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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Time to celebrate in American fashion

Gyasi Zardes, left, hugs Chris Wondolowski, center, after latter’s goal in second half. At right is Clint Dempsey. (Associated Press)
Gyasi Zardes, left, hugs Chris Wondolowski, center, after latter’s goal in second half. At right is Clint Dempsey. (Associated Press)

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s the Fourth of July weekend, so, in typical American fashion, the sport with the most news right now is ... soccer? Yep, that’s American all right. We include anyone – and any sport – here. And we have ever since the fateful day 239 years ago. Read on.

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• We’re taking advantage of our freedom today to loll around and do very little. Oh, we’ll go for a walk this morning, trying to get a bit more out of life. And we’ll use our liberty to talk a long drive somewhere this afternoon, where we’ll pursue happiness by stopping and taking in a milkshake as a way of celebrating. But we’re not going to spend a bunch of time writing this morning. Sorry. We will mention we watched the U.S. men win a friendly that wasn’t all that friendly, 4-0, last night, listened to the M’s pound out a Simpson’s handful of home runs and, as we settled in for the evening, followed the Sounders’ late bomb that gave them 1-0 win over D.C. United. That covers the spectrum, doesn’t it? A lot of fireworks despite never leaving the air-conditioned house. Perfect.

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• WSU: The biggest news on the day was one of those uh-oh things. Lia Galdeira, the best returning player for the women’s basketball team, is not going to be returning. She’s skipping her senior season and heading overseas to make some money. It’s a big blow to June Daugherty’s squad.

• EWU: Montana picked up a pretty decent transfer for its basketball team, even if guard Ahmaad Rorie won’t be eligible for a year. Rorie played a lot last season as a freshman at Oregon.

• Indians: Spokane was trying for the sweep last night in Vancouver but, despite rallying from a deficit to tie, came up short, 10-6. The Indians return to Avista tonight for a Fourth of July game and fireworks show.

• Preps: The last high school football game for the class of 2015 was a defensive battle at Central Valley last night. Greg Lee was there and has this story of the 21-13 West win.

• Mariners: The M’s hit four home runs last night and none – zero – of them were solo blasts. Let me repeat that. Four home runs, no solos. What the hay? The four dingers led to a 9-5 win and allowed the M’s to win in Oakland despite Carson Smith really poor ninth inning. ... After the game the M’s made three roster moves, sending Roenis Elias, Tom Wilhelmsen and Vidal Nuno to Tacoma. All were expected, with Elias being replaced by Hisahi Iwakuma, who will pitch Monday, Nuno by David Rollins, who, as Rule 5 pick, had to be brought up, and Wilhelmsen by, well we don’t know that yet. All the moves will be officially announced today.

• Sounders: Watching the U.S. men play last night (they won 4-0, with Clint Dempsey scoring on a penalty kick), it was pretty clear the Sounders were going to have trouble scoring. Dempsey was playing for the U.S. while Marco Pappa was on the pitch for Guatemala. Which meant neither were in Seattle. Yet, thanks to a rare goal from Tyrone Mears, the Sounders were able to grab a 1-0 win and earn a much needed three points over D.C. United. ... The win came despite losing goalkeeper Stefan Frei (pictured) to a sprained left shoulder in the first half. ... Of course, D.C. played with 10 men most of the way after a red card. ... Sigi Schmid and the Sounders were happy with the win, the D.C. coach was upset with the officiating. Thus it was a typical MLS match. ... By the way, the women play Sunday with a chance for their third World Cup title.

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• Hot dogs? Nope, not on the nutrition plan. Hamburgers? Not really either. But I’ve been really, really good and I do believe I deserve a thick, cold chocolate shake today. A reward of sorts. Where should I go? Is there a place that is the best? Thanks. Until later ...



Vince Grippi
Vince Grippi is a freelance local sports blogger for spokesman.com. He also contributes to the SportsLink Blog.

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