THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: A dismal weekend on the local sports front

It’s tough to absorb it all.

We’ve just seen a wild weekend that provided eye-catching news in various sports — all the way through Monday afternoon.

That final item occurred when Major League Baseball’s magic hour to sign free agents arrived at 2 p.m.

There weren’t any blockbuster contracts — in other words, Shohei Ohtani is still open for business — but Monday also was the deadline for teams to make qualifying offers to pending free agents.

The number this year was a shade over $20 million, and the Mariners rather surprisingly chose not to make that offer to Teoscar Hernandez.

The decision seemed a bit strange, because in a year with few impact hitters on the free agent market, you’d have guessed Hernandez would have declined the offer — thus handing Seattle a draft choice when he signed elsewhere.

But.

It tells you the Mariners’ plans for offense going forward don’t including gambling that a streaky power hitter who struck out 211 times this season might ACCEPT the qualifying offer.

The Mariners are under considerable pressure to find some hitters — to the point where several of their own key players have made it plain they expect ownership to step up and shove some chips to the center of the table.

Hello?

Jerry?

THE ODD thing about this past weekend is that it had a fun start, with Gonzaga’s new gang of hoop dudes proving they could run as the program demands.

These remodeled Zags (whom we’ll discuss at length later in the week) raced past Lewis Clark State in an exhibition — and suggested that they’ll win the usual boatload of games.

However.

The transition from hardwood at The Kennel to football on Saturday and Sunday was a full-blown disaster.

Washington State, which was 4-0 back in what feels like decades ago, lost its fifth straight with an almost unthinkable 10-7 loss at home to Stanford.

How could the Cougs score one touchdown against a team that came to Pullman with a 2-6 record?

Even more horribly, Wazzu’s successful volleyball and soccer teams — which both had been rolling along on victory rides — joined the football team with stunning defeats.

It felt like the entire athletic program went in the tank.

Perhaps because it did.

You’d hope this had nothing to do with the Cougs’ all-out freefall, but these losses across the board came right after a statement from university president Kirk Schulz — who was trying to address the school’s sports future.

You know, this business of finding a conference home, perhaps losing Power Five status, and so on.

It did not go well.

Here was Schulz:

“We already know a few things. We are not going to spend the same amount of money on athletics that we have for the last decade. 

“We will still be competitive, but it’ll be different than when we had the smallest athletic budget in a Power Five conference.

“But I want to remind Coug fans that we’ll still have Division I athletics. We’ll still compete for championships and have football Saturdays. 

“We’ll still show up every day on the court and in the classroom. The opponents will be different, and even if we don’t know the future of the Apple Cup, the resolute Cougar spirit hopefully will only grow stronger.”

If Schulz’s words, published in WSU magazine, were meant to fire up Cougar athletes, the mission exploded on the launching pad.

Teams lost.

All of them.

As for football, losing to Stanford at Martin Stadium (and gaining exactly 4 yards rushing) felt like rock bottom — although there are games against Cal, Colorado and U-Dub still to be played.

Maybe coach Jake Dickert can pull his troops out of the depths.

Maybe.

FINALLY came Sunday, and what the Seahawks insisted would be a “statement game” against the Ravens in Baltimore.

If that’s true, then the statement was simple.

“Good grief, the NFL elite is in another universe!”

What can I add here that you don’t already know?

The Ravens had 29 first downs, the Seahawks managed 6.

Yes, that’s a recipe for absorbing a 37-3 beatdown, and that 34-point margin was the second-worst in Pete Carroll’s 14 years coaching the Hawks.

It would have been the worst, but the Ravens mercifully just knelt down with the ball on the Seahawks’ 4-yard line in the final minute of the game.

Despite the difference in final scores, there was an eerie similarity between the Seahawks and Wazzu in the games this weekend.

Both were absolutely punished at the line of scrimmage, and totally handled physically.

The Seahawks couldn’t block or tackle, and against one of the league’s truly good teams, that’s going to get you embarrassed.

We’ve already mentioned that Washington State couldn’t run the ball, and neither could the Hawks.

Baltimore, meanwhile, danced and ploughed up and down for 298 yards rushing.

Offense?

Geno Smith kept a streak going by committing two turnovers for the fourth straight game.

Verdict?

Ugh.

Carroll says the Hawks will fix what’s necessary, and for professionals, that’s actually possible.

At the collegiate level, it will be tougher for Wazzu, the team without a home.

Ah, well.

Gonzaga will win 25-plus games.

And maybe the Mariners will sign Ohtani, bringing the sun back out.

But if you’re betting, go with clouds.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”