Vince Grippi

Spokane

Freelance Writer at The Spokesman-Review

A former WSU beat writer for The Spokesman-Review, I now cover all Spokane-area sports online with A Grip on Sports. Occasional media critic and podcast guest.

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Articles

It's football's turn in the portal despite basketball not even near done as college sports dominate such discussions year-round these days

1 week ago | spokesman.com | Vince Grippi

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Had enough of transfer portal news, good or bad? Sorry, it’s only going to get worse. It’s football’s turn to make headlines. The sport’s transfer window opens today. •••••••• Ever go grocery shopping, armed with a list that seemed oh-so-complete when you left the house? And then return home, everything checked off, to find the Swiss cheese you thought was fine had a green spot or two on the other side? Back to the store it is. Welcome to college football, 2025.
As college athletics change, Gonzaga's Yvonne Ejim spent five years working to improve, finally reaping the personal reward Monday night

1 week ago | spokesman.com | Vince Grippi

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There is something to be said for sticking around. •••••••• Ask Yvonne Ejim. In an era of unlimited, and uncontrolled, player movement in college athletics, Ejim stayed. Five years at Gonzaga. And reaped the rewards. Monetary ones? More than likely not to the degree the 6-foot-1 forward could have if she had decided to follow a different, more circuitous, path. Instead, Ejim partnered with the Gonzaga women’s basketball coaching staff to build a foundation for future success.
In a drama worthy of an Oscar, Rory McIlroy finally takes the starring role he's been waiting more than a decade to fulfill

1 week ago | spokesman.com | Vince Grippi

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There is always a cinematic quality to Sunday’s at Augusta. Often, they carry a nature-documentary vibe. Or have shades of physical comedy. Not this year. Not this Palm Sunday. This was different. This was “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.” With a Shakespearean feel. •••••••• Rory McIlroy waited. Sometimes patiently. Too often not patient enough. Waited year after year, ever since he won the PGA Championship by a stroke over Phil Mickelson in 2014 at Louisville’s Valhalla Golf Club.
A Grip on Sports: It's not just the typical final round at the Masters today, mainly because Rory McIlroy's spot atop the leaderboard could herald a redemption story or another fall from grace

2 weeks ago | spokesman.com | Vince Grippi

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s shaping up to be an interesting Sunday in Augusta, Georgia. Which is appropriate, being it is Palm Sunday. •••••••• There were a few times in church as a youngster when Father O’Malley said things that changed my life. Most of them were not of the positive variety, including his sermon one Palm Sunday. He explained to the middle class of America in the 1960s – including a young kid whose only goal at the time was to play big league baseball – the significance of the day.
Spring games are going the way of the dinosaur, with WSU's event in Pullman today an attempt to evolve beyond them

2 weeks ago | spokesman.com | Vince Grippi

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It wasn’t all that long ago when then-Washington State athletic director Bill Moos decided the best place to play the Cougars’ spring football game wasn’t in Martin Stadium. It was in Spokane. At Joe Albi Stadium. In the ensuing decade-and-a-half, Moos is in retirement, Joe Albi Stadium has been replaced by a middle school and spring games nearly have been portaled out of existence. •••••••• There will be some sort of spring football celebration in Pullman this afternoon.
TV's schedule this weekend is sort of slim if golf isn't on your radar but there are a number of reasons for that

2 weeks ago | spokesman.com | Vince Grippi

A GRIP ON SPORTS • One thing about having the springiest of major golf tournaments on this weekend. Not much else wants to compete with it for TV eyeballs. Except, it seems, Ohio State’s spring football game. •••••••• That’s a joke of course. No, not that the Buckeye’s spring game is on TV – if you subscribe to the Big Ten Network. But that it will compete with the Masters. Heck, the school is starting at noon its time Saturday – 9 a.m. on the Best Coast – in part, possibly, to avoid the competition.
Our heads are in the trees today as the Masters begins but that doesn't stop us from marveling at the M's marvelous comeback

2 weeks ago | spokesman.com | Vince Grippi

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Please be forgiving today. It’s Thursday. The Masters is underway. And, while I’m working, for you, I’m also watching, for me. I can’t remember how many years ago I discovered Masters.org and started streaming the tournament, but it was long ago. The increased number of errors creeping into this column during the Masters? It’s a tradition unlike any other. •••••••• Yes, my focus is a little split this morning.
It's time for the Mariners to begin answering opportunity pounding at the door with a base knock or two

2 weeks ago | spokesman.com | Vince Grippi

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Opportunity knocks. Sometimes just once. Other times it leans on the door bell and keeps ringing. But what happens if the door is stuck? Won’t open? Does opportunity leave? Or will it stick around? •••••••• In the Mariners’ case early this season, it seems almost as if the door is painted shut. In their last-place, 4-8 start, they’ve had plenty of chances to expel their offensive demons, score multiple runs and show the world they are contenders. Instead, it’s been hell.
A Grip on Sports: How Florida won and Houston lost a national title is a Shakespearean tragedy that played out in four distinct acts

2 weeks ago | spokesman.com | Vince Grippi

A GRIP ON SPORTS • The final play will be what college basketball fans will see for time eternal. Shown on a never-ending loop in the hell assigned to Houston followers and, in what can only be described as the twisted sense of humor among those who govern eternity, played over and over in the paradise open only to Florida’s fans. But the Gators’ 65-63 victory turned on more. Much more.
A Grip on Sports: A record is broken, another is taken up a notch and someone will leave San Antonio tonight with a hard-earned trophy

2 weeks ago | spokesman.com | Vince Grippi

A GRIP ON SPORTS • When life hands you about a dozen lemons, what should you do? Put together a notebook of course. And squeeze every fact you can into the space you have. •••••••• Alex Ovechkin did something Sunday no one thought possible in 1999. The Washington Capitals’ star scored his 895th goal and broke Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career record that had stood for more than a quarter century. How did the best player Russia ever produced do it? By, in a sense, emulating Hank Aaron.

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Vince Grippi @vinceg55

11 Apr 25

You may not care about televised golf. If that's the case, you are not alone. But about 10 million – give or take a million or so – people do, which is why Sunday's other TV sports will be pretty slim. Our column, with links. https://t.co/md0NOL2w7V

Vince Grippi @vinceg55

10 Apr 25

There was a small video box in the corner of my computer screen this morning. From Augusta. We watched live as Scottie Scheffler made a birdie putt. Then went back to running down football links. Our column, with a preemptive apology and those links. https://t.co/7Y9GDhDV1O

Vince Grippi @vinceg55

9 Apr 25

Futility, thy name is M'swithrunnersinscoringposition. Long name. Hard to spell or pronounce. Even harder to watch. Our Wednesday column with that and more, including a few links. https://t.co/4dBH5rqrdJ

Vince Grippi

Articles

It's football's turn in the portal despite basketball not even near done as college sports dominate such discussions year-round these days

As college athletics change, Gonzaga's Yvonne Ejim spent five years working to improve, finally reaping the personal reward Monday night

In a drama worthy of an Oscar, Rory McIlroy finally takes the starring role he's been waiting more than a decade to fulfill

A Grip on Sports: It's not just the typical final round at the Masters today, mainly because Rory McIlroy's spot atop the leaderboard could herald a redemption story or another fall from grace

Spring games are going the way of the dinosaur, with WSU's event in Pullman today an attempt to evolve beyond them

TV's schedule this weekend is sort of slim if golf isn't on your radar but there are a number of reasons for that

Our heads are in the trees today as the Masters begins but that doesn't stop us from marveling at the M's marvelous comeback

It's time for the Mariners to begin answering opportunity pounding at the door with a base knock or two

A Grip on Sports: How Florida won and Houston lost a national title is a Shakespearean tragedy that played out in four distinct acts

A Grip on Sports: A record is broken, another is taken up a notch and someone will leave San Antonio tonight with a hard-earned trophy

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Emails

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