1994 The Year In Review: Sports News

1. WSU football Washington State’s odds-defying march to the Alamo Bowl was The Spokesman-Review’s overwhelming choice for sports story of 1994.

The story of Cougar football was named the year’s best on 10 of 13 ballots cast in the newspaper’s annual poll of its sports staff.

Led by one of the country’s top defensive units, coach Mike Price’s Cougars went 7-4, knocked off Washington in the Apple Cup and earned a trip to San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl after being picked to finish last in the Pac10.

2. WSU men’s basketball

A distant No. 2 in the balloting was the story of the WSU basketball team the last under coach Kelvin Sampson - that went to the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 1982-83 season.

After taking the Cougars to the tournament, Sampson resigned to take the coaching job at Oklahoma.

3. Gonzaga men’s basketball

Dan Fitzgerald’s Bulldogs dominated the West Coast Conference, beat Stanford in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament and narrowly lost at Kansas State in the second round.

4. Ferris High boys basketball

It was a breakthrough season for coach Wayne Gilman, whose overachieving Saxons won the State AAA basketball championship.

Gilman’s teams had come close in the last decade but had never won the state title.

5. Ryne Sandberg’s retirement

Sandberg, a 1978 North Central High School graduate, left the Chicago Cubs after a miserable start convinced the perennial National League all-star second baseman that he was no longer up to his former standards.

6. Bryan Maxwell’s retirement

Maxwell’s sudden Jan. 22 retirement as coach of the Spokane Chiefs surprised the junior hockey world. Maxwell had led the Chiefs to the Memorial Cup title in 1991.

7. Drew Bledsoe

Former WSU quarterback Drew Bledsoe took his place among the NFL’s elite quarterbacks with a record-setting season with New England, leading the Patriots to a playoff berth.

8. Kingdome roof

Falling ceiling tiles at the Kingdome led to the deaths of two workers and abbreviated the home portion of the Seattle Mariners baseball season before the strike could.

9. Idaho jumps to Big West

The University of Idaho decided to sever ties with the Big Sky Conference and jump to the Big West Conference.

10. SuperSonics rise, fall

It was a stunning turnaround of the Seattle SuperSonics, from NBA regularseason terror to first-round playoff flop.

The Sonics edged out of the top 10 the continuing saga of decathlete Dan O’Brien from Moscow, Idaho.