A Grip on Sports: If you are counting on the NFL games to save your sports viewing weekend, you might want to come up with a new plan
A GRIP ON SPORTS • The weekend ahead holds promise. The promise of an epic World Series. Or not. Of a good if not great college football Saturday. And it holds the promise of yard work or movie or even a watch-it-rain type of Sunday. With the Seahawks on a bye week, it might be the worst NFL day of the year.
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• Yes, occasionally I am prone to exaggeration. For effect only, sure, but today that’s not the case. The four NFL games listed on the weekend TV schedule have me wondering what the guys in New York were thinking when they threw it together.
“Everyone needs a break in late October. Let’s just put all our boring games on the 26th. Everyone good with that?”
“Sir, sorry to bring this up, but how are we going to justify it?”
“Let’s see. Chicago is going to be the breakout team of the season. We’ll put them at Baltimore. With Lamar. The Ravens are always good and that defense. Wow. We can sell that.”
“Maybe. But is that enough?”
“OK, OK. I see your point. Denver and Dallas. A Super Bowl rematch, right? There has to be fans who will remember that far back? Stop looking at me like that. We also have Green Bay slated to play at Pittsburgh. There are rumors Aaron Rogers is signing with the Steelers. That’s a perfect hook.”
“I know. If he does sign with Pittsburgh, that’s a great game for NBC. But what is there for Fox and CBS? Sure, San Francisco will probably be 7-0 by then. Houston … well, it won’t be.”
“That’s enough Peterson. Go fetch us some coffee. And while you’re at it, you might want to make sure your resume is up to date.”
Anyhow, the NFL schedule during the day, in Spokane at least, is awful.
No matter how good Friday is – and the World Series’ first game (5 p.m., Fox) is always fun even if it may end in four or five – or how many ranked matchups there are Saturday – there are just three, all in the SEC – the NFL on Sunday is the key to a fall weekend’s ability to entertain us.
And this one is not good at all. But there is a silver lining. If you don’t have your Halloween decorations up for next week, there may be time available Sunday. Between rain showers.
• And the Red Zone. There is always the Red Zone. Commercials or not.
If there is one positive with fantasy football, it’s the impetus it gave to Scott Hanson’s weekly vehicle. Those of us who don’t believe in fantasy? Well, don’t believe in football fantasy? It’s still the perfect vehicle for following the day’s games.
• Speaking of boardroom conversations, and I was, how is it Thursday turned out to be the preferred media day for so many western college basketball conferences?
The WCC. The Big Sky. The Mountain West. Heck, the Big 12 and its four former Pac-12 schools.
Spreading them out would have seemed smarter.
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WSU: If the Cougars want to make life easy on themselves this week, when Toledo visits (12:30 p.m., The CW), all the defense has to do is, you know, grab an errant pass or two. Something it hasn’t yet done this season. Yep, they have played seven games, won three of them, and the defense still hasn’t picked off an opponent’s pass. Greg Woods has a look at this weird circumstance. … Greg also has a story on a junior college offensive tackle telling everyone he will sign with Washington State. … Did we mention the WCC held its media day yesterday in Las Vegas? We link the S-R’s coverage below in the Gonzaga section. Spoiler alert: The WSU men were slotted sixth by the coaches, the women third. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, the standards for success in college football needs to change. … Jon Wilner has his weekly picks. He has not been all that successful this season. … Wilner also reports the Big Ten has put its idea of outside money (and ownership) on the back burner. … Finally, he tells us the rest of the BYU season will test the Cougars, starting this week. … Can Arizona still make a bowl game?
• 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 (tonight, 4:30 p.m., ESPN): Here’s what you need to know if you are actually going to watch this football game instead of the Series.
– Boise State at Nevada (tonight, 7, CBS Sports): The Broncos are better. They have to keep winning in a series that might end after tonight.
– UCLA at Indiana (9 a.m., Fox): If the Bruins win again, it may be the stunner of the season.
– Utah State at New Mexico (noon, Mountain West Network): The Lobos could be thin on the offensive line.
– No. 23 Illinois at Washington (12:30 p.m., Big Ten): The Huskies’ tight ends had their meetings in the training rooms this week. Just about everyone with experience is injured.
– San Diego State at Fresno State (12:30, FS1): There is more to life than football. Imagine that. But there are lessons learned playing.
– Wisconsin at No. 6 Oregon (4, FS1): One thing Dan Lanning’s teams do? They beat the pants off teams they are better than. And the Ducks are much better than the Badgers.
– Stanford at No. 9 Miami (4, ESPN): Speaking of better, Miami is.
– Colorado State at Wyoming (4:30, CBS Sports): How do others see the Rams’ head-coaching vacancy? … The Cowboys just want to win the Border War rivalry game.
– Houston at No. 24 Arizona State (5, ESPN2): There is a connection between these schools. The Sun Devils will try to use it to earn another must-win.
– Colorado at Utah (7:15, ESPN): Again, if you are watching this game between Big 12 mid-level teams – aren’t they all? – then you are not a baseball fan.
• In basketball news, the Colorado women have a player who seems ready to show just how good she can be. … Arizona lost its exhibition game last night. At home. To West Texas A&M. … The Colorado men want to improve their offensive rebound. … Arizona actually was not in the spotlight all that much at the Big 12 media day. … San Diego State seems to be the class of the Mountain West again. … Or maybe it is Utah State. …Colorado State is facing Creighton in an exhibition.
Gonzaga: Theo Lawson and Greg Lee were in Las Vegas on Thursday, talking with coaches and players prior to this season’s tipoff. We start with Theo, who has a men’s poll story. The WCC coaches picked Gonzaga to return to the top of the conference this season after a two-year absence. … Theo also has a notebook, which notes Tyon Grant-Foster’s eligibility hearing in Spokane was postponed after a late NCAA filing asking for a move to Federal court. … Greg’s coverage begins with Oregon State atop the women’s coaches’ poll, though the Beavers have lost their top returning scorer to injury. The Bulldogs, who lost a lot to graduation as did many schools, were second. … Greg also has a notebook. … Elsewhere in the WCC, we can pass along a story on the favored OSU women.
EWU: The Eagles are playing better recently. But one accomplishment that is still elusive? They have yet to win on the road. Dan Thompson tells us they will try to remedy that Saturday at Weber State. … Dan also has coverage of the Big Sky’s release of preseason all-conference basketball teams. Eastern and Idaho each had one selection on the men’s and women’s teams. … Elsewhere in the (current and future) Big Sky, at least I know why the Sacramento State president started a war of words this week. The Hornets’ game with Montana is on ESPN2 tonight. Build the audience 101 starts with such things. … A Montana State player has a high ceiling. … Northern Colorado has the right guy making the decisions. … It is homecoming weekend at Idaho State. Northern Arizona is in town. … We can pass along basketball stories from Montana, Montana State and Portland State.
Idaho: It’s been tough sledding for the Vandals in Big Sky play. First-year coach Thomas Ford Jr. is still looking for his first conference win after three games. We’re confident Portland State coach Bruce Barnum, whose Vikings visit Moscow on Saturday, understands. PSU is 0-7 and only one or two games have been close. Peter Harriman has this preview.
Preps: Dave Nichols has a preview of this weekend’s football games, highlighted by Gonzaga Prep putting its undefeated record on the line at home vs. Mead. The game holds special interest for me, as the Panthers’ starting quarterback this week is one of my former basketball players. Not sure how it happened three hoops players from the same youth team turned out to be GSL starting quarterbacks. … Dave also has a preview of this weekend’s State slowpitch softball tournaments. The Ferris Saxons will play in the 4A tournament for the first time since 2017. Mt. Spokane and University, among the 3A/2A favorites, are on opposite sides of that bracket. … Cheryl Nichols has a roundup of all of Thursday’s action.
Indians: Howie Stalwick returns to the S-R pages with a World Series story. Of course, it also involves the Spokane Indians and their former players who had an impact on the Fall Classic over the years.
Mariners: Jerry Dipoto had his say yesterday. Did he say enough? Not for me. It’s not just the decisions in the final game of the ALCS that hit me. It was decisions all season. Wouldn’t it be nice if Dan Wilson had a bench coach with lots of successful managerial experience? With an emphasis on successful. … Winning the A.L. West is something to be proud of, especially considering how long it has been. But satisfying? Not really. … Three Seattle players are finalists for Silver Sluggers. It is awards season already. … The World Series is a matchup of rich teams who spend a lot. It also may be cited as a reason why there is a lockout coming. The owners try to get the players to agree to a salary cap.
Seahawks: Is there a chance Seattle trades for help in the running game?
Sounders: A Seattle player is up for an end-of-season award.
Sonics: Had to put the rest of the coverage of the NBA gambling scandal somewhere. Just to pass along John Canzano’s column. The Blazer fans deserved better. … So does everyone. Not just gamblers who may have lost their shirt. … There are some weird allegations in the indictments.
Kraken: In a game Berkly Catton was in the lineup, Seattle rolled to a 3-0 victory over host Winnipeg. Coincidence? Chiefs fans can be forgiven for hoping that is so. They probably would like to see him back this season.
MMA: If Michael Cyr wins his bout Saturday in Phoenix, the Spokane-based fighter will earn a UFC contract. Charlotte McKinley has that and more in this story.
Motorsports: Doug Pace tells us Mica native Joe Kopp has earned a spot in the American Motorcycle Association’s Hall of Fame.
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• Hope no one made plans for outside adventures Saturday. The weatherman swears there will be rain in the afternoon. And it’s going to be chilly. Pack accordingly. Until later …