A GRIP ON SPORTS • Do you keep track of your daily steps? How about setting goals? Obsess about meeting them? I’m asking because I realized I am going to walk a lot today. And that good walk will be spoiled in one way.
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• Yes, I’m playing golf on this sunny Inland Northwest Thursday. With friends and family. On a beautiful tree-lined course in the middle of golden wheat fields. The type of communal interaction with nature abundantly available in this region. An interaction the four of us will probably mar with the occasional bad word or phrase. At the top of our lungs.
I share this because, as I write, I am watching snippets of Thursday’s first round of our national golf championship. And watching the world’s best male players struggle to score. Heck, there is one anonymous person on the Oakmont Country Club course as we type – no, we’re not ratting out Justin Hicks – who is 7-over par after eight holes. OK, so I did rat him out. Sorry dude.
Anyhow, it’s not just Hicks, ranked 4,595th in the world, struggling. Only 11 players are under par as I type. One of them is Rory McIlroy, who may have become only the sixth player to ever snag all four Majors in his career at Augusta in April, he also shot 80 to miss the cut at the Canadian Open six days ago.
And admitted to an 81 in an Oakmont practice round.
Golf is tough. At any level. The level McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler play it? Certainly this week it is.
At the level you and I play it? Even more so. Which is why the company is what really matters. And the cost of golf balls at Costco.
• Got that out of the way. Now on to my main point of emphasis today. How long until the Seahawks play? Eight-seven days. Not that I’m counting. OK, so I am. Even more intently than I ever count my strokes on a golf course.
Why?
To paraphrase that notorious 11-handcapper, Will Shakespeare, who once inspired the line, “big hitter, and sandbagger, the Bard,” in one of Bill Murray’s lesser-known comedies, let me count the ways:
– The M’s are in free fall. Again. Another June spent swooning, though this slump began in May. The bullpen, other than ace closer Andrés Muñoz has an ERA north of 4.00. The vaunted young starters are either hurting or up and down. The hitting? Well, we all knew that would be a problem. And we all were right.
– The rest of Washington’s professional sports outlook is meager at best this summer. The Sounders may be playing in the inaugural Club World Cup, but, as with everything associated with the MLS and money, there is a controversy about bonus payments. Besides, Seattle is hosting and playing but, if the experts are right, won’t get close to earning much in the way of bonuses anyway. One ranking has the Sounders 27th of the 32 clubs. The Reign are in the middle of the NWSL pack. The Storm did win a big game Wednesday night, but does anyone believe they are WNBA contenders? And the Kraken have another new coach.
– Just as there seemed to be some clarity gained in college athletics with last week’s approval of the House settlement, roadblocks are thrown around like dimes. Congress now seems poised to get involved, which always adds to chaos. And the likelihood of a return to a past that kept the athletes tethered to schools while the folks who oversee them move at will. The House decision is also set to be appealed on Title IX grounds, an appeal one would think those folks decrying the transgender threat to women’s sports would back wholeheartedly.
Those realities leave us pining for the Hawks. And the next 80-some days to pass quickly. Which isn’t a bad thing. At least it may not be.
Every year one or two NFL teams rewrite Cinderella’s story, an unknown coming out of nowhere to lead the pack. Why not the Seahawks this year? After all, coming out of the offseason, the roster seems to be more to second-year coach Mike Macdonald’s liking. The offensive line, while still not a strength, has been a point of emphasis. There is a new, if not younger, group of receivers. A new quarterback coming off a career year. Most of the defense is back, bolstered by a draft pick or two and other additions.
Most unlikely NFL jumps are powered by the league’s scheduling, matching up like finishers against each other. That won’t be a plus for Seattle, as its 10-7 record wasn’t good enough for the playoffs but did put them second in the NFC West. The last-place 49ers are the rivals that gained the most in that regard.
Yet optimism seems to be the order of the day. Just like it is for me just before I hit my first golf shot of a round. Hopefully, the Hawks’ is grounded in reality.
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WSU: Yes, it’s true. Recruiting never even slows down, especially this time of year. Greg Woods has a story this morning on the Cougars’ latest 2026 football recruit, a pass rusher with a high upside. … Better sign up for the SEC Network. You’ll need it early on Saturday morning, Oct. 11th. That’s when the Cougars will visit Mississippi and the game will start at 9:45 our time. Greg has that story as well, which includes all the starting times that have been set. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, the NCAA track and field championships began in Eugene yesterday. We pass along stories we found from Oregon, Colorado, Colorado State, Utah and Utah State. … Jon Wilner wonders in the Mercury News if the new House-invoked rules are perfect for the Big Ten to continue its recent football domination. His assessment? Yes they are. … In news from Washington, our friend (and once a golf partner) Christian Caple sat down for an exit interview with outgoing UW president Ana Mari Cauce. … Oregon State’s athletic director Scott Barnes assessed the future of Beaver athletics yesterday. He doesn’t see any sports or scholarships cut. … Arizona State sees the new rules as helping them keep local football players in the area. … Colorado’s Deion Sanders thanked everyone for their support as he suffered a recent health scare. … Colorado State just keeps adding to its roster. … In basketball news, there is another rule change coming to NCAA games. NBA-like continuation. Interesting. … Arizona State’s Jeff Ayres will enter the school’s Hall of Fame. … San Diego State’s successful outside NIL program will live on, even as the Aztecs announce an in-house program. … In baseball news, Oregon State is ready for its World Series path thanks, in part, to the help of a mental health coach. … Arizona relies on these 10 players a lot.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, a Montana State men’s basketball player developed his shooting touch throughout his four-year career in Bozeman. … At the NCAA track meet yesterday, Northern Colorado’s athletes didn’t fare as well as they hoped.
Preps: The WIAA threw the rule book at Seattle’s Roosevelt High and its football coach, former Seahawk Sam Adams, for recruiting violations. It hit hard.
Indians: The Northwest League’s first half is winding down and each day, and each loss, means Spokane is less likely to earn the title and the playoff berth that comes with it. The Indians tried to rally Wednesday, came up short against host Vancouver by an 8-4 score and fell two games behind the Canadians and Everett in the standings. Worse, Spokane is in fifth place with seven games left. Dave Nichols has all that and more in this game story.
Velocity: A draw at one with the second-place Charlotte Independence was good enough for Spokane to stay atop the USL table. John Allison has the coverage.
Zephyr: John also has a story on the All-Super League honors handed out yesterday. Spokane had two first-team picks (Emina Ekic and Hope Hisey) and a second (Sarah Clark).
Seahawks: Dave Boling was at the first day of the two-day minicamp (it finishes today). He focused on new quarterback Sam Darnold. And Dave’s column points out Darnold’s focus was on the running game. As it more than likely will be in the regular season. … There are other stories we can pass along from the workouts as well. … It’s that time in their career in which one has to wonder if tackles Charles Cross and Abe Lucas, who both played in college at one point for Mike Leach, will sign extensions.
Kraken: Florida is like that younger brother who has a way of pecking away at you enough to get under your skin. Even if your focus is to not let him bother you.
Mariners: There is a lot of speculation nationally the M’s will reunite with Eugenio Suárez before the trade deadline passes at the end of July. Too late. Mr. Good Vibes harshed the M’s mellow even more Wednesday, afternoon, hitting his third grand slam of the season to power Arizona over Seattle and Bryan Woo 5-2.
Storm:Seattle surprised Minnesota on Wednesday night and handed the Lynx their first loss.
Reign: One of Seattle’s players, Jordyn Huitema, went through a harrowing home invasion recently.
Sonics: When seven-game series are tied at one-game, game three has an oversized role in the outcome. Which makes Indiana’s 116-107 come-from-behind-again home win even more important. The focus in these parts has been on the two Zags starting in the series, Indiana’s Andrew Nembhard and OKC’s Chet Holmgren. But the key for the Pacers last night was a pair of former Arizona Wildcats, Bennedict Mathurin and T.J. McConnell, who come off the bench.
Golf: Yes, the game is hard. But Scheffler makes it look easy these days. So does DeChambeau.
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• As I finish up my column today, it’s time (about 8:30 a.m.) to check the U.S. Open leaderboard again. No one is more than 4-under. And Hicks is 11-over. Rory? He’s still in red numbers but barely. All that will change, of course. Until later …