A Grip on Sports: Though we would rather not have the option, we can turn our gaze toward other subjects besides baseball

A GRIP ON SPORTS • One of the rules one learns in Column Writing 101 is to focus on the big stuff. The past couple weeks the spotlight has been aimed on the Mariners’ run to within sniffing distance of the World Series. But their magical stretch, and my focus on same, means other items have been neglected. Some of which have a sweet aroma, others stinking to high heaven.

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• With the Series about to start without a Seattle team once again, let’s turn our attention elsewhere, shall we?

How about toward a courtroom in Spokane? Where the NCAA will be sending an attorney or two to defend the organization’s dart-at-a-dart-board decision in the eligibility case of Gonzaga transfer Tyon Grant-Foster.

On the surface, Grant-Foster’s request seems a little out of whack. After all, Grant-Foster, who has played at Grand Canyon University the last couple seasons, is asking the organization to grant him a seventh season to finish his college career.

Yep. Seven. Or maybe eight.

Grant-Foster graduated high school in Kansas City in 2018. Back when “This Is Us” was still on television. The wing played two seasons at Indian Hills CC. Transferred to Kansas. Played sparingly and moved on. To DePaul. Where he dealt with a heart issue, collapsing at halftime of the Blue Demons’ home opener. He had to be revived. His basketball career? That was put on hold. It wasn’t resuscitated until 2023, when he surfaced at Grand Canyon.

And though many of us are trying to forget it, the pandemic occurred in the middle of all that, a world-changer that forced the NCAA to grant every basketball player another season of eligibility.

Meanwhile, college athletics was roiled by court-mandated changes in the financial realm and transfer field. Those two alone have transformed the landscape like nothing ever. Some courts have even ruled the NCAA’s insistence years spent at junior colleges or non-NCAA schools count toward its eligibility rules is an anti-trust violation under Supreme Court rulings.

And yet the organization still seems hell-bent on limiting athlete’s financial opportunities with illegal rules capriciously enforced. or something like that.

Which is why it also seems Grant-Foster has a case. A stronger case than some, like Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who is only playing this season because courts are still considering whether or not JC seasons should count against eligibility.

Will Grant-Foster, who also has the injury aspect thrown in, be allowed to play this season for the Zags?

Despite rulings in the Pavia case and elsewhere, the NCAA’s authority in eligibility matter has been uphold in other courtrooms. A Grant-Foster win is not, forgive me, a slam dunk. But it’s certainly a high-percentage shot.

The process kicks in Thursday, when his attorneys present his case in front of a Spokane judge. They will need a quick answer, with the season starting in early November. Or at least a preliminary injunction, clearing the way for Grant-Foster to play until a final decision.

The chances Grant-Foster is part of Mark Few’s squad when it begins the nonconference gantlet? Put it at 75%. Maybe 80%.

• The Bengals Ja’Marr Chase is a special receiver. Same for the Rams Puka Nacua, who came out of nowhere it seems to star in the NFL. Dallas’ George Pickens has been good for a while, as has the Lions’ Amon-Ra. St. Brown.

But none of them lead the league in receiving yards.

Atop the list this morning? That would be Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Who just happens to play for the Seattle Seahawks. And his 819 yards are 190 more than Chase, who is second.

Who knew? Well, apparently John Schneider. After all, the guy in charge of the Hawks’ personnel decisions decided in the offseason the team no longer required the services of D.K. Metcalf or Tyler Lockett, the duo that has powered the pass offense the past few years. It was Smith-Njigba’s time.

It certainly is. He is the centerpiece of Klint Kubiak’s restructured attack that was supposed to be built around a stouter rushing attack. Instead it’s powered by a 6-foot, 197-pound second-year slot receiver that seems to have a cosmic connection with new quarterback Sam Darnold.

And is making Seahawk fans grasping for comparisons. Steve Largent? Doug Baldwin? A younger Lockett? Nope. He’s all of them and none. He’s himself. And that’s enough.

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WSU: One reason we are sure Jimmy Rogers will succeed at Washington State is coaches who win at an overwhelming rate, at whatever level they are at, seem to continue to win as they move up the ladder. Call it the Kalen DeBoer Theorem. Rogers won just about every game he coached at South Dakota State. Twenty-seven of 30. That’s overwhelming all right. The situation in Pullman is different, of course. Different than any situation anywhere ever. And the Cougars are starting to show his stamp. But there have been losses. More losses, Greg Woods tells us, than Rogers has experienced in years. And that has been hard on the Cougs’ first-year coach. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner has his weekly bowl projections, with Washington State front and center. … Speaking of the Cougars, determining their place in the football pecking order this year is difficult. … USC is owning the Notre Dame loss.

• Here are the rest of the (current, old and future) Pac-12 games this week, listed chronologically. All are on Saturday unless noted. The schedule below also includes any game in which finding news turned out to be nearly impossible.

– California at Virginia Tech (Friday, 4:30 p.m., ESPN): The Hokies are in the market for a new coach.

– Boise State at Nevada (Friday, 7, CBS Sports): If you need a punter these days, it’s a pretty good idea to look toward Australia. The Broncos did.

– UCLA at Indiana (9 a.m., Fox): The hot streak continues for the Bruins. They are even winning in the legal arena.

– Utah State at New Mexico (noon, Mountain West Network): Bronco Mendenhall returns to the place he left after last season.

– No. 23 Illinois at Washington (12:30 p.m., Big Ten): The Huskies need Demond Williams Jr. to bounce back this week.

– San Diego State at Fresno State (12:30, FS1): Despite the 6-1 start, the Aztecs still have enough sense to take a trip into the Central Valley seriously.

– Wisconsin at No. 6 Oregon (4, FS1): The Badgers’ Luke Fickel seems to be the poster boy for coaching hot seats this season. But a win over the Ducks would change all that. … Kenyon Sadiq is showing he belongs in the conversation about UO’s all-time tight ends.

– Stanford at No. 9 Miami (4, ESPN): Who will be playing quarterback for the Cardinal is undetermined, after usual starter Ben Gulbranson suffered an injury in the Florida State win.

– Colorado State at Wyoming (4:30, CBS Sports): The question for the Rams is simple. Will they get a bump after making a coaching change?

– Houston at No. 24 Arizona State (5, ESPN2): Sometimes this season it has seemed Sun Devil quarterback Sam Leavitt is a magician. … Can he conjure $50,000 out of thin air to pay the field-storming fine?

– Colorado at Utah (7:15, ESPN): The Buffs are back from their bye, healthy and locked in. … Kyle Whittingham is still defending his decision-making process from last week.

• In basketball news, the Arizona State and Arizona women were at the Big 12 media days yesterday. … The exhibition game against was a success in many ways for the San Diego State men. … The Big 12 is OK with the NCAA tourney expanding. … Recruiting never stops for the Washington men.

Gonzaga: We linked Theo Lawson’s story on Grant-Foster above (along with a few other related stories). We link Theo’s in-depth story again here. … Theo was busy yesterday. Besides turning into a court reporter, he also donned the hat of an NBA beat writer, delving into Ryan Nembhard’s match with the Dallas Mavericks. … The only truly usual story Theo has today? Graham Ike yesterday earned third-team preseason All-America honors from CBS Sports. … Wait, he has one more story. A long one. It has to be. The number of GU and Washington State alums playing in the NBA this season is also long.

EWU: In lieu of his Big Sky notebook this week (or maybe it is his Big Sky notebook), Dan Thompson delves into how many more wins each conference school needs to make the FCS playoffs. The one certainty, considering their schedule? Montana’s Grizzlies will be in the postseason. … Elsewhere in the (current and future) Big Sky, recruiting never stops for Montana State. … The Griz have a couple players with interesting backstories. … Trash talk from Sacramento State’s president? And then a dismissive, at best, response from Montana coach Bobby Hauck? Pass the popcorn. This Saturday’s game could be on fire. … UC Davis takes its high ranking to Northern Colorado this week.

Preps: We pass along Cheryl Nichols’ roundup of Tuesday’s action.

Chiefs: Spokane’s long road trip through the Canadian heartland is over. It finished last night in Edmonton. And it ended on a victory, 3-2 over the Oil Kings. Dave Nichols touches on the win and the trip in this story.

Velocity: Speaking of road trips, Spokane was in Portland, Maine yesterday, though its defense seemed to be back at home. The Hearts of Pine did something no one else has done, scoring a half-dozen goals in a 6-1 victory over the Velocity.

Mariners: We start with a link to the best column you will ever read. It is from sports editor Ralph Walter, which explains my enthusiasm. He wants everyone to know he’s on the Mariner bandwagon for good these days. We are contractually obligated – no, not really – to praise his decision. But, honestly, the guy roots for the Dallas Cowboys. And allows us to write this feature every day. Such decision making seems out of whack with the inspired one to join the Mariners’ faithful. And makes us wonder if his jumping on board had anything to do with the outcome of the last two games in Toronto. … Speaking of the final one, will its pain fuel more success next season? A better question might be, will it fuel a loosening of the purse strings among ownership? … The pain of losing is also the subject of John Canzano’s column today, though it is aimed toward M’s fans. … Jim Moore is one of those. He has his thoughts on whether the team will every succeed. And at what level. … The Oregonian’s Bill Oram thought back to his dad as the M’s made their run.

Seahawks: We linked this Smith-Njigba story above. And here too. … Other stories about the receiver showed up as well. … The defense will receive reinforcements after the bye week. … Grey Zabel will stand up for his quarterback. … Someone put Russell Wilson and Sean Payton in a reality TV show. The ratings would kill.

Sounders: Pedro de la Vega’s injury will keep him off the pitch for at least six months.  

Kraken: The road trip has included some extra baggage. A steamer-trunk full of injuries. The short-handed squad lost 4-1 at Washington.

Bloomsday: Nina Culver’s latest story on a Bloomsday perennial focuses on Don Franklin, one of the finishers of all 49 races who doesn’t have every T-shirt in his possession.  

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• It’s nice to have time to talk about other sports, sure. But I’m sure all of you will join me in wishing that wasn’t the case. It would better if the discussion was about the Mariners, the Dodgers and their upcoming meeting in the World Series. Alas, it is not to be. This season. Until later …