A GRIP ON SPORTS • And we’re back. Read on.

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• Sorry about the weekend. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to be here Saturday due to previously scheduled commitments, but Sunday was a bit of a surprise, even for me. I was on the road and, for some reason, my computer wouldn’t start up. That made it a bit tough to post. Actually, impossible. So it was a weekend without your usual does of local news. What happened while we were away? Well, Jim Meehan had an interesting golf column, John Blanchette wrote about Ken Stabler’s short, but memorable, time in Spokane and Jacob Thorpe had a blog post about an intriguing offseason endeavor for a Cougar safety. Other than that, a quiet weekend. Thankfully.

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• WSU: The Cougars' newest look on offense is interesting enough to elicit this post from ESPN.com's Pac-12 blog. ... Oregon’s recruitment of Vernon Adams, and the ensuing delays, is bothersome in a lot of ways, according to Register-Guard columnist Austin Meeks.

• Gonzaga: Santa Clara’s newest leader finally met the media.

• Indians: Spokane snapped a three-game losing streak and salvaged the final game of a five-game series in Hillsboro, winning 6-5 in 11 innings.

• Shock: Spokane couldn't have been any worse offensively in the first half yesterday in Los Angeles. The Shock were shutout. Yet they still had the ball and a chance to tie or win as the game ended. But they did neither and lost, 34-28.

• Golf: Brian Miller won the Lilac Invitational and the $5,000 first-prize money. As he did all weekend, Jim Meehan has the story.

• Mariners: Lloyd McClendon was not a happy camper after the M’s 10-3 loss to the first-place Angels yesterday. (Yes, the Angels passed Houston with the victory and head into the All-Star break on top of the A.L. West.) McClendon called the loss the M’s “worst game of the year,” and said “we’ve got to change things.” Will one of the things that changes be the manager? If the M’s don’t get their act together – they made three errors yesterday and looked like, to quote Brad Adams on radio, “a circus” at times – it just might be. ... Before the game McClendon said the bullpen was the biggest disappointment of the first half. ... Robinson Cano knows the highs and lows of the home run derby. ... Larry Stone took a long look on Sunday at Edgar Martinez’s roles as hitting coach. ... The M's have a couple of players who were part of the Futures Game last night.

• Sounders: A stoppage-time goal Saturday night sent the Sounders home from Chicago with a 1-0 defeat. ... The L.A. Galaxy’s newest star helped them defeat Mexico’s Club America 2-1 in an exhibition tournament yesterday. ... Real Salt Lake gave up three late goals and lost to Colorado, 3-1, Sunday.

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• We’re back on the road tomorrow, but we have taken care of our computer problems. So we’ll be posting just about everyday. Until then ...

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