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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Grip on Sports: What a year it was for WSU’s Gardner Minshew

WSU quarterback Gardner Minshew chats with teammates during WSU's Pro Day on Wednesday, April 3, 2019, in Pullman, Wash. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Where were we? Oh yes, following the NFL Draft. And other things. Read on.

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• Gardner Minshew’s year in Pullman was about as life-changing as it gets, wasn’t it?

The quarterback from Brandon, Mississippi moved to the Northwest less than a year ago with a pretty-thin resume and a lot of hope. Yesterday, he heard his name called by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

In between he won Washington State’s starting quarterback job, led the Cougars to 11 victories and re-invigorated the Pullman campus. All the while single-handedly making the mustache cool again.

The reward seems to be a chance to make his living as an NFL quarterback.

It’s a scenario no one could have imagined last April. Except Minshew, who told the world at that time he had a year to show everyone he deserved to be drafted.

He did.

He was.

• There was a time horse racing was a big part of the Spokane sports scene.

And one horse in particular, Turbolator, dominated that sport.

The gelding came this close to making the jump from Playfair to the big time, Santa Anita, in 1969, but it wasn’t to be. Except in the pages of today’s S-R, where Jim Price examines “The Great What If.”

• Don Kardong is a Spokane legend. The founder of Bloomsday is about to step away from the road race and slip off into the sunset. OK, that won’t happen. But he is stepping back. Though not until talking with John Blanchette about what his future holds.

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WSU: Theo has the story of Minshew’s draft selection as well as another piece on James Williams, the running back who gave up his final year of eligibility but wasn’t selected. He did, however, sign with Kansas City as a free agent. … The baseball team lost another Pac-12 game, this one in 16 innings to Oregon State. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, Washington held its spring game and the defense dominated. The Huskies could be really good on that side of the ball again. … Colorado also finished off spring practice.

Gonzaga: The Zags are looking for guards after the graduation of Josh Perkins and Geno Crandall as well as Zach Norvell Jr’s early declaration for the NBA Draft. Jim Meehan tells us there is one grad transfer out there who is seriously considering GU. … Sophie Whittle earned WCC tennis player of the year honors. … The baseball team took USF deep often and won another WCC series.

EWU: The Eagles culminated weeks of spring work yesterday with their annual Red-White Game. Ryan Collingwood was in Cheney and has the coverage along with photographer Tyler Tjomsland.

Idaho: The pair of WSU players weren’t the only Palouse standouts taken in the NFL Draft. The Vandals’ Kaden Ellis also was chosen, going in the seventh round to the New Orleans Saints. Ryan has more in this story.

Preps: Saturday is filled with prep sports and we have roundups from tennis, track and field and softball.

Mariners: It wasn’t the best of nights for the M’s. They played poorly and lost 15-1 to Texas. … The roster was shuffled again. … Gene Warnick has the Out of Right Field summary … Our Out of Right Field column is about the M’s unexpected start and the chances of it continuing. At least a few fans’ thoughts on it continuing.

Seahawks: The Hawks replenished the roster with 11 draft picks over the weekend. Remember, they began the week with just four choices. … The biggest news, however, is Doug Baldwin and whether the veteran wide receiver will be able to ever play again.

Sounders: Seattle is still beat-up.

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• The NFL Draft is over. So is spring football. It’s now time to think about other sports until August.  Until later …