covering a rarity for the Indians recently. A win. They topped host Everett 10-7 Tuesday night.

Sounders: Stefan Frei has dealt with seven concussions in his career. That’s a lot. Too many maybe. The next one could easily be the one to send him to the sidelines permanently.

Mariners: We also decided to avoid dealing with the M’s once again, as their East Coast road trip continued its downward spiral. Despite Bryce Miller’s return to the bump. Philadelphia built a 4-1 lead in the righthanders first start in months, the M’s rallied to tie it at 4 in the seventh and then saw Matt Brash yield a two-run home run to J.T. Realmuto in the eighth. And, no, we are not going to use the 6-4 loss to emphasize our plea at the deadline to fortify the bullpen basically went unfulfilled. But it did. And it’s showing as the four or five decent arms are being worn down. … Victor Robles has an issue with his emotions. And his latest outburst could prove costly for Seattle. His bat throw has resulted in a 10-game major league suspension, which throws a wrench into Jerry Dipoto’s roster plans down the stretch. Robles has appealed but no matter what, he will be out a while. … We linked the Athletic’s look at realignment in our column Tuesday. It is on the S-R site this morning.

Seahawks: Could it be the Hawks have actually made some successful decisions and additions to its offensive line? The group has been a thorn in fans’ sides for so long, it seems impossible. But here we are, a couple weeks from the start of the season and Seattle actually seems competent up front. Maybe even dominant. And may be still willing to add depth. … The defense will be solid. But it could use an improvement in outside pressure. And one recently healthy player may be just the guy to supply it.   

Storm: Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins and supplied the offense and Seattle earned a much-needed 94-88 win last night in Chicago.

•••       

• One routine that hasn’t gotten old for me? Getting up each morning and drinking a cup or two of coffee. Oh, and running down good stories on the Interweb. And then writing about something sports related. Then again, every day is different. The routine varies enough complacency is not an issue. My ability to share thoughts coherently though? That might be fading. Until later …