A GRIP ON SPORTS • ADDITION: 9:25 A.M.

Really, could there have been better weather to celebrate Mother's Day? The sun was shining, the temperature rose into the high 70s and the weeds seemed to almost pull themselves. OK, I was exaggerating a bit on that last part, but it was nearly perfect. And if you live outside of the Inland Northwest and your day was cloudy and blah, I'm sorry for gloating. Read on.

University of Idaho wide receiver Ken McRoyal was shot and killed at around 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning at a Los Angeles party, according to a Los Angeles TV station. UI confirmed McRoyal's death, but provided no details.

McRoyal, a senior-to-be and former walk-on from the Los Angeles area, posted on his Facebook page that he was in LA to visit his 2-year-old daughter. “It’s a devastating loss,” coach Robb Akey said. “We’ve lost a brother, a teammate, a family member. But, more importantly, a momma lost her son today.”

More details to follow.
  

With Utah State and San Jose State's move to the Mountain West official — and other WAC schools off to Conference USA and the Sun Belt — Idaho athletic director Rob Spear spoke with reporters for 25 minutes this afternoon. He laid out four options for the Vandals, with an emphasis on retaining FBS status.

Read on for more.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

There was a lot of response yesterday to my thoughts on remaining a Mariner fan. To be honest, I appreciate the advice, but have yet to make up my mind. It isn't a results-based analysis, so the fact the M's lost again yesterday isn't really a factor. It's more about the process, which starts at the top and filters down to the field. Read on.

It's been a wild past few days for conference realignment. All signs point to the WAC losing Utah State, San Jose State, Louisiana Tech and soon-to-be members Texas State and Texas-San Antonio. That would leave just Idaho and New Mexico State as football-playing members.

In response, UI released a statement this evening in which it said it was “disappointed in the recent changes that are driven not by tradition, academic quality, competitiveness, or the student experience, but by money.” 

Read on for the full statement.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

It just may be time. Time to sell my allegiance. Time to give up being a Seattle Mariner fan and start rooting for another team. Time to root for a team with an ownership that wants to win consistently and is willing to do what it takes to make that happen. Or is it the wrong thing to do? Read on.

COUGARS

FROM PULLMAN — The Battle of the Palouse will continue in 2013. The official Twitter account of University of Idaho athletics confirmed what athletic director Rob Spear told Scout.com — Idaho and Washington State will face each other at Martin Stadium in 2013, the first meeting between the schools since 2007.

So it appears WSU's 2013 non-conference schedule is set. Bill Moos has said previously that the Cougars will travel to Auburn in 2013, and Brigham Young will play a return game at Martin Stadium as part of their home-and-home deal (though official schedules have not been released yet.)

Texas-San Antonio was set to join the WAC this summer. But the Roadrunners now appear headed to the Conference USA in 2013 — along with current WAC member Louisiana Tech. And the WAC's losses might not end there. CBSsports.com reported Saturday morning that Utah State and San Jose State are expected to move to the Mountain West Conference in 2013 as well.

Read on for more on what this means for Idaho and the WAC.

Korey Toomer, one the most athletically gifted players at Idaho in recent years, was selected in the fifth round of the NFL draft today by Seattle. The Seahawks, who previously took Utah State linebacker Bobby Wagner and USU tailback Robert Turbin, wanted to get faster on defense. Toomer ran a 4.53 in the 40-yard dash and was the Vandals' most consistent defensive playmaker last year.

The outside linebacker had 10.5 tackles for loss last year and also rushed for three touchdowns as the Vandals' short-yardage back.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

We're in the Seattle area this week on personal business but that doesn't stop us from filling you in on the sports happening around the Inland Northwest. Just like the dirty looks my wife Kim kept shooting me didn't stop me from saying “there's another person headed to the Cougar spring game,” every time an RV passed us headed east on Interstate 90. Read on.

About midway into Idaho's final spring scrimmage, Paull Wulff and his family sat down just below the press box at the Kibbie Dome. He was in Moscow to take in some football, and near the end he talked with the S-R about his last few months.

Read on.

We still saw plenty of place-kicker Trey Farquhar Friday night. But the Vandals' offense showed glimpses of coming together, much to the delight of Robb Akey.

Read on for more.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Fenway Park is turning 100 today and I'm here to refute the nasty Internet rumor that I was at the first game. Nope, couldn't get tickets. And, besides, I wanted to wait until Buck O'Brien was on the bump. Read on.

The Vandals' spring camp finale is tomorrow (6 p.m., Kibbie Dome), and Robb Akey ran down the highlights of spring with the media earlier today. Akey spoke about Idaho's starting quarterback battle, players who have impressed him, new offensive coaches and former players who have a chance to be drafted next week. 

We summarize his comments below.

UPDATE: Our spring game preview is now online.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

When we got out of the car last night, the Mariner's had built an 8-1 lead over Cleveland. Yes, Cleveland, the poster child of ineptitude as illustrated by “Major League” (and a bunch of progressively worse sequels). Of course, the fictional Indians were the comeback kids, roaring all the way back to win the American League title. The real Indians, there is no way they could rally to overcome a seven-run deficit Tuesday night, is there? Not with all of 12,461 (yes, that was the official attendance) in the Safeco stands to cheer the home team on. Maybe one of them should have been banging on a real big drum. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Everyone past a certain age – working age – knows what April 15th means. We don't have to go into it here, other than to say good luck to all you poor souls out there who have procrastinated about as long as you can. Just remember, because today is a Sunday, you have an extra day. Read on.

Idaho's second scrimmage of spring was this morning in the Kibbie Dome, and there were several interesting nuggets that came out of it. We have a full report below.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

It's Easter Sunday, so we decided we needed to hide some brightly colored eggs for you. Yep, sprinkled through the report today are a few eggs, which indicate a special story we found just for this Easter. Read on.

The Vandals didn't scrimmage today as scheduled for one simple reason. Coach Robb Akey thought they needed more practice time, not the limited snaps that come during a scrimmage.

Still, we've got lots of notes from today's practice and an early look at a feature on linebacker Robert Siavii, who sat out last year with a knee injury.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

I was thinking of changing the name of today's blog post to Highway 195 Revisited, but as this feature already skews really old, we skipped the Dylan reference atop the page. But we couldn't resist mixing it in somewhere. Read on.