Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2009

Micah Downs of Gonzaga warms up with a dunk during practice in Memphis, Tenn.  (Christopher Anderson / The Spokesman-Review)

Wrapping up GU's season 

I just filed this wrap-up on Gonzaga's 2008-09 season. The unedited version is below. Also, GU seniors Josh Heytvelt, Micah Downs and Jeremy Pargo are heading to Detroit. Pargo and Downs will participate in the slam dunk competition and Heytvelt will play in the college…

Continue reading this post »



WSU puts the pads on for first time 

COUGARS There's other, non Tony Bennett news coming out of Washington State this week – OK, I would understand if your response were "really?" – and it has to do with football. The Cougars hit the practice field Monday with their pads on, then went…

Continue reading this post »


Spring break for most prep teams

This week is the lull before the storm for high school spring sports. Except for a handful of contests, teams are on a break, but when they return beginning April 6, there are about five weeks of regular season remaining. Three more weeks of postseason…

Continue reading this post »


A wrap and some links 

I'm working on a Gonzaga season wrap-up article and getting the daily deluge of coaching carousel articles in my e-mail every morning. Arizona's looking and Oregon hasn't announced if Ernie Kent is staying or going. For what it's worth, here are some viewpoints from Arizona…

Continue reading this post »


WSU coach Tony Bennett directs his team against Washington. (Elaine Thompson / Associated Press)

WSU still reeling over Bennett decision 48 

COUGARS• UPDATED: 11:45 A.M.; 3:55 P.M. The nature of the news, the suddenness of it all, is what hit Cougar nation in between the eyes. After dodging the bullet last year, when Indiana, LSU and Marquette all came a courting, WSU fans were pretty sure…

Continue reading this post »

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2009

Bennett leaving WSU for Virginia 129 

COUGARS • UPDATED: 10:20 P.M. Just finished talking with some of the players and it's true. Tony Bennett is leaving Washington State University to become the head basketball coach at the University of Virginia. The players are shocked, the administration is shocked, the assistant coaches…

Continue reading this post »

SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2009

Courtesy of John Nishioka/Nish’s Photo The 1959 Kellogg state basketball champs today, front row, from left: Don Zimmerman, Chris Milionis, Louie Jennings, coach Ed Hiemstra, faculty representative and team scorekeeper Ray Faraca, Bernard Blondeau, Keith Kilimann and Frank Winiarski. Back row: manager Sam Cummings, Ron Shreve, Ron Jarvey, Rodney Kamppi, Gary James, Rich Porter, Jeff Wombolt, Dennis Seagraves. (Courtesy of John Nishioka/Nish’s Photo / The Spokesman-Review)

50th anniversary of Kellogg title

Here's a feature story on the 1959 Kellogg boys basketball team's state championship that appeared in the Handle Extra on Sunday.Here's a link to the radio broadcast of the '59 title game played at North Idaho College in Coeur d'Alene.Also in the Handle Extra, here's…

Continue reading this post »

FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2009

Good day (week) for Panthers

Friday was a particularly good day of a good week for Mead baseball and softball teams. The Panthers boys kept up the torrid offense (although Shadle Park to its credit matched 'em) in a 12-9 victory at Al K. Jackson Field. Of Mead's 10 hits,…

Continue reading this post »


Game coverage 27 

Back with the game story and some notes from Gonzaga's 98-77 loss to North Carolina on Friday. It was GU's second worst NCAA Tournament loss. The Bulldogs fell to Maryland 87-63 in their first trip to the NCAAs in 1995.Read on for unedited articles that…

Continue reading this post »


North Carolina overwhelms GU, 98-77 

Gonzaga's season came to an end Friday night as top-seeded North Carolina rolled to an impressive 98-77 victory at FedExForum in Memphis. North Carolina led by as many as 17 in the first half and settled for a 53-42 lead at the break. The Tar…

Continue reading this post »


Workmanlike WSU will rest the weekend 

COUGARS The last day without pads passed without the same energy of the first day. But that's to be expected. The workmanlike day might have been even more impressive, however, because it looked like the Cougars were a little sharper offensively – though the wide…

Continue reading this post »


Jeremy Pargo dunks and is framed by bright lights and the NCAA logo in Memphis, Tenn.  (Christopher Anderson / The Spokesman-Review)

Game day for GU, UNC 

Game day for Gonzaga and North Carolina in what appears to be a great Sweet 16 matchup. A couple of items in today's S-R, authored by John Blanchette. First, his column on GU's previous losses in the Sweet 16 and how it can avoid a…

Continue reading this post »


THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2009

Spirits high as WSU opens spring 

COUGARS The first day of spring practice was spirited, to say the least. One play the defense would celebrate, the next play the offense would. We watched the entire day and filed our story for tomorrow's S-R. For the unedited version and a few extra…

Continue reading this post »


Eags have football date at Qwest Field

Eastern Washington University's 2009 football schedule will include an Oct. 31 matchup against Big Sky Conference rival Portland State at Qwest Field in Seattle.You can read more details here.Is a late November road trip to watch a "home game" a good thing for Eagles fans?

Continue reading this post »



GU updates from Memphis 

Media day has come and gone, so I'll post a couple of things rather than wait 'til later and have one extremely long post.Click below for the GU-UNC matchups and also for an unedited notebook. Back with the game preview in about 90 minutes.

Continue reading this post »


Feb.20 2009 Nampa, Idaho, USA; Coeur d' Alene Kama Griffitts battles for the ball with Centennial's Taylor Hagood (21) in the closing seconds of overtime verse the Centennial Patriots during the Championship  game at the Idaho Center in Nampa.  STEVE CONNER Special to The Spokesman-Revieww (Steve Conner / The Spokesman-Review)

Griffitts changes her mind 

The lead item in my column today is about Coeur d'Alene High basketball standout Kama Griffitts, who de-committed to Snow College and is now heading to North Idaho College.Also, in a note about the District I All-Star game, Camille Reynolds of Lakeland won the 3-point…

Continue reading this post »


WSU news on a spring day 

COUGARS An action-packed morning awaits on the World Wide Web, Washington State style. There are stories. There are comments. There are millions and millions of words dedicated to the Cougars. OK, I exaggerate. But there are a few. Read on.

Continue reading this post »

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2009


Vandals kick off spring practice 

Tomorrow is the first day of spring practice for the Idaho football team, which has plenty of issues to shuffle through over the next month.The big questions: Will Nathan Enderle keep the starting QB job? Who will replace the production of Eddie Williams? What steps…

Continue reading this post »



Revisiting 2006, 1999 

Won't tell you what time I got up this morning to fly across country, but the first numeral might have been a '3'. But we made it to warm Memphis (perhaps 65 degrees) and I just filed a look back at the 2006 Gonzaga-North Carolina…

Continue reading this post »


One more day to WSU spring football 

COUGARS We actually have some WSU news. And, being Paul Wulff is holding a spring football news conference this afternoon – and we will have a story on that plus more – it will be a busy day here at SportsLink, WSU edition. Read on.

Continue reading this post »

SportsLink is your portal into sports news around the Inland Northwest and beyond. You'll find updates, notes and opinions, and plenty of reader feedback.






Looking for a Grip on Sports?

Vince Grippi's daily take on all things regional sports has been moved to our main sports section online. You can find a collection of these columns here.


Blog Archives

March 2009
31 30 29 27 26
25 24 23 22 21
20 19 18 17 16
15 14 13 12 11
10 09 08 07 06
05 04 03 02 01