A GRIP ON SPORTS • What’s your plan for the weekend, besides trying to stay cool? We have a couple suggestions.

•••••••

• Thank goodness for Texas. The state that has been its own country – hey, it happened; you can look it up – is a country of its own still when it comes to football. At least Saturday.

Of the six college football games set to be televised in some manner tomorrow, half of them will originate in Texas. Texas State, North Texas and UTEP all will host games. In fact, if you want, you can watch college football from 10 in the morning until about 10 at night, with most of it occurring in Texas.

What a country (or state).

But that’s not all you can watch. (By the way, only in 2020 would watching college football on Labor Day weekend seem out of place at all. Most years it’s the best thing about the weekend.)

The Kentucky Derby, albeit without all the pomp and circumstance that makes it special (and without the all-important mint juleps and big hats), will take place tomorrow. NBC is still planning a full day of broadcasting, though the race will start somewhere around 4 p.m.

There is also baseball, of course. Seattle is back on the field, after a coronavirus-caused hiatus. The M’s host Texas. But there are a lot more important games, ones that actually have an impact on the pennant races, such as they are in this short season.

There are golf playoffs – that’s something we didn’t anticipate in the ‘90s – and U.S. Open tennis and soccer and cycling and auto racing.

But the biggest ticket items include the NHL – the bubble playoffs have been extraordinary and there are a couple of Game Sevens on tap this weekend – and the NBA – LeBron James vs. James Harden? Yes, please.

Get your fix in of those sports this Sunday. Next Sunday the NFL starts. And you know what that means.

• The Pac-12 stepped up yesterday and announced a huge breakthrough in its battle to get back on the fields and courts. It has partnered with the Quidel Corporation, the makers of the Sophia 2 rapid response testing machine. The company says it will have the machines, which can have COVID-19 testing done in 15 minutes, in every Pac-12 school by the end of the month.

The lack of such testing was a big reason behind the conference’s decision to postpone fall athletic competition, including football. So it comes as no surprise commissioner Larry Scott referred to the news as a “game-changer.” Enough of a change to allow football programs to ramp up and start playing in, say, mid-November?

Scott wouldn’t go that far.

“This is a very important and significant step, but there’s other considerations that will go into our return to play,” Scott said on a video conference and quoted by our Theo Lawson. “First and foremost, government approvals, public health authority approvals. We still have six universities – our four California schools, our two Oregon schools – that don’t have the requisite health approvals from public health authorities to engage in contact practice.

“So, even if we were ready to start tomorrow, we couldn’t start what we think of as training camp and getting ready for the season. Some of this is still outside our control.”

Really? How hard could it be for the four California schools, at least, to receive the “requisite health approvals” and to receive it within days? Doesn’t Scott watch “Hard Knocks?” The state has already approved full contact practices and games for three NFL teams. Why wouldn’t it approve such things for colleges, all of whom will be able to test daily. None of the schools’ students are on campus, either, allowing the players to be in a de-facto bubble.

In Oregon, Governor Kate Brown was quoted in May as saying she would make sure the state’s college athletes are not at a competitive disadvantage, so that state should be ready to help the schools move forward as well.

If the new testing abilities are as “game-changing” as Scott feels they are, and not just a publicity stunt, then one huge roadblock has been moved aside. The conference has to be ready to smooth over as quickly as possible any other potholes and washouts that might stand in the way.

•••

WSU: As we said above, Theo has all the coverage on Scott’s big announcement yesterday. … But the Cougar news doesn’t stop there. Theo passes along John Bledsoe’s decision to leave his dad’s alma mater and look for a school with a greater opportunity to play. … And then there is Theo’s first mailbag of the season. He answers your questions. When I asked him on Twitter what his favorite memory of the now-closed Stubblefield’s, a Pullman bar, Theo had the perfect response. “Isn’t the point of it to have no memories?” True. … Around the Pac-12 and the nation, as one might expect, the testing news is covered by just about everyone from Seattle to Tucson and everywhere in between. The importance of the news is examined, as is the current return-to-sports timeline and how better, faster testing can change it. … The virus is changing the face of college football, that’s for sure. … Everyone will miss something about Pac-12 football this fall, including Washington fans. … Oregon State is still working out. … In basketball news, Washington’s Mike Hopkins is patiently waiting for the green light. … College coaches always love watching their former players excel in the NBA. … Arizona’s soccer team is on hiatus after positive tests.

Gonzaga: Brandon Clarke had a heck of a rookie year in the NBA. The Memphis forward finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting, and probably should have been third. Jim Meehan has more in this story.

EWU: Eastern football coach Aaron Best joins Larry Weir for the latest Press Box podcast.

Preps: There are football games tonight in Idaho. Lots of them. Dave Nichols previews the star attractions. … Washington athletes, most of whom reside on the West Side, marched in Olympia yesterday, trying to get the state to allow them to play. Activism is good, but doesn’t always change things.

Chiefs: OK, Braves, actually. The Junior B hockey team won’t be playing this season due to the inability to get to games. The border with Canada is closed and will be for the foreseeable future. The Braves are the only team in their league based in the U.S. Hence, no competition. Dan Thompson has all the details in this story.

Mariners: Finally. We know why the A’s aren’t playing right now (one of their players tested positive). But the M’s, their ready. And they open a three-game homestand with the Rangers tonight. … Newly acquired Ty France is ready to play wherever needed.

Seahawks: The season is about a week away from starting and yet the big news out of Seattle yesterday concerned a wide receiver that isn’t even eligible to compete. The Hawks signed Josh Gordon on Thursday, bringing him back to the franchise despite an NFL-mandated indeterminate suspension. … Roster decisions are coming quickly. … No, Jadeveon Clowney will not be on their roster. Rookie Jordyn Brooks should be, though.

•••       

• I found $5 on the ground the other day. No one else was around, so I kept it. And considered it a sign. A sign it was time to buy a new 65-inch 4K TV set. It was the tipping point in my can-I-afford-it equation. As I told Kim, $5 goes a long ways these days. Until later …