A Grip on Sports: The search for answers is always elusive unless you can remember there is one reason behind every decision

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There are day when I wake up with a lot more questions than answers. At least satisfying answers. Today is one of them.

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• What’s in a name?

If Will Shakespeare were alive today and working at a marketing company – hey, marketing guru pays a lot better than playwright these days – then he would be asking a bit different question.

What’s in a logo?

We know the answer to that, at least in the case of the Pac-12, thanks to the good folks at the Lincoln Design Co., the firm that put together the conference’s newest emblem.

This logo, like another marketing guru once said, is the new boss, though same as the old boss. Not the same, though. But darn close.

There are subtle differences within the more-than-a-century-old conference’s newest badge. And the folks who put them there explain each one on the Pac-12’s website.

Or you can just examine the accompanying handy-dandy graphic the company put together.

One might say the conference doth explain too much but, hey, the day started with a search for answers. Who can complain if they are easy to find?

• Why in the land of 10,000 lakes did Minnesota build a new baseball stadium without at least a retractable roof? The answer, as it is with all things, money.

No one associated with the project back in the early 21st Century, wanted to come up with the extra $100 million or so it would have taken to add one to Target Field.

So everyone who has to sit in the stands this time of year has to deal with an incessant shower, which not only destroys the experience, but at times makes the infield look a bit like lake 10,001.

It’s not the reason the M’s lost 11-4 Monday night. Most of that blame can be laid at Luis Castillo’s mud-covered cleats. But it certainly didn’t make the loss any easier to absorb.

By the way, I did the math. With 30 million customers every week, if Target had charged each customer who passed through the doors of its 2,000 stores a penny each time, the roof would have been paid off long before Castillo had thrown a couple of gopher balls as part of a seven-run stint.

• The NCAA is moving forward with a new eligibility rule. One that includes a clock that starts at age 19 or graduate from high school, whichever comes first. One that grants everyone five seasons in five years. No redshirts. No injury givebacks. No 25-year-olds competing with 18-year-olds. Except those who take a religious mission or enter the armed services.

Or can find a judge who doesn’t believe it follows existing labor law.

That’s the real problem, isn’t it? Every time the NCAA, or any other entity colleges want to designate to oversee player compensation rules, makes a rule it has to pass legal muster. Has to follow established laws governing employee relations. And few of them seem to.

Will this one?

Of all the questions pondered today, this is the only one for which no one seems to know the answer. So, let’s invoke the cardinal rule in these situations. Money. Who has it? Who wants it? Who deserves it? Who will get it? And then ask one more question.

How the gosh darn living heck did we ever get here?

• Will Jadarian Price step right in and be the Seahawks’ starting running back when the season begins Sept. 9 at Lumen Field?

Mike Macdonald didn’t say yes. Nor did he say no when asked about after the team made Notre Dame’s backup its first pick in the NFL Draft. Noncommittal is the way to go, sure, but will anyone be surprised if Price takes Sam Darnold’s first handoff in that game?

Anyone?

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WSU: There was a not-really-serious question whether the Cougars’ men would field a basketball team this fall after the mass defections following last season. Of course they would. David Riley and his staff have rebuilt the roster, adding their ninth player Monday. Greg Woods has this story on the addition of Oregon transfer Jamari Phillips. … That addition is why we placed the link to Theo Lawson’s Pac-12 transfer tracker here. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner’s column in the S-R today focuses on possible CFP expansion and how commissioner Teresa Gould views it. The main goal for the Pac-12? Access. … In the Mercury News, Wilner looks a next year’s NFL Draft and the 10 best prospects on the West Coast. … John Canzano has a mailbag from Monday addressing a variety of questions. … Is Washington still recruiting? The answer to that question is, of course, yes. It never stops. … Selling the program never stops these days too. Oregon will do it in Japan soon, with a 7-on-7 tour. … Colorado hopes to do a better job stopping the run. … Utah’s new director of sports performance has left the position after less than a month. … Arizona State has been unable to answer the question who will start at quarterback. The competition will continue in preseason camp. … Arizona has tried to answer its depth question on the defensive line. … Bobby Wagner’s Utah State number – he wore No. 9 – will be retired this fall. Or next fall. Whenever he can be in attendance. … In basketball news, Colorado’s men added another player. … USC didn’t have to add someone to replace Alijah Arenas. The star guard is sticking around another year. … A couple of key Arizona players did not put their name in the NBA draft process and will return. … San Diego State added a 23-year-old from Croatia to the roster. … UCLA’s women seem to have added some of the better fitting transfers already.

Gonzaga: Two of the more-important pieces of Mark Few’s recruiting class, transfer Isiah Harwell and European guard Jack Kayil, have entered their name in the NBA draft process. That news is contained in this Theo Lawson story, which also looks at the chances they will either stay in or head to Spokane. The latter seems the more likely answer.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, one of the more in-depth stories we’ve seen in a while is on the Bozeman Chronicle website today. It covers the legacy of Spokane’s Dodds brothers and how they helped elevate the Montana State football program some 50 years ago.

Preps: We do have the answer to one question. Is there a roundup in the S-R this morning? Yes.

Seahawks: Where do all the rookies fit in to the Hawks’ summer and fall plans? … And where does Seattle land in the post-draft NFL power rankings?

Mariners: When Bryce Miller returns from his injury rehab – when that will be we have no idea – the M’s will have a decision to make. Emerson Hancock has thrown well. Castillo has not. One will have to drop from the rotation. Could the answer be Castillo actually has some sort of injury that needs rest? Maybe. … Cal Raleigh is hitting better. The M’s are winning more often. Correlation? Yes. … Josh Naylor was back in the lineup after a day off.

Sounders: It took Danny Musovski a while to learn to calm himself.

Sonics: Will the NBA answer all your Sonic expansion questions this summer? Probably not.

Golf: Remember when the guy in charge of LIV said the season was barreling ahead with no interruption? Me too. CEO Scott O’Neil wasn’t being honest. Yep, we’re shocked too. The event planned for New Orleans in June will be postponed. Yes, it’s possible to read that as cancelled. The entire tour may suffer the latter fate soon.

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• Yes, no, maybe, money. That’s every answer you will ever need. Or maybe I need to add one more. Go ask your mother. That works too. Until later …