A Grip on Sports: Easter weekend is upon us, accompanied by egg hunts, bonnets and the start of the NBA and NHL playoffs
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Most major holidays have a sports component attached, don’t they? Christmas with the NFL and NBA. Fourth of July baseball. New Year’s Day bowl games. But Easter? Back in my dad’s day, there were doubleheaders, sure, but those dinosaurs left the planet years ago. Nowadays?
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• Not much. Maybe it’s because the holiday, probably ranked No. 1 in the religious variety in the U.S. of A., floats around, some years in March, some years in April. Or that No. 1 ranking precludes the scheduling of many events outside of egg hunts or fashion shows.
Sure, the summer games, such as baseball and golf, are in full swing. Literally. In fact, the PGA Tour is holding one of its limited field, “signature” events in South Carolina and another, less heralded – and televised – tournament in the Dominican Republic.
We mention the latter mainly because a local golfer, Clarkston’s Joel Dahmen, is running away with the tournament, setting a 36-hole scoring record of 16-under 128, his career best.
If you want to watch today’s third round, turn to the Golf Channel at noon.
• Of course, that conflicts with the Mariners game today, which starts at the same time on Root. It’s like having the only two cars in 100 miles rolling down a deserted highway run headlong into each other outside Scott City, Kansas.
The M’s ran into a defeat Friday, with their base-running decisions costing them in the 3-1 defeat in Toronto. Cal Raleigh, Randy Arozarena and Rowdy Tellez all were eliminated rather easily trying to take extra bases at inopportune times.
• There is one major sport playing major games this weekend. If the NBA’s first round playoff series still qualify for that designation.
The L.A. Lakers hosting Minnesota (5:30 p.m., ABC) today probably qualifies. After all, Los Angeles made the most-stunning trade the league has seen since, well, maybe since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar left Milwaukee for the city of palm trees 50 years ago.
When Luka Dončić was paired with LeBron James in early February, it gave L.A. a pair of stars. The Timberwolves can only counter with one, Anthony Edwards. And stars matter in the NBA, not just for earning the prime-time broadcast slot. They also matter when it comes to moving on in the postseason.
• The NHL playoffs are underway, capping off an eventful season for the league. How eventful? Does Washington’s Alex Ovechkin breaking Wayne Gretzky’s career goal-scoring mark after more than 25 years qualify as really, really eventful? Or only really eventful?
Actually, you might have to use 895 “reallys” to label it correctly.
Add in the greatest exhibition series in sports history – that’s not hyperbole – with the 4 Nations Face-Off in February and you have a season that may just be remembered for decades.
What to ensure that happens? Have Winnipeg win the Stanley Cup.
The Jets had the best regular season record, winning the Presidents Trophy, which usually is a playoff kiss of death. The last team to win that piece of hardware and Lord Stanley’s cup? The Blackhawks. A dozen years ago.
And the Jets play in Canada, which since 1993 has been poisonous lipstick as well. It’s been that long since a Canadian team, appropriately the Montreal Canadiens, skated around the ice with the trophy as the season ended.
Winnipeg begins its quest today, hosting St. Louis on TNT (3 p.m.).
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WSU: Wake Forest head basketball coach Steve Forbes and his top assistant Matt Woodley know the Palouse well. Forbes was an assistant at the University of Idaho at the turn of the century and Woodley coached at Washington State a few years later. So it should come as no wonder the Deacons dipped into the transfer portal again for an Inland Northwest player. After plucking Hunter Sallis and Efton Reid from Gonzaga a couple years ago, Forbes has enticed Nate Calmese to move across the country this offseason. Greg Woods has more on Calmese’s transfer destination in this story. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner has a mailbag from Friday in the Mercury News. … Washington likes what is happening with its young wide receivers. … Oregon has to rebuild its special teams. Its cornerbacks. And it’s offensive line, though it is set in the middle there. … The Ducks also lost their punter to the portal this week. … If an injured Oregon State player is able to return this fall, that would be a big lift. … Colorado has its spring game today. It will be televised by ESPN2 at 1:30 p.m. … Utah is also holding a spring game. … Arizona is not, as the Wildcats are wary of poaching and injuries. … Boise State worries too but is holding a game. … Just what is going on in Berkeley? California’s major programs are getting hit hard by the portal. … USC’s veterans up front on defense are helping the newcomers adjust. … An Arizona State tight end is also ready to lead. … In basketball news, the Colorado men continue to add to their roster. … So is Utah. And Arizona State. … The Arizona women are as well, including adding to the coaching staff. … San Diego State’s men have added a well-regard recruit. … The Colorado State transfer class is well-regarded. … It was a good week at Utah State.
Gonzaga: Theo Lawson spent time this week checking in with transfer guard Jalen Warley, who made a brief stop at Virginia en route from Florida State to GU. … Former women’s player Claire O’Connor helped the Zags end Colorado’s 2024-25 season just a few weeks ago in the WBIT tournament. Now O’Connor, who grew up on the West Side of Washington, will be helping the Buffs next season. Colorado announced her signing Friday. … Speaking of transfers, don’t forget Theo has his WCC transfer tracker on the S-R website every day.
EWU: Spring football is over in Cheney. The Eagles finished Friday, holding their annual Red-White Game. Well, not the usual one. Coach Aaron best went with a scrimmage full of scenarios pitting the offense with the defense. Who won? Dan Thompson tells us in this story. (Spoiler alert: It was the defense.) … Tyler Tjomsland illustrates the action with this photo gallery. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana lost a defensive lineman to the portal. … Sacramento State is doing things differently with the leadership of its athletic programs. … The Weber State women ended the season playing well and are looking forward to coach Jenteal Jackson’s third season. … The Portland State men signed another player Friday.
Preps: Cheryl Nichols has this roundup of Friday’s high school competitions.
Chiefs: Spokane needed to start faster Friday night than it has in the WHL playoffs thus far. Why? The Chiefs trailed Victoria 2-1 in their second-round series, was facing the chance of elimination without getting back across the border and, well, had been pretty awful early in seven of their first eight playoff contests. Guess what. They did start fast. Rasmus Ekström led the way with a hat trick. And the Chiefs held on for a 9-6 victory. Dave Nichols has the coverage.
Indians: Dave also has the coverage of Spokane’s 6-5 loss at first-place Hillsboro.
Golf: Jim Meehan has a story on Dahmen’s record-setting two days at a tournament Dahmen has won before. We linked it above as well.
Reign: The rivalry match with Portland at Lumen Field started with Seattle scoring quickly. And the Thorns threatening late, but failing to get the ball into the net. The Reign held on for the 1-0 victory.
Sounders: Seattle is back at Lumen Field tonight against Nashville, trying to build off the much-needed win at Dallas recently.
Mariners: The base-running blunders aside, the M’s played pretty well Friday, keyed by Bryan Woo’s bullpen-saving seven-inning stint. … We linked this story yesterday in the Times. It’s on the S-R website now. … Forget Shohei Ohtani. The M’s minor league pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje is truly the most impressive two-way player in the game today. And all he does is pitch. With both arms. … John Canzano takes a look as Portland tries to get to the head of baseball’s expansion line.
Kraken: Could women’s pro hockey add more than one team to the Northwest soon?
Seahawks: Seattle has four quarterbacks on its roster. All but Sam Darnold and Drew Lock are probably available for the right price. Maybe even Lock. … Why have the Hawks been unable to put together a strong offensive line for more than a decade?
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• I will be here tomorrow, not that I anticipate much in the way of readership. Easter services, egg hunts, weather too nice to stay indoors. Until later …