Dave Boling

Ian Waltz had one of the nation's best collegiate discus throws Sunday. Unfortunately, it came during warmups. And, understandably, it caused the Washington State freshman from Post Falls, Idaho, to get a little excited. So, in competition, he forced a couple throws, hit the cage on another, and only got two marks.

Francesca Green flies to victory in the long jump. Photo by Associated Press

1. With a restrictive budget, Mike Keller has discovered e-mail. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review 2. Niels Kruller, who hails from The Netherlands, leads the Big Sky Conference in the long jump and 100 meters. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

We're hearing some indignant outcry about Chicago Bull Dennis Rodman - the NBA's most talented transvestite. The Bulls' fancy forward recently showed up at a book-signing in Chicago decked out as a woman, proving that only a slender feathered boa separates cross-training from cross-dressing. Photos moved nationally and critics began labeling Rodman "Rod-woman."

Easley

1. Dan O'Brien predicts Slack could attain 8,000 points in the decathlon, given his strength in field events such as the pole vault. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review 2. The confident Slack often weighs his chances as excellent in big meets. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review 3. Leo Stack's rise in the decathlon can be traced to Dan O'Brien. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review 4. Dan O'Brien

Some will argue that Spokane is a city with all the flavor of vanilla pudding spread sparingly upon white bread. Except for a few special events - particularly Bloomsday. It is 60,000-some friends and neighbors coming together to work up a horrendous pit and generate enough energy to differentiate the community from Des Moines or Topeka or any of a half-dozen Bloomingtons around the country.

Tee-time gluttons beware, you're being watched. Courses in the area are discovering a new phenomenon: golfers who reserve tee times at more than one course - for the same time - and then leave one reservation unused. Four other frustrated golfers, meanwhile, sit home polishing their putters because they were told that all tee times were booked.

Kim Jones powers toward Pelluer Invitational meet record in 3,000 meters. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

Seville Broussard, although gifted with an abundance of charm and a hair-trigger grin, can nonetheless pinpoint one bad relationship: With the long jump. The estrangement is permanent and irreconcilable. "Let's just say we have a real mutual dislike," Broussard said of the event.

Eugene Robinson could not escape the question. "I couldn't go anywhere without somebody asking about where we were going to play," Robinson said of the period since Feb. 2, when Seattle Seahawks owner Ken Behring announced his intention to move the team to California.

Coach Dennis Erickson, president David Behring introduce Pete Kendall. Photo by Associated Press

Allen

Only one conclusion can arise from the SuperSonics' lackluster performance Friday night. They're in playoff form already. Certainly, struggling past the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves in Friday's regular-season home finale stands as a good tuneup for the kind of postseason performances the Sonics have registered the past two seasons. But let's not discount the Timberwolves arbitrarily. Minnesota came into KeyArena a scant 32-1/2 games back in its division. Sure, the Wolves had hit a little bit of a cold streak against the Sonics - dropping 20 in a row since their last win (March 1991). At the time of that last win, one of the Wolves' better players - Kevin Garnett - was in eighth grade. A glance at the 94-86 final tally would suggest that the Sonics, with a Western Division title in hand, had left the studs in the barn to rest for next week's first-round playoff series with Sacramento. Au contraire., Shawn Kemp played 39 minutes and barely outplayed Minnesota's Teen Wolf - Garnett - with just 13 points and seven turnovers. "You get to the point where you're kind of anxious about the playoffs and you find yourself looking ahead," Kemp admitted afterward. "I'm happy this game is over; I was trying to speed the clock up out there but I couldn't." Perhaps it's curious that Kemp would be so eager to get back into the postseason, considering it's the site of such embarrassing public pratfalls. The Sonics have been to the playoffs what Greg Norman was to the Masters - only they haven't shot the ball into any water. Two years ago against Denver, the Sonics looked like that guy in the commercial who ate the entire pizza that comes with the ball. Against the Lakers last year, the term supersonic was relevant only in its description of the speed with which the team was ousted from the playoffs. From inside the locker room, though, the Sonics are trying to convince everyone - and perhaps themselves, as well - that this year will be different.

Dennis Erickson eyes immediate help. Photo by Associated Press

The folks at the NCAA, after adding the hammer throw to the docket of women's track events, were then faced with the issue of determining what would constitute excellence in the discipline. There wasn't much, after all, to go on. So they listed 175 feet as the automatic qualifying for the NCAA meet, with 150 as a provisional qualifier.

1. Washington's Ed Turner, left, wins the 100-meter race by a nose over Washington State's Frank Madu, right, as Idaho's Tawanda Chiwira follows closely behind. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review 2. Washington State's Nicky Booth (second from right) gets a leg up on the competition in the 110-meter hurdles. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Indian Canyon has one of the nation's finest natural settings for golf. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Imagined affronts spurring him on, WSU's Dominique Arnold bursts from the blocks in the 110-meter hurdles. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

The Cougars' Francesca Green (middle) sprints toward the front in the women's 100-meter run, one of her three wins on the day. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

College track There are some new faces behind the stop watches this spring as the region's college track teams have seen a good deal of coaching turnover. Eastern Washington, for instance, has two new head coaches in Stan Kerr and Marcia Mecklenburg.

Gary Player will take swings in Spokane.

Locke

For a sense of perspective on how far the Spokane Chiefs have progressed as a team and a franchise, here's a tale from the not-so-distant past. The bedraggled Chiefs, losers of every game they played in the month of November 1989, were heading into a Western Hockey League game at Portland against the Winter Hawks.