A Grip on Sports: April has a lot going for it, not the least of which is warmer weather, and has held that distinction for many years

A GRIP ON SPORTS • All the nonsense that happens on April 1 is behind us now. Thankfully. Now we can prepare for the month that always seems to change our outlook on life.

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• We’ve held the opinion for years April is the best sports month. And that it isn’t particularly close, even without America’s Goliath, football, watching from the sidelines.

Just look at the weekends ahead. This one? Final Fours. Men’s and women’s. (Speaking of Goliath, there are four of them in Phoenix facing off for the women’s title.)

Next weekend? The Masters. Enough said. (The four golf majors always deliver something that should appeal to any sports fan, even if the game isn’t your can of Red Bull.)

The third weekend? The Rangers come to Seattle, and the M’s will hold a special giveaway. Cal Raleigh ‘70s Jersey Night. By that Saturday, hopefully, Raleigh will have hit a home run. If not, there is always the Boston Marathon on Monday, which should be more exciting than watching the middle of the Mariners lineup hit these days. (By the way, why would the M’s hold a Cal Raleigh ‘70s Jersey Night? He wasn’t even alive in the 1970s.)

Finally, the month’s final weekend features, yes, an NFL event – as if any month can avoid one. The NFL’s Draft will dominate ESPN, and other networks, for three days and will culminate in every general manager around the league humbly saying it was the greatest draft the franchise ever had. (If you are wondering, the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks have four picks. As of today. As of April 23, when the first round will be held? Maybe more.)

Beat that September. Or July.

• The Sporting News, which was treated with holy status around our 1960s’ home, still does one thing really well. Rankings. Or lists, if you prefer.

With the Final Four on tap this weekend, the publication once known for box scores and baseball stats decided to rank college basketball’s best men’s players of all time. And, thankfully, didn’t succumb to the pressure of loading up its teams with guys who played yesterday.

Of course, that drove the bros on the social into a tizzy, though we’re sure they have no idea what tizzy means. But TSN, which has been around in some form for 140 years, at least recognized one truism. The best way to rank players from different eras is by their dominance of the era in which they played.

Memories of players such as Bill Russell may fade over time but how they dominated the college basketball scene should not. Same with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Or David Thompson. Or Patrick Ewing. Or Christian Laettner. Or anyone from this century as it wears on.

Same with teams. TSN also rated the best men’s and women’s teams. UCLA dominated the men, UConn the women. As it should be.

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WSU: Spring football rolls on in the Palouse, with every Cougar learning about the new coaching staff. And vice-versa. But there is another, less visible, learning curve being climbed. The players are learning who among them will lead the charge. Greg Woods has identified two of them on the defensive side. And writes about Kaden Beatty and Nylan Brown, Kent State transfers, today. … The Cougars will hold a couple youth clinics this month. Dave Nichols has that information. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Arizona’s first trip back to the Final Four after decades of near-misses comes courtesy of former Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd’s leadership. But it took some leadership from high up in Tucson to take a chance on a first-time head coach. Jon Wilner talked with the guy who made the final call, former UA president Robert Robbins, and recounts Robbin’s memory of the hiring process. … That’s not the only Lloyd-centic story we can pass along. … Wilner’s column on the Final Four we linked yesterday is on the S-R site today. … Washington’s season was derailed by injuries. … Colorado’s season is over, as the short-handed Buffs lost to Oklahoma in the NIL-based Crown tourney in Las Vegas. … Has Utah State finally found a coach that will stick around for a while? … Randy Bennett is 63 but all Arizona State needs from him is a few good years. … Another Oregon women’s player is entering the portal. … UCLA has experience with Final Four pressure.

• In football news, we start our report with news from Boise State with a local connection. Freeman High grad Boen Phelps will wear No. 1 for the Broncos this season and that’s significant. … Spring practice resumed at Oregon State, with new coach JaMarcus Shephard looking ahead to the spring game. … Oregon has a handful of players who decided to eschew the NFL Draft and stay in Eugene. … Transfers can add experience to a roster like Colorado’s. … Colorado State has imported a key player from Canada.

Gonzaga: The first men’s player who announced his decision to enter the transfer portal? Cade Orness. The reserve guard didn’t see a lot of playing time this season. Theo Lawson has the story. … Whomever stays in Spokane will be playing Michigan State next season. That news is courtesy of Spartan coach Tom Izzo and reported by Theo in this story. … One more piece of news from Theo. Brandon Clarke, the former GU standout now in the NBA, was arrested Wednesday in Arkansas. … Switching sports, head baseball coach Mark Machtolf will soon ascend to the top of the program’s wins list. Machtolf, with 636 career victories, is one behind his mentor, Steve Hertz, entering this weekend’s home series against Pepperdine.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, the Montana men’s basketball roster just got one player shorter. … Weber State can top that with two more players leaving. … The Griz are working to improve the defensive line in spring football workouts. … A former Cal Poly football player and wrestler is headed to the moon. … Northern Colorado’s wrestling program will join the rebuilt Pac-12 this season.

Chiefs: At least Spokane’s first-round WHL playoff series with Prince George won’t end in a sweep. The Chiefs broke through Wednesday night at home, topping the Cougars 3-2 and forcing a fifth game tonight at the Arena. Dave Nichols was there and has this game coverage.

Mariners: As noted in passing above, the middle of the M’s lineup is not hitting at a major league level to start the season. And the power outage contributed to the Yankees earning a series win last night, topping George Kirby 5-3 at T-Mobile. … Colt Emerson’s new contract has put a target on his back.  

Indians: Minor league baseball has been in Spokane since the 19th Century. Which means the clubs that have played here have had ample time to build connections throughout the sport. With the latest Indians season about to begin, Howie Stalwick has 50 notable minor or major league events that have a connection to the franchise. 

Seahawks: The Hawks still have some priorities to take care of this offseason. … Signing Jake Bobo back was a somewhat surprising priority.

Kraken: Can Seattle still figure out a way to qualify for the postseason?

Storm: A key Storm player suffered another injury setback.

Golf: Tiger Woods’ latest run-in with the law triggered a memory for John Canzano. And led to this column on how insidious pain-killer addiction can be.

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• Part of the reason April sporting events have to compete and such an incredibly high level? The weather is better. The outdoors beckons. And it takes something special to keep us indoors to watch. Until later …