Ljungberg: “The longest ever.” Preseason! We’re talking about preseason!
In all the Olympics excitement, you may have missed that spring training is underway. Both the Sounders and the Mariners have been preparing for their upcoming seasons–the Sounders at a tournament in Spain, the Mariners at their spring training hub northwest of Phoenix.
Both training seasons are much longer than they need to be–something Freddie Ljungberg complained about in a blog post for ESPN.com titled “The longest preseason training ever.”
“We have been running our asses off,” according to Ljungberg, who expressed concern that the long training schedule could be detrimental to his fitness. Ljungberg points out when he played for Arsenal, one of the top clubs in the world, training was half as long than the Sounders’ is. Well, Fred, the Sounders have a lot more work to do.
Big question is, will they get to do it? Major League Soccer and its players’ union are overdue to sign a collective bargaining agreement, and negotiations are not going well. “They’re not even humoring us,” says Kansas City Wizard Jimmy Conrad, whose invocation of the Weaken Resolve spell at the last bargaining session had no appreciable effect. (D&D reference! Yes!) There’s a Thursday deadline to get a deal done–and a work stoppage is looking like a possibility.
The Sounders split two games in Spain, losing 3-0 to defending Norwegian champs Rosenborg FC on Thursday, but beating Staebek IF, another top Norwegian team, 2-0 on Sunday. Fredy Montero and Roger Levesque scored the goals, both assisted by Ljungberg.
The Mariners aren’t yet playing games, or really doing much of anything, to the eternal dismay of the reporters in town to cover them. Said reporters had a difficult enough time finding material for stories in the pre-blog days; now, with both column inches and pixels to fill, they are desperate. How desperate? Tacoma News-Tribune writer Larry LaRue (the best writer among our local baseball scribes, in my view) posted a story about a new hitting drill the Mariners are doing. The Times‘ Geoff Baker, who has the best nose for news, could only come up with “Jack Hannahan catches bullpen session.” Yeah.
If you want to read something interesting that’s Mariners-related, check out Japanese-speaking writer Brad Lefton’s pieces for the Seattle Times. Lefton interviews Ichiro in Japanese, and the results are magic. His preseason interview with Ichiro, published Saturday, was endlessly fascinating, filled with quotes from perhaps the most articulate athlete in Seattle sports history. Sayeth Ich:
On the sadistic joys of competition: “Hits that distress the opposition are the ones I enjoy most.”
On pressure: “The only players who feel no pressure are those who have either given up, have nothing expected of them or are so divinely blessed they needn’t fret.”
On his walk-off homer against Mariano Rivera: “I experienced a new sensation during that at-bat. My mind wandered to how cool a home run would be there.”
Do yourself a favor and read the whole piece, it’s fantastic. Then when you’re finished, read Lefton’s interview with Kenji Johjima, which is also terrific.
Ichiro arrived Monday; the most exciting news out of that was what he wore. “Distressed black/grey denim jeans in what looked to be his private label Levis. Matching denim jacket, black tee shirt, yellow belt. The jeans were rolled to just above the ankle and the cuffs were a small light blue and white striped pattern,” reported sports-turned-fashion-reporter Shannon Dreyer of ESPN 710. Tim Gunn couldn’t have done it better.
Reporters also noted Ken Griffey Jr.’s arrival. Griffey, who apparently had morphed into a Victorian-era coal magnate, “bellowed greetings to teammates from across the clubhouse,” according to the Associated Press. (Just once in my life, I would like to “bellow greetings.”) Said manager Wakamatsu: “It’s amazing how one guy can change the karma of a room.” Karma of a room? Well, why the hell not.
Wakamatsu shouldn’t feel too much pressure at this camp, as his roster is almost entirely set. The biggest question for him to decide, which you’ll read more about here soon, is who the M’s starting catcher will be. Obviously blocking pitches and offensive prowess will be important considerations, but a player’s impact on a room’s karma might also be a major factor. Time (and the actions of Shiva) will tell.
The Sounders don’t play another exhibition until March 6, a week from Saturday, when they’ll play the Vancouver Whitecaps in B.C. On March 11, a Thursday, they’ll play Portland at Qwest Field in the first “Community Shield” match. All proceeds to charity: Tickets ($10 for adults, $5 for kiddos) here. The Sounders’ season opener is less than a month away, they’ll host the expansion Philadelphia Union on Thursday, March 25. A very limited number of single-game tickets will go on sale this coming Monday, March 1. Info here.
The Mariners’ first spring training game will be Wednesday, March 3, against San Francisco. They open the regular season Monday, April 5, in Oakland. The home opener is exactly one week later, also against the A’s. Single-game tickets go on sale to the general public March 13, but there’s a pre-sale you can get in on by signing up for an M’s newsletter here.