A GRIP ON SPORTS • Darn facts. I had an idea for a subject today, but, after checking the numbers, had to scrap it. Read on.

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• See, I had noticed last night the Blackhawks and the Los Angeles Kings had traded the NHL title back-and-forth the past four years. And the San Francisco Giants had won three of the last five baseball titles. Plus the Spurs were last year’s NBA champs and the Golden State Warriors are just one game away from winning this year’s title. What do all those teams have in common? They play in the western conferences of their respective leagues. And, in theory, it should be harder to win playing your home games on the wide side of the country. After all, the travel for western teams is always, no matter the sport, tougher than for their eastern counterparts. There is only one problem with a west-is-dominate-for-some-unknown-reason theory: the NFL. Of the last few champs, only the Seahawks play in the west. So while the western teams dominate recent hockey, have won 11 of the last 16 NBA titles (with a chance to add another tonight) and three of the past five World Series, the overarching theme crumbles thanks to the NFL. So just forget it. Geography doesn’t matter. The West isn’t best. (Well, it is, but not in this sense, thanks to freakin’ Tom Brady.)

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• WSU: Talk about an award going to the right guy. Steve Gleason has been named this year’s winner of the George Halas Award for overcoming adversity and succeeding. Well-deserved doesn’t really describe it, but will have to do.

• EWU: The women’s basketball program has added four players to its roster for next season. Tom Clouse has more in this story. ... Vernon Adams walked last weekend and now will walk out of Cheney, headed to Eugene.

• Indians: Spokane has a deep roster as it goes through its preseason mini-camp. But not a lot of the 34 players on the roster have been here before. Chris Derrick has this look at the group in advance of Thursday’s opener.

• Preps: There are some high school all-star football and basketball games coming up. Greg Lee covers the local angles in this notebook.

• Seahawks: So what is the hang-up with Russell Wilson’s contract extension? Everyone has a theory. ... The Hawks lost two of their three days of mandatory mini-camp this week after practicing too much last off-season. ... How did the draft choices fare at the OTAs? ... The Hawks made a roster move this week.

• Mariners: Taijuan Walker was nails again last night, though his 5-1 win over San Francisco looks a little less impressive if you study what the Giants have been doing at home lately. Still, a win is a win. ... The M’s needed to shore up the roster, so outfielder James Jones was recalled from Tacoma. That gives Lloyd McClendon a left-handed bat off the bench and a defensive replacement for late in the games.

• Sounders: The wacky world of soccer scheduling is on display this week, what with the Sounders hosting Portland tonight in a U.S. Open Cup match at Starfire. They then return to MLS regular season play on the weekend. Meanwhile, their win over FC Dallas last weekend was helped some by the fact Dallas had five players on national duty around the world. ... CenturyLink will be fully open for four MLS matches.

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• You like the way Tyler Johnson plays hockey? Ya, me too. Except he seemed different in the Cup finals, didn’t he? Now we know why. He was playing with a broken wrist. They grow tough kids out in the Valley. ... Finally, I don't want to go a day this week without a least one link to a U.S. Open story. I picked this one today. Until later ...

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