THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Musings between raindrops, soccer games, and football on TV

How cool is it to wave somebody into traffic, and they actually wave back? 

• Just checked the TV ... we’re now in the top of the 115th inning, and the Mariners and Tigers are still tied. 

Or at least they would have been, because I don’t believe the Tigers were ever going to score again. 

Thank goodness for Jorge Polanco, or else the Mariners might have been late getting to Toronto for tonight’s Game 1 of the American League Championship Series. 

• How do you explain the Washington State football team, four weeks after getting destroyed 59-10 — not by Texas, but by North Texas — taking the fourth-ranked team in the country (Ole Miss) to the wire in a 24-21 loss in Oxford? 

Sports, for one. 

Also, on any given Saturday, for two ... 

• Here is the spot in the column where I planned to hype this Friday’s 5A Inland Empire League football showdown with Lakeland (7-0, 0-0 5A IEL) traveling to Sandpoint (6-2, 0-1 5A IEL), in what was shaping up to be the Game of the Year in North Idaho. 

However, with Lakeland on a bye this week, Sandpoint traveled to Lewiston on Friday for the league opener, and suffered a 54-27 beatdown at the hands of the Bengals (3-4). 

Now, maybe the “Game of the Year” in the 5A IEL could be on Oct. 24, when Lewiston visits Lakeland. 

Though Sandpoint could throw a wrench into those plans with a win over Lakeland this week. 

One thing’s for sure — at stake in these three league games is a home game in the first round of the 16-team state 5A playoffs. 

The champion of the three-team 5A IEL is one of the eight automatic qualifiers, who will be seeded 1-8 and host in the first round. 

The other eight, at-large, playoff teams are selected based on MaxPreps rankings — meaning the other two 5A IEL teams, if they make the playoffs, would travel in the first round. 

Heading into Friday’s games, Lakeland was ranked fifth in MaxPreps, Sandpoint was ranked eighth, and Lewiston was ranked 14th — though there figures to be some shuffling once Lewiston’s win over Sandpoint is factored in.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.