A Grip on Sports: From trivia to transfers, today is all about, with apologizes to Jay Buhner, notes, notes and more notes

A GRIP ON SPORTS • How should I start this week? Cleaning out the desk? Cleaning out the notebook? Cleaning out the bank account, skipping the country and disappearing someplace tropical? The last one would be in play if I looked decent in a swim suit. The first one seems a bit too hard, considering the mess I’m looking at. The notebook it is.

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• It hit me this morning as I was reading a story about the LIV Tour’s tournament in Mexico City. The first tourney after the Saudi Arabian backers announced the money spigot would be turned off at the end of the year. If the plug is pulled suddenly, as in later this week, then it’s important to actually learn who won.

For future trivia purposes.

When Ken Jennings reads “He won the last LIV tournament” on Final Jeopardy in a decade or so, you better be able to write down “Who was Jon Rahm” if you want to win the $4.7 million prize.

• And, yes, I’m pretty sure inflation is going to be still going strong in the future.

• You know which Jeopardy answer would flummox me right now? This one: “He is the Mariners’ ace.” Is the question “Who is George Kirby?” Or is it “Who is Logan Gilbert?” Or “Who is Bryan Woo? Final answer.” (That latter part is a nod to “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” which seems so quaint these days whenever I fill up the Rav4.)

Heck, when Bryce Miller returns from his injury, he could step into that role. He’s that good.

Woo probably gets the nod, though he seems more of a throwback to the days when Regis Philbin was hosting “Millionaire.” He’s actually a stopper. A guy who takes the ball and, if your team is in the midst of Mets-like losing streak, consistently stops it. Of course, for that to happen, the M’s have to score a run or two.

• The did Sunday, thanks to three home runs. One was from the most unlikely of sources, previously hitless Rob Refsnyder, who opened the game by driving MacKenzie Gore’s 95-mile-per-hour first-pitch fastball over the left-field fence.

Refsnyder raised his average from .000 to .053 with one swing, after not recording a hit in his first 18 Mariner at-bats.

The other two home runs came from J.P. Crawford and Randy Arozarena, two more-likely sources.

• By the time the season ended, Braeden Smith was not playing much for Gonzaga’s men. He had transferred in from Colgate the year before, sat a season as a redshirt and began this season in the starting lineup. But despite fulfilling the main role Zag point guards had been charged with in the past, Smith lost his spot and minutes to freshman Mario Saint-Supery.

Saint-Supery was better for the Bulldogs down the stretch. Though, like a lot of relationships, the answer to what caused the change might have been more “It’s not you, it’s me.”

Smith’s game was what it was advertised. He was a competent scorer, an undersized – he is listed at 6-feet and 170 pounds but both seemed generous – defender and a good-to-great pass-first point guard. His assist-to-turnover ratio (3.34-to-1) was a number Mark Few has always looked for from the position.

But Saint-Supery was bigger (6-4, 199), stronger and, most-importantly for a team that struggled offensively after Braden Huff’s knee collapsed, a better long-range shooter. His 40.3% shooting from beyond the arc not only led the team but had to be accounted for by opponents. Few lived with his sloppiness (a mundane assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.56-to-1) as the Zags morphed from their usual continuity ball-screen offensive efficiency to a four-out squad that relied on its defense to earn wins.

Smith’s skills were as advertised. Saint-Supery’s were needed more.

Will Smith thrive at Notre Dame, where he will play next year? His size will be even more of an issue in the ACC. His ability to get the ball to the right place at the right time will be even more in demand for an Irish squad bereft of returning guards. It will be, once again, a balancing act. It will be interesting to see which way the scales fall.

• While researching the above note, I noticed something that went over my head at the end of the season. The Zags finished 12th nationally in Ken Pomeroy’s defensive efficiency metric. And 33rd in offense.

The former number is their best finish since 2022, when Chet Holmgren was anchoring the middle. The latter? Their worst since 2014, when they also failed to make the Sweet Sixteen for the last time until 2025.

Huff’s injury certainly changed the season’s trajectory, didn’t it?

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WSU: Around the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, we linked Jon Wilner’s conference basketball rankings yesterday morning. They are on the S-R site today and we link them again. … Wilner has his Big Ten projections in the Mercury News today. … Colorado has filled a big need from the portal, with the emphasis on “big.” … Utah added a guard. … Clarity about the future roster should be revealed in Tucson this week. … In football news, UCLA used its quarterback as its recruiting coordinator in a sense this offseason. … USC’s spring practices yielded some news. … Arizona’s players are leading the way on the defensive line. … A year in the program has helped a Fresno State defender’s confidence.

Gonzaga: Theo Lawson has the Smith news covered in this story. … He also has his Pac-12 transfer portal tracker. … The baseball team is on a roll powered by an offense that continues to put up crooked numbers. Colton Clark’s weekend roundup covers the latest three wins, at Saint Mary’s, in the Zags’ 10-game winning streak. Gonzaga scored 27 runs over the weekend.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Weber State’s new men’s basketball coach is finally where he wanted to be.

Indians: Spokane played its final game at Avista for a couple weeks on Sunday. And once again lost to Vancouver, this one 5-2. As Dave Nichols tells us in this story, the Indians head out on the road with a 6-9 record.

Zephyr: Spokane moved up the USL League One standings Sunday by handing league-leader Jacksonville a 2-1 loss at ONE Spokane Stadium. The Zephyr are tied for fifth place with three matches left before the eight-team playoffs begin.

Mariners: We linked the game story (and a lot more) above. And do so again here. … We also linked this Emerson Hancock story yesterday when it ran in the Times. And now that it is available on the S-R’s site, link it once more.

Storm: Training camp began Sunday. And it began with the head coach setting a tone.

Kraken: Goaltenders can go from being the most-hated guy in the building one season to the fan-favorite the next. Heck, it can happen to them multiple times in their career. Ask Philipp Grubauer.

Seahawks: Tory Horton was a steal in last year’s draft. And began to show what he could do until a leg injury struck him down. He’s going to be a key part of the Hawk offense this season. … The News Tribune’s Gregg Bell has his mock draft on the paper’s site today.

Golf: OK, the LIV trivia question may not have an answer now. The tour may continue past this unsettled season. Or it may not. We do know, however, the PGA Tour will continue on and, if there are more endings like Sunday’s, will continue to do well.

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• Looking around the office this morning, I decided I needed a clean-up strategy. The place looks like an episode of that once-middling-popular TV show “Hoarders.” My strategy? Pick one area to clean up each day. Spend 15, 20 minutes on it. And call it a day. Rinse, repeat until it’s all clean. I’m starting with the 8-foot-high stack of shoeboxes in the corner. They belong in the recycling. But will probably end up in the basement somewhere. I mean, c’mon, I might need one in the next two years or so. Until later …