Jul 14, 2019 4 min read

Two college football players shot

Two Eastern Washington University football players were shot in Spokane’s downtown bar district.

Dehonta Hayes and Keith Moore were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries after Saturday’s shooting.

University officials say the student-athletes are expected to fully recover.

Hayes is listed as a starter at safety on the preseason depth chart. He’s from Tacoma, Washington.

Moore is listed as a starter at defensive tackle on the preseason depth chart. He’s from Bremerton, Washington.

Tour de France

On days at the Tour de France when the top racers decide to take it easy, that’s the signal for other riders not chasing the overall title to seize the opportunity to shine.

On Sunday, Daryl Impey was that man.

Profiting from what amounted to a go-slow among top contenders on Stage 9, who decided to chill on the hilly trek across the Massif Central mountains, Impey made sure that he was in the breakaway group of riders who scooted away after the start in Saint-Etienne. He then beat Belgian rider Tiesj Benoot in a two-man sprint at the finish in the agricultural town of Brioude.

“It’s such a lottery trying to make the break,” Impey said. “Luck was on my side.”

Favorites for the Tour title in Paris on July 28 cruised into Brioude more than 16 minutes later, so casually that some chatted and drank from water bottles. French rider Julian Alaphilippe, who’d been cheered on by roadside fans celebrating France’s Bastille Day holiday, kept the race lead and there were no changes of note in the positions of other top contenders, including defending champion Geraint Thomas. He is still fifth overall, 72 seconds behind Alaphilippe.

“It’s just amazing, the support from the public,” Alaphilippe said. “It’s a day I will never forget.”

After a harrowing and exhausting Stage 8, and with tough climbs to come in the Pyrenees and, later, in the Alps, top contenders took a breather on the 170.5 kilometer (106 miles) stage of undulating hills peppered with three climbs of note.

Impey is only the second South African stage winner at the Tour – Robert Hunter also won a stage in 2007.

ESPN hires Ryan Leaf

Ryan Leaf has been hired by ESPN to be a college football analyst, another step in the remarkable comeback of the former Washington State star who has battled drug addiction and served time in prison.

Leaf will be paired with play-by-play announcer Clay Matvick and will mostly call games on ESPN2 and ESPNU. The former No. 2 overall NFL draft pick for the San Diego Chargers in 1998 worked for the Pac-12 Network last season and has been co-hosting a show on SiriusXM’s Pac-12 channel.

Leaf finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1997 and led the Cougars to the Rose Bowl.

After a tumultuous four-year NFL career, Leaf’s personal life fell apart. He spent two years in prison after being arrested in 2012 for breaking into a home in Montana to steal prescription drugs, and violating his Texas probation.

“Ryan has experienced the highs and lows in the game of football, putting him in a position to relate to a wide range of situations players can find themselves in,” said Lee Fitting, ESPN’s vice president of production.

Leaf told the AP on Saturday night that after he was released from prison in 2014 he tried to map out plans for his future and considered three paths: the entertainment industry, law school and sportscasting. He took steps toward entering each one.