Back with a feature on Shock offensive lineman Chris Pino, who bears a striking resemblance to 'The Rock', wrestler/actor Dwayne Johnson. There's much more to Pino's story, which will run in Thursday's S-R, and you can access it right here.

On the left-hand side of the link, there are a couple of notes (one on the newest Shock offensive lineman and another on Friday's game being televised live on KSKN.

I'll post a game preview tomorrow.

Since the second half of the AFL season began, Spokane seemingly has had a weekly debate over who should be the starting quarterback. Not this week. Erik Meyer played well before departing in the second half with severe cramping in Saturday's loss against Arizona.

So it'll be Meyer behind center against his former team, Utah, in the outdoor game at Albi Stadium. Meanwhile, Utah has questions at quarterback (Tommy Grady and Jordan Rasmussen left Saturday's loss to Chicago with injuries and there's no word on their availability this week). And Khreem Smith, the centerpiece of the trade that brought Meyer from Utah to Spokane, has signed with B.C. of the CFL.

More Shock notes here.

It sounds like it's going to be another interesting week in Shockville.

I spoke with head coach Rob Keefe earlier tonight about the trade of Khreem Smith and Antonio Narcisse to Utah for QB Erik Meyer and Raymond McNeil. The coach indicated it was the first of a series of moves that should be announced over the next few days that should explain the reasons behind dealing Smith, one of the AFL's best defensive players.

Remember, the trade deadline was supposed to be May 16th, a couple of days after quarterbacks Bill Stull and Kyle Rowley suffered injuries against Dallas. However, the league decided to extend the deadline to May 30th, which opened the door to numerous transactions reported on the AFL website, including DB Rod Mosley being traded from Utah to San Jose. I'm guessing Spokane might have another move or two show up on transactions in the next 48 hours.

Read on for an unedited article that will run in Tuesday's S-R.

Spokane has made a trade it hopes will solve its quarterback issues, but it came at a hefty price.

The Shock dealt standout defensive end Khreem Smith and starting center Antonio Narcisse to Utah for quarterback Erik Meyer and starting center Raymond McNeil. Meyer, the former Eastern Washington Eagle, was Kyle Rowley's backup in Spokane last season.

Spokane (4-7) dropped its second straight game without Rowley (shoulder) and Bill Stull (knee) on Saturday, falling to Kansas City. Casey Hansen, the starter the last two games, led Spokane to just one offense-generated touchdown in the first half. 

The Shock have a bye week and then entertain Philadelphia. Rowley and Stull are both on injured reserve and will miss at least one more game.

Meyer was 18 of 28 for 274 yards and five touchdowns in two games last season. His season was cut short by injury and Spokane eventually brought in Brian Zbydniewski to back up Rowley. Meyer hasn't attempted a pass this season as the backup to starter Tommy Grady.

McNeil was with the Milwaukee Iron last season and previously played for Green Bay in arenafootball2.

Smith is regarded as one of the top defensive lineman in the AFL. He was tied for third in the league in sacks (7), and third in tackles for loss (9.5). He also had three forced fumbles and five blocked kicks. Narcisse has started most of the last two seasons.

More here.

Khreem Smith's block of Arizona's potential game-winning field goal Saturday was named the AFL highlight of the week. More here.

Elsewhere, the Shock made several transactions Tuesday: DB Josh Ferguson (knee) and DL Jonathan Williams were put on injured-reserve, DL Lance Witherspoon has been activated from the other league exempt list (the former EWU Eagle was in the CFL) and DL Terrance Taylor has been activated from I-R.

Utah signed DB Rod Mosley, who was cut by the Shock last week, and put ex-Shock OL Ed Ta'amu on suspension. When Ta'amu signed with the Blaze a couple weeks ago, it was thought to be on a one-game basis or for a certain number of games.

More below.