A little ray of Tuesday sunshine
A GRIP ON SPORTS
Wow, the outlook about life changes when the sun is out, doesn't it? Smiles are a bit easier to come by, patience is a bit easier to find and every part of the body works just a bit better. That was yesterday. Now what does today bring? Well, not the same level of news and links we've been seeing, that's for sure. Read on.
• The past few days – weeks, really – we've been rising in the morning and overwhelming the computer with the number of stories we've been reading. Since about the Super Bowl, sports subjects seemed to have been folding over upon themselves. The Seahawk news has yet to stop, then spring training opened and news from Arizona piled up. High school basketball had its playoffs, then college hoops transitioned into the postseason. Changes were made in coaches, players were cut and/or signed and the NCAAs came to town. All in all, the past few weeks have been chock full of news. But all good things have to end, right, and so do bad things. Today was one of those transitional days. Oh, sure, there is news. News from Pullman, news from Seattle, news from all over. Just not as much as has been snowing us under the past few weeks. Maybe it's because the sun was out and the thermometer hit the mid-50s yesterday. Everyone stopped and took a moment to smell the blooming crocuses. Or maybe it's just a day the sports world caught its breath. Either way, the pause is appreciated.
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• WSU: Jacob Thorpe actually had more blog posts yesterday than he's had in a while. Warming weather means spring football is close to starting. The Cougars will do just that Thursday. In advance, WSU released its roster and Jacob spent some time going over it. ... Jacob also had a story and blog post on the basketball coaching search after AD Bill Moos held his weekly radio show yesterday. ... And then this morning Jacob has usual blog post. ... The NCAA tournament is on pause as the Sweet 16 teams prep for the weekend. One of those teams is Stanford.
• Gonzaga: Gonzaga may not have been able to get past Arizona on Sunday but comparing them to Washington State, as Art Thiel did, doesn't seem fair. ... The BYU women advanced to the Sweet 16 with an upset of Nebraska.
• Chiefs: Trailing 0-2 in their WHL first-round playoff series, Everett and Tri-City search for answers.
• Shock: Portland came really close to getting its first Arena win, but Iowa denied it in the end.
• Seahawks: OK, so there was no decision by Jared Allen yesterday. And the Hawks lost another free agent offensive lineman with no compensation. So how are they supposed to put together a dynasty again? ... You might be surprised by who earned the most performance-based pay last season.
• Mariners: This M's team has gotten into the habit of rallying late in spring training games. Yesterday, it came up short. ... One of the veteran pitchers – Scott Baker (pictured) – brought into camp is no longer with the M's after refusing a minor league assignment, so the roster is almost set. ... Hisashi Iwakuma has graduated to throwing baseballs as he continues to work to return to the mound.
• Sounders: On further review, the Sounders first goal Sunday was scored by Lamar Neagle. Glad we cleared that up. ... Seattle may have been a bit lucky. ... There are changes going on in the MLS.
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• See what I mean. Instead of 149 stories, there is about a third that number. You'll even have time for some yard work this morning, if the rain holds off. One day of sunshine, another of showers? It must be spring. Until later ...
