Some history was made Friday
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Yesterday's lead-in cut off in mid-sentence, the computer's way of telling everyone I'm writing too much. Well, the heck with the computer. It doesn't control
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• Just joking Hal. I know you are in charge. (And if you get that reference you are either old or a sci-fi movie fan.) Anyhow, I think I learned my lesson. I have to keep the lead-ins shorter. But how do you shorten up these columns? Ain't going to happen. Like today, for instance. There is no way I'm not going to at least mention Klay Thompson's unwarranted assist in the third quarter last night. The guy is 13-for-13 shooting from the floor, hits all nine 3-pointers he takes in the quarter, scores an NBA-record 37 points in 15 minutes and passes off to a teammate for a basket? What was he thinking? When you're that hot, just keep shooting. It's the only right thing to do. Seriously, Thompson's 15 minutes were stunning. Jacob Thorpe has video on his morning post, so we'll direct you there, but as someone who covered almost every one of Thompson's games at Washington State – and attended most of the practices – his performance may not be as mind-boggling as others see it. Heck, who am I kidding? Yes it is. As well as Thompson shot at times as a Cougar, the show he put on last night was still unexpected. And awe-inspiring. He once did something similar – for a game – at Arizona State, but to hit 13 shots in a quarter, that's impressive.
• One other thing before we move on this morning. Goodbye to Ernie Banks. Mr. Cub died yesterday, snuffing out one of the brightest lights in baseball history. Banks' smile could light up Chicago. And did, during one of the worst sports decades in that city's history. The 1960s wouldn't have been nearly as fun without Ernie Banks. When I became aware of the guy who always wanted to "play two," he had already moved to first base and seemed a slow-footed, power hitter on his way to the magical 500 home run mark. But my dad always made me aware of Banks the shortstop, the young guy with great range and great power. Heck, one year he won the Golden Glove and hit 40 home runs. But even those numbers don't capture the man. He was the happiest guy in baseball, the most appreciative of what the game had done for him. His perpetually sunny outlook was hard to imitate but always appreciated.
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• WSU: The Cougars face Colorado in Boulder today and Jacob is there. He has this advance of the game as well as his morning post. ... The WSU women rallied to top Utah last night in Pullman. ... It's Saturday, so we have the mailbag from ESPN.com's Pac-12 blog.
• Gonzaga: Pacific is in town to face the Zags tonight. Jim Meehan has a short advance. He also took a look back yesterday on the blog at the St. Mary's win. ... It wasn't all that long ago BYU was afraid Kyle Collinsworth would miss much of this season.
• EWU: The Eagles will host North Dakota today but the biggest game of the day in the Big Sky is in Ogden, where Weber State will try to get back into the race against Sacramento State.
• Whitworth: The Pirates had to rally some, but they held off Puget Sound 78-72 last night. Tom Clouse has the game story.
• Chiefs: Chris Derrick has a feature on the newest Chief. ... Spokane struggled on the road again last night, losing 4-1 at Portland. ... Kelowna took care of Everett. ... Tri-City shut out Seattle.
• Boxing: Spokane's Pat Ferguson is making it interesting at the U.S. Boxing Championships. John Blanchette has this column on the Lewis and Clark High graduate.
• Preps: Greg Lee began the day with a Q&A on the blog with Lake City basketball coach Jim Winger. Then he ended it by covering Post Falls' 46-40 win over Winger's team. ... Steve Christilaw has the GSL boys story, leading with Lewis and Clark's home win over Rogers. We also can pass along Colin Mulvany's photographs from that game. ... There is also a GSL girls roundup and roundups from girls and boys action from around the area.
• Seahawks: No matter how much air there is in the footballs at the Super Bowl, they should stay inflated. It's expected to be warm and sunny in Phoenix next Sunday. ... Let's see. John Schneider spoke to the media yesterday and he had a lot of positive things to say, especially about Marshawn Lynch. ... Pete Carroll also spoke and, as usual, he had a lot of positive things to say. ... Carroll is positive Earl Thomas and everyone else will be healthy for the game. ... The Patriots' media sessions weren't as positive, but then again they are dealing with this year's pre-Super Bowl controversy. ... How hard would it be to recreate the Hawks' NFC title win? Tough. ... Oh ya, there was another fine assessed after that game.
• Mariners: The M's revealed another uniform yesterday and, surprisingly, I don't hate it. ... There are still some things to iron out in spring training.
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• It's Saturday. Go out and do something today. I am. I'm getting my garage door fixed (I hope). Until later ...
