A Grip on Sports: Baseball, golf and some drizzle are all on the schedule for the upcoming weekend

A GRIP ON SPORTS • We love this weekend. Baseball begins. The Masters. A cold rain in the Spokane area. One of those things doesn’t belong.

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• Sure, we need April showers to make May’s flowers bloom. Intellectually, we understand that. But, really? Couldn’t we have a nice warm weekend, with highs in the 60s? After all, the Spokane Indians begin a long season of High A baseball on Friday.

At least they are only home for three days before hitting the road to Eugene. Just so you know, there is snow in the forecast for their travel day Monday. Maybe that’s why Spokane hasn’t played at home in April since 1982, when Triple A baseball was all the rage.

Don’t worry, though. By the time the Indians return on April 18 we may be looking at highs in 60s.  

But that’s for the future. For Friday night it’s Vancouver the Indians will be worried about. And on Wednesday, it was their fans. The 2022 edition spent the evening doing back flips, hitting home runs and generally acclimating to Avista Stadium with fans in attendance.

Looking at the photos from the event we had just one question concerning the improved field. How do we get our lawn to look that nice this time of year?

• The Spokane weather is positively balmy compared to what they are receiving in Minneapolis. The high today won’t reach 40 and it’s raining. Which is why the M’s season opener was moved to Friday before yesterday was more than a few hours old.

By tomorrow the rain will have moved out and the sun is expected to shine – a little. And the M’s will embark on their most-anticipated season in years.

• Rain is not a problem in Augusta, where the azaleas are in bloom and Tiger Woods’ health is not. At least the five-time Masters champion has not been laid low by the broken bones he suffered in 2021’s car crash. He is playing.

Though Woods is the center of attention (and will be as long as he can make an appearance), he’s not the gamblers’ favorite.

That role is held by world No. 2 Jon Rahm, who is trying to become the fourth player from Spain to win the event. But neither is our pick.

We have Patrick Cantlay donning the green jacket Sunday. He’s not among the most talked about players but we see him as ready to win a major. (Remember, we wrote this before Thursday’s round was just getting started, so there’s that.)

Our son and my longest-tenured friend have the same pick this weekend: Collin Morikawa. Let’s see, he’s 25, has two major titles already and has the game to win at Augusta. Ya, they’re probably smarter.

 • Years ago, when we actually worked in an office that didn’t have the word home in front of it, we had a little Masters’ draft each year with former S-R and Chronicle golf writer Steve Bergum. We would each pick six players in a snake draft, then keep score. You received points for where your player finished, though we also kept track of the overall score to give us a tiebreaker.

For years Jack Nicklaus was the first pick no matter who had it. But before you could blink we were in the 90s and Greg Norman or Nick Faldo or Fred Couples took the coveted spot. It was fun. And Bergum won a lot.

No wonder he was the golf writer. And yours truly made maps.

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WSU: Around the Pac-12 and college football, the conference may be a loser in the NIL race unless everyone gets on board. … Washington’s Sav’ell Smalls believes he has a lot of work to do to become the player he wants to be. … The Huskies also added a running back. … Oregon has added a critical defensive piece. … The young tight ends are growing into their roles at Colorado. … An Arizona State offensive lineman likes to lead. … Arizona is losing a linebacker. … A Utah linebacker left Florida for Salt Lake City. … In basketball news, just where will Utah find scoring next season? … Jabari Walker was Colorado’s most valuable player.

Gonzaga: Around the WCC, San Diego has a new basketball coach. It is veteran coach and analyst Steve Lavin, who leaves the broadcast ranks to lead the Toreros. … BYU sees itself as a second-chance school.

EWU: We have one hope. We hope Eric Barriere gets a chance to play quarterback in the National Football League. After all he was able to accomplish at Eastern Washington, it would be a shame if his size or pedigree or something else derailed his dream. Barriere showed off his talents for NFL scouts yesterday in Cheney. Theo Lawson and Jesse Tinsley were there, with Theo writing this story and Jesse taking care of the visuals with a photo gallery. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Northern Colorado has reworked its football coaching staff. … Montana State basketball coach Danny Sprinkle signed a four-year extension.

Preps: Dave Nichols has a roundup of the midweek action. … A shot clock is coming to Idaho hoops. As early as next season if schools can buy them in time. … Oregon is almost on board as well.

Chiefs: Spokane didn’t play the entire WHL season without defeating Everett. The last battle between the two ended in the Chiefs earning a 3-2 overtime win at the Arena. The final season series tally? Everett 13, Spokane 1.

Indians: As we mentioned (and linked) above, Spokane held its fanfest last night. Garrett Cabeza has the coverage. … If you’ve been around Spokane for a while, you should be pretty aware of the Indians’ history. How aware? Take Howie Stalwick’s trivia quiz and find out. … Baseball is a funny game. And baseball players have a great sense of humor. Intentional or not. Howie shares some quotes.

Golf: The Masters’ Par-3 contest is fun to watch just for the antics of the players’ kids. And for some great shots.

Mariners: Just how well will the M’s do this season? … It takes a village (almost) to get Mitch Haniger ready to play.

Seahawks: What is left for the Hawks to do this offseason?

Sounders: Seattle won 3-1 last night, taking a lead into the second leg of their CONCACAF semifinal with NYC FC.

Kraken: Seattle traveled to St. Louis and lost 4-1.

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• It is still weird to peruse through a list of Masters winners and see no one listed for 2020. Oh wait. No one for April of 2020. Dustin Johnson won in November. … Here’s a bit of Masters trivia for you. Can you name the five players who have finished either first or second for three consecutive years? We’ll give you one. Jack Nicklaus. He is also is the only player to finish first or second four consecutive years when he won three times between 1963 and 1966. We will have the answer for you tomorrow. Until later …