Seth Kolloen

Ichiro was ejected from Saturday's M's loss to the Blue Jays--it was the first ejection of Ichiro's career, including his time in Japan, and the first ejection for a Mariner player or coach all season. Here's how the heave-ho from umpire Brian Runge went down.

Last year we watched most University of Washington road games at Teddy's, a tavern near the intersection of Roosevelt and 65th. The scene during last year's games was this: A few scattered tables, each manned by a single grumpy middle-aged guy. And then the table at which the grumpy thirty-somethings, me and my friend David, sat.

Here's what Teddy's looked like for Saturday's UW/Stanford game:

People watching Husky football! On purpose! (Photo by David Swidler)

Back when I wrote for the Seattle P-I, I had a rollicking front-page-of-sports piece that established this rule: When it comes to sports fandom, women follow winners. Said guideline was in effect Saturday, as attractive female after attractive female filed in to watch the suddenly popular Huskies. I'm not complaining: Who among us doesn't like to see a pretty girl? (Certainly the new P-I does, even when they're covering Central American political crises.) The only time you'd see one at Teddy's last year is she happened to walk past.

Amazing what one big win can do. Teddy's was standing-room-only, we arrived 90 minutes before kickoff to secure a table.

So, thankfully, we were already buzzed when Stanford's Chris Owusu returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, staking the Cardinal to an early lead. (After the game, Coach Sarkisian would tell reporters that kicker Eric Folk kicked the ball to the left side of the field when he was supposed to kick it right. Ooopsy-daisy!)

The Husky offense got the ball back and drove right down the field, looking like they'd tie the game. But then Jake Locker threw an interception. The Dawgs got the ball back--Locker fumbled it away. The day was a disaster for Locker, who spent the week after the USC win getting national notice as a potential top ten NFL pick. As David likes to say: "Looks like somebody's been readin' his own press clippings."

Locker's decision-making and inaccuracy drew groans from the Teddy's crowd, he seemed bedeviled by Stanford's defense, made poor decisions, and generally looked like the inexperienced QB we remember from his first two seasons. No NFL scout could've looked at this Locker and seen a first-round pick.

Meanwhile, Stanford running back Toby Gerhart was flattening the Huskies to the tune of a 200-yard rushing day. "Tackle him!" we screamed, to no effect. At 6-1, 235, Gerhart is huge for a college running back.

Some in the Teddy's crowd loudly complained that the Huskies should be able to catch Gerhart because he's slow, but top speed is not a requirement for a running back. (In fact, Gerhart's reported 4.55 40-yard-dash time is faster than what 49ers back Frank Gore, last seen flattening the Seahawks for 200 yards, had coming out of college.)

By the second half, the Huskies were down two scores down, and the game fell into a familiar pattern. Stanford would run and run and run, eating away at the clock (they only threw three times after half). Locker and the Huskies would drive a bit but stall out or turn the ball over at midfield. It was quite boring, and the attractive girls mostly stopped paying attention.

The Huskies play Notre Dame next Saturday at 12:30 pm; I am curious to see if Husky Fever is just a seven-day virus or whether it can withstand the inoculation of this terrible loss.

Jake Locker. Along with Glee, the biggest national breakout of September 2009. With three terrific performances, Locker has rocketed up NFL scouts' charts, ESPN's Todd McShay now lists Locker as the #2 QB prospect in the 2010 draft, and #7 overall.

Oddly, Locker's ascension has come without using the tool he was best known for before this year--his legs. We may see them finally against Stanford.

Stanford's Thomas Keiser: Can He Catch Jake?

Stanford Pressures

Before we get to that, though--a quiz!

Q: What do Stanford DE Thomas Keiser and the entire Husky defense have in common?

A: They each have four sacks this season.

Keiser, a 6-5, 257 lb. sophomore from the Pittsburgh suburbs, made the Freshman All-American team last year and will make a bid for the national one if he keeps up his penetrating ways. Keiser is 7th in the nation in both tackles for loss and sacks.

Overall, the Stanford defense has nine sacks on the season. They are sacking opposing QBs on one out every twelve passing attempts. That will mess up an offense. (The Huskies are getting sacks on only one out of every 21 passing tries.)

On the other side of the ball, the Cardinal line has done a terrific job protecting redshirt frosh QB Andrew Luck. Luck's been sacked only twice all season; one sack for every 37 pass attempts. It's an impressive feat for an o-line with two first-year starters--one of whom is Bellevue High product David DeCastro.

Jake Locker has been sacked six times, or once every 18 pass attempts. 

Cardinal Rules: Rush or Contain?

It'll be interesting to see: Will Stanford unleash their pass rush on Locker? Or, in deference to Locker's speed, will they just try to keep him contained.

Stanford beat writer Jon Wilner told the Times' Bob Condotta he believes Locker could hurt the Cardinal with his legs: "Their linebackers and defensive backs are not the strength of the defense and don't have a ton of speed and they've always been susceptible to mobile quarterbacks and spread offenses," said Wilner.

Locker hasn't run as much this year (he's averaging 8.6 carries per game, compared to 13.4 cpg his first two seasons), but part of that has been the Dawgs' competition. LSU and USC have among the fastest defenses in the nation, and Locker didn't have the speed advantage against their linebackers like he will against Stanford's (hell, he'll have a speed advantage over their safeties).

Last year against Stanford, Locker had 17 yards on 10 carries before his thumb exploded. In 2007 in Palo Alto, Locker ran for 97 yards and 2 TDs in a 27-9 Washington cakewalk.

The game is Saturday at 6pm. You can watch it on Fox College Sports, which is on 617 for DirecTV subscribers (only if you have their "Sports Pack") and on 413 on Comcast (if you have their "Sports Entertainment Package"). Call and get the extortionist package you need, or just come watch the game with me at Teddy's.

 

Heather Meyers: Ace Machine

Your #3-ranked Washington Huskies volleyball team gets their stiffest test of the season tonight; they play at #7 Oregon. The Ducks are one of eight unbeaten teams in the nation--they are third in hitting percentage and have the nation's most dangerous server in Heather Meyers, who's averaging nearly an ace per set.

Washington and Oregon played two thrilling matches last season, with the Dawgs prevailing each time: In five sets at Hec Ed in October, and in four in Oregon the next month.

Overall, the Huskies have won 16 straight matches over the Ducks, with Oregon's last win in 2000 at Mac Court.

The UW athletic department points out that the Dawgs and Ducks have had three common opponents this season:

Minnesota: UW 3-0, UO 3-2.

Portland St.: UW 3-0, UO 3-1.

Seattle U: UW 3-0, UO 3-0.

The game is at 7pm. There's no TV or radio; the best way to follow the match is probably on the UW Volleyball Twitter feed.

Mariners ace Felix Hernandez is running out of time to capture voters for a Cy Young Award campaign he's probably not going to win.

Hernandez, a.k.a. King Felix, has just two starts left. The first of them is tonight at Toronto.

His Highness is in a bad spot. The award--given to each league's best pitcher as voted on by baseball writers--almost always goes to the league leader in Earned Run Average or Wins. Hernandez--2nd in ERA and 3rd in wins--doesn't top either list.

Eight of the past ten AL Cy Young winners have been first in either ERA or Wins. The two who weren't are special cases. C.C. Sabathia won the award in '07 based on an incredible pennant race run, when he won five of his last six starts. Roger Clemens won in '01 by compiling a gawdy 20-3 record.

Felix Hernandez can't do either of those things. He's got three chances:

1) A miracle outing, like a perfect game, no-hitter, or 20-strikeout performance.

2) For ERA leader Zack Greinke to get bombed in his final two starts, dropping behind Hernandez in that category.

3) Somehow Joe the Plumber gets involved.

In any event, Hernandez probably would have to win each of his final two starts. Tonight's opponent, the Blue Jays, delivered the worst loss of Hernandez' season in late July, stinging him for seven runs. His final start will be next Wednesday against the A's.

We're rooting for you, King Felix!

You can buy that King Felix tee for $15 at 643Nation.

As someone who's read more books on Abraham Lincoln than I have books of the Bible, let me say how much I'm rooting for Intiman's production of Abe Lincoln in Illinois.

Lincoln's rise from dirt-poor child to itinerant handyman to U.S. President, with stops in-between as a suicidal griever, duelist, and amateur poet, is more than a political triumph--it's a human one. Any attempt to spread Lincoln's story gets a push from me.

Last night Town Hall hosted a dramatic reading of the Lincoln/Douglas debates, with the leads from Intiman's upcoming production playing the respective oratorical contestants.

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As Stephen Douglas, longtime Seattle actor R. Hamilton Wright brilliantly captured "The Little Giant's" power and pomposity.

As Abraham Lincoln, New York actor Erik Lochtefeld has a little farther to go, but the play doesn't open until October 2. The setting was a lecture hall, not a stage. And I'm a huge Lincoln snob.

That said: If I'm directing, I'd like to see Lochtefeld capture Lincoln's down-to-earthyness a little better. The script even references it; Douglas's "debate" speech in the play notes the contrast between Douglas' more traditional fiery oratory, and Lincoln's more natural speaking style; he used anecdotes and jokes to put his (often illiterate) audience at ease. Lochtefeld came across as professorial, not the right tone when playing a character who had less than a year of formal schooling. 

I'm sure makeup, costume and another week of rehearsal will iron out the kinks. It's a fine line Lochtefeld has to toe--get too homespun and you sound like a Mark Twain impersonator, not enough and suddenly your doing John Edwards. I wish him luck, and look forward to seeing the finished product.

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ADDENDUM FOR NO REASON--LINCOLN AS ANTI-DOMESTIC-ABUSE VIGILANTE:

From Michael Burlingame's recent (and excellent) two-volume Lincoln biography, a story of how Lincoln dealt with a notorious Springfield domestic abuser. After the man ignored Lincoln's warning to stop hitting his wife, this happened, a Lincoln friend remembered:

"It was late at night and we dragged the wretch to an open space back of a store building, stripped him of his shirt and tied him to a post. Then we sent for his wife, and arming her with a good stout switch bade her to 'light in.' ... When the culprit had been sufficiently punished, Lincoln game the signal 'Enough,' and he was released; we helped him on with his shirt and he shambled ruefully toward his home. For his sake we tried to keep all knowledge of the affair from the public; but the lesson had its effect, for if he ever again molested his wife we never found it out."

Derek Johnson, author of Husky Football in the Don James Era, has produced another loving remembrance of Washington footballers past: The Dawgs of War. Johnson's subject: The 2000 Huskies, a team that endured the paralysis of teammate Curtis Williams--Johnson provides chilling, visceral details of the immediate aftermath of Williams' injury--to achieve UW's last Rose Bowl victory.

The team's on-field success has since been overshadowed as a result of the Seattle Times' 2008 "Victory and Ruins" series, detailing criminal behavior by some members of that team. Johnson's book puts the focus back on the field and, in some of the book's most revealing passages, on the sideline and in the locker room. We emailed Derek some questions, he emailed back.

Was there anything you learned in the course of writing the book that really surprised you?

I didn't have a deep affection for the team when I started, and I didn't foresee that changing. By the end of the project, I loved them. I loved what Marques stood for. I loved the unbreakable team spirit. I've rarely been a part of something like that personally and in writing this I suddenly felt myself entering into that world of camaraderie. That came as a surprise. Also, I felt like I would eventually find cracks in the armor of Marques Tuiasosopo. Not so. He was literally universally loved by his teammates and all the stories you hear of his integrity and fortitude are true.

Do you think Tuiasosopo has any competition as the greatest on-field leader in team history?

I've heard similar stories about Bob Schloredt from '59-60, but I never saw him play so I can't say for sure. Beyond Marques, Billy Joe Hobert matched him at least in terms of moxie.

Was the Times' publication of the "Victory and Ruins" series part of your motivation for writing the book?

A little bit, but not much in the grand scheme of things. I was already in the early stages of working on the book when I got an email from someone telling me that something big was coming from the Times. At first I thought, "No one will want to read my book now." But after awhile, I saw that the Times article didn't matter. It might come to pass that this book will far outlive the effects of Victory and Ruins. But, I see them as apples and oranges. What will be will be.

What's your take on that series? Did your research and writing change your perspective on it at all?

It was captivating reading, but to this day I don't understand what the real point of it was. My biggest points of contention that they didn't portray the Williams marriage for the mutually volatile situation that it was. They were both far too young to get married.

My other point of contention was that the Seattle Times featured a photo of Marques Tuiasosopo on the front page under that Victory and Ruins headline. That was a crime. As my book documents, the Washington players viewed Marques as the most stand-up guy you could ever meet. And yet the Times felt comfortable using his photo on the front page. Not to mention that they focused on the transgressions of three players and made it seem like the entire team was comprised of troublemakers. And they had good material with which to do it... Jerramy Stevens has behaved like an animal, and Jeremiah Pharms was a very troubled guy who is now back in prison for violating parole. But the Times needed a coup de grace to the series, and so they went after the deceased Curtis Williams.

You know, all writers are flame-throwers at heart. And when you look closely at any work of art that someone has put a tremendous amount of effort into, there is always something else at work underneath. I remember UW linebacker Derrell Daniels speculating to me that the Times' writers maybe had been excluded from athletics as kids and now they were going after their revenge. I interviewed one of the writers, Nick Perry, and I came away feeling he was a decent guy who believed in what he was doing. I tend to think that he and his co-writer despise the football culture that overshadows academics at major universties, and they wanted to bring the hammer down upon it. We also live in a feminized culture which is driven by the media, and football is one of society's last bastions of masculinity. Maybe that was at work too, in that they wanted to detonate that world. Who knows?

What are some of your personal memories from the 2000 season?

That win over Miami was mind-blowing. Seeing Rich Alexis sprint 50 yards for a touchdown was one of the most electrifying moments of the year. And seeing and hearing the crowd chant for Curtis Williams prior to the Arizona game.

How do you think the players were able to put the fear engendered by Williams' paralysis behind them and actually play with more fire after the injury?

When faced with that kind of tragedy, what follows soon after is that moment of truth. You either shy away or you fight your way through it. William James (not to be confused with Don James) talked about an oceanic feeling of God being present when individual ego is suppressed. And when those Washington players faced that kind of tragedy and that sort of evidence of mortality, their sense of playing for something far bigger than themselves expanded immeasurably.

And, finally--what was your reaction when Folk hit that kick to beat USC on Saturday?

Tyrone Willingham had spent four years stinking up the bathroom of Husky Football, and Folk's kick to beat USC was like a window being opened and a fan being turned on blast.

Garfield High basketball star Tony Wroten will miss the 2009-10 high school hoops season after tearing his ACL playing stupid football.

God, what the shit? You take away the Sonics, leaving us with high school and college ball to fill the void. Then you give us Wroten, among the top basketball prospects in the world, you put him at our alma mater, and give us four years to watch him grow into an NBA prospect. What a nice gesture!

But now you smite Wroten's knee? Costing him a season of basketball, and robbing us of the joy of watching him? That is some crap.

Garfield, runners-up in last year's state hoops tournament, were considered near-locks to take the state title this year. Now they must do it without Wroten (not that they won't--the Bulldogs are stacked).

This is not the first time that the barbaric game of football has cost us the delight of one of our area's top hoopsters. McDonald's All-American Peyton Siva missed the early part of his sophomore season after he broke his collarbone playing football.

Another top hoops recruit, Kentwood's Josh Smith, is playing football this year as well. The Times' Steve Kelley urges Smith to keep playing and to enjoy his high school years. What about my mid-30s? How will I enjoy them if all these awesome high school basketball players keep getting injured?

Seriously, I wish people would stop thinking about themselves for once...and think about me.

Only one tournament matters in NCAA volleyball, but UW will take their fourth tournament win of the year. This one came in San Antonio, at the UTSA (University of Texas-San Antonio) Classic.

Once again, the Dawgs did not lose a set. They haven't all year.

In the third set of the championship game against Middle Tennessee State, the Dawgs went on a 15-point run with jump server Jill Collymore behind the line. The Dawgs won that game 25-7, setting a new record for margin of victory in a game.

The Huskies remain ranked #3 in the national coaches' poll.

They'll have a chance to improve that ranking on Friday when they open the Pac-10 season at #7 Oregon.

After the win at USC, scads of positive reinforcement is coming the Huskies' way. You know they are ranked #25 in the AP Poll.

Donald Butler was named Walter Camp Foundation's Defensive Player of the Week. Butler is one of four nominees for the ESPN All-America Player of the Week, chosen by ESPN analysts. (See a special Butler highlight reel here.) And, Butler is Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week.

Kicker Eric Folk is Pac-10 Special Teams Player of the Week and one of three Lou Groza Stars of the Week.

And Jake Locker won the Johnny O'Brien Quarterback of the Week Award. Locker maybe got the best praise, though, from USC coach Pete Carroll: "That's the best quarterback we've played in nine years here. Jake Locker has ridiculous talent, and had he remained healthy last year, Tyrone [Willingham] would still be coaching there."

Well that's sort-of a scary thought, but we appreciate the sentiment.