A GRIP ON SPORTS

So what's a blogger to do on Mother's Day? Tell a story about mom? Would that be present enough? It's going to have to be. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

As most of you know, I'm a big Felix Hernandez booster. The guy can pitch, it's as simple as that. But yesterday evening, I found myself quietly rooting for Hernandez to fail. Don't judge me. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

We're in the Seattle area this week on personal business but that doesn't stop us from filling you in on the sports happening around the Inland Northwest. Just like the dirty looks my wife Kim kept shooting me didn't stop me from saying “there's another person headed to the Cougar spring game,” every time an RV passed us headed east on Interstate 90. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Late Saturday afternoon, I received a text from an old friend. My first golfing friend. It was about the Masters. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

The sun is peaking over the house next door. Yes, we can actually see the sunrise today and, no, the surprise has nothing to do with the hour. We're up this early a lot. It's the fact there are no clouds in the way that is surprising. But clouds are on the horizon, especially around Augusta, Georgia. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • UPDATED: 10:30 A.M.

We're not real focused today. Don't know what it is, whether it's the looming deadline on the 15th, which seems to sneak up on me every year. Or if it's something else causing me to act like a dog cooped up in the house too long. But whatever, we know we have to get our mind right and hunker down to writing. All of you are counting on it. Look, a squirrel. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Over the years I've come to realize this is one of the best weekends in sports. Masters weekend. I think it really sunk in about 1986, when I was playing in a softball tournament at Franklin Park and told everyone not to mention a thing, I was taping the Masters (for you young pups, go find your Fraggle Rock collection and wander down memory lane from the time before the DVR). It was so much easier to avoid news back in the pre-smart phone days, so I had no idea how the finale was going. I also had no idea there had been a problem at home, either. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

A lot has changed since Washington State began basketball practice last October. Personally, I was a member of the working class back then, drawing a gigantic paycheck and disdaining such trivial pursuits as buying Mega Millions tickets. Most, if not all, WSU basketball fans had tempered expectations after the early departures of Klay Thompson and DeAngelo Casto, though with Faisal Aden's scoring ability on the outside, the typical Cougar fan was at least looking forward to being able to watch one exciting player. But the postseason? Nah, that wasn't going to happen. So here it is, March 31, and this semi-retired sports writer is still writing about Washington State basketball (and lamenting the lack of a Mega Millions win last night). And yes, WSU did have at least one exciting player this season, though it wasn't Aden and though that exciting player didn't play in the CBI championship series with Pittsburgh. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

If you are a Washington State basketball fan, last night couldn't have finished much better. This gutty band of Cougars build a big second-half lead and hold on down the stretch to get past Big East monster Pitt, 67-66, at Beasley Coliseum. But when Lamar Patterson rose up from the corner for a last-.8-of-a-second final shot, didn't you feel like, “oh goodness, it's going …” Lucky, there wasn't enough time to finish that thought and the shot came up short. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Really, don't have any sharp hook this morning. I'm afraid my mood is as drab and dreary as the weather – it's raining pretty hard here in Spokane. Why is spring such a tease? One beautiful day followed by this? Hey, I'm semi-retired now, Ms. Nature. It's OK to have sunny days during the work week. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

How do you decide whether a day is a holiday or not? Is it whether the kids are in school, because that seems to mean there are a lot more holidays than there used to be. Or is when you don't have to work on a usual work day, because that would seem to indicate that there are a lot less holidays than there used to be. Me, I go by the garbage index. If the trash is picked up the regular day, then that means there was no holiday that week. So today, under my criteria, is not really a holiday. And we will treat it as such here. Read on.