A Grip on Sports: If you don’t want to make a road trip through the Palouse, there is still plenty to watch tonight
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Have any time this afternoon? Wonder what the Washington State football team will look like this fall? Enjoy a nice trip to Pullman? If the answer to those questions was yes, then do we have an opportunity for you.
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• It’s been no secret this has been the spring from, well, hell wouldn’t be the correct term, unless we’re chatting about the place freezing over. Any mention of Hades includes warmth and that’s been in short supply around here this year.
But today is supposed to be decent. The sun should shine, at least through the breaks in the clouds. And there is football to watch.
Spring football. The Cougars final scrimmage before summer. The Crimson and Gray game. It all happens at 3 this afternoon in Martin Stadium.
Oh, sure, you can watch it on TV. The Pac-12 Network is broadcasting it, which is a good use of the soon-to-be-obsolete Larry Scott creation. But sitting at home on such a fine day – everything is relative – in April would seem to be something of a sin.
Besides, who really wants to spend the afternoon picking out flowers. Or digging in the dirt out back. Or, goodness gracious, doing more spring cleaning. Grab the kids, heck, take the neighbors’ as well, and make a day of it. Then let us know how it went.
• Fridays are supposed to be the day of the week organizations drop their bad news out into the world. Good news? That is supposed to appear magically on a Monday, so it can be shared endlessly during the week. Well, it seems as if no one told Gonzaga.
The Zags’ revamped their roster in just a couple hours yesterday, adding a much-needed big man with post skills and a legacy point guard with strong pick-and-roll abilities. Reload would be the correct word.
We passed along the news about former Wyoming post Graham Ike yesterday as it broke. But the other news, that Ryan Nembhard will transfer from Creighton to GU, emerged just after we were done. With the twin announcements, along with Steele Venters’ decision recently to move from Cheney to Spokane, the Zags took a long step forward in their offseason makeover.
The roster, which seemed swiss-cheese-like just 24 hours ago, now is nearly set. Sure, there are questions remaining, from Anton Watson’s status to whether or not Malachi Smith is returning. And whether other transfers are on the way. But the three main holes have been filled. A wing with exceptional long-range. A point who looks to be a perfect fit alongside Nolan Hickman. And a post with passing skills to compliment an ability to score around the rim.
As Fridays go, this one was pretty good for Mark Few.
• It was also a good Friday in Seattle. The M’s won, with the new guys keying the offense against a solid St. Louis team. The Kraken didn’t have to play, but their followers got to spend 24 hours anticipating the first playoff game in Climate Pledge Arena. And the Sounders found out Raul Ruidiaz would be out for a while with a hamstring injury.
Wait, that last one didn’t belong there. Our bad. Luckily, the team has done well already this year with Ruidiaz, one of its designated players, sidelined. If there is a spot the Sounders seem able to scramble and fill, Ruidiaz’s up top is it.
Seattle hosts Minnesota at 7:30 tonight.
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WSU: As we said (and linked), today is the Cougars’ spring game in Pullman. Colton Clark has a preview, which gives you a good primer on what to watch. … There is basketball news as well, with reserve Carlos Rosario entering the transfer portal. Colton has more in this story. … The baseball team hosted Santa Clara yesterday and got its first walk-off win of the season. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation in football, big news out of the Bay Area. Or not. The two Pac-12 executives fired recently have filed a wrongful termination complaint in advance of a lawsuit. Jon Wilner has the particulars but the bottom line is they allege they kept former commissioner Scott in the loop concerning Comcast’s overpayments and were told to keep quiet. … It’s a big recruiting weekend at some of the conference’s schools. … Sav’ell Smalls’ transfer didn’t catch Washington by surprise. … Travion Brown’s departure from Pullman might have been a surprise but the newest Arizona State linebacker has his eyes on a post-football career. … An Oregon State player has made a position move. … It is also spring game day in Boulder, with Colorado ready to showcase the changes Deion Sanders has wrought. … The spring game at Utah will highlight the battle for backup quarterback. … The Utes’ new collective is up and running. … In basketball news, Oregon is now adding to its roster, including picking up a transfer from Arizona State. … As soon as Nembhard announced his intention to leave Creighton, speculation began that he would end up at Arizona. That he didn’t hasn’t gone over well with the Wildcat faithful. … Colorado added a former Michigan starter to its women’s program.
Gonzaga: Theo Lawson has stories on both transfers. We linked them above and again here. … Other entities weigh in on the transfers as well and how they may impact the Bulldogs’ season.
Idaho: We linked a story from the Seattle Times yesterday concerning two UW transfers. We neglected to mention, however, one of them, Tyler Linhardt, was headed to Moscow. We fix that this morning, as the story ran in the S-R.… Elsewhere in the Big Sky, former Northern Colorado guard Dalton Knecht is transferring to Tennessee.
Preps: Dave Nichols has a couple items in this notebook, including a record-setting GSL golf round. … He also has a roundup of Friday’s competitions.
Indians: Spokane evened the series with Tri-City, riding great pitching to a 3-1 victory Friday.
Kraken: As we said, tonight Climate Pledge Arena will host its first postseason playoff game. It should be rocking. … Seattle could have picked up a sweep in Denver with just a little better play.
Mariners: The M’s certainly needed the 5-2 victory after being swept by the Brewers. George Kirby had one bad inning against the Cardinals but was stellar in the other five. … Dylan Moore will throttle back his rehab a bit.
Sounders: Besides the Ruidiaz news, we can pass along this story on Leo Chu’s emergence.
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• Not sure what’s on our agenda today. We have yet to talk with our household’s upper management. But, with the sun shining, our guess revolves around the wheelbarrow, a shovel and a soon-to-be aching back. Just a guess, though. Until later …