Blog matters: Shock, WSU, Gonzaga

A sampling from the past week of entries in The Spokesman-Review blog SportsLink at spokesman.com/ sportslink.

Three Spokane Shock games, two against Arena Football League newcomer Los Angeles, will be televised as part of ESPN’s 11-game schedule. It was previously announced that four Shock games are part of CBS Sports Network’s 20-game lineup.

Both Shock-Kiss games in Los Angeles, one on Sunday, May 4, and another on Saturday, June 28, and Spokane’s home game versus Tampa Bay on Monday, July 21, will air on ESPN2.

More than 90 AFL games will be shown on ESPN3, the network’s online streaming service.

You have not noticed, but there’s one Washington State basketball player who has been dominating all season. A stalwart on defense, offensively this player is an unstoppable force with no immovable object to halt his Newtonian dominance. Washington State’s biggest player has also been one of its best.

If only practice mattered.

Does an impressive athletic performance count if fans and media are banned from seeing it? That’s the question surrounding WSU center Jordan Railey, who coaches say is a terror on the practice court, but has barely registered a tremor in games. Coach Ken Bone says that in practice Railey is fearless, slamming home thunderous dunks and showing the ability to provide the offense the Cougars desperately need.

“The only thing I can think of is, here we’re about to go up against some 6-10, 6-11, 7-footers,” Bone said. ”And almost every game we’re going up against some really seasoned, tall, long, athletic kids and he doesn’t see that in practice.”

Blog notes following Gonzaga’s win over Pepperdine on Thursday:

• Gonzaga has won 26 straight in the series.

• David Stockton would have equaled his career high of 21 points, but officials ruled his 3-pointer came after the shot clock had expired. Replays showed otherwise, but the play wasn’t reviewed. The TV broadcast showed assistant coach Brian Michaelson immediately pointing to the scorer’s table, asking for a review.

• Stockton and Kevin Pangos both have 106 assists this season.

• Not sure it’s a stat, but surprising to see that the Kennel Club wasn’t able to fill about 150 seats for the second-to-last home game.

• Gary Bell Jr. on the senior most likely to tear up on Senior Night: “I think ‘Stocks’ for some reason.”

• Drew Barham had made 53.7 percent of his 3-point attempts in WCC play. His 29 3s lead the team in conference (Pangos has 28).