A Grip on Sports: Hey, is that April just round the bend? Time to sort through the mess left by March and see what’s ahead
A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s time for spring cleaning. Past time, actually. I figured that out Sunday evening when I went looking for something on my desk. Found it. Under a pile of papers that threatened to avalanche – is that a verb too? – all over the floor. Then I looked at my iMac’s desktop. It was worse.
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• I’ve always been incessant note taker. Still am, though the form has morphed over the decades.
Every note used to be on paper. Legal pad, college-ruled sheet, napkin, didn’t matter. Thought came. Pen grabbed. Note written.
The technological revolution of the last half-century has led to another revolting development. Notes typed into the computer, usually on a random Word document that’s saved on the desktop or a folder aptly labeled “Vince’s Notes.”
This weekend it reminded me of an Animal House quote I’ve got saved somewhere. That’s no way to go through life son. OK, so I paraphrased. You get the picture.
I have a new goal for April. Clean up my office. Clean up my desk. “Cleanup on aisle 16.” That last one illustrates how messy, and daunting, the task ahead is. But all journeys start with one step, right? Here’s our first, taken this last day of March. A bunch of sports-related notes about the month ahead. Get them out of the way now so I don’t hoard every little piece of paper – or their computer counterparts – that reminds me of them.
• March has its madness, sure. But April has its Masters. With or without the capital letter.
The second weekend of the month may be the best weekend of the year. Every year. It’s not just the golf tournament, though the competition at a snooty golf club in Augusta, Georgia, oftentimes has us poised on the precipice of our seat much of Sunday afternoon.
It’s more than that. It’s the flowers. The green grass. The promise of what lies ahead for those of us who don’t live south of Interstate 40.
What won’t lie ahead this year is listening to Verne Lundquist. CBS’ veteran voice hung up his lozenges after Scottie Scheffler’s win last year, leaving a hole in the broadcast his golden tones – and memorable phrases – used to fill.
Somewhere there’s a note that just reads “Maybe … yes sir!” It was written to remind me of the power of simplicity. I need to find that. It should be simple. It has to be in a pile somewhere.
• College basketball ends in April. A week from today, actually. In San Antonio. Will Duke’s Cooper Flagg cut the net? Or Johni Broome and Auburn? That 7-foot freshman at Florida who doesn’t need a ladder?
Our hope, selfishly in one regard, is Houston’s Kelvin Sampson is the coach that gets to slowly ascend the Werner ladder and clip the last piece of twine this season.
My admiration of Sampson’s coaching style took root in his time in Pullman. My current fascination of his redemption story was planted in a pre-tourney bracket that still holds hope for a financial payout. And my final piece of motivation is fueled by the ability to be able to write next Tuesday morning something about cheaters actually do prosper.
By the way, I found a note on a (unused) tissue next to the computer. The 7-footer’s name is Olivier Rioux. He’s actually 7-foot-9, the tallest NCAA D-I player ever, and he is redshirting this season.
• Not sure who is going to win the women’s NCAA title Sunday in Tampa, but I wouldn’t count out South Carolina again. Every year there seems to be one team in the tournament who wins every close game. This year, at least over the weekend, South Carolina has been that team.
• April’s culminating event? No, not maxing out your credit card at the nursery for annuals. Around these parts that’s more of an early May thing.
The NFL draft. The celebration of our national obsession with one sport.
This year it will be held in and around Green Bay’s Lambeau Field, a hat-tip to the game’s history all the while celebrating something that hardly caused a ripple in the nation’s fabric 25 years ago.
Rummage around and find a pencil or a pen. Rip a page out of your kid’s binder. Write one word: Draft. Under that, write April 24, 25 and 26. Find a red Sharpie. Circle the note. Stick it on the side of the refrigerator.
All the spring cleaning you really need is done. You are ready for what matters.
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NCAA Regionals: Sunday’s Elite Eight matchup between top-seed UCLA and perennial power LSU in the Spokane Arena played out just as everyone expected. And also in a manner that couldn’t have been predicted. It was a physical game. It was also a game that UCLA may have secured while its best player, center Lauren Betts, sat with two-first half fouls. Greg Lee was there and has this game story. … There is other coverage of the game as well, not only from Los Angeles but from a national perspective. … I wanted to take a look at downtown Spokane’s basketball presence from 10,000 feet and did so, metaphorically, in this column. Hooptown USA sure seems apt this morning. … Speaking of today, the final game of the second Spokane regional is tonight. The 13.5-point favorite Connecticut, led by star Paige Bueckers, faces top-seed – ya, that’s right, the top seed is a two-touchdown underdog – USC at 6 (ESPN). Jim Allen has a preview of the game that explains that anomaly. … We can pass along previews from L.A. and nationally as well.
WSU: The Cougars have at least one more men’s basketball game this season. It is tonight, starting at 8 on FS1. The College Basketball Crown tournament in Las Vegas. Fox Sport’s new endeavor, built around $500,000 in NIL money for the winning participants. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, other teams playing in Vegas today with ties to the conference of champions? Utah (noon), Boise State (2:30 p.m.) and Arizona State (5:30). FS1 has all of those games. … Back to the NCAA tourney, Jon Wilner has his winners and losers in the Mercury News. … Walk-ons may be as relevant as Babe Ruth if the House settlement goes through as written. … We mentioned Utah is playing this week in Las Vegas. The Utes’ transfer portal entrants are still playing. … KJ Lewis wanted to play at Arizona. Did that. Now he wants to play somewhere else. … The celebration of the coaching hire is over at Colorado State. We’re certain mainly because a breakout star hit the transfer portal. … In football news, Oregon picked up an Ole Miss safety that seems confident in his abilities. … Marshall Faulk is trying to improve the fundamentals of Colorado’s running backs. … Utah’s new quarterback, New Mexico transfer Devon Dampier, is showing his new teammates this spring what he can do. … Arizona’s center is doing the same thing.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, UC Davis is hosting a pro day.
Chiefs: Spokane took a six-goal lead into the third period. The Chiefs seemed to have the second game in their opening-round WHL playoff series wrapped up. Then host Vancouver scored three quick goals to start the final period, leading to a lengthy hang-on time. The Chiefs did, winning 7-5. The teams return to Spokane on Wednesday for game three.
Mariners: If Bryan Woo could pitch against the Sacramento A’s every game, you could pencil him in for the Cy Young right now. Then again, if Julio Rodriguez could hit the ball every time as hard as he hit his two-run home run yesterday – 113 miles per hour off the bat – you could also pencil him in for the MVP too. If the Yankees’ bat designer doesn’t win it. Anyhow, those two, along with leadoff man Victor Robles, were the prime catalysts behind Seattle’s 2-1 win, salvaging a split of its season-opening four game series.
Seahawks: Hey, did you know the draft is next month? Sure you did. But do you know who the Hawks will select? No one does. Not yet anyhow. … No one knows if the owners will vote to ban the tush push either, but a proposal is on the table at meetings this week.
Reign: Seattle suffered its first loss of the season yesterday. Angel City picked up a 2-1 win.
Kraken: What went wrong with Seattle this season? And what’s next?
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• I was exhausted last night. Long weekend. Successful but long. And all the major sports ended early enough to get to bed at a decent hour. Which might explain why I woke up before 5 this morning and began working. And why this feature was on the S-R website so early. We’ll need a nap, though. We’re headed to the Arena tonight for an S-R column on the game. Until later …