If it continues to rain, we have some things you can do
A GRIP ON SPORTS • For much of this week, the weather was fairly perfect for late February. Warm (for this time of year) and the sun shining. So we wake up on Saturday morning and what do we have? Rain. Which is great excuse just to stay in and watch sports on TV. And, that my friends, is how you make orange juice out of expired oranges. Read on.
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• We could whine and mope and all that but instead we have decided to celebrate our inability to get outside. It doesn’t hurt, of course, that, being retired, we spent much of the week walking around outside, taking advantage of the good weather. And napping, of course. That’s always on the agenda. Soon, when it is warm enough, I’ll be able to combine those two entities, the outside and napping. Heaven. But if you were stuck inside yesterday and spent the morning watching the sun warm the streets around your office, I’m sure the weather today comes as something of a disappointment. Well, there are things you can do. You can watch the golf from Florida and realize there will be 60-degree days around here soon. You can watch Gonzaga play BYU this evening with the knowledge the Zags are tuning up for one of their more important WCC tournaments in years. You can spend the morning watching auto racing. You can watch great college basketball games all day, from Butler and Georgetown meeting this morning, through North Carolina and Virginia this afternoon to the nightcap, which just happens to be UC Irvine and, well, who cares? It’s UC Irvine, after all. Everyone should be watching. Heck, if you love the NBA (or Seth Curry) you can watch Golden State face Oklahoma City in prime time. OK, prime time back East, but it’s always prime time somewhere. Just hope it keeps raining. That’s your built in excuse not to begin cleaning up a winter’s worth of debris and rubble.
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• WSU: Joe Dahl worked out at the NFL’s draft combine yesterday and Jacob Thorpe put together this blog post with his numbers. Dahl did OK and probably helped his status. ... It’s Saturday during the offseason so we can pass along this piece on WSU from ESPN.com’s Pac-12 blog. Oh, and its weekly mailbag as well. ... One of the best basketball players in the Pac-12 saw her season end with an ACL injury suffered at practice.
• Gonzaga: The final regular season game looms for the Bulldogs and BYU, which means it is senior night in Provo. Jim Meehan will be there and he has an advance on what the game means. Jim also returned to the blog yesterday and posted a look back at the USD win.
• Chiefs: It was not a good night for the home team Friday in the Arena. Prince George pounced early and the Cougars went on to a 6-0 victory. Tom Clouse has the game story and Colin Mulvany has a photo report. ... Kamloops kept ahold of the final playoff spot with a 3-2 overtime win at Everett.
• Empire: The Empire will play its first IFL home game tonight. Jim Meehan has an advance of the team’s debut.
• NIC: The undefeated Cardinals will play for the Region 18 title tonight.
• Preps: It was a busy day yesterday, with Post Falls doing what it needed to do to move into a commanding spot in Idaho's 5A wrestling tournament. ... There was also playoff basketball, with Greg Lee at ACH’s State win in Moses Lake. ... Greg also has a story on Lake City’s new football coach, who has a recognizable last name. ... Back to basketball, we have a roundup of other first-round State action in Washington as well as this piece from Idaho. ... Jim Allen has this story on two area youth soccer organizations joining forces.
• Seahawks: Yes, Pete Carroll and the Hawks are reportedly working on a contract extension. ... The combine has some Seattle legends and has some potential for the Hawks. ... Russell Okung has no regrets about representing himself.
• Mariners: It’s funny. Reading this story about pitch framing, it seems the way I was taught some 40-plus years ago is now coming back into the mainstream. ... Will Wade Miley be an innings-eater again this season? ... We can pass along some notes from Peoria.
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• It looks as if it’s already stopped raining out there. That’s not good. There could be some pressure to do yard work. I’m rooting for you. Until later ...
