The best laid plans are some times for naught
A GRIP ON SPORTS
Is it better to plan for Armageddon and not have it occur or just go through the day without a care? Read on.
• I'm for the former. Heading across Interstate 90 yesterday, I planned for the pass to be a mess. Extra time was allocated, another podcast or two was loaded onto the smart phone and gas was purchased in Ellensburg, just in case. And then ... nothing. Smooth sailing. Easy as possible. Oh well. I was ready. Now to get you ready for your Saturday, on to the links.
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• WSU: The Cougars spring game is set for 1 p.m. at Albi Stadium. Admission, parking, all that stuff, is free. Jacob Thorpe will be in the venerable stadium – enjoy the steps to the press box Jacob – and will have coverage of the game here on the blog. He had plenty of items on the blog yesterday and in today's newspaper. For football fans, he has a feature in today's S-R on the film room and what it means to coaches and players along with a five questions blog post with River Cracraft, spring game rosters and info and a summary of yesterday's live chat. ... For basketball folks, he has a story and blog post on Ernie Kent retaining assistant Curtis Allen from Ken Bone's staff. ... A basketball recruit signed his letter of intent yesterday. ... Jacob also has his morning post with links. ... The WSU baseball team, without coach Donnie Marbut, serving an over-the-top six-game suspension imposed by the Pac-12, upset highly ranked rival Washington, 6-4. ... The Cougars aren't the only Pac-12 team holding their spring game today. ... As always on Saturday, we pass along the mailbag on ESPN.com's Pac-12 blog.
• Gonzaga: New women's coach Lisa Fortier has made her first staff hire, plucking Jordan Green from the University of Idaho. ... Former BYU guard Matt Carlino has picked Marquette to play his final collegiate season.
• EWU: The Eagles will play their Red-White game today. Jim Allen will be at Roos Field and he has an advance of today's contest.
• Idaho: The Vandals finished spring practice with their scrimmage last night and Josh Wright was in attendance. He has this story in today's paper and a lot more in this blog post from late last night.
• Chiefs: A 7-3 win over Kelowna last night gave the Portland Winterhawks their second consecutive WHL Western Conference title. They'll probably face Edmonton in the WHL finals but the Eastern Conference has yet to be decided. ... Former Chief Tyler Johnson has been added to the U.S. Men's National Team.
• Shock: Spokane hopes the long trip to Tampa pays off in a win today. Jim Meehan has an advance of the Shock's game with the Storm.
• Preps: Sometimes high school coaches are surprised when the season starts. Such was the case at Ferris this tennis season. Correspondent Steve Christilaw has more in this notebook.
• Seahawks: Jim Harbaugh hasn't been too happy with the media coverage of Colin Kaepernick's problems in Miami.
• Mariners: Nothing will be easy as long as Fernando Rodney is the M's closer. That was proved again last night as he walked in a couple of ninth-inning runs. But Justin Smoak's defensive gem closed the door on the Rangers in the M's 6-5 victory. ... Outfielder Cole Gillespie has been called up and will get his chance to show his ability on the major league level. ... Here's one man's power rankings of MLB teams.
• Sounders: Home is where the fans are and for once this season Seattle would like to play well in front of the CenturyLink faithful. But Colorado brings in a fast team that is hard to defend. Their nickname is the Rapids after all. ... The Sounders have never defeated another MLS teams nine times. Colorado could be the first. ... Seattle has not lost in April in many a year. ... Obafemi Martins' goal last week earned an honor. ... Some of the best young players in the MLS will be on display today.
• Golf: Saturday's in the spring and summer mean golf columns. Jim Meehan has one in today's paper on the unlikeliest pair of aces.
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• That's it for today. See you tomorrow morning. Until then ...
