Let the games begin! The Memorial Cup kicks off tomorrow with the host Kitchener Rangers taking on the Gatineu Olympiques. The Spokane Chiefs' first round-robin matchup is Saturday afternoon against the Belleville Bulls.

There are a handful of links and some reading material below. Also, those of you that have asked questions - I've done my best to answer them below.

Mixed results Thursday from the state baseball tournaments in the Boise area.

Just the 5A teams from North Idaho prevailed. Click the tab below to read my story about those games.

In 4A, Wood River blanked Lakeland 4-0.
In 3A, Bear Lake bombed Bonners Ferry 15-1 and Sugar-Salem slipped past St. Maries 12-10.

Today in The Spokesman-Review we profile Samantha (Sam) Skillingstad, the best pitcher to come out of the Greater Spokane League. It's prelude to this weekend's regional softball tournaments from Class 4A through 1B. The 4A among Skillingstad and Shadle Park, Central Valley, University, Mead from the GSL, Richland, Walla Walla, Pasco and Moses Lake from the CBL begins Friday at 6 p.m. and continues Saturday at Franklin Park. 3A, including state fourth place North Central, is Saturday at Franklin.

Shock assistant coach Matt Sauk is leaving the team to take another shot at quarterback in the AFL. He's joining the Arizona Rattlers, who recently lost one of their QBs to injury, but plans to return to Spokane at the conclusion of the AFL season.

More here and here.

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We posted the news on Xavier Hicks and Thomas Abercrombie yesterday, so today we'll just link to whatever we find with the Cougars. There are a couple of things, so read on.

The Spokane Chiefs (and one caffeine-buzzed beat writer) have arrived in Kitchener, Ontario, after a 3-1/2 hour chartered flight. No layovers, our own security checkpoint (meaning no lines) and a 4 to 1 passenger-flight attendant ratio.

Not a bad day at all. Except it's pouring rain here. Oh well. Wouldn't want it to feel like vacation or anything.

So here's the deal. I'll have stories posted here whenever I'm done writing them. Make sure and let me know if all of you back in Spokane (or wherever you are following the Chiefs from) have any questions. I'll do my best to fnd the answers or I'll make something up (just kidding).

For some reading material now, check out my feature on Bill Peters that ran today and the sidebar that went with it.

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Xavier Hicks Jr., who is currently serving a 45-day sentence in the Whitman County Jail, has been suspended from the WSU football team for three games.

Read on for an unedited story I wrote for tomorrow's S-R and a basketball note.

Click the tab below to see this week's North Idaho track and field honor roll.

State-qualifying meets are Friday and Saturday. The 5A and 4A teams are at Volmer Bowl in Lewiston; the 3A teams are at Timberlake; and the 1A teams are at Kootenai.

Here is a link to this week's state honor roll.

I spent an entertaining 10 minutes with Mutsumi Takahashi on Tuesday morning, just before his first practice with the Spokane Shock.

Read more about Takahashi in an unedited article below in extended entry.

Also, Spokane remained No. 2 in the latest af2 poll. And the Tri-City Herald has this article on the Shock-Fever rivalry.

The Spokane Chiefs have announced that each game of the MasterCard Memorial Cup will be available to all Comcast customers on channel 78 as well as to Comcast Digital Cable customers with the Sports Tier package on NHL Network channel 419.

Friday and Saturday’s regional 4A softball tournament at Franklin Park will be a virtual repeat of last year’s event in Richland. All eight teams in the tournament are making a return appearance even if most of the first-round matchups will be different.

My pitcher story finally made it in The Spokesman-Review on Sunday. Don’t know how many got a chance to read it, but here ya go. All six made the playoffs and four are still playing as of today (Rusty Shellhorn and Trevor Shull of CV are in Wenatchee today with a chance to join Billy Moon and Tyler Olson of University at state). Shellhorn, in two playoff games allowed three hits and one run. With him on the mound CV has a chance against anybody they play.

The home stretch of the Spokane Chiefs' 2007-08 season is upon us. While it could have been over as early as the middle of March, the Chiefs have stretched their season long enough to win the Western Hockey League title and take a shot at the ultimate prize in junior hockey - the Memorial Cup.

I'll be traveling with the team, which departs Wednesday morning for Kitchener, Ontario. Here's what we've had the past couple of days:

This story on Dustin Tokarski, Levko Koper and Judd Blackwater who all have at least one thing in common - they were brought to Spokane after being added to the Chiefs' 50-player protected list. Today we ran a story for those unfamiliar with the Memorial Cup. I realize you hockey fans may not get much out of it, but those who are just tuning in may find it helpful. Also, here's a supplement with some interesting numbers on the transition from major junior hockey to the NHL.

There's also a press release below as two Chiefs earned individual recognition today.

Click the tab below to see the first-round pairings for the State 5A, 4A and 3A baseball and State 5A, 4A and 3A softball.

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So where were we? Oh, I remember. We were talking about basketball recruiting and such. Then Kim and I took off on vacation. Did anything happen why we were gone? Anything at all? Nothing? Good.

At least the roof didn't cave in or anything like that. Or the NCAA didn't do something silly and dock WSU's football team a scholarship or two. Boy that would hurt.

Shock receiver Raul Vijil beat me to it -- he beat several Boise defensive backs Saturday night, too -- when his post-touchdown celebration included grabbing a Happy Mother's Day sign and displaying it to an appreciative audience at Arena.

So, we add our Happy Mother's Day wishes here.

And here's a link to John Blanchette's column on the ever-changing quarterback position in af2. The topic warmed up in Spokane last week as Nick Davila moved in as the starting quarterback.

Here's a preview of tomorrow's story and bonuse baseball results in advance of The Spokesman-Review. Happy reading and commenting.

As University baseball coach Scott Sutherland noted, following the Titans second straight District 8 4A championship, Gonzaga Prep is a hitter’s park and runs were to be expected Saturday when the playoffs concluded at Higgins Field.
“I figured somebody would have to score double figures to win,” said Sutherland following U-Hi’s 17-7 victory over Mead.

Spokane scored four touchdowns in the fourth quarter to rally past Boise 62-42 on Saturday at the Arena.

Boise trailed by 13 at half, but poked in front 35-34 near the end of the third quarter. Spokane responded with a huge fourth quarter, including two touchdown passes by Nick Davila, who was named the starting quarterback Thursday.

Read my unedited game story below.

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UPDATED 5:21 p.m.

In Sunday's paper, there will be a feature from me on the WSU women's rowing team. Its top boat, the varsity eight, is ranked fourth in the nation. I'll be posting a link to the article Sunday.

But here, first, is a video I produced on the rowing team.

Get the Flash Player to see this video.

Here's my feature in Sunday's paper on the WSU rowing team.

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Deer Lake RON commented on my last post that, hey, there are other sports going on. Well, we let you know about tennis -- The Cougars women lost Friday, 5-0.

The Cougs ended with a 16-10 record after losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament to No. 27 LSU.

Then, yes, there's rowing. I have a feature coming out in Sunday's newspaper on the WSU women's team. It's ranked fourth in the nation right now, and next weekend is the Pac-10 championship regatta in Sacramento.

I'll post a video on the crew next.

And baseball ... the Huskies beat the Cougars 12-3 in Seattle on Friday. You can read the brief here (first item).

Defending 5A state champ Lake City will get a chance to repeat after the Timberwolves topped Post Falls 10-5 in a Region I winner-to-state-loser-out game Friday.

Click the tab below to read my unedited story.

I just filed my preview of the Spokane-Boise game for Saturday's S-R. You can get an early look at the unedited version by clicking on extended entry.

I didn't have enough space to get into Boise's personnel in the article, but I do below in extended entry. Read on below.

UPDATED: Friday

The chase for state baseball, softball, golf and tennis berths takes center stage this week.

Click the tab below to see what's happening in the various state-qualifying tournaments.

It started at the end of August, when director of player personnel for the Spokane Chiefs - Chris Moulton - was educating me, a rookie beat writer, on who to watch at training camp.

Being a journalist, and always looking for a good story angle, I asked if there were any local kids among the masses of hopefuls on the ice. I was told that realistically, only one player had a good chance of making the roster - Tyler Johnson.

He made the team, but something told me to wait. Wait for more of a story then just being from Spokane. Wait to see what this kid does. Wait until it's just right. And when Johnson was named the Western Hockey League championship series MVP on Wednesday night after the Chiefs completed a four-game sweep of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, I was glad I had waited.

I'm also glad to tell you that it was our columnist John Blanchette who wrote the story. He always seems to have the words. Here's the link to the story, so you can check it out for yourself.

Favorites advanced during the first round of Greater Spokane League baseball and softball.
Today things get more serious.

District rivals University and Central Valley face off in both sports.