A GRIP ON SPORTS • With the Mariners enjoying a day off yesterday, the viewing schedule opened up before us. What could have been a boring night of sitcoms and reality TV instead became an evening of unbelievable sports action. Read on.

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• Unbelievable may be too strong an adjective, but I found it hard to believe how Kansas City starting pitcher Yordano Ventura speared a comebacker from the White Sox Adam Eaton, took a couple steps toward the runner and yelled an obscenity at Eaton before tossing the ball to first. Now maybe Ventura was auditioning to become the next Reds' manager but his actions started a 10-minute brawl that resulted in a handful of ejections and further fueled the Royals' burgeoning bush-league reputation. What was really unbelievable was Eaton actually continued on toward first base. How many of us in our baseball playing days would have just planted our right foot, pivoted and raced to the mound in an attempt to plant Ventura into the infield turf. OK, my hand is up. I actually did something really similar in a game when I was 22, sprinting all the way to third base to level a guy who had spiked a teammate on purpose. That brawl was nothing like the one on TV last night – as far as I can determine, no one on either team in Chicago actually landed punches – but then again the major league guys have a lot more to lose, financially, than we did. Still, last night's ruckus was unbelievable – and entertaining. But not nearly as entertaining as Golden State's comeback in New Orleans. The Warriors were down 20 in the fourth quarter and still found a way to win. All it took was an – OK, I'm going to use that word again – unbelievable tying 3-pointer from Steph Curry and a few plays in overtime to get it done. And, oh yeah, the ability to shake off a sixth foul on Draymond Green whistled three seconds after the play was over – I timed it – and an off-ball fouled called on Klay Thompson with the game on the line. As Bill Rafferty would have said, onions. All of which filled the void left by the M's off day. Next time they are not playing, we probably won't be so lucky.

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• WSU: The Cougars are just hours away from their spring game in Spokane tomorrow – the weatherman is saying it will be pretty nice around here in the afternoon, so I expect the game at Joe Albi Stadium will be pretty well attended – but there was some work to get through yesterday afternoon. It must have been pretty interesting down in Pullman, as, according to Jacob Thorpe's practice report, "the Cougars were only in helmets and game jerseys on Thursday." What, no pants? Well, the jerseys are pretty long. ... Besides the practice report, Jacob had videos from Mike Leach and Dom Williams – Williams is really good answering Jacob's five questions – on the blog as well as a morning post with links. ... Jacob's story today in the paper focuses upon linebacker Peyton Pelluer. ... The Tacoma News Tribune has a piece on Xavier Cooper (pictured), the Tacoma native waiting for the NFL draft. ... Oregon's newest quarterback is working on his game from a couple hundred miles away. ... I found this Jon Solomon story on college basketball interesting. But I still go back to my premise: Call the game tighter, stick with it and it will loosen up the offenses.

• EWU: The changes in the defense continue to take the most time in Cheney, with the nickel scheme the subject of Jim Allen's story today. ... Jim also held a live chat yesterday and you can read the results. ... Root Sports will televise three Eagle games this fall. ... A former Eastern Washington athletic director is moving on from Utah State.

• Idaho: Quarterback Matt Linehan can't seem to stop himself from interrupting interviews. Sean Kramer has more in this story.

• Preps: A couple of GSL showdowns fizzled yesterday, with Central Valley racing past Ferris in a track meet that was supposed to be tight – Greg Lee has that story – and Mt. Spokane routing Rogers in a key baseball game – Tom Clouse has that story. ... Tom also has his baseball notebook in today's paper.

• Seahawks: With the draft getting closer and closer, it comes as no surprise there are more and more stories about it. Though the Hawks don't have a first-round pick, they still expect their type of player to be available when the time comes. Who will that be? Everyone has an idea. ... We know they need offensive linemen. ... Guess who is going to the White House Correspondents dinner? And he might have an interesting date. ... By the way, Russell Wilson is considered the best draft pick the Hawks ever had. ... Another great pick, Kenny Easley, will be at this year's draft.

• Mariners: No game yesterday, so Logan Morrison wasn't robbed of a hit. ... Chris Taylor (pictured) may have been robbed of his chance to be the M's starting shortstop, but he's still working to get that opportunity.

• Sounders: The Sounders will be without a key player when they face rival Portland this weekend.

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• Heading to Oregon today, land of beautiful scenery and no self-serve gas stations. Another heads up, I have some personal obligations Saturday morning that may limit my ability to post. As of now, I would say there is little chance we will post tomorrow. Until later ...

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