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July 2009
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| February 2009
The action continued in the third period. It was clear that neither team had calmed down during the intermission. Just under two minutes into the period, Jonathan Parker scored for Seattle, with assists by Prab Rai and Thomas Hickey. The T-Birds were now up, 4-1. ...
The second period picked up where the first left off, with lots of action at both ends of the ice. Calvin Pickard made some nice saves, and the T-Birds made some nice plays but didn't capitalize. There was a scary moment when T-Bird D-man Thomas Hickey hit a slapshot over the glass and hit a Winterhawks fan in the face. Medics rushed to the scene quickly and ushered the woman away. She walked on her own, holding a towel to her face as everyone clapped to show their relief that she seemed okay. A Portland player also sent a puck flying several minutes later, but this one didn't seem to have hit anyone. ...The "Sugar Bear Shake" is headed to Broadway. The New York Giants have signed Rocky Bernard to a contract. Bernard was an unrestricted free agent with the Hawks. Seattle now has a big need for defensive tackles. Here's who they've got:
Tonight, I'm trying my hand at something new- posting period by period hockey action. The Seattle Thunderbirds are playing host to the Portland Winterhawks in WHL action. Portland may be last in the standings, but they came here to play- and do their best to beat their hated I-5 rival. ...The Sounders FC played to a 1-1 tie with CED Rosario. It's their second game on their Argentina tour. Freddy Montero scored their only goal. Here's head coach Sigi Schmid's take on the goal. "It was a good ball by Fredy Montero. We played a little bit better in the second half than the first half. I didn't think we had played really well. We had not handled the ball really well, just didn't keep the ball as we should have. In the second half we did a better job, got Fredy in on the right hand side. Fredy was able to hold the guy off the ball and then he cut the ball back to Diego, who obviously was in a good position to finish his goal well." - Sigi Schmid Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and former Husky Ely Allen made their debut for Seattle today. The Sounders face Velez Sarsfield on Monday. ...According to the Seattle Times, WR T.J. Houshmanzadeh is visiting the Hawks today. If for some reason the Seahawks decide to sign him, he's gonna cost a good chunk of change. Seattle will have to do some creative bookkeeping to keep under the cap. Also, signing T.J. would tip their hand on Michael Crabtree. It would likely mean they would pass on the talented wideout from Texas Tech. Profootballweekly.com gives pro's and con's of Houshmanzadeh. Btw, he turns 32 in September.
According to the Associated Press, Houston police arrested former Husky Reggie Williams on charges of DWI and possession of marijuana. KRIV in Houston has more details. Apparently the arrest just before 2 a.m. Friday. Williams played for Jacksonville last season. He's a free agent. ...It's the first defection of the Seahawks. The Detroit Lions signed RB Maurice Morris to a 3-year deal worth $7 million. Mo was the Hawks 2nd leading rusher with 574 yards. He split time with Julius Jones. Barring a trade/free agent signing, it looks like Jones will be the feature back. Who's next to leave? ...In Argentina, the Sounders FC defeat Estudiantes de La Plata, 3-1. Fredy Montero ignited the attack in the second half, scoring two goals within a 4-minute span. Nate Jaqua scored the other goal. All of the Seattle goals occurred over a 12-minute stretch in the second half of the 70-minute match.
"The team created a number of chances. We could've had more than three (goals) at the end of the day. So I was well-pleased." Next up for Seattle is a match against a collection of local free agents. That's on Saturday at 10 a.m. PT. M's manager Don Wakamatsu doesn't plan on playing Ken Griffey Junior until next week. Junior will tentatively DH against the Australian National team on Wednesday. No real surprise there. Griffey is coming off off-season season knee surgery and he's 39. The M's are doing the right thing by easing him into some playing time. Junior has been through 20 Spring Trainings. I'm sure he can figure things out by the time the season starts. ...It's not quite the return of Ken Griffey Junior to Seattle, but wouldn't it be nice for Damon Huard to end his career in Seattle playing for the Seahawks. I'm not saying he should take over for Matt Hasselbeck or Seneca Wallace, but I think he would be just as good at quarterback as last years third string QB Charlie Frye. Considering Huard grew up in Puyallup, played for the Washington Huskies and helped Paul Allen build a new stadium for the Seahawks, I think it would the perfect place for Huard to finish up on the field.
I say give Damon Huard a shot at camp Seahawks and let's see where those chips fall. Only four hours until NFL teams can go shopping for free agents. The Hawks have 16 unrestricted free agents, but it's really whittled down to 12. There's no way they'll keep the four below:
While I realize it is unwise to bite or push away the hand that feeds you, Adrian Beltre should be playing for the Dominican Republic, as long as it is what he wants. ...At first glace of the score from Wednesday's 8-0 loss against the Vancouver Giants it's easy to think the 'Tips have underachieved. Not exactly. But if they aren't careful, the Silvertips will see the same Vancouver team in the first round of the WHL playoffs. Everett Head Coach John Becanic will join us on Northwest Sports Tonight next Monday. ...Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, the new Seattle Sounders FC central defender, arrived at the hotel during the team breakfast. He circulated around the room for handshakes with his new coaches and teammates. Hurtado received a hug from his friend, Fredy Montero, who has known him for five years. The two played together at Deportivo Cali last year. Hurtado took an overnight flight from Bogota to Buenos Aires after departing Cali earlier Wednesday.
"The emphasis is two-fold. One is on our collective defending because the Argentine teams are good at keeping possession. Defensively you have to be really good about keeping your shape and really good about your patience and really good about staying mentally focused because during their time of possession you can't get exposed; you can't get drawn apart. The second aspect is, because they hold on to the ball, you want to hold on to the ball when you get it. Otherwise you will feel like you played 75 percent of the game chasing the ball around. This will help our possession orientation because it makes you value your own possession."
Looks like Michael Vick will ultimately be allowed to be confined at home (maybe as early as May) for the remainder of his sentence for dogfighting. He will be allowed to leave his house for activities allowed by his probation officer. Here is the link to the espn.com story. http://sports/espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id3936529 The Sounders held a 70-minute training session with temperatures in the mid-80's. Joining practice for the first time were Michael Fucito, the fourth-round MLS SuperDraft pick out of Harvard, and invitee Evan Bush, a goalkeeper from the University of Akron. Fucito met the team in Seattle last week after recovering from a hamstring injury sustained last fall. Third-round choice Jared Karkas took part in drills for the first time since a hamstring strain sidelined him three weeks ago.
Mariners Third Baseman Adrian Beltre has a tough decision to make, stay in camp with the Mariners or go play in the Wolrd Baseball Classic for the Domincan Republic. Beltre says he is still undecided on whether he will play in the Classic. The Mariners are leaving the choice up to him, but they advised the two-time Gold Glove winner not to play out of concern from him having surgery in September on his thumb and non-throwing shoulder.
I guess it's in his blood. Former Mariners skipper Mike Hargrove stills wants a shot at managing in the majors again. Hargrove suddenly quit on the M's back in 2007. Seattle was contending for the pennant. At the time, he said he lost the desire to coach. Maybe the locker room problems we've been hearing about a lot lately. There is a back story that Hargrove will not talk about, but it became apparent later that the team was in turmoil at several levels, including the front office. Since then, the Mariners have fired general manager Bill Bavasi and manager John McLaren. baltimoresun.com 2/25/09 So if you believe the Baltimore Sun reporter, it sounds like the clubhouse has been a problem for a couple of years. ...Every story has two sides and now Cougars quarterback Marshall Lobbestael's side is coming out, at least according to cougfan.com. Wulff would not detail the facts of the case but Cougfan.com has learned from reliable independent sources that: 1) Lobbestael was not "passed out", 2) that the woman he was helping to walk was not unconscious, 3) that Lobbestael spoke with police on two occasions just prior and was not arrested. It'll be interesting to see becomes of this case. Here is Monday's story about Lobbestael's arrest. You can also read Deadspin's "alternative" take on the 19-year-old's trouble with johnny law. . I've been to a number of Seattle Thunderbirds games this season and I always leave quite impressed by the defense. Don't get me wrong, I think the entire team is excellent and the lines gel and score extremely well. But the defense has really stepped up in recent games I've attended (the one exception: February 13 at Everett).
It sounds like a blood bath for the Tampa Bay Bucs. They're cutting five major veterans. Former Seahawk Joey Galloway is one of them. They're also letting go of LB Derrick Brooks, LB Cato June, RB Warrick Dunn, and WR Ike Hilliard. I guess a youth movement is on the way. It makes sense. They've got a new coach. No time like the present, if you don't think you can compete for a Super Bowl.
Looks like former Seahawk DJ Hackett is no longer a Caolina Panther. Tough break for Ryan Feierabend. The 23-year-old has a partial tear in the elbow of his throwing arm. Apparently, it's not a complete tear, but you gotta believe he'll still need Tommy John Surgery. The lefty was vying for the long relief/spot starter job.
Great event Tuesday night at the Don James Center at UW. "Dinner with a Dawg" matches up mentors from the private sector with student athletes from all the men's and women's Husky teams. I was able to spend some quality time with, among others, Jon Brockman and Quincy Poindexter from the basketball team, both of whom want to get into the sports media business after they complete their college careers. Also met several players from the ladies' soccer and volleyball programs, including Kellye Joswick and Kerry Leslie. Top notch young people, indeed! This is a terrific way for these successful students to network with successful people who hopefully can help them with transition into the professional world. The roster of mentors was very impressive, including 1999 UW grad James Sun, a highly successful local biz-whiz whom, you may remember, appeared on "The Apprenctice" with "The Donald." Programs and events like this really set UW apart from the pack and I was very honored to be invited to take part. ...Former Husky Damon Huard was one of three players cut by the Chiefs today. New head coach Todd Haley must be ready to purge his roster of contracts and players. The Kansas City Star reports that Huard and the other two guys cut didn't fit into Haley's and new GM Scott Pioli's vision.
There's a player for the Seattle Thunderbirds whose name I love to say aloud. And the way he's been playing lately, his name's on many minds right now. Stefan Warg (pronounced: VAHRGH) is a big D-Man who plays like, well, a big D-Man. ...Good Afternoon Hockey fans and friends, It just occurred to me today that I've been writing a weekly blog for 11 weeks. Wow! I can't believe how the season has flown by this year.
Husky senior Jon Brockman has been named as one of 30 finalists for the Naismith Award. The award honors the nation's best college basketball player.
Supers agent David Falk has a new book out. He claims the NBA is headed towards a major disaster which could end up in a two-year work stoppage. I swear Falk's revelation is just another sign in a long list of signs that the NBA's economic model does not work.
In case you want to get tickets to see Ken Griffey Junior's return to Seattle, we've got the info you need. Single game tickets go on sale March 14. But if you want to be a part of the pre-sale on March 12th, you'll have to go to the M's website for more info. The official M's news release is after the jump. It tells you how you can avoid those service charge fees. ...If you're French-Canadian and a Canucks fan, that's your motto for Tuesday. Win at Montreal Luongo! After Saturday's trek to Toronto, the Vancouver team might feel almost invincible. ...Former Husky Lawyer Milloy should become a free agent on Friday. It sounds like the Atlanta Falcons don't want to re-sign him. Milloy was the team's third leading tackler. He says he eventually wants to end up in Seattle. Milloy, who was raised in Tacoma, Wash., has said that he wants to end his career with the Seattle Seahawks, where he'd be reunited with former Falcons head coach Jim Mora. It's almost Griffey-esque. Although he never played for the Hawks, he's from here. Griffey says he raised in Cincinnati, but grew up with in Seattle. At any rate, I'm not sure if the Hawks need another aging safety. I'm not trying to insult Deon Grant or Brian Russell, but both are getting up there. But on the positive side, if Grant or Russell got hurt or needed a breather, it would be nice to be able to bring in a veteran like Milloy. ...It was a weekend to lose or gain money via the NFL draft. Hundreds of college football players participated the NFL Combine. Some players can improve their stock with a good workout and some can fall with a bad one. The most intriguing happened when Alabama offensive tackle Andre Smith just disappeared. Apparently, it's not that uncommon. "He's not the first player who has left the combine early, that's fairly common if they're not going to work out," former NFL General Manager Charley Casserly said. "A lack of communication, that's not good. To fly back to work out, I'm not buying it. He could be here and be around. This is not good." Smith, with a good weekend at the combine and workout at Alabama, could have made a push to be the number one pick overall. Heck, if he would fall down to the Seahawks, you could make a case for the Hawks to draft him. So what does Smith lose out on being the number one overall pick. Last year's top pick, Miami's Jake Long, earned $30 million in guaranteed money. The deal was worth a total of $57.5 million over five years. What if he fell to the Hawks? Last season's number four pick overall, Darren McFadden, got $26 mil guaranteed, 6-year for $60 mil overall. If he drops out of the top 10, he could lose out on $12-18 million up front guaranteed. CNBC's Darren Rovell gives his take on Smith. He puts a much bleaker spin on it. Let's put Smith as the fourth offensive tackle taken behind Jason Smith, Eugene Monroe and Michael Oher. Since so many teams took offensive tackles last year in the first round, we'll put Smith as going to the Philadelphia Eagles at No. 28. The 28th pick last year was Lawrence Jackson, who received $6.1 million in guaranteed money. We'll give Smith the benefit of the doubt here and say he'll get similar guaranteed money to what Duane Brown got at No. 26 last year ($6.2 million).
Everett Silvertips News Release: Everett, WA - Everett's leading goal scorer Shane Harper will join host Jon Rosen for the Silvertips Radio Show at Sporty's this Tuesday to talk about the strides he has made in his 19 year old season.
It's been an odd weekend for Michael Wilson. The Mariners released him to make room for Ken Griffey Junior. Today, they re-signed him to a minor league deal. I guess if you're gonna be released, it's gotta be pretty cool when the guy replacing you is credited for Safeco Field being built. Ahhh, something to tell the grandkids. Wilson is an outfielder who's only 25. The M's official news release is after the jump. ...The Storm have signed point guard Shannon "Pee Wee" Johnson to a deal. (what, were you hoping for Pee Wee Herman? but that would be pretty cool.) It's a good move for a team that's tried to find a quality backup point guard for Sue Bird since Tully Bevilaqua left in 2005. Pee Wee will allow Sue to play off the ball a little more. Plus, give a breather more often. Now the head coach and general manager Brian Agler has one more bit of business to do. Sign LJ. You can read the Storm's news release after the jump. ...Cougars guard Taylor Rochestie earns PAC-10 Player of the Week. The senior guard averaged 24.5 points per game against USC & UCLA. Rochestie did most of his damage against UCLA. He scored a career high 33 points and played the entire 40 minutes against the Bruins. It's Rochestie's first P.O.W. award.
Finally saw the movie "The Wrestler" on Saturday. It was a fantastic, gritty, realistic movie and performance by Mickey Rourke. It paralleled the life of Jake Roberts a lot (shown on A&E a few years ago), and took Rourke's finishing move from the Randy Savage. Sure, I was partial to Rourke winning the Oscar, but Sean Penn in "Milk" took on a more important societal topic than pro wrestling! Anyway, we will see Rourke soon at Wrestlemania 25, where he will likely make more money than he did for the movie. ...Tell me what you think, but I thought Ken Griffey just mailed in his press conference comments on Saturday. I didn't see any enthusiasm, energy, passion or excitement. It was disappointing to watch his disinterested non-answers. I expected a lot more. Hopefully he will do his talking at the plate come April. Any thoughts? ...This is my first of many entries on the KING 5 blog. Here's the latest from the NFL combine in Indy. Seahawks coach Jim Mora is there, and today he said the Seahawks goal is to improve through the draft, fine-tune with though free agency, but most importlant of all, Mora says he needs the current players to play better! I agree, and think that's the key to this season. We need our defense to play like it's capable of (as in as good as it is on Madden NFL 09). As for the Seahawks draft pick at No. 4, I wanted Crabtree. He's a big, strong receiver, but now he might be damaged goods. NEWS FLASH: NFL doctors have diagnosed Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree with a stress fracture in his left foot. The player many see as the top receiver available for this year's draft reportedly will need surgery to insert a screw and might face a recovery period of 10 weeks or longer. NFL officials have not confirmed details of the injury or the surgery, though coaches were told about it during drills at the scouting combine in Indianapolis. Crabtree was not scheduled to work out until Sunday. I'm not a doctor, but that's not a good thing. Let's hope he heals, and the Seahawks get a good idea if he's their man, or if the Hawks go a different direction (o-line or d-line). What should the Hawks do with the 4th pick? ...Notre Dame has hired longtime Huskies assistant coach Randy Hart as the Irish's new defensive line coach. ...Hey everyone, I just wanted to remind you that can watch Ken Griffey Junior's press conference today on Northwest Cable News at 12:30pm. You can also watching it streaming live on KING5.com. It's Griffey's first presser since deciding to comeback to Seattle. ...Now I've been fortunate to have never had an ingrown toe nail (right now I'm knocking on wood). But I've heard it's painful. Former Mariner Jose Guillen had one. And he took care of it. "The doctor saw me (Wednesday)," Guillen said, "and he said we'll see how it feels in the morning. If it wasn't any better, he wanted me to have surgery. I thought, 'Whoaaa.' "So I went on my own (Wednesday) to the pharmacy, got some tweezers, came home and pulled it out myself. Let me tell you, I cried. I had one tough hour. But I got it out." Man, I was cringing while reading it. Here's the rest of the story/article. KING 5 Sports producer Mike Kreiger just told me he had the same thing when he was younger. His dad just yanked it out. OUCH! Mike says he had the same reaction as Guillen. ...Yolanda Griffith has signed with the Indiana Fever. She leaves the Storm after one season in Seattle. Yo had her reasons for choosing Indiana. "I'm going to Indiana partly because they remind me of my days in the ABL [American Basketball League] with the Long Beach Stingrays," said Griffith, who was born and raised in nearby Chicago. "They're [the Fever] a blue-collar team, they play hard and leave it all on the court. For me, this is another opportunity to play with great players that I have competed against for years." - wnba.com I guess the golden oldies are all gone now. Sheryl Swoopes and Yo are done with the Storm. Unless Seattle has a change of mind about Swoopes, but I think that ship has already sailed. ...Yes, Suzy Batkovic has returned to the Storm. The Big(ger) Aussie has agreed to a deal with Seattle. She last played for the Storm back in 2005. Batkovic will miss a few games at the beginning of the season. She's going to get married May 30th. Batkovic and Lauren Jackson are good friends. Maybe head coach Brian Agler has a plan to convince LJ to come back to Seattle. You can read the Storm's official news release after the jump. ...I like Charles Barkley on TV. He makes you want to watch. He has a point of view, a great personality and unpredictability. He got off easy after the DUI mess, and Turner Sports even made sure he stayed away during their Alll-Star telecasts, so that he did not become the center of attention in Phoenix. No doubt David Stern made sure of that. So, let's see, this guy is a compulsive gambler and will now do alcohol treatment. Chuck, you were right from the beginning when you said: "I am not a role model." ...Now we hear that after failing to trade Amare Stoudemire and firing CoachTerry Porter in hopes of re-energizing Amare and the Suns' A-game, it turns out that the big man has had surgery for a detached retina and will miss eight weeks, if not the remainder of the season. It seems the only luck the Suns are having this year is bad. And another big man is down for awhile. KG of the Celtics hurt his knee against Utah and is back in Boston for treatment while Boston wraps its road trip. Count 'em up this week....Oden, Amare and KG, all with bad wheels. Who's next? ...Before the season began the Canucks were set on putting Daniel Sedin and his twin brother Henrik on seperate lines. Luckily, someone was smart enough to realize that wasn't a good idea. ...KING 5 Sports is now on Twitter. We used it a lot on Wednesday for Ken Griffey Junior's signing and the days leading up to it. Here's the link twitter.com/KING5Sports Plus, we've also tweeted the Griffey presser on Saturday. We will use Twitter to let you know what's coming up on KING 5 Sports and Northwest Sports Tonight. Plus, we'll give you a quick tweet on the latest news involving the sports teams that we follow. So click on our Twitter link and follow KING 5 Sports. ...What happens when you grow up in Minnesota, spend your high school years with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, and play college hockey at the University of Minnesota as a 17 year old before being drafted 29th overall by the Ottawa Senators? You become one of the Seattle Thunderbirds' top players and an integral member of Team USA in the World Junior Championships.
The Huskies have named Doug Nussmeier as team's offensive coordinator. Nussmeier was the QB coach. He'll hold both positions. Don't worry, head coach Steve Sarkisian will likely run the offense despite Nussmeier's promotion. The Dawgs official news release is after the jump. ...I just got word that the Ken Griffey Junior press conference is this Saturday at approximately 12:30pm. I've also been informed Northwest Cable News will carry it live! Unfortunately for you die-hard Cougars fans (is there any other kind?) the presser will happen during Saturday's game with UCLA.
Talk about getting lost in the Griffey hoopla, but former M's infielder Tug Hulett was claimed off of waivers by the Royals. Even without the Griffey lovefest, I don't think this would have registered much. Maybe Tug needed someone to convince the M's to keep him, like a certain Hall-of-Famer told Junior he needed the M's. At any rate, the official Mariners news release on Tug is after the jump. ...Yes, you've read that right. The Mariners already have Ken Griffey Junior #24 jerseys on sale at their Safeco Field team store. I just got off the phone with an employee from that store. He tells me there are only a few left. They are the authentic jerseys, not replicas. Plus, they are the current model, not retro. He says they're hoping to get more over the weekend. The team store closes today at 5pm. ...The Sounders FC signed defender Evan Brown, the 16th selection in the MLS Superdraft. An outside back, Brown helped Wake Forest hold opponents scoreless 14 times in 2008.
"We talked highly about Evan on draft day and we're very pleased with his continued improvement. He is an exciting, attacking fullback who will add a lot to our team." ... The first question Don Wakamatsu was asked today was, "what will Ken Griffey Jr.'s role be, will he play left field or be the designated hitter?" Wakamatsu simply said:
"We're gonna let this thing play out, see when he gets into camp and talk to him about how he feels. Obviously, everything on the medical is good, kind of excited about seeing how he moves around. It's too early for me to tell about line-ups and playing time until we again talk with each other about how his body feels."
Everywhere you go in Peoria, people are talking about Junior's return to the Mariners. I just returned from the souvenir shop, and people are already pre-ordering Griffey merchandise. The Mariners office in Peoria has been getting call after call from fans wanting to show up to practice this weekend to get a glimpse of Griffey. Since it is free to attend Mariners practice in Peoria, there's word there could be over a thousand people coming out this weekend to grab a picture or get an autograph of #24.
"This is great, I love it, I will now be playing with my favorite player of all time."
"It wont be tough at all, it will be a feather in my cap to manage a player of Griffey's caliber, I look forward to having #24 on my team."... The Seahawks have placed the franchise tag on linebacker Leroy Hill. By doing so, the Hawks will tender a minimum of the average salary of the top five linebackers in the league, or a 20 percent salary increase, whichever is greater. Hill will be free to negotiate with any other team, but the Seahawks can match any offer or receive two first-round draft choices if they decide not to match.
"We are excited that Leroy will remain a Seahawk." We believe he is an important part of our defense and will continue to talk with his representative in hopes of securing a long-term deal which is our goal."... They're just beyond the reach of the Seattle sports scene, but they are a pro team in a major North American pro league, and they're getting hot at the right time. Nothing fires up Canadian born players like a road trip across the Homeland. ...The T-Birds have been playing like a team that can make some noise in the playoffs. Wednesday night, they played a team that HAS made noise in the playoffs. Seattle's trip to Spokane didn't go quite as planned. At least not the final result. ...In the Seattle sports scene there have been plenty of players who wanted out. Very few ever returned. Until now. ...The Mariners signed Ken Griffey Junior to a one-year deal today. KING 5 TV had an exclusive interview with M's General Manager Jack Zduriencik on Griffey's signing. No other TV station was in Peoria today. I've linked the interviews below. ...The Mariners have sent out an official news release that they've signed Ken Griffey Junior. It's after the jump. It's been quite a day trying to get the story confirmed. Chris Egan did a great job with it. He even had M's General Manager Jack Zduriencik on live during our 630pm newscast. I'll try to put that interview online ASAP. ...WSB-TV in Atlanta reports that Ken Griffey Junior has spurned the Braves and is signing with the Mariners. We'll have more later. ...The McDonald's All-American game invited three high schoolers with ties to Washington. Bellarmine Prep's Abdul Gaddy, former Bell Prep star Avery Bradley (he's now playing at Findlay College Prep in Nevada), and Franklin's Peyton Siva were selected to play in the April 1st game in Miami. Here's the website for more info. It's the second time that 3 players with Washington ties have made the list. In 2005, Martell Webster, Micah Downs, and Jon Brockman were McDonald's All-Americans. The very first from Washington was Mercer Island's Quinn Synder. ...The Mariners have added catcher Israel Nunez to the Spring Training roster. Don't read too much into it. The M's have six catchers in camp. With Kenji Johjima heading to the WBC, the M's need catchers in camp to help with all the pitchers. Nunez played in Wisconsin (single A ball) last year. You can read more about him, in the M's news release, after the jump. ...Today is the first day for the full squad workout. Manager Don Wakamatsu held a closed door meeting at 9am. He wanted to give the team his vision and set the tone for Spring Training. We'll have more on the first day tonight at 5pm on KING 5 News.
After the explosive Seattle Key Arena PPV Sunday and the follow-up Spokane show on Monday Night Raw, it seems pretty clear that Triple H will meet Randy Orton at the 25th anniversary show of Wrestlemania. They have weeks to do the buildup, and after Orton gave Stephanie an RKO Monday, the look on HHH's face sealed the deal. Looks like it will be The Heartbreak Kid (aka Michael Hickenbottom) against the Undertaker, which could be the best match on that card. I gotta believe Mysterio (Oscar Guiterrez) will get a shot at Edge (Adam Morrison) after their superb finish at the PPV on Sunday. Mysterio got the MVP rating for that show. WWE could add Cena to that and make it a Triple Threat match. Cena still pops the crowd better than anybody though his work is getting way stale. Of course, Chris Jericho has been ranting about actor Mickey Rourke, star of the movie "The Wrestler." That means it will be Y2J vs. Mickey with Ric Flair coming out of retirement (can you say Brett Favre?) to manage the Oscar nominee. Stay tuned to this spot for the latest on Mania....and remember it may not be sports, but it IS sports entertainment. ...Admist A-Rod's Press Conference and the Ken Griffey Junior circus I had the chance to sit down with several of the new faces on the Mariners team and I am impressed beyond belief. First baseman, Russell Branyan, who has now played for 9 teams in 9 seasons is hoping to make Seattle his final home. Branyan says, "Seattle is providing me with a great oppurtunity to shine and get some playing time at first base, I'm excited to get the chance to play at Safeco Field and play under Don Wakamatsu." Often referred to as Russell "the muscle" Branyan, the new first baseman has spent alot of his time in Peoria with another new face, Mike Sweeney. Talk about a classy guy, the 16-year veteran and former Kansas City All-Star not only stops by to say hi to me every morning, but he also goes out of his way to help track down players for me. Sweeney wasn't required to be in camp until today, but has already been here over a week, working hard every day. However he puts it all into perspective, he says "If I make the team, great, I will do my best to help the team with my bat and also help the younger guys with my veteran leadership. But, If I dont make the team, I'll simply walk off into the Sunset and go hang out with my beautiful wife and my three wonderful kids." Mariner fans may also enjoy new M's pitcher Garrett Olson. Olson who will likely work out of the bullpen, says, "I'm here to get people out, whether thats as a starter or a reliever, I could care less, lets go out there and surprise everyone and win ball games, playing at Safeco Field is a dream for me, I can't wait to hang out at Pike Place Market." Olson went on to inform me, he wants to go get a geoduck with me, he says, "Ive heard to earn right of passage in the Northwest, you must be able to dig up a geoduck." Today, we'll meet three more new mariners, Endy Chavez, Ronny Cedeno and Franklin Gutierrez. ...So now Trailblazers big man Greg Oden is going to miss tonight's game against the Grizzlies (there's a break!) and is day-to-day with bone chip in one of his knees. Oden got knicked during a collision while playing against Golden State last Thursday, and that cost him a spot in the rookie challenge at All-Star Weekend. So, let's total it up: Six games missed this season with a foot problem and all of last season missed after knee surgery. This guy simply cannot take the night-in, night-out pounding of the NBA schedule. He is a premature Bill Walton. As one of my colleagues said: "He's brittle." Again, this is shaping up as Sam Bowie revisited. Is anyone thinking about Durant and Brandon Roy together in Portland? Wilt Chamberlain once averaged more than 48 minutes a game for an entire season in his early career. I don't think Oden has ever played a full 48-minute game in his life. ...When asked about Nate Robinson's performance in the All-Star Dunk Contest Saturday, Lorenzo Romar quickly said, "Nate is out of control." The coach was most amused by the former husky's "creative take" on his attire on his final dunk. "The most enjoyment I got out of that was when...obviously, I enjoyed the whole thing, the dunks...but when he said he designed his shoes himself." Nate wore bright green shoes, an all-green Knicks uniform, and dunked a bright green ball over 6'11 Dwight Howard. The guard called his ensemble "kryptonite." The media quickly turned the term into "Krypto-Nate." That performance got him 52% of the fan votes and the trophy for the second time in his NBA career. Romar said, "He was always trying to come up with ideas like that when he was here. It would have been interesting to see what our uniforms would have looked like if Nate could have designed them." Just after members of the media stopped laughing about that, the coach added, "It wouldn't surprise me if he had his own clothing line one day. Really. Because he's pretty creative that way." Then someone asked him if he'd wear a "Krypto-Nate" shirt and Romar said, "I want to sport one. I'll be proud to wear it. I'll market it for him."
We've all heard the stories of Manny Ramirez marching to the beat of his own drum. They call it Manny being Manny. Over the past 96 hours, I think we can use the same kind of phrase with Ken Griffey Junior. First, last Thursday, numerous reports had Junior all but in a Mariner uniform. Friday, the fevor pitch continued. Saturday, reports came out that the Braves entered the fray. Sunday, it looked more and more like he was headed to Atlanta. Monday, everyone reported Junior would make a decision that night or Tuesday. Well now it's Tuesday. Alex Rodriguez had his presser. So Junior is gonna wait until he can be center stage. It sounds like he's gonna wait until Wednesday to decide.
Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez faced the music today. He talked in-depth about his use of performance enhancing drugs throughout his career, including his time in Seattle. A-Rod says he used a pill called "Ripped Fuel" from GNC. Here's the side effects of "Ripped Fuel". Below is ESPN's/YES network's embedded video from the presser. The Seattle stuff is right off the bat. It appeared as if Mariners' fans would not see Griffey back in an M's jersey. Today, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that former Mariner Ken Griffey Jr. agreed to terms with the Atlanta Braves. However, Griffey quickly denied the report. He told MLB.com that he was "still kicking things around with (his) family and (had) not made a decision." "This is the first time in my career that I have been a free agent," Griffey says, "and it's nerve-wracking." Both Atlanta and Seattle are said to be offering about the same amount, between 2 and 3 million dollars in total compensation. Griffey met with Seattle Sunday and sent text messages to Jack Zduriencik and Howard Lincoln today telling them the report in the AJC is wrong. King 5's Chris Egan is down in Peoria, Az. with the team and says the Mariners brass is waiting to hear Junior's decision, and that it may not come until Wednesday. Good Afternoon Hockey fans and friends,
It's that time of year again where veterans are cut for salary cap concerns. Two big names popped up tonight. The Denver Broncos cut former first round pick DT Dewayne Robertson. He's got some good size to be a run stuffer. In a not so big name cut, the Broncos also dropped former Seahawk Niko Koutouvides. He was due a 1.8 million dollar bonus.
In the next 24 hours, we should have our answer. Ken Griffey Junior says he'll make a decision on whether to pick the Atlanta Braves or the Seattle Mariners. It's not as easy as you'd think. Put yourself in Griffey's shoes. What team would you pick?
The Mariners have just signed 1st round draft pick Josh Fields. A press conference is about to begin in Peoria. The official news release is after the jump. ...The word of the day at Mariners Spring Training is unity. New manager Don Wakamatsu understands he is working with a lot of new faces, and some players who struggled through 101 losses last season. He says it's all about building trust right now.
"I've heard a lot of rumblings. Again, I don't want to comment on anything in the past. There's a lot of new guys here. And I just want to focus on creating an environment where maybe we bring a lot of that favoritism closer to equality. I think it's important that that 61st guy in camp is treated like the 1st guy, and that he feels we're there for him."... M's top pick Josh Fields just met with Mariners management in the Peoria parking lot. Fields has not practiced yet. His deal is yet to be signed. ...I just got off the field after talking with Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik. Regarding the status of Ken Griffey Jr, Jack says there's nothing new to report. ...I have arrived in Peoria for Mariners Spring Training. Blue skies, warm weather. Here's your news of the day.
"We felt this was an opportunity to add another very good arm to our organization." Final note: After days of waivering back and forth, pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith has decided not to play in the World Baseball Classic for Australia. He says it was a tough decision, but felt he needed to be in camp with the Mariners as he battles for a starting spot in the rotation. After getting his first glimpse of pitcher Carlos Silva, Mariners Manager Don Wakamatsu said, "somebody cut him in half." All joking aside, alot of hard work and dedication has payed off for Silva. After finding himself overweight and injured for most of the 2nd half of the 2008 season, Silva committed himself during the off-season to getting back in shape. Silva says, "I worked with a nutritionist, I worked out six days a week, I'd do yoga in the morning, weightlifting and core work in the afternoon and cardio in the evening." Silva lost about 33 pounds and says he plans to keep it off by staying the course with his new healthy life-style. After finishing last season with a 4-15 record, lets hope the new and improved Carlos Silva can slim down the losses like his did around the waistline. ...The last time I saw the T-Birds and Silvertips square off, it was to christen the ShoWare Center in Kent last month. I know the guys have faced each other since then, with victories on both sides. Last night, they met again at Comcast Arena, with 'Tips fans out in full force. ...Hold on to that "Griffey returns to Seattle" headline. ESPN.com is reporting that another team is interested in Ken Griffey Junior. Apparently, the Atlanta Braves are making a late play for Junior. But sources said that Griffey is Atlanta's prime target, and the Braves are "in the mix'' for his services. Although the Mariners stepped up the pace in negotiations with Griffey this week, baseball sources said the Griffey-to-Seattle reunion has never been quite the lock that some media outlets have portrayed it to be. So hold off on those trips down memory lane. The M's could be left at the altar for Junior's services. Here's espn.com's article.
The San Jose Earthquakes defeated the Sounders FC, 3-2, on Friday night in San Luis Obispo , CA. That's Seattle's first pre-season loss. Fredy Montero continues to be a scoring machine notching both Seattle goals. The Earthquakes get a pair from Ryan Johnson, and the game winner from Quincy Amarikwa in the 46th minute.
"We're starting to get an understanding with each other. In a game when you score two goals, it's always a good thing. I thought Fredy Montero looked sharp. I thought his understanding with Nate (Jaqua) was very good. I thought offensively it was good. In the first half, we made two mistakes and conceded two goals. And then we made a mistake early in the second half and conceded a third goal. So it's still a case of we have to get a lot better defensively. People have to make better decisions. It's not a matter of people being in the right places, it's making the right decisions." The Sounders FC return to training camp on Wednesday at Qwest Field. They will play a preseason game against University of Portland on Friday, Feb. 20, in Portland and another on Sunday, Feb. 22 against the Vancouver Whitecaps at Qwest Field. He's the only Western Washington alum in the NFL. And right now he's in another small fraternity. Michael Koenen accepts the Atlanta Falcons franchise tag. What makes that so special is that Koenen is a punter. As far as I can tell, he's the only punter to receive the franchise tag. It guarantees he'll make at least $2.48 million if he signs the one-year franchise tag deal. According to NFL.com's Adam Schefter, Koenen grabbed that tag as fast as he possibly could and signed on the dotted line.
This Sunday I'll be in Peoria, Arizona covering spring training for the Seattle Mariners. Besides, keeping a very close eye on the ken Griffey Jr situation, I'll have 60 other players to talk with, along with all the new coaches. So with that in mind, I'm curious if you have any questions you want asked to this years Mariners team. If you do, leave them on the blog and I'll do my best to ask the question to the Mariner you want the question asked to. Good news for Sounders FC fans who want to see David Beckham play May 10th on the pitch at Qwest Field. The LA Galaxy should have him back March 9th. One of the top dogs for the Galaxy, Tim Leiweke, says he's not gonna entertain any more offers at this late date. And yes, Tim is Tod's brother. Tod, as you all know, is the CEO of the Seahawks.
KING 5 sports now has a Twitter account. Well I was just looking it over to see what's this Twitter is all about. That's when I noticed the M's have signed 2008 first round pick Josh Fields to a contract, at least according the Mariners website & MLB.com. It's good news for Fields and the Mariners. It gives them another reliever with some gas. Fields could even compete for the closer job. Here's his bio page from his college, the Georgia Bulldogs. Below is some youtube video from college. ...Yeah, I'm skipping ahead to the 12th time why MLB Commissioner Bud Selig is an idiot, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt and reducing what is probably a much higher number. From his idea of contraction to the All-Star game debacle to using the All-Star game to define home field advantage during the World Series to reinstating Hank Aaron as the Home Run King. Right now, #12 comes courtesy of his moronic comment from Thursday. Selig said Alex Rodriguez "shamed the game". Jay Mariotti wrote a "must read" column for anyone who thinks Selig is a good commish. Here's a snippet: This is a man so big on spinning the truth and so small on actual results, we've even caught Selig in his own A-Rod moment. In a story published Thursday in USA Today, the commissioner said he sent an official "bulletin" about the illegal nature of steroids in 1997. The problem with that? Selig already was on record as saying he'd heard no discussion about steroids until 1998 or 1999, which means either his memory is foggy or his nose is growing -- probably the latter. - fanhouse.com Here's the article from fanhouse.com. Mariotti details much more of Selig's lies about his knowledge of steriods in baseball. I think, like A-Rod, that Selig, MLB owners, and the players union should all come out and apologize for their silent complicity in making a steriods part of baseball. Mariotti even goes so far as to say Selig should admit his role and why and then resign his position from baseball. Finally, someone who makes sense. ...Former Sonics guard Dennis Johnson is a finalist for the Basketball Hall of Fame 2009 class. He's one of 18 who made the final list. Of course, a lot of people remember DJ for his time with the Boston Celtics. But you ask any longtime Sonics fan and they'll claim him for one of their own. DJ was on the Sonics 1979 Championship team. Here's something to make your stomach turn. I went to look for a link to that team. I "Googled" Sonics Championship season. I click on the first entry. It's linked to the OKC's team page. BLECH!!! Just look at the web address if you click here. Aren't they suppose to leave the Sonics history alone/here?
Seattle Times' Geoff Baker says they're making space in the locker room for someone. And it's a prime spot in the corner. The locker stall to Branyan's right, next to the corner stall, is also empty. Branyan has his footwear in there for now but expects it to be filled soon. Two lockers for Griffey? Who knows? - seattletimes.com 2/13/09 You know this is gonna happen. Everything points to it. Barring someone in the media confirming it first, the M's just want to announce it before anyone else and make a big deal about it. I don't blame them. It's the return of Ken Griffey Junior. You know it's the old saying "where there's smoke there's fire". It would nice for the M's to announce it and get it over with. Until then, we'll keep you updated. ...A major World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view comes to Seattle Sunday night. And it will outdraw every event held at the Key Arena the rest of the year. It's called "No Way Out," and for the first time, both the World's Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Championship will be decided in an ELIMINATION CHAMBER. It's the prelude show to Wrestlemania so there should be good action and storylines working up to the Super Bowl of pro wrestling. I confess to being a longtime fan and student of the game, and it's fun to predict the endings before they happen. Did you know that Triple H's real name is Paul Levesque, Undertaker=Mark Calloway and Big Show=Paul Wight? ...Texas Tech star Michael Crabtree says he won't run the 40 yard dash at the NFL Combine. I just have visions of USC's Mike Williams saying he wouldn't run it back when he entered the draft in 2005. We all know how he's ended up. Williams is out of the league. I'm not saying Crabtree is the same kind of person. Heck, he could be Larry Fitzgerald. He went 3rd overall in the 2004 draft. But drafting a wide receiver that high (Hawks have the 4th pick) just makes me nervous. Just ask the Detroit Lions. ...Bleacher Report is citing a source that Ken Griffey Junior has agreed to a 1-year deal with the Mariners. KING5 has called the M's. They say they have nothing to report today. But all that means is if they've done something, they want to wait until the news conference to announce it. They said the same thing when we broke the Don Wakamatsu story. Keep checking our blog for updates.
"We don't know what we're doing next year with respect to Seattle. It's all rumors," Griffey said Thursday after finishing his round at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in California. Griffey said he wasn't sure where they stood. "I really don't even know. My agent is handling," he said moments after stepping off the Poppy Hills course. Operation "Return Junior to Seattle" continues...Here's a few Griffey for President commercials from 1996. So here it is. It sounds like the Mariners are on the cusp of what fans were clamoring for two summers ago. Ken Griffey Junior visited Safeco Field with the Reds and the fans filled the place. Both Junior and much of the fans wanted Griffey back. Well word on the street is, from MLB.com, that it's gonna happen. You can also read about on KING5.com.
So the NBA dinged Cleveland coach Mike Brown for 25 large for protesting too vehemently a foul called against King James the other night. That foul call was almost identical to another one that happened a few seconds earlier and sent Lebron to the line. Don't the NBA coaches always say that they want the game called the same way at both ends of the court. Well, that is what Brown got. He got the exact same call...one that helped his team, one that hurt. Maybe Lebron ought to pay the fine for ya, Mike. ...The Sounders have sent forward Khano Smith to the NY Red Bulls for cash. Smith was selected by Seattle in the MLS Expansion Draft in November. He had played the past four seasons with New England. ...Seattle Times' Bob Condotta reports two sources are saying ASU tight ends coach Dan Cozzetto is coming to the Huskies. The sources are Dawgman.com and RealDawg.com. Dawgman.com is further reporting on its message board that Cozzetto will get the title running game coordinator and will be paid $330,000 a year. And he'd probably be getting at least a two-year deal since that's what every other assistant has gotten, and maybe three years since that's what the other coordinators have gotten. - seattletimes.com He'll take Jim Michalczik's spot as offensive line coach. Michalczik left for the Raiders job and a bump in pay. ...The Sounders FC move to 3-0 in the preseason with a 6-1 win over the Ventura County Fusion on Thursday night. Steve Zakuani and Nate Jaqua scored two goals apiece, while Fredy Montero and Roger Levesque each added one. Here's coach Sigi Schmid on tonight's win:
"The guys are getting to know each other a little bit better. The movement of the ball is pretty good. The quickness of (Steve) Zakuani and Fredy Montero create some problems. Nate (Jaqua) did a good job. I thought Lamar Neagle had a good game as well on the right. The movement of the ball at midfield from (Osvaldo) Alonso, from (Brad) Evans was good. When we had opportunities we used them and were very decisive." The Sounders next play Friday night against the San Jose Earthquakes in San Luis Obispo. They return to Seattle on Saturday, and will resume training here next week. Cougars athletic director Jim Sterk and (I believe it was) Assoc. Dir. of Athletics and NCAA Compliance Steve Robertello did a teleconference with reporters. The Cougs say they were pretty surprised by the severity of the penalties. Sterk felt that Paul Wulff really had no oversight during the time of the violations. He went through 5 Athletic Directors and 3 school Presidents. Also during that period, Wulff didn't have a compliance person or academic advisor. Sterk also said he knew about the violations as he put Wulff through a job interview. When they hired him, the Cougars put in a support system to help Wulff. Sterk claims that saved Wazzu & Wulff's butts for any kind of severe punishment. You can hear Sterk's & Robertello's teleconference right here. ...As you may already know, Eastern Washington's football program got hit with a bunch of penalties by the NCAA. Cougars coach Paul Wulff was in charge during the violations. Now the Cougars have fired off a statement about the infractions. "During Paul's hiring process he was straightforward about these allegations," said Cougars AD Jim Sterk. "We take these issues very seriously and believe Paul is a man of tremendous integrity and the situation derived more from a lack of institutional control at Eastern Washington, where limited compliance and academic staff were in place at that time. Paul was not found by the NCAA to have purposely violated NCAA rules in order to gain a recruiting advantage." Here's a snippet from Wulff's statement: "I understand the severity of the situation and at no time did I ever intentionally violate NCAA rules. As head coach I take responsibility for the mistakes that occurred and accept the NCAA's penalties." If you want to read the complete statement by Wazzu, click on the jump. It's has more from Sterk and Wulff. UPDATE: Both Sterk and Wulff will hold teleconferences tonight. We'll try to pass them all as soon as possible. The team formerly known as the Sonics (TFKATS) are in Portland tonight. It's a night of mixed emotions. It feels like running into your old girlfiend's friends or family. You don't necessarily wish them any ill will. I don't want to see Kevin Durant, Nick Collison or Kyle Weaver fail. But on the other hand, it reminds you of your old flame. I'm wondering if anyone is going to watch the game, pay attention to stats, or want to see the highlights? The good folks from Save Our Sonics are leading a contigency down there. It'll be interesting to see their signs for Clay "Bubba" Bennett.
Nick Collison - He did it right. Unlike KD, Nick talked about missing Seattle and not offending anyone from OKC. You gotta listen to it. You'll hear the sincerity. ...The Baseball Prospectus' website has already made predictions for all of baseball. They've got the M's finishing last in the AL West. Isn't it a little early for 2009 predictions? After all, the pitchers and catchers don't report until Saturday. Who knows who's gonna make the team and who isn't. At any rate, the Baseball Prospectus believes the M's will finish 12 games out of first place. They've got the A's finishing in 1st place with an 82-80 record. According to the Prospectus, the Angels will from grace. They're predicted to finish under .500 with 79-83 record. ...I can't believe I missed this over the weekend, former Husky and current Kings center Spencer Hawes rocked a Sonics outfit when Sacramento visited OKC on Sunday. Check it out below. Pretty cool, huh? He also wore a Nick Collison jersey on the plane there. I guess he forgot his Gary Payton jersey at home. Here's the Fanhouse.com column. And here's the Sacramento Bee column. Enjoy.
The Jordan Classic announced it's roster and two high schoolers from Washington are on it, kind of. Avery Bradley played in the same backcourt Abdul Gaddy at Bellarmine Prep last season. Bradley moved on to a prep school in Nevada. Now both were selected to play at the Jordan Classic April 18th in New York. Bradley is headed to Texas. Gaddy plans to play for the Huskies in the fall. ...The NCAA penalizes Eastern Washington for violations during WSU coach Paul Wulff's tenure there. Eastern will be on 3 years of probation, banned from post season in 2009, lose 2 scholarships, and be limited on recruiting and coaching. Among the violations announced Wednesday were allowing ineligible athletes to practice, having too many assistant coaches and failure to properly monitor the team. - associated press Wulff will be banned from coaching the Cougars for the first three days of the season. Here's the NCAA's news release. One of more disturbing things from that release is this: The committee found that the violations in this case were the result of the former head coach's inattention to certain aspects of his program. The committee stated it was most concerned that the former head coach did not report various violations to the compliance office once he learned of them. - ncaa report 2/11/09 To quote Ricky Ricardo, sounds like Wulff's got some 'splaining to do. I guess it makes the Huskies fog machine violation look pretty minor by comparison. You can read the whole news release detailing the penalities and more after the jump. ...Steve Sarkisian has filled one of his coaching vacancies by hiring Jimmie Dougherty as receivers coach. Dougherty spent the last five seasons on the staff at the University of San Diego. Last year, he served as the Toreros' offensive coordinator. The Huskies still need to fill their offensive coordinator slot. ...On Monday we posted a blog about Ichiro pitching at the WBC in emergency situations. Well on Tuesday, M's general manager Jack Zduriencik shot that idea down in an interview with Geoff Baker from the Seattle Times. That is, until the boss at his day job saw photos of Ichiro pitching. "He's not going to pitch,'' Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik told me within the hour. - seattletimes.com 2/10/09 It's still kind of an amusing idea. For a guy who doesn't work on pitching, he's got a gun. He reportedly threw 92 miles per hour and felt he had room to improve. In case you don't remember, the Mariners did a commercial back in 2007 with Ichi. Then M's closer JJ Putz told then reliever Chris Reitsma to check something out. It's was Ichiro "pitching" from the outfield. Here's a link to the commercial, enjoy. ...The Sounders FC are now 2-0 in preseason play after defeating Shandong Luneng 2-0 on Tuesday. Sanna Nyassi scored both goals for Seattle. The Sounders make their public debut tonight against the Ventura County Fusion.
Best news of the day, Brett Favre retiring. Enough of his yearly charade. I used to live in Milwaukee and was sickened by the god-like attention the fans paid to him. Hey, Big Ben has won more Super Bowls than Brett! And only in professional wrestling do athletes retire and come back time after time. But for Brett it is not part of the script. I know he is great...but it really is time for him to "git." ...T-BIRDS START TIME FOR GAME ON FEBRUARY 28 CHANGED
The Husky women's basketball team is struggling. I realize that's an understatement when they just lost a school-record 10th straight game and, just weeks ago, lost to a Stanford team (that did play its bench players) by 77 points. No need to talk about the records that blowout blew out, so let's look ahead. Over the weekend, the women played Stanford again (at home) and only came up 22 points short. Unless you've been following this team, you'd think this is still pathetic. But, for UW, it was a victory, of sorts. I asked head coach Tia Jackson her thoughts about the two performances and she chalked the improvement up to "health." Jackson says her team is finally healthier. She's playing with a complete roster. The girls aren't 100 percent but between 70 and 75 percent and can now practice. Because of that, the women have been able to feel a rhythm, play people where they are meant to play. While this isn't translating to wins yet, Jackson is hoping that by the end of the season her team at least feels more confident. That is what she says her goal is now. She wants the girs to stay hungry and passionate so she is now looking for ways to keep them coming out each game with fire.
The Huskies' new mascot didn't have time to pose for reporters when entering Husky Stadium for his debut today. No, instead, the husky pup headed straight for the field to "mark his territory" by urinating in the endzone. After that matter of business was handled, the school officially announced the purebred Alaskan Malamute as their 11th live mascot. "Dubs" replaces "Spirit," who served as the school's mascot since 1999. He will carry on "Spirit's" duties leading the team out of the tunnel before every home football game and wandering the sidelines. The striking puppy with ice-blue eyes will make his official debut on September 5th when UW hosts LSU at Husky Stadium.
The Everttt Silvertips have planned events to give fans the chance to say 'hi", show their love for the team and their favorite players, and learn more about hockey.
The Storm re-signed center Ashley Robinson today. She played 33 games for the Storm in 2008 averaging 2.2 rebounds per game. Coach Brian Agler says, "Ashley is a great competitor and I like the toughness she brings to our front court."
The Sounders FC acquired Tyrone Marshall from Toronto today for an undisclosed amount of allocation money. He is an 11-year MLS veteran, a two-time All-Star, and a member of the LA Galaxy's title teams in 2002 and 2005. The 34-year-old is currently playing for the Jamaican National Team in England.
The University of Tennessee has self-reported two secondary recruiting violations. One was for a mock press conference. Here's the funny or ironic part. Guess what happened for the second violation? Here's a hint, new head coach Lane Kiffin coached at USC with Huskies head coach Steve Sarkisian. If you guessed that it involves a fog machine, you are correct. Sarkisian and the Huskies recently got tagged for secondary violation for using a fog machine too. Now obviously there's no proof that they learned this trick from USC, but it's a little weird that both were assistants with the Trojans. ...I'm sure by now, you've heard Alex Rodriguez has admitted to using performance enhancing drugs from 2001-2003. But does that mean he's changed what you feel about him? I know a lot of Mariners fans already disliked him for leaving Seattle for the money. So is this just another reason to boo him? Personally, it doesn't really affect how I view him as a ballplayer. MLB knew there was a steroid problem back in the 90's and chose to do nothing about it. So they get what they deserve. Along those lines, you can't pick and choose on who gets a free pass and who doesn't. If SI.com didn't find out that A-Rod tested postive for steroids in 2003 and no other media was able to pinpoint any drug abuse by the Yankees third baseman, would he be a Hall-of-Famer? I think yes and even after he's admitted to using. It's unfortunate for the guys who did it clean, but without full disclosure of the other 103 who tested positive and the ones who used before 2003, I believe, you can only go by people's stats. UPDATE: Below is ESPN's full interview with A-Rod. Nearly 36 minutes worth of it. ...As crazy as it may sound, Ichiro may pitch at the World Baseball Classic, according to NPB Tracker. It reports that Ichi has been throwing off the mound. I guess his fastball can hit 92mph and he thinks he's got more gas to give. Nearly 13 years later, Japan WBC manager Tatsunori Hara has, perhaps unintentionally, prompted Ichiro to return to the mound by suggesting that using him in emergency situations is a possibility in this year's tournament. In his workout on the 7th, he skipped batting practice and worked out as a pitcher. He threw 56 pitches off the mound at Skymark Stadium, throwing fastballs and forkballs. Word is that he hit 147kmph (92mph) with his fastest pitch. Ichiro said he wants to throw a little bit harder. I'm sure Jamie Moyer and his soft-tossing arm is scratching his head. Heck, if the M's can't find a closer, maybe Ichi can fill in. All jokes aside, It's hard to fathom that the Mariners want him to pitch this season, let alone in the WBC. I remember in 1998, Jose Canseco pitched for the Rangers and blew out his arm. He had to have Tommy John Surgery and missed the rest of the season. Below is a picture of Ichi pitching during pratice. If you want to see more pictures, click here. You might have to scroll down to see them. Plus, there's an arrow right above the picture to see more shots of him throwing.
Also, check out the video below. It's Ichiro pitching during an All-Star game in Japan during the 1996 season. ...By Mitch Love
The Storm has re-signed center Janelle Burse. She started 29 games during the 2007 season, averaging 9 points and 5 rebounds per game. Burse sat out the 2008 season to heal from shoulder and foot injuries.
The Washington Huskies just sent out a surprising press release announcing their just hired Offensive Coordinator will be heading to the NFL. Washington football coach Steve Sarkisian announced today that Jim Michalczik has left the UW coaching staff to take a position with the Oakland Raiders. In an interview today with ESPN's Peter Gammons, former Mariner Alex Rodriguez admits for the first time to using performance enhancing drugs.
Gammons asked Rodriguez, "What's the truth?" Here's Rodriguez's statement:
Peter: "So you're saying that time period was 2001,'02, and '03?" Rodriguez: "That's pretty accurate. Yes." Peter: "What kind of substances were you taking?" Rodriguez: "Peter, that's the thing. It was such a loosey-goosey era that I'm guilty for a lot of things. I'm guilty for being negligent, naive, not asking all the right questions, and to be quite honest, I don't know exactly what substance I was guilty of using."
Rodriguez started his career in Seattle in 1996 and played with the Mariners until 2000 when he finished third in MVP voting. ...By Su Ring/Hockey Editor
Help your team to a Super Bowl and what's your reward? If you guessed a pink slip you must know Cardinals defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast. It may seem a little crazy, but the stats don't lie. In his fifth season in Arizona, the Cardinals were 19th in total defensive yards allowed at 331.5 yards per game. Arizona was also 28th in points allowed with 26.6 points per game. They were 17th & 27th respectively in 2007. Not exactly stellar stats. But it's still kind of unusual to get fired after a Super Bowl appearance. ...The rain subsided today, but it was still overcast with temperatures in the low 60's. In the morning session, camp opened with running, stretching and passing drills, followed by four teams of 8-on-8 playing on two fields. Technical Director Chris Henderson was in attendance and participated in the running and passing drills. General Mananger Adrian Hanauer watched from the sidelines. They played seven games. 21-year-old Fredy Montero was the hero of the day, scoring seven goals.
Former Blaine High star, and Supersonic Luke Ridnour will miss four weeks after breaking his right thumb in practice today. Now with the Milwaukee Bucks, Ridnour got the thumb caught in a teammates' jersey when the player slipped and ripped the bone.
After three years, today marks my last posting as blog editor here at KING5.com. Joel and the rest of the KING/5 Sports Department will continue to do a great job. Still, I wanted to thank everyone for their comments along the way and allowing our discussions to be a part of the Seattle sports world.
By Su Ring/Hockey Editor
By Su Ring/Hockey Editor
USA Swimming suspended Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps for three months today. Phelps was photographed holding a bong recently. He's never come out and said yes I smoked pot. He's only said, in a statement, that he acted in a youthful and inappropriate way. I wonder if the suspension will be upheld. To my knowledge, there are no public record of him testing positive for drug use, nor has he been busted for possession. It seems he's being judged by the public and USA Swimming is doling out the punishment.
The WNBA made a couple of changes today involving instant replay. They'll use it to determine whether someone made a two-pointer or three-pointer when it's in doubt. Plus, refs can use instant replay when the clock malfunctions and there's no time remaining in the period. You can read the official news release after the jump. ...The Mariners keep adding spare parts. Today, they signed reliever Tyler Johnson to a minor league contract. Click here for his stats. You can read the M's news release after the jump. ...Two new faces at camp today: M/F Lamar Neagle, a Federal Way native, and Thomas Jefferson HS grad had his first day of training with the club. Kevin Guppy, a graduate of Cal State Northridge, joined the training camp roster as the fourth goalkeeper. GK Jordan King is no longer training with the team. Jared Karkas did not participate in practice due to a hamstring injury.
"We-didn't-buy-the-team-to-leave-it-in-Seattle" Audrey McClendon is feeling the economic pinch. The OKC Thunder part-owner may soon be forced to action off his prized wine, according to the Wall Street Journal. 9,000 bottles from a mystery collector will be auctioned this spring by Sotheby's -- during a time when wine prices are collapsing.
Mr. McClendon is one of the top wine collectors in the country, known for his love of Burgundy and Bordeaux. He also is known for his cash crunch. Last fall, he was forced to sell 94% of his stake in Chesapeake to pay back margin loans. Mr. McClendon's stake once was valued at more than $2 billion. So it wouldn't be surprising if he were to want to liquidate some of his, er, liquid assets.Mr. McClendon, through a spokesman, didn't respond to a request for comment.
It's been a long day on the recruiting front. Especially if you're coach for the Huskies and Cougars. Both sides can finally take a breather, at least until Spring ball and recruiting begins again. Here's the latest rankings. Huskies
Not exactly what to make out of the rankings. They seem pretty fickle and heavily favors the east coast. But the Huskies made quite the comeback. As recently as Tuesday, Rivals had them at 85th. Today, they jumped 17 spots. Scout.com bumped them up two spots from 66th to 68th. Still, it's the worst rankings for the Dawgs in the school's history, but not by much. That happened in 2005. UW ranked 66th by Rivals & 55th by Scout.
In case you didn't see our sports video section, here's our interviews. Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian
Head Coach Steve Sarkisian signed 18 players (12 high school, 6 junior college) in his first recruiting class. The new coach had 3 weeks to convince young impressionable guys to overlook an 0-12 record from last season (and the previous regime) and buy into his new plans for the purple and gold. He says he and his staff let a couple recruits get away but hung onto some quality talent. When asked to grade himself on his first class, he game himself a "C". He thinks its an average class and emphasized they will do better recruiting in the future. At today's press conference, Sarkisian went down the list of 18 players and highlighted points about each guy. He was particularly excited about one recruit: James Johnson. Johnson is a senior wide receiver at Valley Center High School in California. Sarkisian calls him the biggest "get" on this class and expects him to come in and play right away. Johnson is 6 feet tall, 185 pounds and has great hands. He is ranked by rivals.com as the #55 overall player in California and the #66 "athlete" prospect in the nation. Scout.com ranks him as the #93 wide receiver in the nation. Johnson is also a first-team all-league basketball player and ran hurdles for the track team. You can check out the rest of the recruiting class in another posting on this blog. The majority of this class comes from California, but Sarkisian says he'll focus more on retaining Washington players in the future. Despite looking a bit tired from sleepless nights on the recruiting road, Sarkisian was pointed in his notes, excited about the prospects of his recruiting class, and even laughed and smiled throughout the press conference today.
Day 3 of the Sounders FC training camp featured just one practice this morning. Temperatures were in the mid-70's. The workout featured three teams of 11 vs. 11, with a three-touch max rule. Patrick Ianni played his first on-field scrimmage. Jeff Clark and Steve Zakuani each scored.
I haven't received a news release from the Huskies, but they've got their list online. They've signed 18 players, six are Junior College transfers. This is Steve Sarkisian's first class at Washington. So far, the reviews aren't that good. Scout.com ranks it 68th in the nation. Rivals.com has them 85th. Both numbers reflect the worst rankings for Huskies since they started grading classes. The worst came in 2005. Scout had them 55th. Rivals had them 66th. Here's the 2005 list. Below are the names committed to the program in 2009. Marlion Barnett - TE - Corona, CA
3:30pm UPDATE: Wazzu adds two more to the list. They've got 23 now. All but two are freshman
Jamal Atofau - S - Bellevue
Here is the current Sounders FC roster, participating in training camp in California: Osvaldo Alonso, Nicola Andelic*, Evan Brown, Ryan Caugherty*, Jeff Clark*, Ben Dragavon, Brad Evans, Chris Eylander, Taylor Graham, Patrick Ianni^, Danny Jackson, Nate Jaqua, Jared Karkas*, Kasey Keller, Stephen King, Quavas Kirk*, Sebastien Le Toux, Roger Levesque, Fredy Montero, Sanna Nyassi, Leighton O'Brien, Vini Oliviera*, Ryan Pore*, James Riley, Zach Scott, Kyle Schmid*, Khano Smith, Nathan Sturgis, Tyson Wahl, Adam West, Steve Zakuani.*Players didn't practice in Renton. Also, these players below are not participating: Mandou Bojang (will join team in Seattle on Feb. 18), Michael Fucito (hamstring), Peter Vagenas (recovering from arthroscopic surgery), Freddy Ljungberg (in Sweden) and Jarrod Smith (hip flexor)....By Mitch Love
Calling KJR's Softy and any other Husky Honks, Bodoglife.com has listed the odds for any college team to win the BCS in 2010. The Dawgs are 200-1 longshots. Now I'm not promoting gambling of any kind, but if you Washington homer and have a little change hanging around, you can make a nice little profit if they win the BCS. As far as the other PAC-10 teams, Wazzu didn't make the list. The Cougs are included in the "field" list. The "field" is 20-1 bet. Oregon State is 100-1 favorite. The Ducks have the best odds to win it all. Bodog.com has Oregon listed as 20-1 to earn its first BCS title. Florida is the odds on favorite at 7-4.
Husky guard Justin Dentmon is leading the Pac-10 in scoring. The senior is averaging 19.6 points per game (Pac-10 only) and is the most obvious choice for the Pac-10's Most Improved Player award, most likely will make the All-Pac-10 First Team, and has been mentioned as a possible candidate for Player of the Year.
The good people from Save Our Sonics sent over a press release about next Wednesday's Blazers game. Portland is facing the former Sonics. So you can hop on a bus, see an NBA game, and even haze or cheer the team formerly known as the Sonics (TFKATS). The details and costs of the trip is after the jump.
WNBA commissioner Donna Orender announced the league will hold its All-Star game Mohegan Sun Arena, home of the Connecticut Sun. It's set for July 25th. The league didn't hold one last year due to the Olympics. I find it weird that Seattle has never hosted an All-Star game, especially with its popularity in the city. I guess the Storm is gonna have to get on Orender about this. The official press release is after the jump. ...In a case of "where are they now", former Husky Will Conroy was named to the D-League's All-Star game. "Dub C", as the kids call him, is leading the Developmental League in scoring averaging 25.8 points per game. He's also tops in minutes played with 45.2 mpg. More importantly, the point guard is dishing out 7.8 assists per game, that's good for 4th in the league. You gotta figure he's gonna get a call-up soon. You can see the press release after the jump. Oh, I forgot to mention, he plays for the Albuquerque Thunderbirds. The T-Birds are affiliated with the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat. But I think Conroy is free to negotiate with any team. He's not associated with the Mavs or Heat. There's probably at least five teams that could use him. By the way, the D-League All-Star game is February 14th, 2pm in Phoenix and on NBA-TV.
Healing Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck is feeling the Cardinals pain. Here's what the Matt told KIRO radio about the NFC West Champs following the Super Bowl game: "They're kicking themselves right now because they had 7 points going into half time and they turned in 7 points for the other team. That's a 14 point swing. There are plays they're going to review in their minds over and over again." What did Matt think of Holmgren's job as NBC commentator? "He actually looked pretty good. I liked the suit choice, but he got busted once with his reading glasses on. I don't know if people know, but he can't read without reading glasses on anymore." Now to business. Here's the current Seahawks free agent list, thanks to the PI. Ruskell has expressed that he'd like Bobby back. Koren is likely gone, and Leroy Hill will most likely get the franchise tag:
Here is the official statement from Storm Head Coach Brian Agler on releasing Sheryl Swoopes:
Hard to believe, but the Storm have released Sheryl Swoopes. Jayda Evans at the Times has the story. Swoopes has been ingrained in the Seattle community since signing on with the Storm last spring. Unfortunately for her, the team didn't want to be on the hook for her 2009 salary to give them some flexibility, according to Jayda's report. With Swoopes' salary gone, Agler can make sign-and-trade moves or pick up a pricier, yet younger, reserve. The Storm owns the rights to center Janell Burse and is trying to finalize her contract to return. Agler is also hopeful that Jackson, the league's third-leading scorer (20.2), opts to play another season in Seattle. seattletimes.com 2/2/09 I wonder what this means for Lauren Jackson's return to Seattle. LJ was completely behind the signing of Swoopes. They are friends. Hopefully it doesn't sour LJ from returning to the Storm this season. But maybe you give coach/GM Brian Agler some slack. He did put together a pretty good squad last season despite losing Janell Burse, Izzy Castro-Marques, and Betty Lennox. ...The cable provider Comcast is apologizing to Tucson, Arizona customers after a 30-second porn spot slipped in during the Super Bowl. Talk about a shocker. The event happened only on standard def feed -- not high definition -- right after Larry Fitzgerald scored on his long TD during the final minutes. The incident "sparked a flurry of angry phone calls" to KVOA, Channel 4. "The Super Bowl is a family viewing event," said a Comcast spokesperson. "We can't undo what happened, but we remain deeply sorry for the impact this situation has had on our customers," The Philadelphia-based company is conducting an investigation, saying it was "mortified" and "appalled" by the slip. Comcast also said it was too soon to say how the company's security system was breached. Tucson-area customers are eligible for a $10 credit. You can read more at the Wall Street Journal. ...Is there just something about the Steelers and poorly officiated games in the Super Bowl? The refs made a couple of calls or non-calls during the game that just didn't make sense.
I'll post a couple Super Bowl ads below. Which was your favorite? You can vote at Hulu.com (voting ends tomorrow). Personally, mine was the rather violent "I'm Good" Pepsi ad. When I checked out Hulu, I was surprised about how many ads I missed.
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