A GRIP ON SPORTS

After the past few days, any sunshine is appreciated. Even the diffuse stuff we're getting now. Let's shine some light on the Inland Northwest's sports news, shall we? Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Remember that old ditty you used to sing as a kid about the rain? Something about it staying away and coming again another day? Well, if we could remember all the words we would be singing it today, as we have to head out to the golf course to catch up with the 4A boys golf – and we don't want to get wet. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

As I said on the radio yesterday, my father used to invoke the blind-squirrel-acorn theory often when I was young (usually right after I did something he approved of). That philosophy came to mind last night with Kevin Millwood's complete-game shutout victory in Colorado. Was it like a vision-impaired rodent stumbling into a nut, or was it the beginning of something good? Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

College football in August. A good thing or bad thing? Discus among yourselves. I'm still trying to figure out if Larry Bernandez was actually in Felix's uniform last night. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Yesterday we didn't write a lot due to back problems. Well, after a trip to the doctor and pharmacist (who I presumed was a Cougar because almost every pharmacist around here is a Cougar), we're doing a bit better. A bit better, as in we can actually sit at our computer and type without screaming. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Though I make jokes about it occasionally here on the blog, I really don't yell at the radio or television much. Usually it's more of an under-the-breath mutter about this or that. But that changed last night in the seventh inning of the Mariners' game with Minnesota. And the screaming was cathartic. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

What a day. The alma mater is headed to the NCAA semifinals and I read a headline I thought I would never see in my lifetime. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

It's Saturday morning. There is a lot to digest and we're not talking about last night's dinner. The NFL draft went through two more rounds (when is Roger Goodell going to realize you can stretch the seven rounds through six days and rest on the seventh, just like his counterpart upstairs?) with a few more Pac-12 stars being chosen. And the Mariners rallied in the ninth (in large part to a crucial error) and defeated the Toronto Blue Jays on a Michael Saunders' 10th-inning grand slam. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • UPDATED: 10:20 A.M.

While driving back from the Seattle area yesterday, the ride was accompanied by a sports soundtrack. There was the news of Seth Greenberg's firing at Virginia Tech. There was the fallout from Ron Artest's elbow to James Harden's head. And, most prominently, there was the news from Arkansas that John L. Smith was headed back to the Razorbacks to become head football coach for the next 10 months. That, by the way, is twice as long as he was head coach at Weber State, his alma mater. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

For all of you who have been griping about the Mariners' offense, what do you want? Perfection? OK, you got it Saturday. Though not the right way. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

If we were going to take a day off, today seems as if it would have been the day. Heck yesterday was expected to be pretty dead. No M's. No spring football. Then all heck broke loose around here. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Nothing wrong with a little rain or snow in March, is there? Especially this week of March, when you want to be forced indoors. It's the first week of the NCAA basketball tournament – and other assorted tourneys as well. It's those “other assorted” ones we're focusing on today around the Inland Northwest, as Washington State and Idaho prepare for postseason play that wouldn't have been possible just a handful of years ago. But don't worry. There is Zag news as well, including a great read for this Tuesday morning. By the way, it's raining in Spokane. Beautiful. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Selection Sunday can either be the happiest day of the year or the saddest, depending on your position. But for most folks, whose schools already know their NCAA fate, it can also have no relevance whatsoever. Strike that. Very little relevance might be better. After all, just about everyone loves to get those bracket sheets and make their predictions, don't they? Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

There is still a chance today could be TF60DDOTY (or as it's known to most folks, the first 60-degree day of the year) in the Inland Northwest. Which would make it the best day of the year for me. Yep, nothing better than that first day post-winter (OK, I know it is still winter officially) you can put on shorts and wander around, causing car wrecks and blinding babies with your white legs. Of course, the past few years I've been able to do that in Pullman, where the students would always point admiringly and show their envy (I'm sure) by laughing at the whiteness of my skin. Now I have to do that at home, and the warm weather means I'll be in the back yard with a rake. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Before Washington State's Pac-12 Conference tournament game began yesterday, Christian Caple posted a picture of the empty Staples Center on this blog. Yes, it was a pregame photo for a noon game, so you would expect the arena to be empty. But after the game began, the seats remained unfilled. Either that or they gave out free T-shirts that were the exact same color as the seats. Anyhow, the empty arena, the quiet atmosphere, the ability to hear fans' comments throughout the game – all of which was caught by Fox's broadcast – took me back to a simpler time and a simpler place, when game officials were less hesitant to interact with their fans. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Got up early this morning to get this post done. After all, as I type this, there is only six hours until the tip off of Washington State's Pac-12 tournament game against Oregon State. And it's only been about 10 hours since Eastern Washington's season ended in a late flurry by the Montana Grizzlies in Missoula. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Wow. What a Saturday. Gonzaga's men and women in the West Coast Conference tournament. Eastern Washington in the Big Sky tournament. Idaho, the hottest team around, finishing up its regular season. Washington State concluding Pac-12 regular season play against USC, one of the worst teams in recent conference history. And all the state basketball finals, from the Bs in Spokane to the big schools in Tacoma. What a Saturday. I can't remember a Saturday like this one for, what, at least a year? Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Most people believe winter is about over when they see the first robin of spring. Or maybe the first crocus. Not me. I know it's over when I see my first State B basketball game at the Arena. It's more reliable than any bird or flower or even a groundhog. Watch a B game, know that it will only be a couple weeks until the golf course opens. Well the B tourney opened yesterday and I couldn't be happier. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

It's Thursday. That's a pretty crowded news day in its own right. But it's also the first day of the Washington state basketball tournaments. And it's also a busy college basketball week. With all that being said, no reason to chit-chat. Best to just get on to the news – and links. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Around the Inland Northwest, there is a lot of truth to the old saw about March coming in like a lion. And this year did not disappoint. Here it is, the first day of March and there's more snow … wait, what? Leap year? Really. Another damn day of winter? Great. … Anyway, here it is, the final day of Februrary – if Kim is to be believed – and there's more snow on the ground. Though some people connected to our local college basketball programs get to escape to Southern California or Las Vegas this week, land of sunshine, bright lights and Double-Doubles, some of us will be shoveling snow and hoping spring hurries up and gets here. Of course, it will only take longer if the powers-that-be continue adding days to February.  Read on.