Grip on Sports: The school sports seasons end and the summer golf season begins – all in one weekend
A GRIP ON SPORTS • One special section would be enough. But a special section dedicated to golf in the area and the last Sunday of prep sports coverage for the school year? That’s almost too much.
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• A holiday weekend Sunday, even one with rain in the forecast, isn’t the best day to sit down and read through page after page of your local newspaper. Or to sit in front of the computer screen doing the electronic equivalent of that activity.
So we won’t get in your way.
We’re not going to share much in the way of our thoughts concerning yesterday’s results or today’s upcoming events. We’re not going to tell you we have been re-watching “Deadwood” recently in preparation of this week’s movie. And we are going to avoid any jokes on the Mariners’ expense.
We’re just going to point you to the links and let you get moving toward your day. After all, you probably want to get outdoors and see what’s out there. Doesn’t summer begin today?
• Speaking of summer, golfing is one of the best ways to spend a nice summer day around here. If you are a masochist, of course. Just kidding. All you have to be is a bit self-loathing. No full-fledged disorders needed.
In reality, spending a morning or afternoon on a golf course can be good for your soul. It’s possible to experience every emotion available to our species in one 18-hole round. Heck, on one hole if things break right – or wrong.
Which makes today’s S-R golf section something of a self-help book.
There are Jim Meehan’s stories about a really good golfer, Joel Dahmen, and his relationship with his caddie, and a story from a really good golfer, Sophie Hausmann. There are stories from golfers on the other end of the spectrum, like Madison McCord and Gene Warnick (as I share the course with them almost weekly, it is OK for me to say that … I think).
And there is a guide to all the local courses. Have fun.
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WSU: Here’s an odd statistic. Each of the Cougars’ three major sports, football, men’s basketball and baseball, all won 11 games this past school year. That’s good in football and awful in the other two. In a related development, the latter two sports will have new coaches next season. The baseball team finished its season yesterday with a sweep at the hands of Arizona. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, will Oregon make a change atop its baseball program? The Oregonian’s Ken Goe believes it should. … For some schools, it won’t be easy to meet the new Pac-12 basketball scheduling standards. … The FBI corruption cases opened the door to the inner workings at some schools, like USC.
CCS: The Sasquatch baseball team stayed alive at the NWAC championships.
Chiefs: There was no better defenseman this season in Canadian junior hockey than Spokane’s Ty Smith.
Preps: Let’s start with track and field, shall we? Ryan Collingwood has coverage from Tacoma of the State 4A, the State 3A and the State 2A meets. … Jason Shoot splits coverage in the State 1A, 2B and 1B meets into boys and girls. … Tyler Tjomsland has a photo report from Cheney of the all the 1A, 2B and 1B competitors. … Almira/Coulee-Hartline won the State 1B title in both softball and baseball yesterday. That’s part of the roundup of both sports. … We also have State tennis and State soccer roundups.
Mariners: The M’s lost again Saturday in Oakland. … Ryan Divish answers your questions in this Sunday mailbag. … Kyle Seager played his first game of the season yesterday. … In his Out of Right Field column, Gene Warnick wonders the same thing Larry Stone and I pondered this week: Could this be the worst M’s team ever? He looks at five all-time awful M’s teams. My vote for the worst? It would be 2008, when they were 61-101 but won their final three games. That cost them Stephen Strasburg in the draft. Instead, the franchise went with Dustin Ackley.
Sounders: Seattle is headed to Kansas City.
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• We covered the Indy 500 yesterday. We didn’t even know this graphic would be in today’s paper. But Charles Apple takes an in-depth look at Tom Sneva and the race. Graphics like this are always fun. Until later …