A Grip on Sports: Though the proof may be non-existent, the idea May is the new June seems to be catching on

A GRIP ON SPORTS • I have a theory. May is the new June. I possess no empirical evidence to support that hypothesis, but my gut tells me it’s true. And when you’ve invested as much money in a gut as I have, you learn to trust it.

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• Let’s begin our proof with the Spokane weather. Our (probably faulty) memory banks remember May as a warmer, clearer month –  followed by an early June with more precipitation and fewer sunny days. Support evidence? I will cite this past weekend.

How many times can I get rained (or hailed) on while mowing the lawn or walking the dog or just sitting in the backyard? The count this weekend? Not sure. I stopped keeping track at a half-dozen. See, my supposition is correct.

Need more less-than-reliable data to prove my point? Of course you do, you skeptic.

How about the four teams recently eliminated in the NBA playoffs? In my memory, Boston, Denver, Golden State and Cleveland never lose until June. Heck, they may not even lose then. The last three NBA champs? The first three teams listed. And, since 2015, those four franchises have won seven of the 10 titles.

Oklahoma City? Minnesota? Indiana? They have never won a title. And New York? The Knicks last one was so long ago as to not really exist anymore. I mean, c’mon, Willis Reed? The game has changed so much since he led New York to its two early 1970s titles, he would have to play a wing these days.

At least hockey seems to be ready for June, what with three of the four semifinalists residing in warm-weather cities. That tracks with the NHL’s recent history.

But I’m not here to live in the past. Or throw out facts that don’t support my assumption. That would be too old-school.

Back when old-school was just called school, June used to feature the one men’s major golf tournament that left its winner mentally exhausted. Heck, not all that long ago, there wasn’t even a major tourney in May. Now there is. The PGA Championship. And Scottie Scheffler won, outlasting Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and everyone else at a tight, rough course south of the Mason-Dixon line.

That course description could have fit many of the U.S. Open tracks over the years but not many PGA venues. Back when the organization’s championship was played in August. Now it’s situated between the Masters and our national championship, opening up the possibility the tournament’s host could actually grow rough, not just humidity and heat.

Quail Hollow did. And Scheffler found almost every bit of it on the left side of the front nine Sunday. While LIV defectors Rahm and DeChambeau tried to give CBS a finish it could sell.

They did, in a perverse way, falling away down the stretch. Scheffler? He helped CBS in a family friendly way. Not only did the Gary Cooper clone win, he also expressed his relief at surviving with a non-Cooper-like hat spike on the 18th hole, an act more Tiger than Golden Bear.

Though the way Scheffler carried around his 1-year-old son Bennett after composing himself echoed Jack Nicklaus as much as his stoic, grind-it-out third major title did.

If my supposition is right, the fairways, rough and greens at Oakmont in June will be baked and battered, more like a drought-ridden Scottish course than a suburban Pittsburgh one.

It is just another example of calendar creep – and proof of my half-baked theory.

• The regional round of the NCAA Division I softball tournament finished Sunday, with two Pac-12 legacy schools advancing to the 16-team Super Regionals.

Neither is a surprise, though who and where 16th-seeded Oregon will play is. Unseeded Liberty. In Eugene. The Flames torched top-seeded Texas A&M in College Station on Sunday to advance, the first time a No. 1 seed lost in the regional round since the NCAA went to the current format.

The Ducks move on despite Saturday’s loss to Stanford by defeating the Cardinal twice Sunday – the second with a walk-off home run – and will host this weekend.

Ninth-seeded UCLA, which has won more NCAA titles (12) than anyone, will travel to South Carolina to face the only USC that plays the sport. Yes, the University of Southern California, located in fastpitch softball’s most fertile recruiting ground of, uh, Southern California, doesn’t have a team.

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WSU: Around the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, The Athletic decided to rank the top 25 college football teams of the century. As always, the best Pac-12 team of that stretch has been overlooked. The 2004 USC team was markedly better than its 2005 counterpart – mainly because of its defense – but in 2005 the Trojans were a bad Reggie Bush decision away from topping Texas in the BCS title game. Still, that Texas team was ranked two spots above Pete Carroll’s 2004 team. … We can pass along a mailbag concerning Washington. … Despite last year’s downturn, Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham is still highly thought of by ESPN. … UCLA may institute dynamic pricing to its athletic competitions. Will that mean the Bruins will pay people to attend games in the Rose Bowl sometimes? … Utah State’s roster has morphed this offseason. …  In basketball news, the Colorado men are traveling to Australia this summer. … We mentioned the regional round of the NCAA softball tournament above, and linked stories concerning Oregon and UCLA. We have more, including results from Arizona. The Wildcats, seeded 13th and hosting, could have moved on after run-ruling Mississippi in their first game Sunday, but Ole Miss won the nightcap to advance. Nine of the 16 Super Regional participants are from the SEC, with the conference assured of having at least three of the World Series’ eight teams. …Cal was routed by second-seeded Oklahoma and eliminated. … Oregon’s men won the Big Ten outdoor track title. It is the Ducks’ eighth conference title. The USC women also won. … Colorado State won the Mountain West’s men’s title.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Northern Arizona won the conference’s outdoor track and field titles for men and women.

Preps: It’s not often we have a high school story to pass along on a Monday. Basically only during a week of State tournaments. Dave Nichols has this summary of local State seeding in baseball, softball and boys soccer.

Indians: Spokane lost again in Eugene, falling 3-1 to split the six-game series. Dave has more in this story.

Velocity: Playing a man down for much of the match at ONE Spokane Stadium, Spokane still prevailed 1-0 for its fifth consecutive win. John Allison has all the details.

Mariners: The ace of the starting staff at this moment? Well, that’s a simple question. Logan Gilbert, George Kirby and Bryce Miller are all on the injured list, though Kirby is eager to return. Luis Castillo still scuffles at times. By the process of elimination the arrow lands on Bryan Woo. Then again, even if everyone was healthy, Woo would be the guy, if he continues to pitch as he did Sunday. The righty threw seven dominating innings and the M’s finished off a three-game sweep host San Diego with a 6-1 victory. … We shared our thoughts on automated umpiring yesterday. In the spirit of covering our bases, we want to call attention to this story from The Athletic. There is a margin of error. One smaller than a fingernail but one nonetheless.   

Seahawks: The best game on the Hawks’ schedule? How about a three-game parlay featuring revenge at its core?

Sonics: There are some truths (and a lie) related to the sale of the Blazers. John Canzano examines them. We would add one more truth (at least in our eyes): Portland is basically Sacramento in the NBA scheme of things, albeit with one long-ago title.

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• No, we’re not a classically trained scientist. No rigorous discipline and peer-review pressure here. Mainly, we just have fun. Why not? What else is there to do this wet, cool June, er, May Monday? Until later …