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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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We have lots of questions and few answers

A GRIP ON SPORTS

It's a Saturday in June and I have a bunch of questions. And they are questions that I'm not sure I can answer. Read on.

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• No, they aren't the existential type, as in "if a tree falls in a forest and kills a protected animal, does the EPA fine the landowner? Or is it some other government agency?" They are, in the spirit of this blog, sports related. For example, when I saw the U.S. National Team won its World Cup qualifier last night on a late goal from the Sounders' Brad Evans, it sparked this question: "If a Seattle player scores the game-winning goal, will SportsLink readers care?" As I said, I don't have the answer (but we do have the link below). Then there was the question that hit me this morning. "Why hasn't there been a Triple Crown winner since I was in college?" Did my degree cause some sort of cosmic shift in the horse racing universe? Who knows? With Jeremy Bonderman picking up his first win last night since September of 2010, it hit me. "Will the M's mine former major league pitchers for their starting rotation more often?" If the answer is yes, I understand Roger Clemens would like to restart his Hall of Fame clock. Speaking of Bonderman (pictured), I have another question. "How can anyone think those tattoos on his arms look good?" But I'm not done. "With two starting pitchers taken in the first seven rounds of the MLB draft, shouldn't the Gonzaga Bulldogs have made the NCAA tournament?" Seems like a pretty darn good foundation for success to me. We'll leave you with this one: "Can the Spokane Shock continue their mastery of the Arena Football League's other top teams tonight when they host Jacksonville? Or will their winless streak against Florida teams be extended?" Sorry, but I don't have the answers. Those are up to you.

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• WSU: If you are a betting person, you can start making plans for the football season. Christian Caple ran down the really early lines for the Cougars games this fall. ... Found this piece from the Bellingham area on Reggie Moore and Western Washington. ... UCLA won the first game of its Super Regional at Cal State Fullerton in extra innings last night while Oregon State begins its Super Regional today in Corvallis. ... It's Saturday, so we have the weekly mailbag from ESPN.com's Pac-12 blog.

• Gonzaga: As we alluded to above, the Zags' Tyler Olson, a U-Hi graduate, was drafted by the Mariners in the seventh round yesterday.

• Shock: Jim Meehan has his advance of tonight's game in the Arena. Jacksonville features the best pass rush in the AFL, so the Shock will have to handle that as well as their Florida roots.

• Golf: Jim also has his weekly golf column, which also could have run in the WSU section above. It concerns a fundraising tournament Steve Gleason's friends are putting on for the former WSU and Gonzaga Prep football/baseball player.

• Mariners: Bonderman was shaky in the first inning and the Yankees scored a run. Then he settled down. Did he ever. New York barely got a base runner over the next five innings, the M's rallied for four runs with two out in the fourth and went on to win 4-1. ... It was the second day of the draft and the M's took a bunch of pitchers and a couple shortstops. All of them will be stars someday if you believe the scouting folks. However, we know only a small percentage will ever make it. Still, it's probably the coolest day of their lives. ... I know Kelly Shoppach is tired (he is pictured above). I remember catching 15-inning games before and my legs felt like tree stumps. Dead tree stumps.

• Sounders: Yes, Evans' goal in stoppage time lifted the U.S. past Jamaica, 2-1. And yes, that pulled the U.S. into a tie for the lead in their section of World Cup qualifying. But a bunch of matches remain, including a couple more in the next week, one of which is this week in Seattle. ... And Evans' team will be playing today in a key match with Vancouver, the start of a big stretch at CenturyLink. ... Besides Evans' absence, there are injury problems for the Sounders. ... And a younger Sounder will be joining a younger U.S. team. ... San Jose decided to change coaches.

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• That's it for today. I don't have to work this afternoon, which makes me happy. This retired life is too busy. So busy, I didn't have a donut on National Donut Day. Now that's a mortal sin. Until later ...



Vince Grippi
Vince Grippi is a freelance local sports blogger for spokesman.com. He also contributes to the SportsLink Blog.

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