A GRIP ON SPORTS • Honestly, are any of you surprised Cooper Kupp was impressive in his first weekend with the Los Angeles Rams? Read on.

The two best horses in the Preakness Stakes will be eyeball to eyeball coming out of the starting gate.

It’s good timing to play the last-place team in the Intense Conference. It’s not good timing to play on a short week.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • The weekend beckons. It’s not supposed to be warm, but sunshine expected around here. None in Seattle however, especially not around the Mariners’ offices. Read on.

The line of scrimmage usually tells the story of football games at any level. It certainly did in Arizona’s 49-35 Indoor Football League win over the Spokane Empire on Friday at the Arena.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Some baseball losses are shouldered by the hitters. Some are the fault of the pitchers. And some, like the M’s defeat last night in Toronto, can be blamed on someone else. Read on.

The Spokane Empire play the Arizona Rattlers at home in the Spokane Arena, Friday, May 12, 2017.

Feels a little like the old days.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • The NCAA wants everyone to believe college athletics are played by student/athletes, with the emphasis on the last word. And that those student/athletes are at a college for one reason only: to get an education. Read on.

Nick Haag is getting another shot in the NFL and he made Spokane Empire history along the way.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Yesterday, 19 out of 20 horses who started at the Kentucky Derby finished. Only one, Always Dreaming, was declared the champion, however. Today, more than 40,000 folks will finish the Bloomsday race here in Spokane. And all should be considered champions. Read on.

Lorenzo Brown rushed for 70 yards and three touchdowns, and passed for another score, as the Sioux Falls Storm handled the Spokane Empire 62-32 in a rematch of last season’s championship game.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Call it Black Friday if you must, but yesterday wasn’t all that bad for the Mariners. It was worse. Read on.

The Spokane Empire will face the Sioux Falls Storm in Week 12 of the 2017 Indoor Football League regular season at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls at 5:00 p.m.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Every year we look out the back slider and see the massive Lilac plant in the southwest corner of the yard. And wait for it to bloom. You know why? It’s simple. The emerging buds means Bloomsday is here. Read on.

Classic Empire was made the early 4-1 favorite for the Kentucky Derby on Wednesday, with just four of the 20 horses listed at single digits in a wide-open race.

Passengers on Amtrak’s Empire Builder have a message for Congress: Don’t cut long-distance rail travel.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Where were we? Oh ya, dealing with the draft. And spring football. And the M’s struggles. Take a day and nothing changes. Read on.