A Grip on Sports: After a brief introspective dilemma, we finally realize it is the local stories that bind us together on life’s journeys

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Journeys are oftentimes smooth. Other times? The bumps can be so intense as to make one wonder why you took it.

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• My trip around the Interweb on Monday was the former. Trying to share what I learned with you later was the latter. Came perilously close to one of those “why should I do this anymore” moments. And then? News happened. Local news.

Spokane’s Tyler Johnson steps away from hockey for good. Lake City High and Washington State alum Kyle Manzardo steps away from the Guardians to be with his mother as she undergoes a heart transplant in Spokane.

News events that have interest elsewhere, sure, but touch this community deeply. Some place such events into the legendary Spokane vortex. I see such things as just another aspect of the web of connections built in every community, connections that may slip through the cracks if not for local news outlets.

It’s a calling to call attention to such things – and a million more. That’s my admittedly overblown estimate of what has appeared in this space since we began doing it some 13 years ago. No matter, though, if it’s 10 or 10,000. Whatever little (or big) stories that have been shared help to build those connections. Connections within the local community. Connections between this region and the rest of the world.

It’s why I’m back at it this morning. Well, that, and there is no way I could afford my summer ice cream habit without the weekly recompense.

• Ever been around an NHL player? Met one? Shook their hand? In some cases, your fingers disappear in their grasp. Like any professional sport that is built on contact – ice hockey qualifies – the folks who play it are often athletes of unusual size, strength and grace.

Ever been around Johnson, either when he was a high schooler at Central Valley or a standout with the Spokane Chiefs or even when he brought the Stanley Cup to Spokane so the rest of us could see it?

The grace part is there. The size part? Well, seeing Johnson in person, outside the hockey venues he populated his entire life, one would be hard pressed to come up with “pro hockey player” as his profession. A standout one at that.

Johnson isn’t huge – the NHL’s website lists him at 5-foot-8 and 191 pounds, which seems surprisingly accurate for such places – but put a pair of skates on him and he is. Speed and quickness still matter in the game, even with the league’s defensemen – the guys tasked with making sure the Johnson’s of the world can’t put the puck in the net – averaging 6-1½ and more than 200 pounds.

In a game of angles, Johnson knew them. Exploited them. Got to spots quicker than the opponent. Found holes others couldn’t.

Did those things so well, he was a key reason the Chiefs won their last Memorial Cup in 2008. A key part of Tampa Bay’s back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 2020 and 2021. A key contributor in most of his 13 NHL seasons.

But he’s also 34. Played more than 850 NHL games. Has gone through innumerable practices, powered through incalculable hits and suffered too many injuries. It is time for him to call it a day. He’s earned it.

• You like connections? I have one for you. When Manzardo’s mother Windy is done with her long-awaited heart transplant at Sacred Heart Medical Center today, she will be moved upstairs to the hospital’s Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. Her family, including Kyle, will be waiting. The nursing staff there will take care of her, just as they did for years under the leadership of my wife Kim.

She’s retired now, but for more than a decade she ran the CICU. Led the floor’s remodeling effort a decade ago. Hired staff, guided them through the daily hell that was the pandemic, shared her unending empathy with everyone who came on “her” floor.

Heck, before she was called to lead the department, she used to fly around the nation picking up hearts for transplant recipients like Windy Manzardo. After moving up the ladder? She would be the one in the waiting room, or in the rooftop garden she spent countless hours pushing through the hospital’s resistant bureaucracy, to help families reeling from a loved one’s heart issues.

Talk about a journey. A journey that connected her to many in our community when life was at it’s darkest.

And, like the pucks bouncing around the ice of an WHL rink or ground balls on North Idaho’s high school baseball fields, it was rarely smooth.

But like most of life’s travels and travails, when they are over, you may just find they were well worth the time.

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• Due to our technical issues yesterday, we were unable to pass along our thoughts on some of the news events that played out Sunday. For each section below, we have those broken out what we wrote and inserted them at the end in italic type. If the links are still available, we tried to add those as well.  

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WSU: You a gamer? Good. Like sports games? Good. Then you are probably well aware College Football 26 will be available for everyone to purchase this week. Greg Woods certainly is. And he introduces us to the Washington State team that is available for the game. … We mentioned Manzardo’s mother and her surgery above. We have a link to a story in the S-R and more, along with some background on his mother’s on-going heart problems. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, the Big 12 has decided not to do a preseason poll. Which doesn’t stop Jon Wilner. Or even slow him. He has his in the Mercury News. … The Big 12 did pick a preseason all-conference team, though. We have stories about the choices for Colorado, Utah and Arizona State. And the lack of a choice from Arizona. … John Canzano had his usual mailbag on Monday. … Christian Caple ranks the non-quarterback Washington players by their importance to the team. … The new transfer quarterback may be the most important player for Utah. … Football recruiting never stops. And Oregon learned once again, not even after a player says he’s coming. … Colorado is happy to hear that from one player though. … We are a quarter through the 21st Century. Time to pick Oregon State’s best in that time. … Will any of the Beavers be listed among the next quarter-century team? … In basketball news, being a college coach these days is different, with different priorities and demands. … The biggest news for the sport this week? The NCAA tourney may get bigger. An expansion decision is expected this week. Is it a good idea?

WSU: Around the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, the best stories today? The Athletic looks at the top college football rivalries and has a few different perspectives. Is the Apple Cup No. 1? Uh, no. It’s not even the list’s top rivalry for the Huskies. It is No. 30, one spot behind The Big Game. The trombone player is the difference, isn’t it? By the way, Michigan vs. Ohio State is No. 1. … John Canzano has a great column on the passing of Oregon State football’s longest cheering fan. … Colorado’s athletic administration seems ready for the challenges ahead. … USC has a new president. That might impact athletics some. So will Andrew Williams in football. … Utah has put together a great recruiting class. … Arizona is also doing better. … In basketball news, the U.S. U19 basketball team handed Germany its first loss and in the process won the World Cup title. The Americans, coached by Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd, were led by incoming BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa (and tournament MVP) in their 109-76 rout.

Gonzaga: Summer is the time of year college basketball teams have always built a foundation of chemistry that can help get them through the hard times of winter. It is more important now than ever, what with the growing free-agent transactional nature of college athletics. Theo Lawson, who was awful busy Monday, has this story on how the process is playing out for the Zag men. … Next up for Theo? This story on one of the team’s surprising off-court activities. … Theo also has stories on Khalif Battle’s NBA summer team as well as Ben Gregg’s decision to play in France in the fall.

Gonzaga: We promised one thing Sunday morning. Some thoughts on Theo Lawson’s major story on the Zags’ dynamic post duo, Graham Ike and Braden Huff. And here they are: How lucky have Gonzaga fans been over the years? The school has been blessed with at least two standout bigs year after year. Some places struggle to attract one and Mark Few has a pair more often than that one guy who bluffs his way to a World Series of Poker title. Cory Violette and Ronny Turiaf. Przemek Karnowski and Elias Harris. Drew Timme and whoever. And my personal favorite pair, Domantas Sabonis and Kyle Wiltjer. The proof opposites attract. That Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside are a perfect compliment. And GU’s closest, at least physically, to the current pair.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, a starter for the Montana men’s basketball team, who was expected to return, won’t be back.

Indians: It’s Tuesday, which means Dave Nichols has a notebook. Spokane (10-5) returns to action tonight, hosting second-half-leading Eugene (12-2) at Avista.

Chiefs: We linked Dave’s story on Johnson’s retirement announcement above. We do so again here.

Mariners: The M’s had Monday off. Which allowed Matt Calkins to take some time examining how Julio Rodriguez earned his all-star spot. It’s an interesting point to discuss. … The Athletic rated MLB’s starting pitchers in their fantasy value for the second half. The M’s big four – Bryce Miller is still out – are all rated in the top 22 spots.

Mariners: A better matchup of young pitchers than the M’s George Kirby vs. the Pirates’ phenom Paul Skenes? Probably not possible. In a 1960s throwback, the M’s prevailed Sunday 1-0 on near-perfect pitching and Randy Arozarena’s solo home run. Speaking of fire, that is what Arozarena is right now. … Yes, we linked the All-Star selection story above. We do it again here. … Seattle’s switch-pitching minor leaguer is pretty good with both arms. … We passed along the news of Bobby Jenks death yesterday. Spokane’s premier baseball historian, Jim Price, has a locally themed obituary in today’s S-R. … Thoughts on baseball as we head into the second half? Jayson Stark has them.

Sounders: We can pass along an update on Stefan Frei’s condition. He was sent home from the hospital and is resting.

Sounders: Stefan Frei is the heart of the Sounders. Their rock. But even rocks can break over time and Frei was knocked around late in Seattle’s 1-1 draw with Columbus at Lumen Field yesterday. He had to be immobilized and taken to the hospital. … The Gold Cup final was international soccer at its best. A big, loud crowd. Great goals. Terrible refereeing at times. A disputed result. And one team raising a trophy the whole country celebrates. It also is accompanied by a bunch of coverage.

Seahawks: What does the future hold for a couple of young Seattle defensive players?

Storm: We got to see the end of Seattle’s dismantling of the New York Liberty yesterday. Though the last couple minutes weren’t the best, the second half was as the Storm earned a 79-70 decision.

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• We not only had to deal with issues in the morning yesterday, when we were finally able to get back into the S-R’s system in the evening, in an attempt to add the links that never appeared, we failed. After doing almost an hour’s worth of work, the system wouldn’t accept the changes. That’s when we thought about walking away. For good. Cooler heads prevailed, however. Cooler heads built through years and years of having to stay calm because her profession demands it or people can die. … By the way, thanks to S-R sports editor Ralph Walter for posting the main column to the web during the day. He must know some sort of magical charm that Professor Snape taught. Computer science is a dark art, after all. Until later …