A Grip on Sports: There is more than meets the eye on sports TV this weekend, though, sadly, watching Joe Moeller pitch isn’t among the offerings
A GRIP ON SPORTS • The month of May may feature flowers in the garden, but there is little in the way of earthly delights featured on your television during the month. Unless you are into the NBA. Or love playoff hockey. Or you are as boring as I am and like watching golf and baseball.
•••••••
• OK, so maybe there is something on. Something unifying. Case in point: tonight’s NBA playoff game in Denver (7, ESPN). Everyone within the sound of my typing can agree, right, that seeing Oklahoma City lose is one of the few joys left for former Sonics’ fans? Even those who attended Gonzaga and are hoping one-year Zag wonder Chet Holmgren has a better night.
Steal a team, never be allowed to win a title. There should be a law, or at least an executive order, to that effect.
My form of protest? Watching the M’s host Toronto (6:40, Root) instead. And trying to discern which team has more fans in the T-Mobile stands.
I’ll do the same on Saturday (6:30) and Sunday (1:30, both on Root as well).
Unless, of course, my TV is stuck on CBS when I fall asleep in the Laz-e-Boy watching golf on Sunday. The Truist Championship is on all weekend, with CBS covering the weekend days, both starting at noon. It’s the last tournament before next weekend’s PGA Championship, the one major that seems a little minor at times. Still, next week is a mandatory watch for anyone who calls themselves a fan. This week? It’s OK to fall asleep. Or switch to the M’s.
Of course there is hockey on all weekend, as the NHL is in its second round of the interminably long playoffs. As is the NBA, which returns Saturday with the Villanova alumni association invading Madison Square Garden riding the dual high of a 2-0 lead over defending champ Boston – the Knicks have three Wildcats on their roster – and one of their own recently elected Pope. Not sure which ranks higher on their pride-meter.
For Spokane-centric sports, such as the Chiefs’ WHL final series at Medicine Hat (6 p.m. tonight on Victory+), one needs access to a handful of streaming services. The USL squads play, with the Velocity on ESPN+ (4:30 p.m. Saturday) and the Zephyr on Peacock (3 p.m. the same day).
• For the past two decades, the top level of college football (FBS, where Washington State resides) has played 12 games each season while the next level (FCS, EWU, Idaho and the rest of the Big Sky) has alternated between 11 or 12 games, depending on the calendar.
That looks to be changing in 2026. The NCAA’s FCS oversight committee just approved expanding the schedule to 12 games every season. The full NCAA Division I Council will have the final say in June, but the change is expected to be approved.
• Do you remember being young? I do, though the details are extremely fuzzy. One aspect of those long-past days that has remained clear, however, is how much I admired Major League Baseball players. Thurman Munson (fixed from earlier). Pete Rose. Sandy Koufax. Joe Moeller. Wait, who?
Joe Moeller, a journeyman middling middle reliever and spot starter for the Dodgers. He was a hero of sorts. Why? Mainly because when Union 76 used to hand out prints of Dodger baseball players with a fill-up – at 29-cents-a-gallon – my mom seemed to be handed a Joe Moeller painting each time. I had so many of them I used them to paper the walls of my room. And they are still available on eBay.
That memory is why I clicked on a Washington Post story this morning. It described a meeting between Derek Law, the Nationals’ modern-day Joe Moeller, and three young fans.
No gas station baseball portraits involved. That’s so 1960s. Instead, they became fans through the video game “MLB: The Show,” which is much more appropriate for Generation Whatever-This-Latest-One-Is-Called.
The “Diamond Dynasty” mode allows for a random player, in this case, Law, to be rated at the highest setting, 99. So the trio of Cincinnati-area fans, two brothers and a friend, became Law abiders. And were able, through dogged effort, to meet their hero before a game at Great American Ball Park.
What fun. For the trio and for Law.
•••
WSU: The Cougars added another transfer quarterback to the roster Thursday, welcoming Julian Dugger in from Pittsburgh. As Greg Woods tells us, that will give them six quarterbacks this fall. Or will it? Entry in the transfer portal may no longer be allowed but college athletes need not enter it to transfer and play right away if they wish. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, we linked this story concerning the newest House settlement proposal yesterday when it ran in the Washington Post. It is available on the S-R website this morning. … We also ran this Jon Wilner column about the mediation between the Pac-12 and the Mountain West. It also is available on the S-R site. … New for today, Wilner has a column in the S-R on what a proposed presidential commission could mean for college athletics. … Wilner has a financial column on the Pac-12 legacy schools in the Mercury News today as well. … Washington is hanging around the preseason top 25 rankings. … Utah has rebuilt its offense with an assist from New Mexico’s coaching change. … Ashton Jeanty is one rich man. … In basketball news, a Colorado women’s player is happy to be playing another year of college hoop. … The Buffaloes’ male alums will not be competing in the TBT this year. … The San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting the Pac-12 will align itself with the Big 12 in an officiating consortium when it expands in 2026.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, the conference’s softball tournament is in full swing, with host Northern Colorado eliminating Montana and Weber State upsetting regular season champion Idaho State. … Montana State’s women basketball will feature twins on their roster next season. … New Sacramento State men’s coach Mike Bibby is actually making more money than first reported.
Preps: There is quite a bit of high school news today, including Cheryl Nichols’ roundup of Thursday’s action. … Justin Reed has a story on CV soccer star Beau Butner, who also blossomed on the football field recently and made the decision to play the latter sport in college. … Madison McCord checks in with a story on East Valley’s turnaround in softball this season and the team chemistry that has helped make it happen. … Jim Meehan finishes up our report with his golf story on Thursday’s Kalispel Championships.
Chiefs: Finally. The WHL finals series opens tonight in Alberta. Dave Nichols has made the journey and has this preview of the seven-game championship series. The teams play the game the same way, try to play at the same speed and feature stars on every inch of the ice. It should be an exciting series with neither team having much margin of error.
Indians: Vancouver pulled away late Thursday night and posted a 5-1 win over Spokane at Avista Stadium.
Mariners: Thursday was a travel day for the M’s, which means we can offer this Matt Calkins’ column (we linked it when it ran in the Times) on the team’s success, Mike Vorel’s column on the Root Sports streaming app (those two are on the S-R site) and Adam Jude’s look at just how sustainable the hot hitting could be (on the Times’ site). … The M’s are mentioned prominently in Ken Rosenthal’s column in The Athletic.
Storm: Sue Bird’s appointment overseeing the USA’s women’s national basketball program is official.
Sounders: Seattle added a defender to its roster, signing a player from Tacoma.
Horse racing: The fallout from Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty skipping the Preakness continues to grow. Will it be the impetus to change the Triple Crown schedule?
•••
• Sorry I don’t have a quick link for you to the S-R’s weekend sports television listings. It wasn’t available. I perused them through the e-edition this morning, as there was no way I was walking outside to pick up the paper in the driveway until I got dressed. No one needs to see me in my PJs. Heck, even the cat makes fun of my bed head. But not until after I’ve fed her. Until later …