A GRIP ON SPORTS • There were some noteworthy performances by some noted NFL stars Sunday. We didn’t notice. We were too busy trying to figure out this entire newfangled television contraption. And deciding what we were going to include in a Monday morning notebook.
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• It’s not that we aren’t TV literate. Far from it. We have more than 60 years of experience. It’s just that much of what we learned over the past six decades is obsolete. Or at least passé. Overtaken by the streaming trend. A development that seems, well, stupid.
There was a time not too long ago we paid a huge cable bill. Received a lot of networks we didn’t care about, sure, but also had access to anything we wanted – as long as we were willing to pay through the nose for it. You know, the American Way.
Then some namby-pamby Commies came up with this streaming thing. Only pay for what you want. Don’t subsidize the cable and network giants. Any channel you want, direct to your TV (not to be confused with DirecTV, the satellite service that appeared a couple decades ago).
Seemed smart. Cheap too. Young whippersnappers starting switching. Cutting their cable. Streaming blew through Cable Town like a sandstorm, adding content and scrubbing away any easy way to access everything. Including sports.
Fast forward to today. When the NFL is on 139 different networks. Same with MLB. Maybe even the NBA, though we last watched a lot of pro hoops when we liked Mike. And Seattle had a franchise. Anyhow, like everyone, we have been forced to add streaming to our TV menu. Amazon for sure. Netflix for the British Baking Show. Apple+ for the MLS, Disney+ for marvelous movies, ESPN+ for not-so-marvelous college events, Hulu for the commercials.
All of a sudden, our cable bill has gone down, a little, and the once inexpensive streamers cost more than Shohei Ohtani’s medical bills. Add it up and we’re in hock to the man for a lot more each month than we used to be. Without the ease for clicking our way back and forth between shows every night of the week.
At least the bills are easier to pay. A bundled pile of money just leaves our bank account on its own each month.
• The reason for the rant? A culmination of a month of being away from our personal big screen. And realizing yesterday the Los Angeles CBS station was broadcasting the Raiders game with the Bills instead of the Chargers against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
Does Las Vegas still own the L.A. market? And why again did the Chargers leave San Diego, where they were No. 1 with a bullet, for L.A., where they have been left for dead for years?
We gave up trying to figure it out and switched over to Disney+ so our mother-in-law could watch Toy Story 5 for the first time.
• By the way, Seattle fans are moaning and groaning about their local NFL franchise puttering along at 3-3. With the undefeated Chiefs, powered by some guy named Kenneth Walker III, coming to town Sunday night.
How about L.A. fans, no matter what color blue they prefer? The Chargers are winless. And hopeless. They have a bye this week and coach Jim Harbaugh is expected to make changes to the deck chairs, er, the coaching staff.
The team they share a stadium with, the Rams, are even worse. Considering expectations. Super Bowl expectations, with an all-in offseason to match.
Except they lost Sunday to the Arizona Cardinals. At home. Not just lost, though. Gave away a 18-16 decision with poor special teams, poor ball security and poor clock management.
Want something positive Seahawk fans? L.A. coach Sean McVay has you covered. “There’s nothing positive that I can say” was McVay’s response after his team dropped to 2-4. That is good news for Seattle, no?
• Did we mention the Rams lost to Arizona? In L.A.?
• As far as we can figure, there are five old Pac-12 schools who came into this season with a new head football coach that had never filled that role before.
Washington State (Kirby Moore), California (Tosh Lupoi), Stanford (Tavita Pritchard), Utah (Morgan Scalley) and Oregon State (JaMarcus Shephard).
Before the first kickoffs in August, which schools seemed poised to do well? All of them? None?
Scalley, the school’s longtime defensive coordinator, seemed to be in the best spot, after being anointed years ago to replace Kyle Whittingham when the legend retired – or left, as he did in the offseason. The Utes also won 11 games last season. But to be 6-0 and ranked 10th in the latest Associated Press poll? And to be doing it, in large part, with an exotic and overpowering offense?
That’s unexpected.
As is Shephard’s first season in Corvallis – 4-2 overall and 3-0 in the Pac-12. Though the Beavers’ offensive prowess as one of the best passing teams in the nation was foreseeable. Shephard is from the Mike Leach coaching tree after all.
The other three newcomers? They are a combined 7-13, with three of those wins – and WSU’s only one – coming against mid-to-low-level FCS schools.
The lack of success has led to grumbling among a couple of the alumni bases. And more-than-a-little panic in Pullman and Berkeley.
Stanford? It’s Stanford. Most of the graduates don’t even know the school had a football team.
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WSU: At least the Cougar faithful was thrown a few dollops of hope Saturday night. A new quarterback. New offensive success. Though another old loss. Greg Woods has three thoughts about the 48-30 outcome in Corvallis. … How much hope do the alums have concerning the men’s basketball season? After Sunday’s 92-64 exhibition loss at New Mexico, we didn’t hear much of any. … Back to football. An alum (sort of), Tennessee quarterback Cam Ward helped the Titans earn their first win of the season, mainly with a fourth-quarter touchdown pass. His performance leads off Colton Clark’s usual roundup of local players in the NFL. … The Cougars’ home foe Saturday, Boise State, did not play over the weekend. And yet the Broncos (5-1, 2-0) still moved up in the A.P. Poll. Two spots, to 21st. Which gives the Cougars one last chance this season to knock off a ranked foe. … Jon Wilner has his Pac-12 power rankings and his midseason (sort of) awards on the Mercury News’ site today. … The Cougars stayed at No. 120 in The Athletic’s weekly ranking of all 138 FBS schools. … CBS Sports also has a ranking. … Here is the rest of the Pac-12 schedule this week, listed chronologically. It also includes any game in which finding information to pass along was nearly impossible:
– San Diego State (3-4, 2-1) at Colorado State (2-4, 0-2), (3:30 p.m., The CW): The Aztec offense is struggling. The Ram defense would like to be described as struggling. Maybe that is why SDSU is favored by almost a field goal on the road.
– Utah State (2-4, 1-1) at Texas State (3-3, 1-1), (4:30, CBS Sports Network): We get to find out this week if the Bobcats’ offense is that good or Colorado State’s defense is that bad (we suspect the latter). The Aggies are pretty good on the defensive side of the ball.
– Oregon State (5-2, 3-0) and Fresno State (4-3, 1-2) have byes. The Beavers, atop the Pac-12 standings, are inching up the polls but have yet to be ranked.
• Elsewhere in the West and the nation, we just can’t quit Saturday just yet. Not with what went on in college football. Stewart Mandel feels the same way in The Athletic. … Washington is at the midpoint of its season. How has it gone? … Oregon remained ranked in the coaches’ poll. But not by the A.P. voters. Maybe they have as many questions as John Canzano. … Colorado seems to have a decent defense. The offense? Nope. It is just not good enough no matter who is playing quarterback. … USC is at its halfway point. It is time for semester grades. … Not sure how much it matters these days, but UCLA is bowl eligible. … Arizona State is paying its hockey coach $1.3 million to go away. … Arizona has Homecoming against Iowa State this week. The Wildcats are ranked for the occasion.
• In basketball news, the Colorado men held off North Texas in an exhibition win. … Arizona will be the team in the brightest spotlight at the Big 12 media days.
EWU: The Eagles’ home exhibition win, 71-65 over Cal State Bakersfield, on Sunday is featured in this roundup we also linked above in the WSU section. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, the Saturday football slate is not the best, what with the Eagles, seventh-ranked Northern Arizona and No. 14 Montana on byes. That leaves the best matchup probably Southern Utah at Idaho. … Weber State is at third-ranked Montana State. … Utah Tech and Cal Poly match up in SLO. … Portland State travels to struggling Idaho State. … Northern Colorado is at No. 21 UC Davis.
Preps: The State slowpitch tournaments are this weekend. Dave Nichols has this summary of the GSL schools’ seeding, revealed Sunday. … Former Mt. Spokane High pitcher Drew Rasmussen continued his postseason domination for Tampa, throwing seven innings of one-run baseball in the Rays’ 3-1 win over host Cleveland. The teams return to Florida with Tampa holding a 3-2 lead in the American League Championship Series.
Seahawks: Mike Vorel’s Times column questioning the Hawks’ offseason moves? It is on the S-R site this morning. … How have this year’s draft picks done thus far? … Sam Darnold is hit way too often. Why is that? … Is Brock Purdy the NFL’s MVP?
Mariners: Adam Jude’s story on the M’s offseason questions? It is on the S-R site as well. … We also have a managerial prediction. Not a person. A type. With a back-to-basics team about to win the title, Jerry Dipoto will hire someone who teaches such things well. You know, small ball with a less-analytical bent. Someone comfortable with a team that pitches well. A team that needs to improve its defense. A team that, basically, cannot hit.
Reign: Despite some key injuries, Seattle earned a win yesterday over the Stars and moved back into playoff position.
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• The idea of streaming? Great. The reality? Not so much. Until later …
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• Photos: The Spokesman-Review, Getty Images, Tribune News Service