Jack Black must be proud
A GRIP ON SPORTS
What do Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson, Albert Pujols and Pablo Sandoval have in common, other than a love of the postgame clubhouse buffet? Read on.
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• If you watched the Giants' 8-3 dismantling of the Tigers last night, you know the answer. They are the only four guys in baseball history who have hit three home runs in one World Series game. Ruth was the first to do it, and he did it twice. Jackson did it against the Dodgers in 1977, though the last home run went far enough it should have counted twice. Pujols did it last season against the Rangers. And Sandoval (pictured), known as Kung Fu Panda in the Bay Area, put his weight behind three shots against the Tigers last night. It seems like only yesterday the Giants were having trouble scoring runs and were headed to Cincinnati just one game from elimination in the first round. Those were the days.
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• Washington State: The fallout from this week's Mike Leach decision – the banning of Twitter – seems like a tempest in a teapot. But it didn't go away yesterday as there was discussion all over Twitter and the Internet about it, including this piece from Sportspress Northwest. It didn't seem to bother Leach, however, as Christian Caple's blog post from last night relates. Christian also has a story on Stanford's outstanding running back Stephan Taylor, his Pac-12 picks and a morning blog post. Christian also held his weekly live chat yesterday. ... Speaking of Pac-12 picks, the guys at ESPN.com have some as does Jon Wilner.
• EWU: Jim Allen will be on this blog site late today with a live chat concerning Eastern athletics but for now we can pass along his weekly Big Sky notebook. ... Weber State finally won last week and will carry that momentum into a bye week.
• Idaho: The WAC's basketball predictions were released yesterday and Josh Wright covered the Idaho picks of fifth (media) and sixth (coaches) in this blog post. ... Utah State (media) and New Mexico State (coaches) were picked as favorites. ... The Aggies' quarterback has played better than folks expected.
• Chiefs: Spokane's winning streak came to halt in Prince George last night.
• Preps: It's Thursday, which means it's Prep Page day. And with all the state playoffs in full swing in Idaho and coming up in Washington, it's a busy Thursday as well. Volleyball takes center stage, with Jess Brown's feature on a Mt. Spokane player who has fallen in love with the sport (pictured). Greg Lee also has an advance of the Idaho state tournaments and we have a roundup of Washington districts. ... Speaking of state, Greg also has a look at the Idaho cross country meets and the weekend's big football games. ... Lake City has a new girls basketball coach. ... Here are all the Washington football polls.
• Seahawks: One thing Calvin Johnson (Megatron, left) and the Detroit Lions' wide receivers will do is test the Hawks' corners, including Richard Sherman (who is going by Optimus Prime this week). ... The group won't include a getting-healthy Walter Thurmond, however. ... Doug Baldwin won't be available at wide receiver ( a depleted group right now) for the offensive-challenged Hawks, who seem to play each week as if it's a playoff game.
• Sounders: With a relatively easy 3-1 home win over Marathon last night, the Sounders clinched the third seed in the next round of the CONCACAF Champions League tournament.
• Mariners: The M's apologize to fans for raising their prices. For the team on the field the past few years, not a word. ... Next year's team won't have a couple of players back.
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• That's it for this morning. We'll be back tomorrow. One thing I was thankful for last night was the Giants' blowout came early. It allowed me to switch over to TBS and watch the second-best sitcom episode of all time, the Seinfield "contest" episode. Classic. The laughter helped me bury the sadness from the Tigers' no-show. Until later ...
