It’s a (near-perfect) morning in May
A GRIP ON SPORTS
As I looked out my window today, all I could think of were the lyrics to a Three Dog Night song. Isn't that sad? Read on.
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• Now before I offend all you Three Dog Night fans out there – you, you and you – let me say there are a few songs from the 1960s group that I really enjoy. "One" taught me how to count. "Eli's Coming" has a nice beat to it. "Mama Told Me Not to Come" has a special meaning this weekend. And "Joy to the World" always gets me thinking about "The Big Chill," a movie I really like. But if Three Dog Night wasn't as cloying as The Monkees, the band was awful close. There always seemed something artificial about it, as if they were just a front for a good group of musicians blacklisted by the record companies or something. Anyhow, back to "Pieces of April." That's the Three Dog Night song with the line "but it's a morning in May." (By the way, the song was written by Dave Loggins, who gave us the "Please Come to Boston" song that still makes me want to scour my ears with a wire Q-tip and who is also a second cousin to Kenny Loggins, a rock-and-roll legend who used to live in my hometown, so there's that.) That "it's a morning in May" line was running through my head today, with a little addition. The word beautiful or perfect or tremendous needed to be added. How often is May 6 this nice in Spokane? It is going to be 84 degrees today, for goodness sakes. Yes, 84 degrees. California weather. Golfing weather. Baseball weather. Do-anything-you-want-outside weather. So hear's hoping you can get away today at least for a little while and enjoy it.
• Don't forget, we are trying to do something nice for moms on Mother's Day. We want to honor moms (and the way they have influenced our sporting life), but we need your help. Take a few moments to sit down and write me an email concerning a memory you have of mom and her contributions to one of your sporting events or your sporting life. You can pass along your story to me at vincegrippi55@gmail.com. We'll put them here on Mother's Day and they will also appear in the newspaper the same day, which would make a nice, inexpensive gift for you. "Hey mom, want to know what I got you for today? Read page five of the sports section. Ya, remember when you did that?" We have a few already, all of them worth running, so join the fun and email me your thoughts today.
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• Gonzaga: The Bulldogs have finished their WCC regular season schedule as champions and have two weeks until the conference's postseason tournament. ... BYU's Brandon Davies might just get drafted after all.
• Bloomsday: Thousands of people ran Sunday but no one was faster than Belete Assefa, the men's champion, or Buzunesh Deba, the women's winner. The men's race was covered by Jim Allen while Chris Derrick has this story on the women. ... We also have a story on the local wheelchair winner. And I shouldn't forget all the photos from the Review staff.
• Mariners: Not going to get into again. It would be redundant to say the M's will be as good as the back end of their rotation. Joe Saunders was awful yesterday and so were the M's in a 10-2 loss to Brandon Morrow (pictured) and the Blue Jays. ... Is Nick Franklin every going to be in the M's lineup at shortstop on a regular basis? ... I just thought this was neat. Hope you can access it.
• Sounders: First there were all the injuries. Now there are red cards to deal with. No wonder the Sounders are off to such a tough start.
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• I really shouldn't go on about the weather. I know there are some of you out there who are experiencing terrible weather where you live. All I can say is it is not often the weather here is better than there, wherever there may be. Until later ...
