A Grip on Sports: The secret to a great midweek column? A hefty serving of spicy thoughts from Arizona to Pullman and everywhere in between

A GRIP ON SPORTS • When you step into the kitchen to cook, are you committed to faithfully following a recipe? Or are you more of a wing-it type of chef that would be at home on “Chopped?” I’m a little a both, though today, cooking up this midweek column, I decided to go with a little pinch of this and a dash of that.

•••••••

• Yep, today we’re serving column gumbo. Others label it a variety of ways, from a “notes column” to “emptying the notebook.” Heck, one of my favorites growing up was entitled “notes on a scorecard.” (Notice a trend?) But I am not big on running with the crowd. And I’m hungry. So gumbo it is.

• Where to start? How about in Moraga, where the departure of Randy Bennett – to Arizona State – could well be the beginning of the end for the Gaels’ basketball as we’ve known it. Sports historians might pinpoint a better starting point though. Oct. 1, 2024. The day Gonzaga announced it was headed to the Pac-12. Saint Mary’s nemesis, and raison d’être, had an expiration date.

A few days after the Zags last West Coast Conference season ended, Bennett skedaddled to Tempe. And Tuesday he was able to entice SMC’s top 2026 recruit, guard JRob Croy, to join him there.

They other Nike dropped in the afternoon when Saint Mary’s leading scorer Paulius Murauskas let the world know he’s entering the transfer portal when it opens April 7. New coach Mickey McConnell hasn’t even hit the introductory press conference podium yet – that’s scheduled for today – and the roster is beginning to melt.

• Is North Carolina one of college basketball’s blue bloods? Heck yes it is. Six NCAA titles certainly qualify.

Is North Carolina one of college basketball’s power schools these days? Maybe not. Which is why alum Hubert Davis is no longer the head coach. He was dumped Tuesday after five seasons without a national title.

Next up on the Tar Heels’ bench? Speculation abounds it will be former Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd. If that’s the case, what a rocket ship of a ride for Lloyd, who not all that long ago was either known as the Zags’ top international recruiter or that crazy guy on the GU bench who used to wander down to the baseline all the time. Take your pick. Now he may be ascending to a chair once occupied by Dean Smith? That’s quite a meteoric ascent.

• There is one line in The Athletic story on Lloyd’s North Carolina front-runner status that piqued my interest.

“North Carolina stakeholders who wanted Gonzaga coach Mark Few to replace Roy Williams in 2021 are especially high on Lloyd, Few’s disciple, according to multiple sources.”

Why does it set off alarm bells? A lot has changed since 2021 in college athletics. A lot of the reasons UNC couldn’t pry Few away back then are no longer in play. Why go after the mentee when the mentor may just be amiable these days? Just wondering.

• Thank goodness the calendar tells us it is spring. Now it seems apropos spring football practices are beginning.

This time tomorrow the Cougars will be on the field, fighting the late March chill and running around in T-shirts, shorts – maybe sweats – and helmets. It will be Kirby Moore’s first time leading them as a group.

Heck, it will be Moore’s first time leading any football team as a head coach.

That may be less important than many would have you believe.

Heck, even Babe Hollingbery had to start sometime. And, no, I wasn’t there to document his first practice in 1926. But it’s not hard to imagine the guy in a WSU sweater, sporting a huge megaphone at his side, leading the Cougars as they run onto the practice field.

Maybe someday the same will be written about Moore and March 26, 2026. All he has to do is win 94 games in Pullman.

• I’m not sure there is a fair-to-middling MLB franchise that spends more time celebrating its less-than-stellar past than the Seattle Mariners.

During the wandering-in-the-desert early part of the 21st Century, the M’s always seemed ready to dangle a bunch of keys in front of their fans eyes, chanting “1995” or “2001” or even “how about that trade for Jay Buhner, huh?”

Now the marketing crew is joining in. One of its greatest creations, Larry Bernandez, is back. Reborn, it seems, in the modern age as Hal Baleigh.

OK, the newest M’s commercial is funny. Raleigh is unable to get a pitch to hit. A care package arrives from Felix Hernandez. Hal Baleigh, fake hair, glasses and duct-taped jersey, enters the batter’s box. Boom, home run.

Yes, it’s funny. After 1,492 times, though, maybe not. Or maybe the joke will wear thin in 2031, when, hopefully, something new and shiny shows up. Either way, the best ads to entice folks to watch on TV – however that works out – or attend in person?

A commercial with Raleigh or Julio Rodriguez or Bryan Woo kissing a World Series trophy. A real World Series trophy. Not the Horld Beries trophy.

•••

WSU: No surprise here. With spring football kicking off tomorrow, Greg Woods has another preview story. This one is on Trent Bray’s defense. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner’s picks for the Sweet Sixteen? They are on the S-R site today. I link them once more. … A couple key Oregon men’s players have announced their intent to enter the transfer portal. One is guard Jackson Shelstad, who has long been on Gonzaga’s radar. … Colorado has already begun to add to its roster. … Utah State tried to play Cinderella. But the show closed after one big night. … Rivalries are the best, aren’t they? … Arizona has been up and down in the Sweet 16 over the years. And it’s been a long time since it’s made the Final Four. … The portal will grab at least one San Diego State player. … How did each Colorado State player do this season? … Utah State must enter a crowded job market to fill its opening. … There is only one West Coast-based women’s team still playing in the NCAA Tournament. And UCLA faces a tough path to the Final Four in Phoenix. … Oregon bowed out last weekend but the future looks bright. But, these days, who can be sure?

• In football news, Christian Caple sat down with Washington athletic director Pat Chun. Not sure if their favorite Cougar Country order came up in the conversation. But Husky football certainly did. … The Colorado receiving corps is banged up already. … Utah and Utah State playing is a good thing for the state. … The Utes will not have a spring game this year. … USC feels its offensive line will be reliable this fall. … Arizona finally hit the practice field. … A former Boise State player has agreed to a plea deal. … Fresno State is making a change off the field. With its media partner.

Gonzaga: Jim Meehan and Richard Fox have one more Zags Basketball Insiders podcast for you. At least until they weigh in on whatever transfer portal activity occurs. Anyhow, you can listen to them talk about the end of the 2025-26 season here if you like.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Southern Utah football has agreed to play Utah in a couple years. … Weber State kicked off its first spring under new coach Eric Kjar. … Northern Arizona has a few new assistants.

Reign: Seattle’s NWSL team takes over ONE Spokane Stadium for the next couple weeks and John Allison has it covered. The Reign, like the Sounders before them, are using the downtown stadium to fill the home-game gap brought on by Lumen Field’s World Cup-mandated changes.

Seahawks: The Jaxon Smith-Njigba extension is great for the Hawks. You know who it isn’t great for? OK, Matt Calkins will tell you: the rest of the NFL. … When you think of Beaverton, Oregon, the first shoe that comes to mind is Nike, right? It’s where Phil Knight put his company’s headquarters so many years ago. But it also the site of Adidas USA’s headquarters as well. John Canzano headed to that shoe company’s campus recently as Adidas welcomed a bunch of NFL draft prospects.

Sonics: Tim Booth’s Times story on the NBA’s expansion plans, and today’s possibility of addressing how Seattle fits into them, is available on the S-R site this morning.

Mariners: So is Tim’s story on Luke Raley. … What should we expect from each Mariner player and the team this season? Can the M’s win the A.L. West again? … Hey. The baseball season begins tonight. Officially. And it’s on Netflix. The world is passing me by.

Kraken: Seattle rallied from a three-goal deficit. That’s good. But the Kraken still lost 5-4 to the host Florida Panthers. That’s not good. Seattle is going the wrong way as the season winds down.  

•••       

• When I was young, I would watch my dad make spaghetti sauce. He had a recipe. In his head. But mainly it was a magical, “double-double-toil-and-trouble” concoction. He always added the same spices, sure, but the amounts varied. Maybe it’s why I didn’t like red sauce much until Kim made him write it down. The variance in taste made this kid leery of what he was eating back in the day. The old man he’s become piles the stuff on his sausage sandwich like gravy. Until later …