A Grip on Sports: Even in this day and age, sports can still build a few things, including a community that survives the years

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There are many ancillary benefits to sports. Living a longer, healthier life. Exercising your emotions. Financial ones, though for the majority of us that’s more of a drain than a livelihood. The biggest bennies? Community. Relationships. Friendship. Sports builds them. And they can last a lifetime.

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• A couple of reminders hit me right in the eye this morning as I was perusing the Web for stories to pass along. Back-to-back jabs, actually. From out of nowhere.

For context, let me take you into my garage for a moment. My workbench, something I built by hand almost four decades ago. A little corner of it. Sitting in that dust-collection area is a plastic cup. From the 1994 NCAA Women’s West Regional at the Oregon Golf Club in Portland. It is autographed in green ink. Shannon Hare.

If that name is unfamiliar to you, you’re probably not alone. Unless you had some connection to Oregon’s women’s golf program in the 1990s and 2000s, you probably wouldn’t recognize it. But Shannon was part of our family’s community.

Shannon was Kim’s younger across-the-street neighbor. My wife babysat her. My father-in-law Fred Folta taught her how to play golf. And Shannon was in our wedding, leading Kim and Fred down the aisle, throwing flower petals like I used to hit drives OB. Ya, that many.

Honestly, when my memory walks me back to that day at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Covina, the picture that pops in my brain is dominated by Kim and Fred making the walk – and Shannon, whose head appears just in frame at the bottom of the memory.

The cup? Shannon signed it for our boys. See, Kim, Tyler, Jack and I traveled to Portland that year to join Fred and Kay and watch Shannon help the Ducks qualify for the NCAA championship. She not only signed a cup, she encouraged them to take up the game she loved. Later, she gave Fred an Oregon golf bag. At some point he gave it to Tyler. It is the only piece of Oregon paraphernalia inside our home, still filled with Fred’s old golf clubs.

Before he died, Fred did Shannon one more favor. In June of 1999, he and Kay traveled to Mississippi. To the Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point. Shannon had qualified for the U.S. Open. And she asked Fred to be her caddie.

Even in his late 60s, how could he say no?

The opening round was exactly 27 years ago. He carried her bag around the 6,433-yard course in the heat and humidity. Did what caddies do. Looking back at the scores – Shannon shot an 80 on the opening round and 78 on the second, missing the cut by, well, a lot – I’m sure he spent most of his time keeping her spirits up. Just like he did when she was just learning the game.

Sports. Community. There’s nothing like it.

So why share this story? Because of one that I am linking here. From Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times. The headline: “How Shannon Rouillard is transforming Riviera into a tougher U.S. Women’s Open test”.

After Shannon was unjustly fired as Oregon’s head coach in 2008, her and her husband Tim Rouillard left Eugene and moved to New Jersey. She went to work for the USGA. She rose through the ranks. After two decades or so, she is the director for the U.S. Women’s Open. This week’s Women’s Open in the metropolitan area where she learned how to play the game so many years ago is her responsibility. And, like she did with those flowers, she has thrown all of herself into doing the best possible job.

I do know one thing for sure. Fred would be happy about it. He always took pride in helping Shannon learn a game he played until his death from a brain tumor a few years after shepherding Shannon around the U.S. Open. And now she is running the event.

Sports. Community. Relationships. There’s nothing like it.

• I said there were two stories that jabbed me today, didn’t I? The other also takes us back to the 1970s. Even earlier, actually. Just as Kim and I began dating, starting a journey that is still rolling down the road today.

We were athletes at UC Irvine. In 1975 I lived in a dorm on campus, sharing a suite with David Bernstein, a member of UCI’s cross country team. Our suite was, at times, the hangout for Steve Scott, who would become America’s premier miler, John Koningh, Ed Ahlmeyer and Ralph Serna. Members of the NCAA Division II Cross Country championship team. The next year the group was joined by Eric Hulst, another So Cal kid.

The high school rivalry of Hulst and Serna is the story subject that took me back in time this morning. And, in a confluence of unrelated events, it contains a mention of a famous Spokane athlete.

But back to the UC Irvine cross country team and the memories. The team was made up of a group of guys who loved to run. Loved to compete. And loved each other.

How can you tell? Check out the results from the 1976 NCAA meet. Check out where Serna, Hulst and Scott finished. Check their time. Yes, time. They decided to finish together, so all would win.

The NCAA wasn’t having that. The organizers of the meet picked an order and listed them. After all, I’m guessing, they only paid for one first-place medal.

No matter. When the team returned to campus after winning its second consecutive title, the party was epic.

Sports. Community. Relationships. Friendship. There’s nothing like it.

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WSU: We have proof from Pullman that football recruiting never stops. In the form of this story from Greg Woods. Yep, the Cougars added another player to their 2027 class. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, there is a growing rift in college football. And it is going to be hard to mend. … Washington is still recruiting. … So is Utah. … And Arizona. … Big 12 coaches expect Arizona State to be good again. … Colorado State is happy not to have any late home games in the fall. … In baseball news, the Super Regionals I’m interested in watching? Oregon at Texas. USC at North Carolina. And Cal Poly at West Virginia. Yep, the West Coast hits the road. … Oregon State has already lost two left-handed relievers to the portal. … Arizona needs to rebuild. … In basketball news, Colorado has filled its staff opening already. … There is more chatter about Arizona and Arkansas meeting in Phoenix next season.

Gonzaga: Around the WCC, Saint Mary’s president Roger Thompson told John Canzano the Gaels want to add a football program. Women’s flag football, to be precise.

EWU and Idaho: The Eagles’ reps at the Big Sky’s Football Kickoff Weekend in late July have been announced. … So have the Vandals’.

Indians: It’s been a tough year for Spokane. A tough one that continued Tuesday night back at Avista Stadium. Against Hillsboro. As Dave Nichols tells us, the Indians squandered a five-run lead and lost 7-6.

Mariners: Watched the M’s game last night. Most of it anyway. After Jhonny Pereda’s three-run home run gave Seattle an insurmountable lead, I went to bed. The Mets weren’t coming back. They did not. The 8-3 victory was the Mariners’ eighth consecutive one and kept them 2½ games ahead of Texas, which won its fifth straight. … Cal Raleigh has been out. His rival last season for the MVP award may also be out for a while. Aaron Judge did not play yesterday. … Neither did Josh Naylor but the M’s don’t expect him out long.

Seahawks: John Schneider made a decision. He is betting the better long-term edge rusher is Derick Hall. He signed Hall to a three-year extension yesterday, just weeks after letting Boye Mafa leave in free agency. … Do the Hawks really have some sort of magic formula the Vikings can replicate? … Russell Wilson needs to work if he wants to be a good analyst. … The rumors are out there. Aaron Donald might come out of retirement and return to the Rams. How could that impact their salary cap? It would only make sense his old bloated contract has to be in force or there is a huge loophole in the NFL cap’s system.

NBA: The Finals begin tonight. The Spurs are favored. The Knicks are America’s, no, that’s not right. They are America’s biggest city’s favorite. Pretty sure everyone else is rooting for San Antonio. If they are watching at all.

World Cup: The tournament begins in just a few days. Between now and then, the Egyptian team will be working out at Gonzaga. And will hold an open practice. Mitchell Roland has this story that explains how fans can win a ticket to the workout. … Egypt’s biggest star? Mohamed Salah. Allan Buluku has this story on him in the S-R today.

NHL: Carolina scored first. Las Vegas scored last. The latter was what was important last night in Raleigh, N.C. The Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup Finals opener 5-4. And seized control of the series.

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• This week seems pretty packed. Packed with memories for me. I’ll share some more tomorrow I believe. And some news. Until later …