Recent Stories in Sports

Only 14,528 came out last night to watch the Mariners paste the Orioles. On the bright side, that's nearly 12,000 more than Conan O'Brien drew at the 2,800-seat Paramount the 2,900-seat McCaw Hall. On the dark side, Conan didn't play to any empty seats. The M's had 32,000 of them. It was their worst-attended Safeco Field game ever.

The local sports community is confused. Why aren't people showing? "The M's ... had an incredibly productive off-season and were pre-season contenders for the AL West crown," writes ESPN 710's Mike Salk. "They are not a bad team."

Well, you've answered your own question, Mike: While diehard sports fans may care about productive off-seasons and pre-season predictions, the casual fan--the one who does most of the ticket-buying--decidedly does not.

When you're someone who follows sports closely, it's easy to forget how few of the things you care about on a daily basis--M's Sign Ramon Vazquez to a Minor League Contract!--make it into the consciousness of the average person. Just like what's news to politics diehards couldn't matter less to me. For instance: Over on Publicola, something called "O'Brien Will Vote No on Panhandling Ordinance" is marked "Exclusive!" Who? What? Ping me when someone takes a bribe.... (more)

The Florida Marlins hired Creed's Scott Stapp to compose and sing a team song. It's called "Marlins Will Soar," even though it really sounds like he's singing "Marlins Will Suck." FEEL THE POWER!

Well, isn't that...Creedy. Here in Seattle we have no official team troubadour, but we do have YouTuber ErinBev, who's written a ukeleke ode to Ryan Rowland-Smith.

Extra points for this line: "When he throws his change-ups are they to Rob Johnson's glove, or are they straight to my heart?"

My personal El Dorado is the ideal place to watch baseball. Join me on my search, won't you?

I get to Mike's Chili Parlor in the shadow of the Ballard Bridge a few minutes before first pitch. The televisions, none of which are of the HD variety, are tuned to Yankees/Red Sox. I claim a bar stool, next to a slender older fellow in work clothes and a "Ketchikan, Alaska" hat. The even slenderer and older bartender comes by. I ask: "Are you going to put the Mariner game on one of these TVs?"

"I will when it's time," he says definitively, and turns away to get my order of a bowl of chili and a beer. The bartender does not seem interested in talking. The guy next to me? Well, that's a different story.

A fun fact: When someone prefaces a sentence with "I don't mean to talk politics in a bar," you are about to hear someone talk politics in a bar. Over the course of my meal and the first few innings of Mariners, I'm treated to an expansive discourse that touches on these topics:

-- Why black athletes are better than white ones. ("Culture")
-- Global warming, its causes. (Not man)
-- How quickly a glass beer bottle left out in Antarctica will explode. (About five minutes)
-- The mounting national deficit.
-- The recent mayoral election in Ketchikan.
-- The likelihood that Mariners LF Eric Byrnes will hit a ball to center. (Very, because he's Norwegian.)

After I've finished my chili and my Rainier, I decamp. Thanks, Mike's Chili Parlor. Time to rate you! (1-10)... (more)

They should've had a nickname. "The Terrible Threes," or "Blue Blitz," or "Kerney's Kavalry." In 2007, Seahawks Patrick Kerney, Julian Peterson and Darryl Tapp combined for 30 sacks. Their pressure on opposing quarterbacks--Kerney and Tapp from the line, Peterson on blitzes--masked the shortcomings of a weak Seahawks secondary and led a declining Hawks team to the last of five consecutive playoff appearances.

Peterson, slowing down after passing age 30, was traded to Detroit before last season. Tapp, deemed expendable after a disappointing '09 season, was traded to Philadelphia last month. Now Kerney, who has endured numerous surgeries since his 14.5-sack '07, has retired.

"Despite the desire to continue my career, I am retiring from professional football," Kerney said in a statement. "The toll that has been taken on my body will no longer allow me to train, and hence, perform, at a level that is acceptable to me."

Kerney's injury, Peterson's departure and Tapp's regression all contributed to a pass-rush-less 2009. The Seahawks had just 28 sacks as a team, two less than K.P.T. had between the three of them in '07. Kerney once again led the team in sacks, but had just five as he played with severe elbow pain most of the year.... (more)

More exciting than Mariner baseball

Baseball is supposed to bring fathers and sons together, and it certainly did yesterday for the father and son sitting one row in front of me. It brought them together in a united effort to ignore the fiasco unfolding before them and instead play video games on their iPhones.

We weren't out of inning six before son, a pre-teen in a stylish windbreaker, busted out Cube Runner. Dad, who bore a passing resemblance to Phil on Modern Family, got next turn. By the eighth they'd moved on to what looked like Centipede.

I stupidly kept my eyes fixed on the field, where the Mariners put forth the lamest opening day offensive effort in team history. Two hits! Two! Yes, the Mariners had been two-hit before in a home opener, but that was by Pedro Martinez in his prime. A's starter Justin Duchscherer is a talented pitcher, but vintage Pedro he's not.

For sheer awfulness, the only home opener comparison is 1992, when the M's bullpen blew a five-run lead in a portentous 12-10 loss.

Starting pitcher in that game 18 years ago was Randy Johnson. The Big Unit who appeared a few hundred yards to the south yesterday at Safeco to throw out the first pitch. Johnson made his entrance from centerfield, walking toward the mound enveloped by a sustained standing ovation. His pitch, to longtime battery mate Dan Wilson, was an indisputable strike. Wilson and Johnson met and shook hands after the pitch; they were soon joined by fellow Mariner legends Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner, and Ken Griffey Jr. for a '95 Mariners photo-op.... (more)

We've come a long way, baby. I can remember when the Mariners' opening day musical guest was Kenny G, and the first pitch honoree was Morganna, the Kissing Bandit.

Today's Mariners opening day festivities, which begin at 3 p.m. at Safeco Field, will feature Death Cab for Cutie; the local boys will sing two unannounced "classic baseball" songs. Randy Johnson, the best pitcher in team history, will throw out the first pitch. And Ichiro will get his Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards. If you aren't going to be at Safeco, you can watch the event live on the M's website.

Death Cab practicing their Opening Day set (@therealmariners via Twitter)

Also new to fans this year: A renovated menu, including more options for vegans, gluten-haters, foodies, and the frugal. For example: A Dungeness crab sandwich served on garlic artisan French bread from Essential Baking Company. (That's at the "Sound Seafood" stand in section 248.) A new stand called "The Natural," in section 132, will feature vegetarian, vegan, and organic foods. Like fresh fruit! What a revelation! As someone who'll hit probably 25 M's games this year, I'm delighted, as I would prefer not to end the summer weighing 275. Another improvement: a new LED scoreboard in left field.

Parking is always a nightmare on opening day; when you combine a near-sellout crowd with the normal commuter crowd, it gets gross. Happily there are some traffic improvements. The new Royal Brougham way overpass opens today (map in pdf), it provides direct access to the Qwest Field parking lot, and will also put cars, bikes and pedestrians over the train tracks. Other good news: There are now two turn lanes from 1st Avenue S. onto Edgar Martinez Way and the entrance to the Safeco Field lot. Bad news: The northbound I-5 exit onto 4th Avenue S. won't be open until later this month.

Oh! And there will be a baseball game played! Game time is 3:40. The M's Ryan Rowland-Smith and the A's Justin Duchscherer will pitch, the same matchup as we had last Wednesday in Oakland. Neither pitched well, nor did they figure in the decision, a 6-5 A's win. Let's go Hyphen!

Mike Sweeney and Jack Zduriencik

A few months into my post-college life, I made a desperate call to my mom. I'd committed some mistakes at my entry-level job, and was worried that I might get fired--which, obviously, at 21, would've been the end of my life. Her advice was wonderful: "Seth, it usually comes down to whether they like you or not. If they like you, they're not going to fire you."

You know who I like? Mariners DH Mike Sweeney. The five-time All-Star embraced his bench role with the M's last year, becoming the unofficial captain of what he dubbed the "L. Ben Show." (Sound it out.)

Along with Ken Griffey Jr., Sweeney was credited with turning a poisonous M's clubhouse into a much happier, and much more victorious, space. What Sweeney didn't do is hit particularly well. Still, Sweeney's back with the team this year, much enraging the unsentimental portion of the Mariner fan base.

Wrote USS Mariner's Dave Cameron after the M's chose to keep Sweeney over defensive whiz Ryan Langerhans: "There’s no nice way to say this--the team is now actively making themselves worse to keep Mike Sweeney’s personality around. Langerhans is a better hitter, a better fielder, a better runner, and a guy who can actually serve a useful purpose on this team. ... Go away, Mike Sweeney. If you want to hang out with the guys, accept a coaching job."... (more)

He'd fit right in on this team

"Speed never slumps," the old saying goes. But bats do, and you can't win many baseball games with your legs--though it looks like the 2010 Mariners are going to try.

In their opening-game win over Oakland, the M's had three stolen bases, two by new second baseman Chone Figgins. Figgins also forced three Oakland errors with his speed.

In yesterday's extra-inning loss, the M's speed got them their only run of the night. After lashing a double, Franklin Gutierrez' bluffs off second base suckered Oakland pitcher Dallas Braden into a balk. Gutierrez then scored on a wild pitch.

The dark lining to this silver cloud is that the Mariners can be made to look pitiful at the plate. Oakland's Braden, who averaged about four strikeouts per start last season, struck out 10 Mariners last night. And these were not strikeouts of the blow-you-away variety.

Nine of the K's came on Braden's slllloooowwww change, which ranges from 71-74 mph. Not sure I've ever seen that many major leaguers strike out on a pitch so slow.

"He was throwing it for a strike, keeping it down," said Figgins, who struck out twice. "You do it on both sides of the plate like he was, and it makes it awfully tough to hit."

Dave Cameron of USS Mariner had a different take: "The M’s decided to abandon their make-the-pitcher-work approach and chased every pitch he threw. [...] That looked more like bad hitting than great pitching to me."

Jack Wilson has been especially pitiful at the plate; impatient and ineffective. In eight hitless at bats, Wilson has seen just 23 pitches. If the M's keep him in the lineup for his glove, Wilson has a chance to have the worst offensive year ever for an M's shortstop, which is saying something for a team that once employed Mario Mendoza.

The M's try to find their hitting stroke tonight against two-time All-Star Justin Duchscherer, who missed last season with an elbow injury and a bout with depression.

You can buy that 1981 Topps Mario Mendoza card for $.10 on CheckOutMyCards.com

The centerfield wall at the Mariners' spring training stadium is a joke. No, really, it literally is a joke. Prankster Ken Griffey Jr. had the wall covered with a 60x30 foot photo of him jostling notoriously gruff coach Roger Hansen. See? (via @theRealmariners)

Impressive, huh? The joke being that no-nonsense Hansen, the M's catching coordinator and Griffey's minor-league roommate, isn't one to let another man embrace him. Now, proof positive that Hansen's a big softie. Hansen got his revenge by calling Griffey's mom to complain.

Other hilarity highlights from spring: Milton Bradley leaving a box of "Just for Men" hair coloring in graying Griffey's locker. Ryan Rowland-Smith interviewing teammates after an ESPN The Magazine photo shoot (video!). A "Mariners Idol" singing competition, with Ichiro and Griffey serving as judges. (Three minor leaguers won by singing in grass skirts and coconut tops.)

Yesterday, the Mariners played a game of "backwards baseball." Right-handed hitters had to bat lefty, and vice versa, and players ran the bases clockwise. Ha!... (more)

The Sounders FC held their season opener last night against expansion team the Philadephia Union, winning handily 2-0 (off goals by Fredy Montero and Brad Evans), despite showing some off-season rust out of the gate.

New kids on the block or not, the Union came out hard, snagging a yellow card in the first minute of the match, and eventually playing a man down after Toni Stahl secured a red card in the 40th minute. For the Sounders, Freddie Ljungberg was everywhere, giving a clinic on play-making.

Rain was more or less constant, the grass was slick, and wind gusts captured long balls, so I'll give the Sounders the benefit of the doubt on the number of missed passes. One thing was clear--the Union had no answer to Sounder speed to the ball. The score could have been 3 or 4 to 0, and the Sounders owned the second half, leaving keeper Keller mostly an onlooker.

A couple of friends are working on "Chicago Time" today--starting at 7 and leaving at 4, as mandated by a munificent employer who wants everyone to be able to catch today's Husky game. They may regret being given that chance, because from everything I'm reading about West Virginia, the Husky game could end up looking like a scene from Deliverance.

The Huskies struggled against taller teams this year, and West Virginia is the tallest they've played yet.The Mountaineers may start a lineup of players all above 6'7". That would make their shortest starter taller than all but one Husky. ("I'll bet you can squeal like a pig. Weeeeeee!")

At 5'8", Husky star Isaiah Thomas is used to guarding taller players. But a foot taller? ("What we, uh,  're-quire' is for you to get your asses away from the basket.")

The hope is that UW will outquick the Mountaineers. In an excellent game preview in today's P-I, Todd Dybas notes that against the all-forward lineup, Cleveland State's 6'2" Norris Cole scored 29 points. This being college basketball, anything can happen. But oddsmakers have West Virginia as a 4.5-point favorite for a reason. Still, I think the Huskies will keep it close, and the game will be quite the .... DUEL! Cue the music!... (more)

Husky fans celebrate the team's last Elite Eight appearance

Unless you are old enough for senior discounts (lucky!) you've never lived when a University of Washington basketball team made the quarterfinal round of the NCAA tournament. Not since 1953 has UW made what's now called "The Elite Eight." But they will achieve that status if they win Thursday's regional semifinal against West Virginia. Longtime Husky fans like me are counting down the hours...and expecting the worst.

We've cracked open this door four times since '53, each time getting it slammed in our faces. Shall we review the litany of failure? Oh why not:

1984: The Detlef Schrempf-led Huskies lose 64-58 to Dayton. The Dawgs, hurt by foul trouble to starters Alvin Vaughn and Christian Welp, went seven minutes without a field goal in the second half. I listened to this game on a transistor radio at some church function. I may have said some extremely non-churchy-words.

1998: Oh nightmare. After Donald (son of Slick) Watts hit a three-pointer to give Washington a one-point lead with 33 seconds left, UConn's Richard Hamilton grabs a rebound, and, falling backward, sinks a bucket at the buzzer to beat UW 75-74. I watched this game at friend's dorm room. After Hamilton's shot went through, he said to me: "Well, I'm really glad I don't care who won this game." That guy now lives in Connecticut, so he got his comeuppance.

2005: The #1-seeded Huskies fall 93-78 to a hot-shooting Louisville team. Tight officiating hurts the Huskies, as star scorers Nate Robinson and Tre Simmons sit much of the second half with foul trouble. Robinson, playing his last game as a Husky before leaving for the NBA, had just one field goal. I watched this game at The Attic in Madison Park, where my friend David and I exchanged lots of "what do you do?" looks the whole game.... (more)

Hit the boss button and this shows up on your screen

If you non-sports-fans find your company's internet running a little slow today, blame CBS. The TV network is streaming every game in this year's NCAA tournament. Live. Free. Here.

Not that you'll catch your bandwidth-stealing co-workers in the act. CBS includes a "boss" button on their video widget, which immediately converts the screen into a fake flow chart. The boss button got 2.77 million clicks during last year's tourney.

The games begin at 9:20 a.m. today, with the main event, at least locally, being the Huskies' game against Marquette at 4:20. I'm feeling pretty good about the Huskies' chances, for three reasons:

1) Marquette's entire offense is predicated around shooting three-pointers. The Huskies defend three-pointers very well, especially lately.

2) Marquette does not have a player who can defend Husky center Matthew Bryan-Amaning one-on-one. MBA is the key to today's game. We know he can get to the basket. If he's able to put his open two-footers into the actual basket, and force Marquette to double-team him, the rest of the floor will be wide open.

3) Marquette has won as a #6-seed each of the past two tourneys. #11-seeds usually win about 30 percent of these games, meaning that Marquette is "due" to lose. (Note to people who actually know something about probability: I'm not serious.)

Another local game of note: Tacoma kid Anthony Johnson, who wowed the basketball world by scoring 42 points in the Big Sky Championship, earning his Montana Grizzlies a berth in the tourney, (and himself some ink in the New York Times) will try to engineer another upset at 6:40 p.m. when #14-seed Montana plays #3-seed New Mexico.

If you are a grandpa and will be watching the games on "television" while churning butter and shoeing horses, KIRO is showing games on two channels--their regular 7, and their KIRO2 channel, which is 107 on Comcast (or 7-2 if you watch over the air HD).... (more)

Probably you know that the Mariners have been doing "funny" commercials for more than a decade now. The spots had been getting a little stale, but rely on Ken Griffey Jr. and Ichiro to bring back the funny.

No embed, but here's the link to the legitimately hilarious commercial called "Meaningful Moments." Simple concept, really well done.

There are a couple of other winners among the other four commercials, by Seattle agency Copacino+Fujikado, and shot and directed by Mercer Island's Blue Goose Productions.

Don Wakamatsu and Jack Zduriencik have their golf game interrupted in "Running Catch."

David Aardsma has a dubious idea for his bullpen mates in "Immortalized."

Then these two, which didn't really do it for me.

Ryan Rowland-Smith once again gets questionable advice from a marketing exec in "The Next Big Thing."

And Cliff Lee gets ribbed about his name by Felix Hernandez and Chone Figgins in "What's in a Name."

After you're done, check out the blooper reel.

More Elston Turner, please

Coach Lorenzo Romar has struggled to determine the right mix of playing time for his team all season. Last night against Oregon State, the struggle continued. With the Huskies in danger of suffering a loss that would sink their NCAA tournament hopes, Romar made starting shooting guard Isaiah Thomas his primary point guard, sitting both members of his point guard rotation. Elston Turner slotted in at shooting guard and played 23 minutes, his most since January 8.

The bigger lineup helped the Huskies dominate the boards. Giving Thomas total control of the offense gave him freedom to find space in the Oregon State zone. And, generally, it let Romar have his best players on the floor longer. The result was a 37-point second half that gave UW the win.

Basketball coaches from the pros down to CYO ball are known to shorten their rotations--that is, give the bench players less playing time--when the playoffs come. Perhaps Romar is moving in that direction. It's time.

With every game do or die, Abdul Gaddy shouldn't see meaningful minutes again this year. The highly-touted freshman has had his chances to make an impact, and has had valuable playing time that will help him develop into the NBA prospect he's supposed to be. But right now, he hurts the team when he's on the floor.

Venoy Overton should keep his role as off-the-bench disrupter. But that only works if he's got the energy, so he can't see more than 20 minutes a night.

That leaves Thomas as the Dawgs' primary ballhandler, spelled when Overton comes on. This is a role that Cal's Jerome Randle rode to a Pac-10 Player of the Year award, with energy guard Jorge Gutierrez in the Overton role.... (more)

First: Let us congratulate the Cleveland High girls' basketball team, which yesterday won their first-ever state tournament game. In the 83-year history of the school! "Eagles! Eagles" chants filled the Tacoma Dome parking lot as Cleveland fans filed out post-game. Pretty cool. Cleveland will play Shorecrest tonight at 8:30 p.m. for a spot in the state semifinals.

You know you'll be rooting for Cleveland in this game, as KIRO right-wing talker Dori Monson is one of Shorecrest's assistants. I'm surprised Monson is in favor of government-funded athletics. Shouldn't the kids pay their own way, like the orphaned children Monson pilloried on his show last week? I digress.

Other Seattle schools shared Cleveland's success. Five Metro league teams advanced to today's quarterfinals, with only one suffering a loss. Franklin was the only loser--but with their three top scorers being underclassmen, I suspect the Quakers will exact some non-violent revenge in next year's tourney.

Why the Metro League success? From watching O'Dea's a dominant win over Mt. Rainier, I will tell you: The speed of the game. Mt. Rainier seemed completely unprepared for the speed of O'Dea's passing, their quickness on defense, and the way they swarmed to rebounds. Irish guard Devante Williams, who may be the best shooter in the tournament, hit 4-7 from three, destroying the Rams' zone defense.

O'Dea will play Spokane's Shadle Park tonight at 8:30 p.m. I suspect the 509ers will give O'Dea a little more trouble; the Irish are susceptible to teams with a good inside game.

Other city teams who'll play in today's quarters...... (more)

Sometime back, former Washington Husky basketball star Nate Robinson began signing off his tweets with "wordaapp." Huh?

"When I say word aapp It means the same as up I just spell it diff," he explained to a confused Twitterati.

Robinson, the three-time NBA Slam Dunk Competition champ who serves as an unofficial godfather to the city's young basketball players, then started turning his signoff into a tag. Other Seattle-area tweeps have followed suit.

Take this from a Denver resident, reminiscing about childhood visits to Tacoma: "I spent my summers gett'n dirty up in HillTop nev'r forget where u come from #WORDAAPP."

Or from this UW student: "wrote 4/8 pages on India's education system and how education isnt necessarily a social equalizer and how it affects youth culture #wordaapp."

Due to some anonymous Internet stumpage, Robinson's colloquialism has garnered an Urban Dictionary entry. And now--t-shirts!

T-shirt designers Word Aapp Clothing define the phrase as "a 'Seattle thing' that is taking over the world."  That may be a little hyperbolic. For now, #wordaapp use seems confined mostly to basketball fans under the age of 24. But we're hoping for a breakout.

Here's a recent Mayor McGinn tweet: "Search Committee announced for new Human Services director." Couldn't Mayor McGinn just as easily tweet "Search Committee announced for new Human Services director #wordaapp"? I don't see why not.

(You can get that Word Aapp t-shirt for $23.99. Here are other models. Nate says don't do it! They're fake. He'll be offering authentic t-shirts soon.)

Joe Posnanski, the best sportswriter in America, tweeted thus recently: "Felipe Lopez, not yet 30, hit .310/.383/.427, signed for $2 mil? Jason Kendall, not yet 52, hit .241/.331/.305 sign 2yr/$6 mil? Confused."

No hit. Great "glove"?

Posnanski might be equally confused to learn that the Mariners made no serious attempt to replace starting catcher Rob Johnson, who hit an abysmal .213/.289/.326 last year--and had surgery on both hips in the off-season.

Kendall is old and doesn't hit, Johnson is young and doesn't hit. Why do the two have jobs? Because they play the immeasurably important position of catcher.

The catcher is not the most important player in a baseball game. But he is the caddy, coach, and confidante of the most important player in a baseball game, the pitcher. In 2009, the Mariners were 25-9 when ace Felix Hernandez pitched. A .735 winning percentage. That would be 119 wins over a 162-game season. In other words, when Felix Hernandez pitches, the Mariners are the best team in baseball history.

Now listen to what Hernandez says about Johnson: "We just seem to think alike. Every time he calls for a certain pitch, I am thinking the same thing." Do you know what having Johnson behind the plate must mean for Hernandez' confidence? What a like-minded partner like Johnson does to increase Hernandez' chances of success?... (more)

The Mariners played an intrasquad game yesterday, and, courtesy of the Times' tireless Geoff Baker, we get a peek at actual baseball being played. Huzzah!

And tomorrow--yes! tomorrow!--you'll be able to listen to Hall-of-Famer Dave Niehaus again, as ESPN 710 broadcasts the first M's spring game of the year, vs. San Francisco, at 12:05 p.m. Seattle time. (Full broadcast schedule here.)

Thus, it is time for my annual tradition of sharing this wonderful ode to spring training by light verse superstar Ogden Nash. Take it away, Ogden!

All winter long, yes, every day,
I throw the sporting page away,
I turn my faithful radio off
And grimly settle down to scoff,
Since contests that as sport I list,
In wintertime do not exist.

If Mr. Gallup me is polling
He will not tally a vote for bowling;
Despite our brief Olympic radiance,
Hockey belongs to the Canadians;
But chiefly am I unbeguiled
By Dr. Naismith's monster child,
Basketball is not a sport,
Not even as a last resort --
A game indulged in by giraffes
And only good for scornful laughs,
All whistle-blowings and palaverages
And scores that read like Dow Jones averages.

Only Harlem's unique Globetrotters,
As comic as seals and slick as otters,
Find its pretensions are grotesque
And treat it purely as burlesque.

But hark! A hint from softer climes
Of past and future golden times!
In Phoenix and St. Petersburg
The rookie generates the erg,
And Vero Beach and Sarasota
Of embryo Ruths can boast their quota.

The airwaves now begin to tingle
As grapefruit knights in tourney mingle;
Again the happiness pills I know
Of sporting page and radio.

Home is the exile, home is the rover,
The storm of basketballs is over;
I sail serenely into harbor
With Phil Rizzuto and Red Barber.

U.S.A! U.S.A! The Game Goes to Overtime

My friend David and I often plan gatherings around sporting events. Sometimes--as was the case for our Poinsettia Bowl party--no one shows. Sunday afternoon was different. The USA v. Canada Gold Medal hockey game proved a big draw, as our ten-person group spilled across two different tables at Ballard's best Upper-Midwest-themed bar, Zayda Buddy's.

And all of us got to experience one of the most thrilling moments in Olympic history--U.S. winger Zach Parise's game-tying goal with just 24 seconds left in regulation. Much of the credit goes to Parise, but let us not forget the contributions of my friend Jason, who chugged a Miller High Life just before the goal was scored in honor of U.S. goalie Ryan Miller. 

I'd arrived at noon, wearing a blue sweater and "Git 'er Done" cap, in order to secure a table. Wise move, as all tables were gone shortly after the 12:30 p.m. face-off. David arrived shortly before the game in a cowboy hat. Beers were ordered, the mysteries of the "blue line" and the "power play" explained, and general shouting at the T.V. commenced. My friend Saira was particularly into the game, having engaged in a shouting match with some anti-U.S. Canadians the night before in Vancouver. "They were jerks," she asserted more than once.... (more)

The toughest 3A boys basketball tournament in Washington this year won't be the state tourney held in Tacoma. It will be the SeaKing District Tournament, this week and next at the Bellevue College gym. Look! BRACKETS! (March must be imminent.)

The tourney features five of the state's ten top ranked teams--but grants only four places in the state tournament. One of #2 Rainier Beach, #3 Bellevue, #8 Chief Sealth, #9 Mount Si, and #10 Franklin won't get to play in Tacoma. Bummer for them, but fun hoops for us.

Two of those top-ten teams face off today at 4:45 pm: Franklin plays Mount Si. Each team has a star player: Franklin's Anrio Adams, a sophomore point guard, is a possible pro prospect. Mount Si shooting guard Tanner Riley will play for the University of Portland next year. The young Quakers (they start three freshmen) have come on strong as the season's progressed. Adams in particular: he had 41 points Tuesday in the Quakers' win over Ingraham.

At 8:15 p.m., Rainier Beach plays O'Dea--two city schools who'... (more)

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.... (more)

Why did NBC bump Sunday's USA/Canada hockey game to cable? Because showing it would've required actual sports coverage. Which is not what NBC is broadcasting in primetime this Olympics. NBC is showing reality television.

Think about it: When you watch Survivor, they don't show the entirety of, say, each immunity challenge. No, you get a bunch of interviews building up the suspense of the event, and a few cherry-picked moments from a much longer competition. You get the same menu when you watch the Olympics on NBC.

What I think of as sports coverage--showing, you know, sports--does not fit into NBC's plans. The New York Times' Richard Sandomir explains why:

A hockey game cannot be sliced easily into a series of short events, like ski or luge runs, figure skating programs or speedskating races. If the network cannot chop a sport into two-to-five-minute elements framed with a lot of ads, it is not likely to be shown from 7 p.m. to midnight.

Someday, maybe they'll guard each other in the NBA. But Thursday night, in front of a lucky 500 at the Ballard High gym, sophomore Anrio Adams of Franklin High and freshman DJ Fenner of Seattle Prep matched up with third place in the Metro League tourney as the prize.

For most of the second half, Adams guarded Fenner, and Fenner guarded Adams. It was a game within a game as the two freakishly athletic underclassmen chased each other around the court. Early on in the half, both players were warned by the referees for overly physical play. Not long after, Adams was called for an intentional foul for grabbing Fenner trying to come off of a screen.

Adams had the tougher task staying with his man, as Prep's organized offense threw a multitude of screens and picks his way. However Fenner had to contend with Adams within the flow of Franklin's more improvisatory style. Adams got the best of the match-up, as did his team.

Prep held a two point lead at half, but early in the second their one true point guard, Julian... (more)

Coach Romar, Sane Genius

Flexibility is not among Lorenzo Romar's attributes as a coach--or as a person. Yet Romar may need to channel his inner relativist if his Washington hoopsters are going to beat USC tonight.

Romar: A man of such high ethical principles that he doesn't swear. ("Dog!" is the saltiest epithet that passes Romar's lips.)

So dedicated to his profession that he took his wife to a high school basketball game one Valentine's Day (I was there, too, though sans date).

So strict that he benched starters Will Conroy and Bobby Jones for the start of an NCAA tournament game for a minor curfew violation. (The Huskies started slow and lost by just two points.)

Romar's ethics, dedication, and willpower are strengths. They inspire respect from his players; and have made Romar the most successful Washington coach of the past half-century.

But flip that coin. Romar's inflexibility may have stiffed him a Final Four appearance. Had he instructed his 2006 Huskies to foul UConn's Rashad Anderson with time running out remaining in an NCAA Tournament regional semifinal, the Huskies would likely have won. Left unmolested, Anderson hit a game-tying three-pointer that sent the game into an overtime period that the shorthanded Huskies lost.... (more)