Fast Break

Winter X Games

Holland makes it three in row

Sandpoint native Nate Holland made it a three-peat in men’s snowboarder X at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo., avoiding a late-race crash that included Olympic gold medalist Seth Wescott.

“It gets sweeter and sweeter,” said Holland, now a resident of Truckee, Calif. “I don’t know exactly how it all works out, it just happens to work out like that and I’m super fired up.”

Football

Are you ready for some AAFL?

Bryan Randall and Eric Crouch still long to play professional football.

Though the two quarterbacks might not earn another NFL paycheck, Randall and Crouch are grateful that the All American Football League will debut in April.

Former college standouts Randall and Crouch were the second and third picks in the league’s inaugural draft in Atlanta on Saturday, with Randall going to Tennessee and Crouch going to Texas.

The league will fill the void created when the NFL shut down NFL Europe.With teams in Detroit; Little Rock, Ark; Gainesville, Fla.; Birmingham, Ala.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and a yet-to-be- determined city in Texas, the league hopes to build on fans’ identification with former collegiate stars.

Hockey

Just hold on right there Commish

Basking in the spotlight of its All-Star game, the NHL decided Saturday was the perfect time to unveil a big announcement for the start of next season: Four teams will play openers in Europe.

Maybe the league should have made sure the players were on board.

Saying there were still details to be worked out, the leader of the NHL Players’ Association objected to Commissioner Gary Bettman announcing two games would be played in both Prague and Stockholm to start the 2008-09 season.

The New York Rangers are scheduled to meet the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Czech Republic, while the Ottawa Senators would face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Sweden’s capital city.

Women’s basketball

Graves gets 200th career win

Gonzaga University coach Kelly Graves got his 200th career victory when the Bulldogs defeated Portland 76-50 in Spokane on Saturday.

The win kept the Zags (5-0) unbeaten in the West Coast Conference. They are 14-6 overall. Portland is 12-8, 2-3.

The Bulldogs outscored the Pilots 24-13 to open the second half to give them a 55-33 lead with 8:54 remaining.

All the Bulldogs starters scored in double figures, led by Heather Bowman with 18.