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Vince Grippi

Vince Grippi

Current Position: Sports columnist

Vince Grippi is a freelance local sports blogger for spokesman.com.

Email
vincegrippi55@yahoo.com

All Stories

Sports

Sister act propels University

The University High girls basketball team has a tough task this season: pleasing coach Mark Stinson. They couldn't do it Tuesday night, despite defeating host Gonzaga Prep 54-37 in a non-league game.
Sports

L-W Tigercats roll Columbia for 3rd straight

The mantra for Bellevue all year was "the first to five," as in state football titles. But the Wolverines quietly had to add "among big schools," because there was already a B-8 school with that mantle: the LaCrosse-Washtucna Tigercats.
Sports

Royal wins 1A final

All year the Freeman Scotties had been able to handle any offensive blows thrown at them by their opponents. Twelve consecutive wins. Six shutouts. A defense that yielded just 52 points. But they hadn't faced a team like Royal, or a receiver like James Dykes.
Sports

Broncos win 25-21 in Lynch’s finale

TACOMA – His players wanted to send Lind-Ritzville football coach Mike Lynch out with a win. After 31 years, Lynch was hanging it up after his Broncos' B-11 state championship game with DeSales on Friday. It looked bleak with 13 minutes to play and Lind-Ritzville trailing by three touchdowns.
Sports

Freeman hopes to finish off unbeaten season with state title

Ask Jeff Smith who has been playing well on the Freeman defense and he begins by naming linebackers Bryan Riggs and Shay Thomas. Then the Scotties' coach mentions Rory Malloy and he's off on a roll. Before he stops, 13, 14 names have spilled out. He pauses, and then remembers the numerous kids who run the scout team, giving Freeman's defense its first look at the opponent's offense.
Sports

Hammond, Columbia complete journey to title game

When Columbia (Hunters) football coach Chuck Wyborney saw Mitchell Hammond in the seventh grade, he didn't think Hammond's chances of helping the Lions on the field were great. When he looks at Hammond, a senior, today, he sees a kid who has come a long way, worked hard and overcome a blow that would have decked most kids.
Sports

Pups turn over a shot at title game

The Gonzaga Prep Bullpups' march to the State 4A football semifinals was built on a simple formula: Play stifling defense, be opportunistic on offense and win the turnover battle. It was the last one where they failed Saturday, and with five turnovers the Bullpups failed in their quest to make the state finals for the first time since 1987, dropping a 31-30 decision to Evergreen of Vancouver.
Sports

G-Prep has to get past Evergreen

Last year at this time, the Greater Spokane League representatives were doing what they had done for the past six years: watching the State 4A football playoffs. And the Evergreen Plainsmen were doing what every GSL team has done the past six years: running into a brick wall from the Big Nine.
Sports

Columbia looking to advance to first B-8 title game

Columbia has never played in a B-8 championship football game. Back in 1987 and 1988, the Lions were the state's best B-11 team, winning back-to-back state titles, but, since moving to the B-8 ranks in the 1990s, they have yet to reach the final weekend.
Sports

‘Pups can pop ya

Dave McKenna is the defensive coordinator at Gonzaga Prep and has been for the past seven years. A quiet man off the field who teaches science and math, he looks a little like Clark Kent.
Sports

Bullpups march into semifinals

The formula was familiar, the cast a little different. The result? A 14-7 Gonzaga Prep win over Kentwood in the quarterfinals of the State 4A football playoffs. The 2,331 at Albi Stadium on Saturday saw the Pups' opportunistic defense force three first-half Kentwood turnovers and limit the Conquerors' potent rushing attack (averaging 280 yards a game) to 127 yards.
Sports

G-Prep hopes to conquer Kentwood

There must be some basic pattern for success in high school football. Because when you talk to Gonzaga Prep head football coach Dave Carson and his counterpart from Kentwood, Rex Norris, you find they both see their team in their opponent.
Sports

Grabbing a chance

When Gonzaga Prep football coach Dave Carson sat down at the end of last football season, looked at the players he would have returning and began filling in positions, Brandon Kennedy's name was penciled in. As a starting defensive back.
Sports

Make way for winter sports

Fall sports may still be going, but that doesn't mean winter sports have to wait. The trio — basketball, wrestling and gymnastics — began Monday as gyms throughout the Inland Northwest filled with the squeak of sneakers, the grunts of conditioning work and the sweat of hundreds of athletes.
Sports

Gonzaga Prep turns out lights on Southridge

Talk about electricity. Gonzaga Prep had it Saturday in abundance during the Bullpups' 42-13 first-round State 4A football playoff rout of Southridge before 2,053 at Albi Stadium.
Sports

Bullpups earn playoff berth

Sometimes momentum has to be ripped away, other times grabbed at the top of a jump. Occasionally it has to be earned by an all-out dive or obtained by getting to the right spot.
Sports

GSL hopes to buck trend against Big Nine

There are familiar foes tonight when the Greater Spokane League and the Big Nine clash in four play-in games to the state 4A football playoffs. And, in this case, familiarity breeds respect.
Sports

G-Prep sticks with it

The Gonzaga Prep Bullpups won their first outright Greater Spokane League football title since 1993 Thursday night, rallying for a 28-7 victory over host University before an estimated crowd of 1,800. Those are the facts. The underlying story is much more interesting.
Sports

A firm foundation for kids

Talk with Mark Rypien and it's easy to see how much he's received from Spokane. He talks about his childhood with a graceful ease that belies his 6-foot-4, 240-pound former-NFL quarterback body.
Sports

Titans claim fifth straight victory

There could be a new slogan for the University High football team: Out of adversity comes triumph. The Titans, 0-2 after the first two weeks of the Greater Spokane League schedule, won their fifth consecutive game, stopping Lewis and Clark 17-14 before 1,610 Thursday night at Albi Stadium and, in the process, moved into a tie for second place.
Sports

Shadle back in chase

Two weeks ago, the Shadle Park Highlanders appeared to be out of the 4A playoff race. At 1-3 in the Greater Spokane League, Shadle needed to heat up to get back into the chase.