A GRIP ON SPORTS • When the news broke Tuesday morning Mark Few was headed to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, the first person I immediately thought of was Ted Lasso. Weird, I know. But the best college basketball coach the Inland Northwest has ever seen and a fictional English soccer manager have one important aspect in common. Belief.
A GRIP ON SPORTS • This is supposed to be a lamb-like day, though March is giving the Spokane area a lion-like cold shoulder. Better put off the shearing for a few days. Maybe a few notes will keep everyone warm.
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Good things happen to good people. At about the same percentage, I’m sure, as they happen to bad people. There is a difference, though. It is easy to celebrate the former.
A GRIP ON SPORTS • The last Saturday of March is so different than the first one. Even if I limit my observations of this year’s changes to the sports realm. And avoid everything else. As hard as that may be.
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Time begins anew today. It is Opening Day. Baseball season. And all that the sport brings from here to October. Around these parts, there is hope the Mariners will be playing in that final month. And that we’ll all be able to watch.
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.
A GRIP ON SPORTS • There are times that I wish Carl Spackler was a real person. And was employed as a SportsCenter talking head. This time of year is one of them. Mainly because how he would view what’s about to happen in men’s college hoops.
TEMPE, Ariz. – Randy Bennett, who has led one of the top midmajor programs for years, is set to become the next head coach at Arizona State, a source briefed on the situation confirmed to the Athletic.
A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s not often breaking news happens this early on a Monday morning. But today is the exception. Adam Schefter of ESPN is reporting the Seahawks and star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba have reached agreement on a contract extension.
A GRIP ON SPORTS • The first two days of the men’s tournament are over. It’s on to the second round. The first day of the women’s tournament is over. And every local NCAA Division I basketball team has played. Who does that leave us for the weekend?
NORMAN, Okla. – Arthur Moreira recalled a turning point for women’s basketball at Idaho. The Vandals had just lost to Montana State by 33 points, a game Moreira said he’ll never forget because “it was awful and we got our butts kicked.”
After struggling to string together wins in the regular season, the Vandals (21-15) topped Eastern Washington in Cheney to cap the Big Sky slate, before running through the conference tournament as the No. 7 seed to earn one of the NCAA Tournament's more-surprising berths.
A GRIP ON SPORTS • There was one thing I was certain of when I began writing this column almost 15 years ago. The day Chuck Norris died, I would share my story of the lone interaction I had with the “Walker, Texas Ranger” star. It has everything. High school football. A rickety press box. Family. Sports writing. But, alas, it may have to wait. Today is just not the day.
Freshman Kingston Flemings had 18 points, forward Chris Cenac Jr. grabbed 18 rebounds and second-seeded Houston took care of business against the 15th-seeded Vandals with a 78-47 victory in a South Region first-round contest.
It has been a season of similar trajectories for the two teams, starting with wins over Washington State to open the season in Pullman, to winning the Big Sky tournament on the same day, and finally being placed just a half hour away in the Big Dance.
The Basketball Power Index gives 13th-seeded Idaho a 1.9% chance to advance to the round of 32 against fourth-seeded Oklahoma on the Sooners’ home court Friday.
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Today is one of the best two days of sports TV each year. Not because of the diversity but because of volume. Sixteen NCAA Tournament men’s basketball games, starting at 9:15 in the morning and running until, well, whenever the Idaho game with Houston ends after 9 p.m.
Ted Kirpes moved away from Spokane after completing the first two Bloomsday races, but he has made it a point to journey back on the first Sunday in May ever since. He even cut his honeymoon short to make sure he didn’t miss the race.
For Blassingame and 15th-seeded Idaho, the hope is that history repeats itself when the Vandals (21-14) take on second-seeded Houston (28-6) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at 7:10 p.m. (PST) Thursday at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City (TruTV).
Vandals coach Alex Pribble noted Wednesday that Monson's legacy has been important for him to soak in during his three years at Idaho, and knows the history of successful coaches in the Palouse sets a high standard.
As college basketball teams continue to score more and look for more opportunities, Houston (28-6) plays at one of the slowest paces in the country. The Cougars average just 67.2 offensive possessions per game, ranking 328th out of 365 Division I teams.
After the UI men face Houston on Thursday in OKC, the Vandals women will get down to business in their own first-round game Friday at the Lloyd Noble Center on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman.
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Sneezing is nothing to sneeze at. As I found out Tuesday night. One explosive sneeze, one rib injury. Now the rest of the week’s activities will slow to a crawl.
Gruden was seen holding a gold football helmet with a "Grumpy Joe" sticker on the side, saying that he was taking the No. 15th-seeded Vandals over second-seeded Houston.
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Like a lot of us, my bracket is due today. It’s something I’ve done forever, if by forever you mean since 2024. After being shamed into it at my 50th high school reunion. If the guy who wrote the highly esteemed Knight Breeze sports column, Grippi’s Gripes, isn’t in the pool, what are we even doing here?
Considering he had been immersed in a long, award-winning career as a sports broadcaster in New York City, Otis Livingston was surprised to be touched so deeply by a basketball tidbit that hit the news last week. The Idaho Vandals men’s basketball team had qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 36 years.
Teams climbed and dropped immediately above and below Gonzaga in the latest Associated Press college basketball poll, but the Zags didn’t move. GU stayed at No. 12 following its march to the West Coast Conference Tournament title with victories over Oregon State and Santa Clara.
After waiting 36 years to get back to the NCAA Tournament, it was only fitting that the Idaho men's basketball team was the last team to hear their name called on Selection Sunday.
The Idaho men’s basketball team received its save the date for the NCAA Tournament when the Vandals made a surprise run through the Big Sky Conference Tournament. On Sunday, Idaho got its formal invitation to join the Big Dance for the first time in 36 years.
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Do you have a strategy? A way to ensure your NCAA bracket stands out among those you compete with over the next three weeks? A naming strategy, I mean. That’s the most important part, right? Having the most outlandish and memorable team name?
When a college basketball team is a double-digit seed to the NCAA Tournament, projecting where said team lands is like trying to throw darts blindfolded.
A GRIP ON SPORTS • The last Saturday before Selection Sunday has a lot to live up to. Top of that list? The last Friday before Selection Sunday. An incredible night of college basketball. With a tense baseball game thrown in to stress your New Year’s resolution not to chew your nails.
A GRIP ON SPORTS • What a way to start a weekend. There was an ironic – more on that in a second – snowfall around the Spokane area overnight. Confetti fell like snow on the Idaho basketball teams. And the slippery-as-ice Big 12 glass basketball court melted into the storage closet, but not before it may have cost BYU a win.
