Spokane has enjoyed a huge home-field advantage since the franchise’s inaugural year in 2006. Rarely have the Shock dealt with loud crowds on the road. That figures to change when they face Iowa on Saturday night in Des Moines.
Read on for an unedited game preview (and a couple of additional notes at the bottom).
I asked the kind of questions today at Shock practice that coaches don’t like to hear. Can you go undefeated? And, How much of a goal is it?
Coaches dread anything that requires speculating beyond the next game, but Adam Shackleford handled the topic deftly. In a nutshell, he said it would be great, but it’s not the all-consuming goal. That would be winning the ArenaCup, whether it’s achieved with a 16-0 regular season, 15-1, 14-2, whatever.
Anyway, more on Shackleford and the players’ thoughts in an unedited notebook below.
Like most recent college graduates, former Gonzaga basketball players Micah Downs, Josh Heytvelt and Jeremy Pargo are looking for work. They weren’t chosen in the June 25th NBA Draft so they’re trying to carve out a spot on an NBA roster via summer league.
Click below to find out where the three are headed next.
Shock linebacker Kevin McCullough’s diving interception in the third quarter was honored by af2 as the catch of the week.
More here.
Blake Bledsoe, Central Valley’s Greater Spokane League MVP quarterback, was named MVP during last weekend’s East-West All-Star football game. He passed for a touchdown and rushed for the winner with 1 minute, 40 seconds remaining for a 13-12 win in Everett.
His story and numerous others for youth athletes during their busy summer filled my weekly Youth Notebook that runs each Tuesday in The Spokesman-Review
Every year Washington high school sports writers send a list of candidates and vote on All-State teams in sports where there is no other avenue to honor the best of the best. It was the brainchild of Rene Ferran from the Tri Cities Herald who compiles the whole she-bang and coordinates the operation. The spring is for baseball, softball and soccer. State runnerup Cheney has a pair of first-team choices in forward Austin Walker and defender Paul Holloway. Riverside’s Tyler Florez also is a first-team defender. U-Hi’s Mikey Ramos and EV’s Andrew Mastronardi, 4A and 3A midfielders from the GSL, are second team. Herewith are the 2009 soccer all-staters:
Austin Daye has been a Detroit Piston for less than a week and he’s already experiencing a coaching change. Detroit parted ways with Michael Curry after one season at the helm. A bit more here.
And here’s more on the somewhat chilly reception Daye is receiving in Detroit.
University pitcher Billy Moon was named to the 4A All-State baseball team that is compiled each year by Rene Ferran from the Tri-City Herald with input and voting by high school writers from newspapers throughout Washington. Jake Partridge of Rogers was 3A second team outfielder. Cheney’s Drew Ableman was a first-team 2A outfielder and a pair of Freeman players Jake Sullivan at catcher and Jacob Kitterman in the outfield were 1A first-team players. Brandon Hoadley of Colfax made it in 2B and there were a number of 1B players from Colton on the team. Herewith, the list:
Every year Washington high school sports writers send a list of candidates and vote on All-State teams in sports where there is no other avenue to honor the best of the best. It was the brainchild of Rene Ferran from the Tri Cities Herald who compiles the whole she-bang and coordinates the operation. It was a slim year for area bigger school athletes. Herewith are the 2009 results for softball:
Spokane’s win over Oklahoma City on Friday clinched at least one home playoff game. Find more, including ticket information, here.
Just as a year ago when Ferris quarterback Jeff Minnerly rallied the East to victory with his legs and arm in the annual East-West All-Star football game when it was in Spokane, this year Central Valley QB Blake Bledsoe provided the heroics in similar fashion for a 13-12 victory in Everett. Here’s the story of his late big play performance from The Seattle Times.
During the 15th Earl Barden East-West game in Yakima, the East suffered a 31-13 loss. Lakeside’s Brady Blankevoort threw for a touchdown and was 7-for-11 for 49 yards and an interception. The Yakima Herald was there.
Spokane Shock head coach Adam Shackleford celebrated an arenafootball2 win Friday night and the arrival of his second son early Saturday morning.
Shackleford’s wife, Migdalia, went into labor at halftime and left the game to go to the hospital. Shortly after No. 1-ranked Spokane wrapped up a 61-28 win over Oklahoma City, Shackleford joined Migdalia at the hospital and Caleb William Shackleford was born at about 3 a.m.
Caleb weighed seven pounds, eight ounces.
“Everybody’s doing great,” said Shackleford, whose son, Elijah, is roughly 20 months old.
Spokane players and coaches have said for weeks they wanted a good test on the field. They got one Friday.
For a half.
Spokane broke away from a halftime tie with a dominating second half, outscoring the Yard Dawgz 33-0 to claim a 61-28 victory at the Arena. Head coach Adam Shackleford wasn’t around for long after the game. He raced to the hospital to be with his wife, Migdalia, who went into labor during the game.
Read on for my unedited game story.
Here’s a roundup of articles about Austin Daye, Daye mentions or the draft in general:
From ESPN.com’s winners and losers, San Jose Mercury-News winners and losers, USA Today, A.P., the Detroit News here and here, the Detroit Free Press here and here, Los Angeles Times, Sporting News, cbssports.com and Draftexpress.com.
Here’s the rookie salary scale for 2009, according to hoopsworld.com.
Back with an unedited article on Austin Daye being taken by Detroit with the 15th pick of the first round. No other Zags were selected.
I tried to contact Daye and Josh Heytvelt, who was projected as a second-rounder in numerous mock drafts, but didn’t make connections. I was able to see/hear three or four Daye interviews via ESPN, ESPN.com, NBA TV and Detroit’s Web site.
Read on for more.
Continue reading Detroit takes Daye, no other Zags selected »
Former Gonzaga Bulldog Austin Daye was selected by Detroit with the 15th pick in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft.
Daye, who averaged 12.7 points and 6.8 rebounds as a sophomore, joins Eastern Washington University’s Rodney Stuckey on the Pistons’ roster.
Three other Zags have been drafted in the first round — John Stockton in 1984, Dan Dickau in 2002 and Adam Morrison in 2006. Ian Mahinmi, who signed a letter of intent with Gonzaga but never enrolled in school, was drafted late in the first round of the 2005 draft.
Daye’s father, Darren, was drafted in the third round by the Washington Bullets in 1983. Darren Daye, a UCLA product, played five NBA seasons.
(Daye is pictured above defending North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough in the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Hansbrough, by the way, was taken by Indiana with the 13th pick.)
Spokane puts its unbeaten record on the line against Oklahoma City on Friday. Read on for my unedited game preview that will run in Friday’s S-R.
Also, the Tri-Cities Fever, Spokane’s closest geographic rival, may not be around in 2010..
Gonzaga will face Davidson in the 7th annual Battle in Seattle this December, according to the Battle in Seattle Web site. The teams met two years ago in the NCAA Tournament when Stephen Curry poured in 40 points in a Davidson victory.
More here.
Back with a Shock notebook that will run in Thursday’s S-R. The unedited version is below.
Neither one of these news items is a surprise.
First, Spokane came out No. 1 again in the weekly af2 poll. That marks 15 straight weeks, a new af2 record. Second, the ArenaCup, as expected, will be played in Las Vegas in August.
I’ll post a Shock notebook this afternoon.
Here’s my look at the draft prospects for Gonzaga’s Austin Daye, Josh Heytvelt, Micah Downs and Jeremy Pargo. The article will run in Wednesday’s S-R and the unedited version is below. (Heytvelt and Pargo are pictured in GU’s NCAA loss to North Carolina.)
Assistant coach Grant Leep, the longest-tenured member of Eastern Washington University’s men’s basketball staff, has accepted a position as the top assistant under Ryan Looney at Seattle Pacific University.
Leep, a former prep standout for Mount Vernon High School and four-year letterwinner at the University of Washington, spent four seasons as an assistant at EWU, the last two under Eagles’ head coach Kirk Earlywine.
Read on.
Cougfan.com has announced that Ferris quarterback Connor Halliday has made a verbal commitment to Washington State. The story indicated that he had offers from Hawaii, Idaho, Montana and EWU and had attracted interest from Boise State, Arizona State, Oregon State, Washington and Oregon. Halliday was quoted as saying WSU is where he wanted to play.
On another topic, University activities coordinator Ken VanSickle’s dad, Bud, died last week at age 81. They had a gathering and celebration for him at U-Hi on Saturday.
Shock defensive end Ben McCombs (No. 99 pictured above) will try his hand at Mixed Martial Arts on a 10-fight card in September at the Spokane Arena. (Yes, the af2 season will be over by then).
More below and a couple of other leftovers from Saturday’s win over Tri-Cities.
Spokane’s 11th win of the season was another one-sided affair. The Shock led 42-0 at half and coasted to a 69-22 win over Tri-Cities on Saturday.
Read my unedited game story below.
Spokane returns to the Arena tonight for the first time in nearly a month. Visiting Tri-Cities provides the opposition at 7 p.m.
About 500 tickets remain for Saturday’s game.
Read on for my unedited game preview that will run in Saturday’s S-R.
Gonzaga’s Robert Sacre and incoming recruit Kelly Olynyk are playing summer basketball on Canadian national teams. More on Sacre and the senior national team here and more on Olynyk, MVP of a tournament in France, and the U19 team here.
Incoming recruit Manny Arop is on the U19 squad, but was unable to play because of an ankle injury.
Arenafootball2 will retain the 16-team playoff format it used in the 2008 season. That means 8 American Conference and 8 National Conference teams will advance to the playoffs. There had been discussion of trimming the field to 12 teams.
On the topic of the ArenaCup possibly being played at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, the league won’t announce its decision until next week.
Steve Bergum covers EWU football and men's basketball, college baseball, and writes weekly golf column during the summer.
Recent work by Steve
Vince Grippi covers WSU sports and invites readers to share their thoughts on the sports news of the day.
Recent work by Vince
Greg Lee covers North Idaho high school sports and North Idaho College sports.
Recent work by Greg
Jim Meehan covers Gonzaga basketball, Whitworth football, Spokane Shock football and college volleyball.
Recent work by Jim
Dave Trimmer covers a variety of high school, college and professional sports and is the primary writer on the weekly Then & Now series.
Recent work by Dave
Mike Vlahovich covers high school sports, manages the weekly Prep Page and writes a column. Also writes the Washington Preps blog.
Recent work by Mike
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