A Grip on Sports: Thursday may not have a catchy nickname or an alliterative affectation but it certainly knocked us back this week

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Of all the days of the week, Thursday may have the least cachet. Think about it. The weekend days are rock stars. Monday is hated. Tuesday has tacos. Wednesday? The hump. And everyone thanks the big guy upstairs for Friday. Thursday? Nothing. Except, maybe, March 27, 2025. Yesterday. A Thursday to remember.

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• Worlds collided. TVs were stacked upon each other. Crowds screamed, yelled and booed. America was in the middle of a national tournament and a beginning of a new season. What a day.

A day that didn’t slow until well into the evening. Or, if you are a beleaguered Mariners fan living on the East Coast, early Friday morning.

The great majority of the M’s faithful, however, were able to watch their team kick off the 2025 season with a come-from-behind win that ended at a decent hour. Powered by an unlikely hero.

It was around 9 p.m. when Jorge Polanco – yes, Jorge Polanco – drove a Jose LeClerc fastball over the centerfield fence to lift the M’s to a 4-2 win over the MLB’s only team without a city connection, the A’s.

What marine layer? It didn’t bother Polanco, who started his Seattle redemption story with a new position – third base – and a rediscovered hitting stroke – two singles and the game-deciding dinger. Nor did it impact Randy Arozarena, whose game-tying eighth-inning solo wallop reached the left-field bleachers faster than his bat found the infield dirt – and Arozarena didn’t flip it. It was more of a slam dunk with the batter’s box playing the role of rim.

Of course, the Mariners’ Logan Gilbert turned in a Cy Young-worthy outing – seven innings, two hits, one run, eight strikeouts. And left trailing 1-0, his one wayward pitch resulting in the first of two Tyler Soderstrom solo home runs.

A very-Mariner-like run in the seventh – two walks, a wild pitch, an awful slide and a sacrifice fly – and Arozarena’s bomb match Soderstrom’s output, Polanco did the rest and the non-sellout crowd of 42,871 went home satisfied.  

• Those of us already home had been as busy as Cal Raleigh, though I’m pretty sure none of us use a shin guard to mount our TV remote. Though it would be cool, that’s for sure.

The remote got a workout though. Had to. Arizona kept coming back on Duke, trying its best – and failing – to overcome the hook-and-hold the officiating crew had on the Wildcats’ hopes. Texas Tech was able to overcome an Arkansas 16-point lead, mainly because the Razorbacks went from playing like coach John Calipari’s 2012 Kentucky team to his 2024 version in a flash. Then there was Florida rolling over Maryland and Alabama hitting 25 – yes, 25 – 3-pointers in demolishing BYU.

Tech’s 85-83 overtime victory allowed two non-SEC schools into the Elite Eight – joining Duke – in what is fast becoming the “it-just-means-more” conference’s invitational. Funny, it wasn’t long ago that descriptive phrase was about football.

• For those who are still attuned to other postseason hoops tournaments, the two local women’s teams still playing, Washington State and Gonzaga, just happened to be at the same time. Neither won, though, with the Cougars yielding a 17-point fourth-quarter run in their WNIT defeat and the Zags squandering a late six-point edge before falling in overtime to host Minnesota in the WBIT quarterfinals.

• How does the weekend top Thursday? Not sure but the effort will be there.

Friday’s highlights include four more men’s Sweet 16 matchups, headlined by two Big Ten vs. SEC games on CBS. Michigan State vs. Mississippi starts it at 4 p.m., followed by Michigan against Auburn at 6:30.

The women’s NCAA tourney is also at the Sweet 16 stage, with the two late games – LSU vs. North Carolina State (4:30) and Ole Miss vs. UCLA (7:30) – on ESPN and live at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.

The A’s and the M’s continue their opening series from T-Mobile (6:40 p.m., Root), though I sincerely hope no injures their arm trying to match Ichiro’s 84-miles-per-hour first pitch from Thursday night. The series continues Saturday (6:40) and Sunday (1:10 p.m.), with both on Root.

The NCAA tournaments? UConn and the JuJu Watkins-less USC Trojans try to keep their tourney rematch hopes alive Saturday in Spokane, with the Huskies and Oklahoma at 2:30 p.m. and USC vs. Kansas State at 5.

The men are into the Elite Eight, with Florida facing Texas Tech in San Francisco (3:09 p.m. tip) and Duke vs. Alabama (8:49). Both will be on TBS.

Maybe one of those moments will shines brighter than anything from Thursday. But it’s a high bar.

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WSU: We mentioned the women’s season-ending 59-51 loss above. Greg Woods watched and has this game story. The Cougars were without freshman post Dayana Mendes, who we wrote about earlier this season as a possible star in the Yvonne Ejim mold. Mendes entered the transfer portal after Washington State’s WNIT win Monday over Utah Valley. … On a happier note, Greg shares the news Dane Erikstrup is planning on playing in the men’s College Basketball Crown opener against Georgetown in Las Vegas on Monday. The two Cougs in the transfer portal, Nate Calmese and Isaiah Watts, will not. … Greg also has football news, explaining why a couple WSU players, Christian Hilborn and Keith Brown, decided not to join many of their teammates from last season in the transfer portal. … Former Washington State defensive back Daniel Isom is ready to begin his second year in the UFL. … Charlisse Leger-Walker blossomed into a star in Pullman. She left after last season in the midst of an ACL rehab. Headed down the coast to UCLA, which just happens to be the NCAA tourney’s top seed. But, as Jim Allen tells us, Leger-Walker is still not ready to play. She’s looking toward next season. … Greg Lee also has a story from the Arena, and it’s also about a UCLA player. A healthy one. Center Lauren Betts. … Cougar football fans will recognize these traits in former quarterback Cam Ward’s game. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner has a column in the Mercury News about the tourney WSU (and Oregon State) is playing in next week. It may just be about leverage down the road. … Do not miss this John Canzano column from Thursday. It’s about a lot of subjects, the most dear to me being sacrifice, and what a whole generation gave to us. … There are a few names regional basketball fans will recognize in this list of the best players in the mens’ transfer portal. … Colorado is prepping for the CBC tournament as well. … Though Arizona’s season ended in a tough 100-93 Sweet 16 loss to Duke in Newark, the Wildcats learned some good news on the recruiting front. … Kansas fans suffered flashbacks with Colorado State’s coaching hire. … Around the women’s game, we have more coverage from the Arena, with a story on UCLA’s coach in the Mercury News and another from the L.A. Times. … Despite everything, Oregon State’s season exceeded expectations. … Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer did not keep a single one of the nets she cut down. … Arizona State’s new coach is dealing with the transfer portal. … So is Arizona, who has a veteran coach. … In football news, Christian Caple examines Washington’s edge rushers and defensive linemen. … The Ducks have a USC transfer up front. … Colorado needs NCAA approval to host Syracuse in a spring scrimmage. The new artificial turf surface on its home field won’t be ready though. … A bunch of Arizona State players and coaches threw out first pitches at the Diamondbacks’ opener. … Arizona was in pads Thursday. … Boise State lost a key member of its secondary to the portal.

Gonzaga: We also mentioned the Zag women’s WBIT season-ending loss at Minnesota. The defeat doubled as Ejim’s final game in a Gonzaga uniform, ending the greatest career in program history. Greg Lee has the coverage. … Not sure this is a surprise but Michael Ajayi won’t be suiting up for the Bulldogs next season. He will enter the transfer portal after what had to be a disappointing year, on the court, at GU. Theo Lawson has more in this story. … Drew Timme has been on a G-League heater, averaging better than 35 points and almost 13 rebounds a game in the past week. The performance convinced the Nets to sign the center to a two-year contract, according to multiple reports. Brooklyn has nine games left in its season. … Elsewhere in the WCC, the Portland women’s team, in lockstep all season with the Zags, stayed that way Thursday night as well. They lost in the same round of the WBIT.

EWU: The Eagles received some good roster news Thursday, as their leading scorer and leading rebounder announced they will be back in Cheney next season. Dan Thompson covers the decisions by Andrew Cook (scorer) and Emmett Marquardt (rebounder). … Former Eastern Washington stars Mason Peatling, left, and Tyler Harvey helped the Illawarra Hawks to the NBL championship in Australia. Dave Cook has all the particulars. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana State is losing two more players off its women’s team.

Preps: Dave Nichols has a roundup of Thursday’s action. … Spring features six sports, the most of the three WIAA seasons. And guess what? Today we have links to the S-R’s previews of each, including GSL capsule summaries of each (the link on each sport). We start with track and field, with Dave’s feature on Shadle Park’s Josie Anselmo. … Next up is baseball, and Dave’s story on Mt. Spokane’s Brayten Ayers. … Softball is highlighted by Madison McCord’s story on Donyelle Strauss of Ferris. … Boys soccer features Justin Reed’s piece on Ridgeline’s André Chaker. … Dave returns with a story on U-Hi’s Kailee Alteneder and her role with Titan tennis. … Samantha DiMaio has a story on North Central’s Teigen Brill, the lone member of the Wolfpack boys golf team.

Chiefs: We can’t forget Dave’s other role as the main supplier of WHL news. Today, Dave delves into what home-ice advantage means for Spokane, as the NCAA tourney forced the Chiefs on the road in Vancouver to open their first-round series.

Mariners: What else do you want from Thursday’s opener? How about Matt Calkins’ column on the fanbase? Or another one from the News Tribune. … This is the last season of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. For now.

Sounders: We said yesterday there is money to be made by playing in the Club World Cup. But maybe not for the players.

Kraken: Impress the goalie, earn some swag.

Sonics: Uh, about NBA expansion. Don’t get your hopes up just yet.

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• We will not have a column tomorrow morning. Some personal commitments will make it impossible for us to share our thoughts. We will try to put together a post with links though. And there is a small possibility we may be out Sunday as well. As we emphasized above, it’s a weekend that’s carrying more luggage than a movie star headed to Sun Valley during ski season. Until later …