Sports

PULLMAN – Days before David Riley took the head coaching job at Washington State, before he made the 90-minute drive from Cheney for his introduction on Thursday, his job became dramatically tougher.

Spokane Indians pitcher Chase Dollander throws during practice at Avista Stadium on Tuesday, ahead of Friday’s High-A West opener.

Alabama basketball was struggling late in the season. The Crimson Tide were having trouble on defense and seemed to be limping to the finish line, with a one-and-done finish in the SEC Tournament.

CLEVELAND – UConn’s senior guard Nika Muhl talked Thursday about going through a period of shock then mourning when injuries started taking out her UConn teammates during the season.

SEATTLE – The question isn’t whether Cole Young will eventually earn a promotion to the big leagues.

PULLMAN – When Syrus Webster landed at Washington State, transferring from FCS Utah Tech, the Cougars knew they had secured an athletic edge rusher, a guy who fit the bill in several ways.

With coach David Riley headed to Washington State, one of his top players from Eastern Washington has entered the transfer portal.

Former Eastern Washington coach, Whitworth player and nephew of a former Pac-12 football coach knows the Northwest terrain as well as anyone.

PULLMAN – Jaylen Wells is ready to realize his dream of going pro.

Multimillion-dollar offseason renovations will give Avista Stadium a new look for players and fans when the Spokane Indians open their season Friday night.

Rui Hachimura and the Lakers had just wrapped a 5-1 road trip as he stood by his locker near the door.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • We took a mid-afternoon nap Wednesday. It’s one of the perks of our form of retirement. After it was over, however, we realized we were missing the Mariners’ mid-week, get-out-of-town game. Turned on the TV. Saw the score. The M’s must have been napping too.

BILLINGS – Fourteen Yellowstone National Park bison were shipped to slaughter this spring with another 26 killed over the winter by tribal and state hunters.

Fly fishing

In 1984, shortly after my grandmother had several of the veins in her legs relocated to her heart, my granny and her partner, Marge, moved into their retirement home on the sparsely populated edge of the Deschutes River. There, she spent the next couple of decades eating Egg Beaters and bran muffins, and befriending the few neighbors they had by trading chores or wood splitters or pie recipes.

Snow geese take flight at McNary National Wildlife Refuge in this photo by Mark Hendrickson.

LOS ANGELES – One of the more bizarre streaks of the Kraken’s short history finally had its closing chapter written here Wednesday night by an offense that could barely get a shot off when it mattered.

SEATTLE — As the setting sun turned the Cascade Mountains purple and a frigid wind whipped around Husky Stadium, Jedd Fisch began to speak.