Recent Stories in Sports

The Mariners have secured the 12th winning season in franchise history thanks to three-run homers on consecutive nights by Ken Griffey Jr. Both homers were no-doubters that had Griffey adopting his familiar slow walk toward first base. Here's video of Tuesday's and video of Wednesday's.

Griffey now has 18 homers for the year--and if he's wanting to leave a positive impression in his bosses' minds when they draw up 2010 contracts, he's picked the right time to get hot.

Statswise, Griffey hasn't made the case. His .408 slugging percentage places him 11th among AL DHs (didja ever think you'd see the day that Carlos Guillen outslugged Griffey?).

Personality-wise, he has. Last year's Mariners' clubhouse was full of backbiting whiners, this year Griffey has helped turn the "office" into a joyous ticklefest.

And 100-loss Mariners of last season now have an outside chance of capturing second place in the AL West. They are three games behind Texas with four to play--three of them against the Rangers.

Our brain says... (more)

Twenty-six years ago yesterday, we Mariner fans made our poorest showing of all time: only 3,360 of us came out to a late-season game against the Royals. (I have an excuse, I was only six years old and had spent my entire allowance on Colorforms.)

Take a seat, any seat

We'll never see a baseball crowd that small again (unless the M's bring back Bill Bavasi as GM), but we could see the smallest crowd in Safeco Field history this week.

The low turnout in Safeco Field history is 15,818, last May 6 in a game against Texas. But the stars are aligning for an even lower number tonight or tomorrow as the M's face the Oakland A's.

Three crowds from the M's recent mid-week series against Chicago took their place among the ten lowest in Safeco history; the 16,336 who showed up Thursday now represent the 4th-smallest crowd the stadium has ever seen.

Now the M's play a team with an even smaller fan base than the White Sox, and the temperature has dropped to the mid-50s.

I'm going, I've got season tickets and this one... (more)

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... (more)

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... (more)

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.

When former Seattle Sonics owner Clay Bennett first announced the he intended to move the team to his home state of Oklahoma, he and his co-owners were met with a slew of lawsuits.

The City of Seattle sued to enforce a lease that would have held the team here until 2010. Howard Schultz sued claiming that the new owners he'd sold to had lied about their intentions for the team.

From the outside, it looked like a sound strategy: hold the team here for two years and bleed the new owners hard enough to force a sale to local owners.

But the plan fell apart when Bennett’s skillful attorney Brad Keller dismantled the Mayor, the City’s experts and, seemingly, the entire case on the witness stand. The City settled with Bennett for a few breadcrumbs and Schultz dropped his suit.

Bennett was gone and so were the Sonics.

But under the radar, off the front pages, three Sonics season ticketholders launched a lawsuit against Bennett and the Professional Basketball Club (PBC) claiming that they had been lied to. And now, just over a year after the Sonics left town, that little lawsuit is working its way to trial and is the last, best hope to finally get some satisfaction and legal leverage against an arrogant ownership group that many feel lied, cheated, and stole from Seattle.

This week, all 2007-08 Sonic season ticketholders received notice about their participation in a class action lawsuit against the Professional Basketball Club LLC. The documents contained in the notice outlined the history of the case and asked ticketholders if they would like to be represented in the class or decline participation.

Behind the legal talk, the documents bear witness to a remarkable case. Robert Brotherson, Patrick Sheehy, and Carolyn Bechtel, the three ticketholders named in the suit, had a compelling complaint.

In early 2007, the Sonics sent out a renewal package to all season ticketholders. In the brochure, which featured a letter signed by Clay Bennett, the Sonics offered all ticketholders a commitment that if they bought tickets for the 2007-08 season, they could buy tickets for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 season at the same price. They called the program the Emerald Club.

It was clear that the club was hoping to salvage at least some business for the season. Some might say they were desperate.

The three plaintiffs took the offer at face value and bought the tickets. They might also have believed that the offer meant the team was staying for the final two years of the lease.

(Disclaimer: The author is a former Sonic season ticketholder and a member of the Emerald Club; as such, he is a member of the class in the lawsuit)

One year later, while the lease fight was heading for court, the Sonics emailed all Emerald Club members and said that, with the lease up in the air, they would not send out renewal packages, but would notify them when the case was settled. The Sonics never called back.

The plaintiffs believe that failure to offer them the right to buy season tickets at the 2007-08 price, even if the team was in Oklahoma, is a breach of contract.

Mark Griffin

“When we first started on the lawsuit, the Professional Basketball Club owners basically laughed at us,” said Mark Griffin, an attorney at Keller Rohrback who was appointed by the court as class council. “They said it was ludicrous to hold them to a contract promise to let the plaintiffs buy tickets at the 2007-08 prices. They asked the court for a summary judgment and probably thought the whole mess would be swept away.”

It didn’t work out that way. The case landed in the court of the Honorable Richard A. Jones in the United States District Court. Jones is a Seattle native, the brother of Quincy Jones and, no doubt, someone who attended Sonics games in the past. Probably a lot of games.

Jones is known as an excellent judge, a keen legal mind and an even keeled jurist who decides cases based on facts. He made a summary judgment in February 2009. The judgment, which can be read online at www.sonicsclassaction.com, dismissed most of the PBC’s claims and threw out the plaintiffs claim that the brochure and subsequent action constituted a violation of the state’s consumer protection act.

But Jones left intact the plaintiffs claim that the Sonics entered into a contract with ticketholders and then broke that contract. He ruled that all season ticketholders in the Emerald Club were a class for the purposes of the suit. He further ruled that the plaintiffs had suffered damages, though he could not rule on what the amount of the damages could be.

He wrote: “These, however, are not issues that the court can resolve as a matter of law. A jury must decide what damages are, and whether those damages were within the reasonable expectation of the parties when they entered the Emerald Club Contract.”

And those words no doubt sent a chill down the backs of the Professional Basketball Club LLC.

Judge Richard A. Jones

“He did a very smart thing,” said Seattle attorney Michael A. Maxwell. “The case appears to be unique, and where there is no precedent to rule on, you turn it over to a jury. In effect, the judge ruled that a Seattle jury would decide the amount of the damages. I doubt that was what Bennett wanted to hear.”

Maxwell believes that Bennett does not want to take the stand on the record in Seattle and does not want to face a jury.

Griffin agrees. “Anything can happen with a jury, and anything is a scary place to be for them.”

Both point to language in the summary judgment that calls out the PBC for “deceptive practices.” Judge Jones clearly spelled out a pattern of deception. If the case goes to jury in January as planned, the jury is going to hear one hell of a lot of information that, frankly, Bennett doesn’t want out. You know, like emails from the NBA telling Bennett that the Emerald Club brochure was a bad idea.

I say ‘if’ because it’s likely Bennett will want to settle.

“I’d bet he’s dialing his phone like crazy right now trying to get a deal done,” said Maxwell.

Cheering the case on from the bleachers is former season ticketholder Eric Tirnauer, a former Emerald Club member.

“It’s great,” said Tirnauer, a rehabilitation therapist in Seattle. “When I got the Emerald Club brochure in 2007, I definitely thought it meant they would ride out the lease. My wife and I purchased the tickets in the belief we could buy the same seats at the same price for the following two years. This lawsuit is proof that we were misled.”

Tirnauer is understandably bitter about the loss of the Sonics. A long time fan who moved to Seattle in part to be closer to the team, he has tried to put the hard feelings behind him, but some pain still bleeds through.

“I still haven’t been back to a Starbucks and never will,” he said. 

But is money enough to heal the wounds?  “No,” he said. “There isn’t enough money to replace the pain of losing the team. But it is a chance to flip Bennett off one last time. I really hope they win the case.”

Tirnauer probably isn’t alone in thinking that every little hurt helps. Nickels lost his job, the Oklahoma Thunder is a pathetic excuse for a team, and Bennett and co-owner Aubrey McClendon have been hurt by the economy (McClendon had to sell his prized wine collection to raise capital, poor fellow). On the other hand, we don’t have the Sonics.

But we have this lawsuit. For now, it’ll do. It’ll do.

You can buy that Sonics pin for $35 at Gasoline Alley Antiques.

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... (more)

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... (more)

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<... (more)

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.

With Washington football now holding a 27-49-4 all-time record against USC, it dawned on me that coaches who beat the Trojans in their debut season must be rare. I was right. There are only two: Steve Sarkisian and Don James.

YES THAT DON JAMES! (Sorry, people under 30, but we Gen Xers grew up worshiping James, who won 153 games in 18 years. Until we die out (appx. 2060) you young bloods will be hearing about him. Deal with it.)

James and Sark: Can We Hug?

Did Ty Willingham beat USC in his debut season? Don't be ridiculous. Gilby? Faugh. Lambo? Nuh-uh. Jim Owens may be immortalized with a statue outside Husky Stadium, but his '57 Dawgs took a 19-12 loss to the Trojans. Darrell Royal took a 35-7 beating the year before. John Cherberg's '53 Dawgs managed a tie, as did Ralph Welch's '42 squad. But Howard Odell's 1948 squad and James Phelan's 1930 Dawgs both absorbed blowout losses.

Other Husky coaches either never faced SC, or didn't face them in their first year, which is why we must mention Enoch Bagshaw, who... (more)

Matt Hasselbeck dove toward the end zone during Sunday's game at San Francisco. As he did, 6-1, 240 lb., 24-year-old San Francisco linebacker Patrick Willis charged into his back.

Like Matt Hasselbeck, I am in my early 30s, and I will tell you what would happen if a 6-1, 240 lb. 24-year-old charged into me. I would start to be a little more discerning in my dating choices. Ha! No, seriously, I would lie on the ground until the sun absorbed the earth.

Hasselbeck sent this photo via Twitter

Hasselbeck, who is a football player and a Republican, not a writer and Obama supporter like me, actually stood up. He put his hands to his head, signaling that he was coming out of the game. Then he motioned more frantically with his hands that his replacement should arrive. Then, he collapsed into the arms of Seahawks trainers. It was terrifying.

The Hawks' QB didn't play the rest of the game, but afterwards sent a halfway reassuring Tweet to fans. "Going to be alright," it read, and was accompanied by the photo at right.... (more)

For 99.99999% of the world, "Niagara Falls" conjures up the mental image of one of the natural wonders of the world. For me it will always mean one thing: "Washington 16, USC 13." You see, my childhood friend Jason picked Saturday, September 19 for his wedding in Western New York. My season tickets for the game went to some random woman on StubHub. But I'm not bitter. After a win this wonderful, how could I be? Moments like this is why I bother to watch sports in the first place.

The father of the groom celebrates

I wasn't too worried about being at a wedding during this game. As I wrote on this site, I didn't like the Huskies' chances. ("Expecting a USC Blowout"--great work, Kolloen.) Then, Dawgs fell behind 10-0 early, confirming my fears. I stopped my obsessive Blackberry checking to focus on more wedding reception appropriate activities, like business networking and flirting.

Soon, though, the infreqent Blackberry checks began to show a different story. While I was talking up my writing to a guy who owns... (more)

Just wanted to post my thoughts about Saturday's UW/USC game. I know the Huskies have turned into a trendy upset pick; normally optimistic me would be right on this bandwagon. But I just don't see it. USC just won at Ohio State, the Huskies beat Idaho in what wasn't a particularly impressive performance. USC would beat Idaho by 70.

Lord knows I'd love the trendy upset pick to come through, but it looks to me like a USC romp. (Also, if the Huskies beat USC, I'm gonna be pissed as I had to give up my tickets to go to a wedding in upstate NY).

With some baseball trades, you need to wait years to decide which team got the better of the bargain. No need with Jack Zduriencik's deadline day trade of Jarrod Washburn. If the trade were a baseball game, it would be Mariners 936, Tigers 1.

Washburn has been dismal for Detroit, and after not making it past the first inning on Tuesday, may not pitch again this season.

"I don't know why they'd want me to pitch, pitching the way I have," Washburn told FOX Sports.

Neither do we, Jarrod: In eight starts as a Tiger you've won just one game and compiled a 7.33 ERA.

Inflammation in Washburn's knee is causing him discomfort--but it's an injury the Tigers knew about when they made the trade. Evidently the pain has gotten worse, and there's nothing anyone can do.

Based on Washburn's performance, this would've been a good trade if the M's had gotten nothing in return but a Jim Leyland cigarette butt--but they received pitcher Luke French, a candidate for the '10 rotation. French made six starts with the M's, compiling... (more)

Q: What do Will Smith, Joe Montana and Wayne Gretzky share in common--something that will bring all three boldface names to Issaquah tonight?

A: All three have sons on the Oaks Christian High football team, which has flown up from Simi Valley, Calif. to play I-Town's Skyline High.

Trey "Son of Will" Smith

Will's son Trey (his oldest, by first wife Sheree Zampino, and the inspiration for his remake of "Just the Two of Us") is a junior wide receiver.

Joe's son Nick (youngest of four by current wife Jennifer Wallace, the model he met doing a razor commercial) is a senior quarterback.

Wayne's son Trevor (third of five by actress wife Janet Jones) is a junior quarterback; he backs up Nick.

The game, which will be televised nationally on ESPNU, has local football fans making sure to change out of sweatpants for two reasons: 1) Nick Montana is a UW recruit who's likely to eventually succeed Jake Locker as Huskies' quarterback. 2) The game matches two of the best high school teams in the nation. USA Today ranks Oaks... (more)

The Seahawks' linebacking corps was widely regarded as the strongest single position unit on the team--maybe the best LB unit in the NFL. No longer.

Leroy Hill, one of the team's three starting linebackers, and the recipient of a six-year, $36-million contract in May, partially tore a muscle in his groin trying to tackle Stephen Jackson in the Seahawks' win over the Rams Sunday and will miss at least the next five games.

Best case scenario, Hill rejoins the Seahawks Nov. 1 vs. Dallas. The injury may end up requiring surgery, which, depending on what they find when they open Hill up, might put him out for longer.

Special teams ace Will Herring replaces Hill as weak-side linebacker (meaning he lines up across from whichever side of the offense doesn't have a tight end), as he did on Sunday when Hill went down.

Leroy Hill (l.) is out until November, Will Herring will start in his place.

What does this mean for the Seahawks defense? We turn to John Morgan of the fantastic Seahawks blog Field Gulls for the answer: "Herring is not Hill's equal as a run defender, open field tackler, or blitzer, but...Herring is a much better pass defender."

Morgan points out that, among the Seahawks next five opponents, both Arizona and Indianapolis are primarily passing teams, so Herring's presence might actually be an upgrade.

It will not, however, help the Seahawks in dealing with 49er running back Frank Gore on Sunday in San Francisco. Gore has averaged 5.5 yards per carry in seven career games against the Seahawks; keeping him in check will be job one and Sunday--and Herring will be a big part of that.

What it could mean on the field is that Lofa Tatupu is more likely to stay up front to help Herring against the run than to drop back into pass coverage--which could leave the Seahawks vulnerable to passes over the middle. We'll shall see.

In other Seahawks injury news: Walter Jones, Chris Spencer and Deion Branch remain questionable for Sunday, with Jones looking least likely to play. Tatupu, who suffered a hamstring injury Sunday, is expected to play.

One of the most enjoyable baseball spectating experiences of my life occurred at a rained-out minor league game in Burlington, Vermont. A summer squall had rendered the field unplayable. But as we 2,000 or so fans were covered under the grandstand, we simply stayed and enjoyed the warm, misty summer air. (It's not like there was anything else to do, this being Burlington, Vermont.)

As we waited optimistically for play to resume, the P.A. blasted that generic playlist of classic oldies and rock that pretty much any American knows by heart: "Jailhouse Rock," "Celebration," "Surfin' Safari"--you know the ilk. People started dancing and singing along. Someone busted out a beach ball, people started batting it around. All of a sudden, a giant community party had broken out--miraculously for Vermont, without a jam band in sight.

It has fixed in my mind the reason why we bother to attend spectator sports, given what a pain it is to park: It's to be with people.

The Mariners will play rain or shine since they have... (more)

About a month ago, I went to Safeco Field with a friend to watch the Mariners play the the New York Yankees, scum that they are. We met early at the beer garden across the street from the field. We each had a beer and a hot dog and we talked about our busy weeks while casually observing the tight denim backsides of the female fans. All very ordinary, except for one thing: I was wearing a brand new, brilliant white Mariners jersey. It was the first time I'd ever put on such a flaunting, flashing display of my little place in the fandom. And it felt great.

But I find myself wondering sometimes, how did I get here? It wasn't that many years ago that I not only avoided professional sports, but downright loathed them. It's not that I hated sports. Far from it. I had the time of my life playing co-ed soccer years ago, and again recently when I played on my company softball team. We lost every game, badly. In fact, the mercy rule came into effect in a couple of innings. But we had a blast losing those games.

No, it was never about sports. It was the corporate commercialization of the game. It was the performance-enhancing drugs. It was, I felt, wasting one's time and money on spoiled, over-paid jocks who didn't really represent my city or state, but were here only because they were paid to be. Jerks!

So what happened? How did I go from Major League Hater to the guy standing at the cash register of the Mariners Team Store, happily forking over a wad of cash for a jersey I probably wouldn't even wear that often?

I'd gone to Mariners games a few times a year since 2001 because the company I worked for at the time had season tickets. It was something to do. And I started occasionally watching the Seahawks in 2003 if nothing better was on television, but it wasn't until a lazy Sunday in 2005 that some inner sports fan scratched himself and then flipped a switch in my brain. Ambling through the channels, I landed on a Seahawks game, saw that they were beating the Atlanta Falcons and decided to stick around and watch. The following week, I watched again as they beat the Arizona Cardinals. The week after that, they lost to the Washington Redskins, but by this time something was already happening. I was becoming familiar with our team. I suddenly knew the names of our players. Brown, Tatupu, Wallace, Babineaux, Trufant, and of course, Hasselbeck and Alexander. It was becoming the perfect Sunday ritual. Me, the television, some guacamole.

At some point during the season, I bought a knit hat with the Seahawks logo emblazoned across the front, you know, to keep my head warm. Then I bought another one, in a different color.

For eleven weeks straight, the Seahawks never lost a game and it was during this time that I got it. That feeling. Something like hometown pride, but also camaraderie with people I didn't even know. I spent the playoffs cheering and screaming in bars with these people.

By playoff time I'd bought a cool Seahawks t-shirt with bright, lime green piping on the sleeves. By the end of Super Bowl XL, my voice was nearly gone from screaming at the Goddamn referees. I was a fan.

When I moved to the Seattle area in 1999, Ken Griffey Jr. had just left the building so I wasn't around for the many cheers and tears that man created during his ten years as a Mariner. I was, however, always aware of his impact and it was amazing to see how excited people were when it was announced that he was coming back. A woman in my office absolutely squealed with delight the moment she got the official word.

The 2009 Mariners season hasn't exactly been great, but it has without a doubt had its great moments. A lot of this obviously has to do with Griffey's return. It's been reported all over that his return to Seattle has done something spectacular, not only for the fans, but also for the moral of his team. He's made this season so much fun to watch if only because of the chance he might do something wonderful like he did in the August 12 game against the White Sox, in which, in the 14th inning, he pinch-hit an RBI single to give the Mariners a walk-off win. A scoreless 14 innings and I was ready to give up and go to bed. But when I heard Griffey was up to bat, I stayed up to see what would happen. And when he ripped that ball down the right-field line sending Adrian Beltre home, I jumped and screamed while the dog and cat fled to another room with their ears down.

It's moments like this that make me a fan. Not to mention Ichiro's recent record-setting achievement of 200 hits in 9 consecutive seasons. The man is simply amazing.

But I still haven't answered the question. What happened? Is it because I'm turning 30 in a couple of months? A simple matter of fading idealism as I get older? I have been reading less Noam Chomsky--opting instead to watch reruns of How I Met Your Mother. Aren't Marshall and Lily so adorable?

I'm not yet a sports nerrrd. I don't memorize stats. Half the time I don't even know what the stats mean. I've joined a fantasy tournament exactly once, resulting in the most neglected fantasy team ever. But I'll be sitting in the center-field cheap seats for this week's series against the White Sox. I'll be there in my gleaming white Mariners jersey and I'll be wearing that same jersey during this weekend's series against the Goddamn Yankees--even if I'm watching at home alone. It's more fun that way.

I am a fan.

Major League Baseball released the 2010 master schedule today. Time to plan next summer (and lobby your engaged friends about when NOT to take the plunge.) Here are a few dates worth noting on the Mariners 2010 schedule.

April 5: First regular season game @ Oakland.

April 12: Opening day at Safeco vs. Oakland.

May 7-9: First series vs. (presumed) defending AL West champ Angels. It's at Safeco.

May 21-23: First interleague series vs. (YAWN) San Diego. It's at Safeco.

June 15-17: Mariners @ St. Louis (Haven't played St. Louis since '04).

June 22-24: M's host Cubs at Safeco. (Cubs haven't visited since '02).

July 8-11: Four-game series vs. Yankees at Safeco. (The Yanks only trip to Seattle).

July 13: 81st All-Star Game, in Anaheim.

July 22-25: Four-game series vs. Red Sox at Safeco.

July 31: M's first game at new Minnesota Twins stadium.

August 13-25: Monstrous East Coast road trip, 12 games in 13 days vs. CLE, BAL, NYY and BOS.

Sept. 13-15: Red Sox visit again. (Possible pennant race implications?)... (more)

They do like to keep busy at Seattle Storm HQ. The Storm secured the #2-seed in the WNBA Western Conference playoffs last week, with a couple of games left to play, which would seem an excellent opportunity to have an office-wide laser tag game and/or prank contest.

Instead, the Storm have made two key signings to set the future of the team. Thursday, they announced that Sue Bird had signed a two-year contract extension. The deal keeps the team's point guard in the fold through the 2011 season.

And yesterday, they announced yet another two-year extension, this one for coach/GM Brian Agler. Agler is now inked through 2011 as well, and the Storm can bring him back in 2012 if they want.

With the future seemingly set, we turn our attention to the present -- an impending best-of-three playoff series against the hated Los Angeles Sparks.

The Sparks knocked the Storm out of the playoffs in the first round last year, though the Storm were without star Lauren Jackson. Unfortunately, it appears that the Storm will... (more)

Imagined dialogue from the Husky volleyball team to the Husky football team: "Way to beat Idaho, guys--real proud. How was our weekend? Oh, no big deal, we just obliterated two of the top ten teams in the country. But, you know, that's nothing compared to triumphing over last year's last-place WAC team. We stand in awe of you. OH BY THE WAY WE'RE BEING SARCASTIC."

They aren't getting any front page headlines for it, but the University of Washington volleyball team is delivering the kind of domination that we haven't seen from UW football since 1991--and rising up the national charts because of it.

This weekend at the "Tampa Twice" tournament, Washington beat #9-ranked Minnesota and toppled #4-ranked Florida without losing a set in either match. Both the Gophers and Gators received 3-0 whitewashes.

Senior Jill Collymore's all-around excellence powered the Huskies. For the weekend she led the team in kills and service aces, and had the second-most digs of any player.

Washington's excellence garnered them two more... (more)

Ichiro got his 200th hit of the season last night in water-logged Texas. This is the ninth consecutive season Ichiro's reached that mark, breaking a 107-year-old major league record for hit-gathering consistency. Video of the record-setting hit, and the ovation Ichiro received from a sparse Texas crowd (as well as a few fans from his home country) can be seen here.

I'll have more on Ichiro and on the record later this week. Congrats Ichiro!