Sports

Julian Strawther knows that as far as great situations for an NBA rookie go, nothing can top breaking into the NBA with the reigning league champs.

PULLMAN – During the first couple of weeks of Washington State’s spring football practice schedule, which stretched to its eighth day on Thursday morning, Syrus Webster has grown to love competing against one offensive lineman in particular: Esa Pole.

Just what attracted Will Rogers to Washington? "The numbers," he said. UW did, after all, lead the nation in passing yards last season after being tops in passing yards per game in 2022. But, to clarify, it's not those numbers that the Mississippi State transfer is referring to. "I mean more so wins," Rogers said with his southern drawl. 

Geno Smith reacted out of instinct. As he'd done so many other times in his previous five seasons with the Seahawks, Smith reached for a basketball off the rack that stood against the wall in the walkway that led down to the front rows of seats in the auditorium of the VMAC as he walked in for a meeting earlier this week. Only this time, when Smith entered the room to hear for the first time from rookie head coach Mike Macdonald as the Seahawks began their voluntary offseason program, his reach came up empty.

For the second year in a row, the country’s top female wrestlers will compete in Spokane at the 2024 U.S. Marine Corps Women’s National Championships this weekend at the Podium.

From staff and wire reports

Federal prosecutors charged Ippei Mizuhara, longtime interpreter and close friend of Shohei Ohtani, with bank fraud Thursday, saying that he stole more than $16 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers to pay off gambling debts.

For at least a few moments last month after the Seahawks acquired Sam Howell from Washington, speculation swirled that they would have a quarterback competition in 2024. That talk was quickly quashed when coach Mike Macdonald and president of football operations John Schneider said that Geno Smith remains the team's starter with Howell as the backup. 

Arizona and San Diego State are retooling after losing key pieces.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • We expected to have the Masters’ first round streaming on our computer this morning as we wrote. It’s become something of an early April tradition, watching pros try to hit the green at the par-5 second with their second shot, all the while misspelling some poor Big Sky basketball player’s name. Alas, this year the weather in Augusta did not cooperate.

O.J. Simpson, the football superstar who became a symbol of domestic violence and racial division after he was found not guilty of murdering his ex-wife and her friend in a trial that riveted the nation and had legal and cultural repercussions for years afterward, died April 10. He was 76.

In the four years he’s spent as general manager of the Mt. Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park, Jim van Loben Sels said this winter may have been the toughest for him to navigate .

Fly fishing

A northern harrier gathers material for its nest at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge in this photo by Buck Domitrovich.

BILLINGS – Aerial imagery collected during the Cold War to help the Army plan for the possibility of infantry mobilization and artillery siting on U.S. soil is helping scientists understand where trees have branched out across Montana’s prairie landscapes.

Sometimes, we pretend to be younger than we are and life reminds us that, despite a lack of maturity and an affinity toward cartoons, our bodies are actually aging.

Young anglers will have a good chance at taking home a few rainbow trout from Clear Lake next month.

Professional golf makes its annual visit to Augusta National with this week’s Masters. Here’s a look at the first major of the season, which begins Thursday.