It’s been more than six years since Jan-Michael Gambill played on the biggest stage in tennis, testing his skills against the top ATP players, with serious prize money on the line. He no longer darts around north Spokane in one of his many Jaguars, taking the back roads to his parents’ house in Colbert. But at age 35 Gambill is hardly living the life of a retired professional athlete.
For America's top pairs teams, retiring in 2006 was a more popular move than the side-by-side jumps. Since the 2006 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis, pairs silver medalists Marcy Hinzmann and Aaron Parchem, bronze medalists Kathryn Orscher and Garrett Lucash and fourth-place finishers Tiffany Scott and Rusty Fein all made the announcement. The pairs' average ages: 26. Their average years together: less than four.
An Australian man and Cheney's celebrity canine will have to wait a little longer to be reunited. Kevin Greer, of Brisbane, Queensland, was expecting his black Russian terrier, Duncan, to be flown to Australia by mid-January. But because of a minor health issue, the departure date has been pushed back to Feb. 5, said Lisa Rosier, Greer's daughter and Duncan's caretaker.
Listen up, all you boys and girls praying for a massive snowfall so you can get the day off school. Even if there's a whiteout outside your bedroom window, the cold truth is that there's hardly a snowball's chance in hell that school is going to be canceled.
BOSTON – The nine figure skaters committed to competing in Spokane at next month's 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships were outscored by the one skater who has dodged the question about a Spokane trip for months. Sasha Cohen won the second Marshalls U.S. Figure Skating Challenge at Boston University on Sunday afternoon. And she did it as easily as she slips into size zero jeans, beating Johnny Weir in the final round, 53 percent to 33 percent. Others who advanced to the final round, Kimmie Meissner and pairs Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, received 9 and 5 percent of the votes, respectively. Evan Lysacek, Emily Hughes, Katy Taylor and ice dancers Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto completed the field.
Northern Quest Casino, past sponsor of the Spokane Lilac Festival royal scholarship funds, has decided not to sponsor the 2007 court. Dan Fitzgerald, casino community relations manager, said the Kalispel Tribe has instead decided to "spread the money as far out as we can."
The search for the next Spokane Lilac Festival queen has been narrowed to 14. The group – dubbed the "Fabulous 14" – was chosen from approximately 200 Spokane County girls who had visions of being the belle of the Spokane Lilac Festival Armed Forces Torchlight Parade on May 19. The committee contacted 30 high schools and opened the selection to all senior girls, including those at alternative schools, home-schooled students, and Running Start students with a 3.0 or better grade-point average. Twenty-three schools responded.
Phillip Choi's ACT score is a hard act to follow. The Mead High School senior was one of 23 students out of 80,000 who scored the highest possible score of 36 points on the college-entrance exam.
Listen up, skating fans: For those who bought tickets for the 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships waaaay in advance, you're finally going to find out where you'll be sitting for the Jan. 21-28 event.
