A GRIP ON SPORTS • Today is the calm before the heat wave, or something like that. Read on.

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• Tomorrow morning at 8 a.m., Hoopfest will kick off downtown. It will be a madhouse of players, spectators, vendors and, quite possibly, medical personnel dealing with the effects of 100-degree heat. It’s a Spokane tradition unlike any other. It’s a big deal. And we’ll be there. Always am. I’ve played in many – I have a drawer full of T-shirts to prove it – and I’ve watched a bunch. That will be my role again tomorrow and Sunday, spectator. Which is fine with me. The sights and sounds and odors of Hoopfest are familiar and yet new every year. I’ll wander from north of the Arena to south of Sprague. I’ll drink plenty of water, watch plenty of games and hear plenty of words I shouldn’t know. It will be fun. And unlike any other weekend of the year. It’s my favorite.

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• WSU: The Cougars’ golf team dominated the Washington Women’s Amateur this week.

• Gonzaga: Kyle Wiltjer and Domantas Sabonis are headed to the Nike Basketball Academy. ... BYU still holds out hope it can get into the Big 12.

• EWU: Tyler Harvey heard his name called late last night as the nation’s leading scorer was picked 51st by the Orlando Magic in the NBA draft.

• Indians: A seven-run third inning led to an 11-4 defeat Thursday night and a 3-5 opening homestand. John Blanchette has the game story.

• Shock: Once again Spokane will measure itself against the best the AFL has to offer. San Jose will invade the Arena tonight. Jim Meehan has an advance.

• Hoopfest: We have an old videotape tucked away somewhere in a downstairs closet. On it is a TV advertisement for the first Hoopfest feature Mark Rypien, Ryne Sandberg, John Stockton and my eldest son, then a youngster who chewed gum really well. Rick Betts asked Tyler to be in the commercial and he was. So was the subject of this Jim Allen feature. I’m not sure Adam Jackson (pictured in this Dan Pelle photo from years ago) is on the tape though. I haven’t looked at it for a long, long time. Ever since our VCR died. ... Jim also has a story about the preparations for this weekend’s heat.

• Seahawks: The training camp practice tickets went on sale yesterday morning. They were gone within an hour, all 34,000 of them. ... Bob Condotta has a mailbag this morning. ... The NFL Network rates the top 100 players each year. There have been six Seahawks thus far, with 20 spots still to be filled.

• Mariners: Don’t expect much in the way of major moves for the M’s the rest of this year. ... Carson Smith (pictured) is getting addicted to the closer’s role. ... Hisashi Iwakuma threw another rehab start, this one in Tacoma, and was not perfect, but he was unscored upon. ... A couple M’s were picked for the Futures Game. ... James Jones has some things to work on in Tacoma. ... Hey fans, don’t worry, be happy.

• Sounders: Clint Dempsey was suspended for six U.S. Open Cup matches or two years, whatever is longer. Which means America’s best player will probably never play in the event again.

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• With Hoopfest coming up this weekend, there is a good chance I’ll be posting early and with a minimum of words. At least tomorrow. I want to get downtown as soon as possible. Until later ...

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