Enjoy the Enjoyment

2009 Mock Draft Jamboree

2009-06-25T09:47:00.001-07:00

Below, my annual presentation of what the mock drafters predict for the 4 p.m. NBA draft.

NOTES:

1) Apparently Michael Jordan isn't doing a very good job of shielding his hand (shocking, I know). Everyone thinks Terrence Williams is his guy.

2) Daye goes in the first round according to everyone.

3) All but one mock drafter has Heytvelt going ahead of Brockman.

4) Not looking good for Pargo, Downs, or Dentmon.

The Case for Mike Morse

2009-06-24T23:47:00.000-07:00

If Yuniesky Betancourt goes on the disabled list--as he likely will--the M's are going to need a starting shortstop.

Who plays shortstop isn't their biggest problem, though. When "Chad Gaudin" strikes you out 11 times, I mean come the f on. They need offense.

Mike Morse is the answer to both conundrums.

Let's take shortstop first. The current major league roster contains three potential shortstops -- Chris Woodward, Ronny Cedeno, Josh Wilson. Go ahead, look at their stats. I'll wait for you.

...

I hear you gagging, so you must have seen them. All three are atrocious hitters.

Morse's career OPS, which at .762 is no great shakes, is still more than 100 points higher than Cedeno or Wilson's, and nearly 100 points higher than Woodward's. (Note: Woodward has 33 career homers, 20 of which came in 2002 and 2003. Long time ago, and a "different era" if you will.)

Morse is hitting over .300 in Tacoma with an .828 OPS. Woodward, by contrast, was OPSing .766.

You've seen Morse enough to know that he has a little pop in his bat (very little, but more than the punchless trio mentioned above). At 27, he's entering peak hitting age. And he's versatile; he can play all four infield positions. (Though he should never, ever again be seen in the outfield).

The knock on Morse is his range. Fielding stats hate the guy, Baseball Reference concludes that Morse's 2005 defensive performance, stretched out over a whole year, would have cost the M's 27 runs.

Not to go all Joe Morgan, but I don't see it that way. Morse isn't fast, but he's tall and athletic and, to my eyes, covers a decent amount of ground. He's made 3 errors at short this year in 21 games, which isn't bad. Sure, he's not Omar Vizquel, but he's not Rich Aurilia either.

Also, I remain wary of fielding statistics. The latest ones depend on human biases, as someone has to chart hits and record how hard the ball was hit. Sorry, there's too much variation in how people can perceive batted balls for that to work. Last year, "Ultimate Zone Rating", which is supposedly the gold standard in defensive stats, told us that Ryan Sweeney, Austin Kearns, and Alex Rios were all considerably better right fielders than Ichiro. I'm not buying what you're selling, Ultimate Zone Rating.

Moving on, there's this: Morse pretty much always does well when I'm at the games, and I have season tickets this year.

The M's have been saddled with a crummy defensive SS all season, and their run prevention hasn't seemed to suffer. Run production is the issue. And Mike Morse is the only guy in the organization with even a modicum of pop in his bat who can legitimately play shortstop. (Although, if they want to give Mike Carp a try, I won't object too much.)

MORSE FORCE UNITE!

Why Don't Sportswriters Use Dialect Anymore?

2009-06-24T16:19:00.000-07:00

Wouldn't it be more fun if Chris Mortenson reported his recent cell phone communication with Brett Favre as: "Ah haven't made up mah mind 'bout the Vikin's yet."

If Mortenson were writing about Satchel Paige in the 1950's, he could!

The writer is Bob Broeg, profiling St. Louis Browns catcher Clint Courtney in the April 15, 1953 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Courtney was something of an oddity, a catcher who wore glasses. He, like Paige, apparently had an accent as well.

Courtney never did make a World Series, or become the best "ketcha" in baseball. Instead he became a part-timer for the Nationals and Orioles, then a minor league manager.

It truly was a different time -- how do you think this ad for Life magazine would go over now?

I've Had It With Adrian Beltre

2009-06-23T10:56:00.000-07:00

(Originally posted yesterday on Seattlest)

Until recently, the rabid M's fan blog Lookout Landing sported this tagline: "If You Think Adrian Beltre Is Bad And/Or Overrated, I Hate You And Find You Stupid."

Fair enough. Beltre isn't bad or overrated. A Gold Glover and above-average offensive player, he's the best third baseman in Mariner history.

He just stinks at the craft of hitting a baseball.

A child prodigy (he was signed--illegally--at age 15 by the Dodgers), Beltre retains the free-swinging approach of a young hitter. It's as if Bill Gates still used punchcards.

Despite possessing the best power and bat speed combo of any Mariner hitter this decade, Beltre's poor habits have consigned him to be just a mediocre offensive producer.

And after four-plus seasons of watching Beltre's haplessness at-plate, our frustration meter has climbed to "bitchy."

Come, live the pain of a Seattle Mariners fan.

Thursday afternoon, Beltre came to bat in the tenth inning with the go-ahead run on second base.

The previous hitter, rookie Mike Carp, had worked a walk, laying off some tempting offerings near the outside corner.

Beltre got the same careful approach--and struck out on three pitches.

Adrian Beltre: Fourteen years of major league experience, earns $13M/year, sculpted physique.

Mike Carp: Two days of major league experience, makes the league minimum, stomach flops above his belt when he runs.

And Carp has the better batting eye.

What kind of God allows this to happen?

Ted Williams, another preternaturally talented hitter of Latino descent (Williams' mother was Mexican), was baseball's greatest student of hitting. To illustrate his philosophy, Williams created a chart consisting of 77 colored baseballs. In the middle, .400--what you'll hit if you swing at perfect pitches. On the perimeter, .260--what you'll hit if you swing at crappy ones. The philosophy, as another hitter* once put it: "You wait for a strike, then you knock the shit out of it."

Ted Williams would vomit if he saw Adrian Beltre hit.

The pitches Beltre swings at don't even make Williams' chart, they're so far from home plate.

Which makes it all the more incredible that Beltre has consistently hit major league pitching--the most difficult task in all of pro sports--despite lacking the hitting knowledge of the rawest major league rookie. That's how talented Beltre is.

And that's why it's so frustrating. If Beltre would exhibit an iota of plate discipline, he'd put up All-Star numbers. If he exhibited Williams' discipline, he might match Teddy Ballgame and hit .400.

If only some old-school bastard had forced a young Beltre to learn the twin tasks of pitch recognition and plate discipline, he could've been legendary.

Instead, Beltre swings and swings. And when his "plan" puts him at a disadvantage, he swings more.

In Beltre's 12-year career, he's dug himself an 0-2 hole in 1,272 plate appearances. In those plate appearances, he's worked back to get a walk only 13 times. 13! In 12 years!

Russell Branyan--hardly a Ted Williams--has already worked four such walks just this season.

During those 12 years, despite his impatient approach, Beltre has put up some outstanding numbers. In 2004, Beltre hit 48 homers for Los Angeles. He was a free agent that winter, and the Mariners signed him to a 5-year/$64 million contract. As a Mariner, Beltre hasn't approached his '04 numbers, but he has averaged more than 20 homers over four seasons--the best sustained offensive performance by a third baseman in Mariner history.

But now, as Beltre inches into his thirties, his impatient approach isn't getting the job done. Plagued by a recurring shoulder injury, and perhaps slowed by age, Beltre's power has deserted him. He has just five home runs this year.

If Beltre's power loss is permanent, and he just keeps swinging away, he'll be just another no-bat, good-glove third baseman. And as a free-agent at the end of this season, he may find himself taking a multi-million dollar paycut--if he gets a job offer at all. If Beltre doesn't change his approach now, his career may be over.

And over at Lookout Landing, the Beltre line is gone. The site's tagline is now "The Official Website For People Who Dream Of Doing Naughty Naughty Things To Russell Branyan."

*Stan Musial

Kasey Keller Hates Goals

2009-06-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

Fredy Montero scored a tremendous goal in the Sounders' tie at New York on Saturday. He stole the ball from a Red Bulls defender in the corner, dribbled back toward the box, then unleashed a cannon of a shot. "I think it's got to be one of the candidates for Goal of the Week," said Sigi Schmid.

(In fact, it is, and Montero is leading the voting with 38%.)

Kasey Keller? Not impressed.

"It was a great goal but it was still a mistake...from the defender. I think sometimes we forget that the game is about results and I would love to have nice pretty football but sometimes the right thing to do is to kick it into the 10th row."

GOD DAMN STRAIGHT! Do you think the fans come out to see goals? NO! They want to see defenders cowardly hammering the ball deep into the stands! And then, more likely that not, collapsing as if they have suffered an Endy-Chavez-like knee injury.

Kasey Keller is such a defense-oriented hard-ass, he can't even enjoy his own teammate's goal.

Not that I'm surprised. There's a train of thought in soccer -- one which pervades hockey, football and basketball as well -- that any score by the other team is the fault of a defensive lapse.

More and more coaches in these sports are defensive-oriented; some don't have a clue about offense (see the Cavs' Mike Brown). Other coaches see the role of offense as mainly to not commit turnovers that could hurt the defense -- I hate to do it, but you have to lump Nate McMillan in with this group.

Fortunately for us, the Sounders are not afflicted with such a coach. If Sigi Schmid has a offense/defense bias, I suspect he tends more toward offense. Hence we get fast-paced games like last Wednesday's thrilling 3-3 draw with D.C. United.

If Keller were coach, we'd see just as many draws, except they'd be 0-0 ones.

The offense/defense dichotomy will be something to watch with this year's Seahawks. Going from an offensive-minded head coach in Holmgren to a defensive-minded head coach in Jim Mora will likely means less risks on offense. We've already seen some of the changes, as the new offensive staff is a run-first, pass-second one.

Meanwhile, we'd ask Keller to heed the wise words of Michael Cera's character in Superbad:

TwitWatch: Seattle Sports Folks on Father's Day Weekend

2009-06-21T16:51:00.000-07:00

This weekend brought a cavalcade of tweets from Seattle sports-types, letting us all know what they were up to this weekend. Read on for news of Craig Terrill's drug test, Nate Collison's Seattle bar outing, and why 46-year-old Detlef Schrempf's schedule puts yours to shame.

Matt Hasselbeck: Took the training wheels off his kids' bikes. Then, a few hours later, "Ran out of band-aids.... training wheels going back on."

Steve Sarkisian: Went to Sunday's M's game with his family.

Detlef Schrempf: Did a half-century on his bike, took his waverunner out on Lake Washington, played in a father/son golf tournament, and had dinner at the Waterfront Seafood Grill. Damn, Det!

Walter Jones: Supervised his annual youth football camp, then spent time "chillin with the fellas."

Nate Burleson: Finished his first week of workouts in Arizona. "Twice a day, 5 days a week for 4 weeks... You do the math! For the slow folk..it equals 15 TD's." We can hope!

Nick Collison: Saw the Solstice Parade and, later that night, went to Pesos on Queen Anne.

Swin Cash: Dinner at Scottsdale Mall and "then relaxing w/my better half." (Then had 22 points in the Storm's big win over Phoenix).

Kevin Durant: Went to a rooftop party; watched Martin with his family, and saw his granddad "for the first time in a loooooong time..he's the reason why I'm so tall lol..."

Darryl Tapp: Went shopping for a dress with his ladyfriend. His comment: "Man I have come along way."

Craig Terrill: Got called for a random NFL drug test. "Have they ever actually seen me out there...not really the steroid type."

Ryan Moore, Golf's Emo-est

2009-06-20T12:08:00.001-07:00

Puyallup's own Ryan Moore is not only one of 12 golfers under par at this years U.S. Open, he's also sporting what's possibly the most emo look in golf history.

Seriously, when was the last time you saw a golfer sporting a beard like this?

Rounding out Moore's look: A pseudo Fidel army cap, a tight polo, low-rise khakis, and black shoes.

Moore, who'll be 27 in December, won a state title at Puyallup High and then attended UNLV, where he was named college's outstanding golfer in 2005. He's won more than $1 million each of the past three years, so he can certainly afford to keep up with the fashions.

Then again, so can Tiger Woods and...

As I write this, Moore's got a four-stroke lead over Tiger as well.

So strut, Ryan Moore! Strut!

Ichiro: Griffey's friendship is "close to a miracle."

2009-06-16T09:18:00.001-07:00

If you're looking for a reason why Ichiro has defied age and Nate Silver to post his best stats since 2004, Larry Stone sez try an afternoon in the M's clubhouse.

That's where you'll find Ken Griffey Jr. "messing with" Ichiro -- roughhousing with him, criticizing his emo-wear -- making him feel part of the team.

"This is the happiest I’ve seen Ichiro since 2001," trainer Rick Griffin tells Stone.

Ichiro sounds like he's about to give Junior a Nobel Peace Prize.

"It’s fun to come to the clubhouse every day and just watch him, listen to him. He’s like a different creature than the rest of us. It’s like he’s from a different planet. ... That’s what we’ve been missing here, that’s the hole he’s filled, that’s what he does. He brings a team together just by being himself."

As as for what Griffey has meant to him -- it seems incalculable.

"I always thought opening my heart would be close to impossible in baseball with so many differences between me and other players. It’s been close to a miracle with Junior. We have a special relationship – something I’ve never had before."

I guess we can't assess the meaning of the Griffey signing merely on his own meager contributions to the offense -- give him 15 of Ichiro's hits and suddenly it looks like a pretty good deal.

Four High School Hoops Revelations from the Quaker Summer Slam (And an Awesome Wroten Video)

2009-06-15T10:48:00.000-07:00

Anrio Adams, sophomore-to-be, Franklin
Adams showed he's ready to take the torch from his predecessors as outstanding Franklin guards, Venoy Overton and McDonald's All-American Peyton Siva. I'd heard about Adams talent last year, but he didn't get much chance to display it on a senior-heavy Quakers team. Now, Adams is the showpiece. One Adams play stood out for me. Against Garfield, he blocked a shot, controlled the ball, went coast-to-coast, and, at the basket, through a behind-the-head pass to a cutting teammate for a lay-in. The play showed Adams' strengths. He's tall, he's quick, he can dribble, and he has tremendous court vision. He lacks Siva's hops, but, I mean, that's like saying a singer lacks Aretha Franklin's pipes.

Jalen Ward, sophomore-to-be, O'Dea
In Ward, the Irish have their best point guard since Jamelle "Son of Nate" McMillan. Ward is incredibly fast with the ball in his hands and absolutely fearless. His physical style of play sparked frustration from Rainier Beach and a retaliatory elbow in the game I saw.

Lonnie Pearson, senior-to-be, Rainier Beach
Pearson is another player who, despite his talent, was a minor contributor on last year's team -- three Vikings from the Class of '09 got scholarships from DI schools. He's a rangy swingman who's deadly inside and outside. Think Quincy Pondexter. Pearson hit a three-pointer at the end of the first half that put a dagger in O'Dea.

Will Dorsey Jr., freshman-to-be, Garfield
Dorsey is small, but he's also in eighth grade, so that can be excused. He is very, very fast with the basketball, and he has handles too--a vicious crossover left a Franklin defender stumbling. With Dorsey and Glenn Brooks Bulldogs would seem to have two point guards that would be starters for 95% of the teams in the state.

In other high school hoops news, the Rose City Showcase was this weekend in Portland. Here's a full recap of all the activities from the Oregonian.

Here's video of Tony Wroten at the event, including a ridiculous pass, and a short interview.

Anthony Wroten is in a class of his own

Stanley Cup Game 7 Bumped by KING-TV

2009-06-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

Though NBC is televising tonight's Penguins/Red Wings showdown, don't look for it on KING-5.

In yet another painful indication of just how unpopular hockey's become in the U.S., the NBC affiliate here in Seattle--the nation's 13th-largest TV market--will be showing local news and "Inside Edition" instead of the game that decides the NHL champion.

Not that our few local hockey fans (read: "Detroit or Pittsburgh transplants") will be deprived of the option of seeing the game. KING's moved it to their whimsically-named sister station, KONG, which usually hosts paid programming and re-runs.

Yikes, NHL...yikes. Sure, Seattle doesn't have an NHL team, but we don't have an NBA team either, and I don't see KOMO bumping Lakers/Magic.

Seattle was once a thriving hockey town--the minor-league Seattle Totems regularly outdrew the nascent Sonics. But as hockey's minor leagues shrunk away, interest waned. Even though our hockey history includes the first-ever U.S.-based Stanley Cup champions, and we're just three hours from Canada, KING figures (probably correctly) that more people will watch Evening Magazine than the deciding game of the NHL season.

Jack Zduriencik, the Anti-Sund

2009-06-11T08:45:00.000-07:00

What did I love about Jack Zduriencik's first baseball draft with the M's?

He picked guys who are actually good at playing the sport!

This would seem obvious, but more than a few Seattle GMs haven't understood it. Drives me nuts, when GMs focus on "tools" or "potential" more than what should be obvious. Can the guy f***ing play?

Like Rick Sund. Oh, God. He drafted Johan Petro, who'd averaged 2.1 ppg in France. And Sene, who may never have touched a basketball before the draft...BUT THAT WINGSPAN!

Or Tom Flores. He picked Dan McGwire, obsessed with the notion that McGwire's height (6-8) would make him an unstoppable NFL quarterback.

As it turns out, quarterbacking in the NFL requires several other talents besides "least distance from the sun." Doug Flutie, a full foot further away (and playing actual winning football in Canada), would come to the U.S. seven years later, at age 37, and still throw 84 more career TD passes than McGwire.

The guys Zduriencik took with his four top-60 picks aren't projects, they aren't freakish athletes. They are just good at baseball.

Dustin Ackley -- the best hitter in the draft, hit over .400 playing for a major conference team.

Nick Franklin -- Sez MLB's draft report: "Nothing jumps out at you tools-wise, but he just goes out and does a good job and can do a little bit of everything." I LOVE that nothing jumps out at me tools-wise. Give me a guy who can do actual baseball things over a guy with a strong arm any day.

Stephen Baron -- A high-school catcher with, again, according to MLB, "outstanding catch and throw skills." See that? Skills! At baseball! What skills did Sene have at hoops? As we learned, none.

Rich Poythress -- This guy does have a tool: Power. Can't field, can't run. Luckily, there's this position called "designated hitter" he'd be perfect for. I feel like this is sort-of like drafting a kicker. Poythress does one thing, hit homers, and he does it well. He was fifth in the NCAA DI in home runs, with 25.

Should they sign soon, Ackley and Poythress will likely start relatively high in the minor league system, and we'll soon see what they can do. In Ackley's case, you can watch him in the College World Series this weekend. His UNC Tar Heels play Arizona St. Saturday at 11 a.m. on ESPN.

Tomorrow's Quaker Slam Semis

2009-06-06T23:27:00.000-07:00

The semifinals of tomorrow's Quaker Summer Slam will be pretty awesome:

Franklin vs. Kentwood, 4pm, Franklin High court #1.

Rainier Beach vs. Jefferson (back-to-back Oregon state champs), 4:15pm, Franklin High court #2.

Two of the top seniors-to-be in the nation will be in action: Josh Smith of Kentwood, rated #7 overall in the class of 2010 by Scout.com, and Terrence Jones of Jefferson, ranked #43. Both are being recruited by Washington.

Also playing, Anrio Adams of Franklin, who's been terrific in the tournament. He's ranked among MaxPreps' 2012 players to watch.

In a consolation game that should be fantastic, Garfield will play Bellevue at 5:25pm on court #2.

The final is at 6:20pm on court #1.

Tickets are $6, and reasonably-priced concessions are available.

NBC Sports Classic

2009-06-05T11:28:00.000-07:00

NBC, UR doing it wrong.

The New York Times tells me that the French Open men's semifinal between Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro is the fifth set.

However, when I tune to NBC, I get the first semifinal, which concluded several hours ago. With NBC only showing tennis until 1 p.m., safe to assume we won't be getting to see all five sets of the Federer semi, which evidently has the makings of a classic.

Apparently East Coasters aren't getting to see any of the Federer match, just a tape delayed, edited version of the first semi between Robin Soderling (who?) and Fernando Gonzalez (howzits?).

This is not the 1970s, NBC. If you aren't going to show sports live, why bother?

Let the Seahawk Stalking Commence!

2009-06-05T08:28:00.000-07:00

Ever feel the need to talk to your favorite Seahawk, but can't because of all those pesky Qwest Field security guards? Fear not, as your gridiron heroes will be appearing in a far more collegial atmosphere over the next couple of weekends.

For example, Friday night (6/5), Seahawks defensive lineman cum musician Craig Terrill will be performing his unique brand of countrified rock at The Triple Door. Tickets are $25.

Terrill will also be performing Saturday June 13 at the Lake Chelan Riverwalk Pavilion. That show is free. Here's the deets.

Also on Saturday the 13th, former Seahawk Bobby Engram is holding a celebrity softball game to benefit his foundation. Tickets are $10-45. Expected to attend, among others, are: Nate Robinson, Jamal Crawford, Nate Burleson, Deion Branch, Marcus Trufant, Deon Grant, Seneca Wallace, Aaron Curry and Leonard Weaver. Most surprising guest? Longtime Colts backup QB Jim Sorgi. For God's sake, I hope they let the poor guy start.

Why I'm Glad My Mom Doesn't Manage the Orioles

2009-06-03T22:26:00.000-07:00

So I'm watching tonight's M's/Orioles game with my mom, when Adrian Beltre comes up with the bases loaded in the ninth inning against O's flamethrower Jim Johnson.

We had this conversation...

Me: So this is interesting--most teams get Adrian Beltre out by throwing curveballs, but this pitcher is only going to throw fastballs.

Mom: Why won't he throw a curveball?

Me: Because his strongest pitch is a fastball, he doesn't have a good curve.

Mom: Well why don't the Orioles bring in a guy who does?

Me: [long pause] I...don't...know.

My mom, in case you don't know her, is not even remotely a baseball fan, I think she's been to about two M's games in the past ten years.

Yet, she's right! Why the hell would you let Adrian Beltre, a pure fastball hitter, decide the game against a guy who can't throw a breaking ball? Especially when Beltre was having no trouble getting around on Johnson's heat.

I'm really glad the Orioles hired Dave Trembley instead of my mom, because if she were in charge we might be lamenting another close Mariner loss.

UW Recruits at Quaker Summer Slam

2009-06-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

With temps in the eighties and the sun shining, it can mean only one thing: Time to duck inside a musty high school gym and watch some basketball!

On the for-real tip though, some fantastic players--including two Lorenzo Romar has his eyes on--should be playing in this weekend's Quaker Summer Slam. If you can duck out of work early on Friday, check out this doubleheader:

Garfield (with Tony Wroten, Scout.com's #1-rated SG among juniors-to-be) vs. Eastside Cath., 4:15 p.m.

Kentwood (with Josh Smith, Scout.com's #2-rated C among seniors-to-be) vs. Bainbridge, 6:20 p.m.

Both games are at the Franklin High gym.

UW is recruting Wroten and Smith; so is practically every major program in the country.

In between those games, Franklin itself will be playing. Check out the next in that long line of stellar Franklin guards, sophomore-to-be Anrio Adams -- who MaxPreps lists #1 on their national list of 2012 players to watch.

Also making that list, and appearing in this tourney -- Seattle Prep's Mitch Brewe, O'Dea's Jalen Ward, and Garfield's Pierre Wright.

The other player of note who'll be competing is Bellevue's Aaron Bright; Bright is a recruiting target for Cal, Arizona, Stanford and Wazzu, according to Scout.com.

If you can't make it on Friday, each team will play two games on Saturday and a game on Sunday. Can't tell you the matchups yet, it'll depend on who wins in the first round.

I went to the first round of this event last year, the games were very competitive. Tom Wyrwich of the Times attended the final day, and wrote that the intensity rivaled that of state tourney games.

Below is the full list of Friday's games, held at Franklin and at Rainier Vista Boys & Girls Club. Check my Twitter feed for updates about the tourney. Here's the full bracket.

Games at Franklin (map):
Jackson vs. Seattle Prep, 4:00 p.m., Court #1
Garfield vs. Eastside Cath., 4:15 p.m., Court #2
Franklin vs. Sammamish, 5:10, #1
Federal Way vs. Blanchet, 5:25, #2
Kentwood vs. Bainbridge, 6:20, #1
Kings vs. Lincoln, 6:35, #2
Jefferson vs. Wilson, 7:30, #1
Foss vs. Renton, 7:45, #2
Mead vs. Mark Morris, 8:40, #1
Bellevue vs. Eisenhower, 8:55, #2

Games at Rainier Vista Boys & Girls Club (map):
Rainier Beach vs. Ballard, 5:00 p.m., Court #1
Enumclaw vs. West Seattle, 5:00 p.m., Court #2
O'Dea vs. Curtis, 6:10, Court TBA
Mt. Si vs. Bethel, 6:10, Court TBA
Lakes vs. Eastlake, 7:20, #1
Puyallup vs. River Ridge, 7:20, #2

Zach Greinke vs. Carlos Silva: I Report, You Decide

2009-05-04T22:50:00.000-07:00

After Zach Greinke shut out the White Sox tonight, his ERA is 0.40 for the season.

For Carlos Silva to get his 2009 ERA down to 0.40, he would need to throw 447 consecutive scoreless innings.

The math of it: Silva's already allowed 21 earned runs, he'd need to have pitched the equivalent of 21 complete games just to get his ERA down to one -- 21 more to get it down to 0.50, and another 6 or so to get into Greinke territory.

Greinke becomes the 45th pitcher since 1954 to win his first six starts. One Mariner, surprisingly, is on that list. Even more surprisingly, it's a guy from the pre-Griffey era. Rick Honeycutt won his first six starts for the 1980 M's.

Today I Declare Independence Day

2008-07-07T06:33:00.000-07:00

Well, not really. But I am moving the blog over to the magazine. This was always the plan, but I've been so busy getting the print pub out, I really haven't had time to do it.

All the stuff you've gotten used to on this blog will be over there--NW Sports in the Morning, me blathering--but there will also be other writers, who you'll get to know and love.

Now the caveat: the layout will be a little different. Like on Deadspin, practically every story will have a jump, the better to get more stories above the fold.

Also, the way the stories jump is not quite the way I'd like it (the layout is jerry-rigged from another site), but I've got the web dudes working on it.

If you read EtheE over RSS, you can read Sports NW the same way--here's the RSS link (it's also on the site, in the upper left hand corner):

http://sportsnwmag.com/feed/

For a while I've been duplicating stuff in the mag and here on this blog, but it takes too much time away from actually writing and editing. This way is better for everyone.

So--EtheE goes dormant for now, though you could still search for stories if you wanted. Come and join me (and others) over at Sports NW.

--Seth

Protesting the OKC Sonics

2008-07-03T13:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a sweet idea from a Blazers fan:

"The first home game the Trailblazers have against the new OKC team, we need everyone to show up to the game in green and gold. Not to root for the Sonics but to show solidarity with our North West brothers."

What about you? Will you root against the OKC team? Against the players who would've preferred to stay?

Or ignore them? Or what?

Gettin' Dusty at EtheE HQ

2008-07-03T11:16:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen this yet...get some Kleenex ready...

Former NBA Ref Bob Delaney Reading Tonight

2008-07-03T10:43:00.000-07:00

The Stranger's Paul Constant points out that former NBA ref Bob Delaney is reading tonight from Covert, about his infiltration of the New Jersey mob.

Writes Constant: "I figure that, in this first post-Sonics-abduction day, all the questions after Mr. Delaney reads are probably going to be along the lines of 'ThsssshhkplehSONICS! BlehthphttthhhhhGODDAMNOKIES!'"

If you want to watch the shitshow, it's tonight at 5pm at Elliott Bay Books.

Husky Football Can Revenge Sonics Fans Loss

2008-07-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

The Huskies already have two revenge games on their 2008 home schedule--Notre Dame on Oct. 25, when Willingham can revenge his unfair firing, and UCLA on Nov. 15, when Husky nation can return some pain to Rick Neuheisel.

But, first, on Sept. 13, the whole region gets a chance for revenge when the Dawgs host Oklahoma.

The University of Oklahoma, in Norman, is just 18 miles south of OKC.

And when David Stern and the NBA relocation committee make their tour of OKC, Oklahoma head football coach Bob Stoops and AD J oe Castiglione were there to greet them. Scumbags.

Said Stoops at the time: "There's a lot to be proud of, and they presented it and it's undeniable. Great things are happening for this state and for Oklahoma City."

Sonics Eulogies

2008-07-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

This is making me much sadder than I thought it would. I feel terrible for all the die-hards out there. Being more of a baseball guy myself, I think about how I'd feel if this happened to the Mariners, and I want to cry.

Trying to look on the bright side: We've still got UW, which isn't going anywhere, and Seattle U will be starting up their DI program soon. Garfield High has the amazing Tony Wroten, Jr., quite possibly the best player of his age in the world. So there's plenty of basketball, even if it's not NBA.

And if I must have NBA, I must admit that a part of me is quite happy to tether my fandom to the rising Blazers who--unless there's a divisional realignment between now and October, will have six shots at kicking the living shit out of the Oklahoma City Whatsits next year. I'll be rooting hard for the Blazers in those games, boy...

Percy Allen has the confused and sometimes angry reactions of Sonics players. Jim Moore has reactions from Sonics fans. The Times has an awesome historical photo gallery and the full text of the settlement [pdf].

Here are thoughts from the rest of the earth:

Brian Robinson, SonicsCentral and SaveOurSonics: "I am actually somewhat relieved that at least we do have hope of NBA basketball. Its a slim hope, and the hope of a new team, but it is hope nontheless. At least we are not sitting here with nothing...I’m taking some consolation in this but feel like I need to process the grief a little bit. Everybody will react differently and we need to work through it. Then we’ll regroup. Then we’ll figure out what to do next.

XSteve, SonicsCentral: I sit at this keyboard and find it difficult to type these words. It’s the end of an era...I am fortunate beyond words to share the friendship of the people behind Save Our Sonics and this site. It is a rare thing to see people achieving their dreams through hard work, sacrifice and their passion for this sport...If this sounds like goodbye, it isn’t … time to take a step back. I’m kind of a Renaissance sorta dude, ya know. I like my geeky comics and playing my guitar and other bad habits … I’ll always be there to tip the glass or party with ya at the drop of a hat...Bless you and your families. Right now the world needs moms and dads and brothers and sisters, boyfriends, girlfriends, buddies, homies more than it needs NBA fans.

Mr. Baker, SonicsCentral: We were screwed. That offer was not going to get worse with time, and with a court win, they took money from somebody that has money, but the mayor, Mayor Nickels, said it wasn’t about the money in his testimony; it was about enforcing the lease, and retaining NBA basketball in Seattle; neither happened....I hate Clay Bennett, I watched him lie, and now I watched Mayor Nickels let him get away with it...Thanks to Brian, Steve, Xteve, Grif, everybody that fueled SaveOurSonics.org...I have maintained that it has not, and is not, because of the fans that any of this is happening. The owners, the politicians, and especially the NBA, all have failed you. Shame on them.

Pete Nussbaum, SupersonicSoul: ...a small part of me hoped they wouldn't [move]. That small part of me that scoots to the edge of my seat when the Sonics are involved a close game; that small part that makes me pick up and phone Raf or Paul when the Sonics do something extraordinary; that small part of me that imitates Xavier McDaniel when I'm shooting hoops by myself....After what happened today, that small part of me isn't doing so well right now.

Constable Echelon, Hot Dog & Friends: I’m currently studying a little revolutionary era France. I’ll admit it’s always been a little hard to wrap my head around the idea of a society so unjust that the only recourse for the common man was to take to the streets, round up those responsible, and cut off their heads. I imagine that insatiable bloodlust started with those people feeling like I feel right now.

Brad Cassiday, Seattlest: "Seattlest is sad to see our team leave town. From Downtown Freddie Brown to D.J., to The Glove, to our latest assemblage of "talent," we enjoyed heading down to the Key, pondering how hot Squatch must be in that costume, and gettin' our groove on with the dance team during timeouts. Some will view the news of the settlement as the cup being half empty. Some will view the news as the cup being half full. But, we tend to agree with the late George Carlin: Maybe the glass was just too big.

Bethlehem Shoals, FreeDarko: Seattle didn't have interest in a losing team, especially once Bennett razed it. In OKC, the NBA will be the only show in town (like the Hornets once were). But all those wild crowds were feeding off of what the roving Hornets stood for, the initial novelty, and, oh yeah, Chris Paul. There will be a honeymoon, but if the team sucks or Bennett is an asshole to his own people—that's Charlotte all over again...So congratulations Clay, you stole a team. Now you've got the daunting task of actually running one.

Bob Condotta, Husky Basketball Blog: I took the whole family to the last home game against Dallas in April. We'd never done that before mostly because I have two young boys and it just hadn't seemed time yet. They really enjoyed it and wanted to go back to games next year, a chance they won't have now. They've already asked me who's to blame and I just told them what I really feel ---- everybody involved. They all blew it --- Stern, Schultz, Bennett, Gregoire, Nickels. Anything they say today rings hallow to me.

Derek Zumsteg, USS Mariner: This totally, totally sucks, and there’s so much blame to go around that it’s hard to know where to start. Well, no, actually, you start with Howard Schultz, but you get my point. No one in Seattle, including the other teams, wins here...And you people in Oklahoma City — I would hope you would be appalled enough by this to not participate in this shameful debacle, but I don’t have a lot of faith in that.

Matt Ufford, With Leather: Fuck that lying piece of shit Clay Bennett. Fuck David Stern, that collusive cocksucker. Fuck Howard Schultz for selling the team to Bennett, and fuck Starbucks, too. Fuck Seattle's limp-dick government. Fuck Hurricane Katrina. And fuck Oklahoma fans who get indignant and say that they're more deserving of an NBA team than Seattle, the victim of uncaring ownership and a city whose only crime was not shelling out more tax dollars so a carpetbagging son of a bitch could make more fistfuls of money.

A brand-new site: fuckyouclaybennett.com.

Steve Kelley, Seattle Times: "Basketball is dead, and don't look for any miracle resurrections. Chances are good that an entire generation will grow up in this town without the NBA to watch."

Art Thiel, Seattle P-I: As Nickels said on the witness stand during the trial's first day in explaining why he wanted the Sonics to stay two more years, "anything can happen." Apparently, anything included nothing.

John McGrath, Tacoma News Tribune: "As city of Seattle attorney Tom Carr, speaking to KJR a few minutes after the settlement-disclosure press conference, put it: “Having the NBA pleased with you is a lot better than having the NBA mad at you.”...In other words, suck it up, and try to consider David Stern less as the czar of an evil empire than a friend of the disenfranchised....Just a hunch, but I’m predicting an NBA team calling itself the Sonics tipping off at KeyArena for the 2011-12 season."

Bye-Bye Sonics

2008-07-02T17:06:00.001-07:00

Update...

So the settlement is this, however Nickels sugarcoats it: the team is gone, though we get the team colors and history.

Bennett is on the hook for $75 million, with $30 million of that payable in 2013 if Seattle hasn't gotten an NBA team by then. But that $30 million is only payable if the state legislature ponies up money to renovate KeyArena. So, Nickels is trying to shift the onus/blame back to the state legislature.

The NBA, according to Nickels, says that "renovated KeyArena is an acceptable solution." But that requires absolutely no commitment by the league.

Here's what the NBA has committed to, according to Nickels: "The NBA will notify us when teams are for sale, or when there are plans for expansion."

"We think we have opened a better door for a new team...but there is no guarantee."

"What we would like to do is have the basketball fans go to the legislature, get the funding we need, we have a committed local ownership, and we are the 13th largest market in Seattle."

"We think we would've won the case...but that would've just kept the team here for two years, and at the end of that time we would've had a very bad relationship with the league."

"We think [the settlement] is a better option for us to keep the team here."

City Attorney Tom Carr on the Schultz case: "If Schultz wins, then the team stays here and this deal goes away."

This thing about how "the NBA agrees that a renovated KeyArena is an acceptable facility" is silly. It doesn't matter what the NBA says--it matters what an owner says. An NBA owner could play in the Ingraham High gym if he felt like it (ok, not really, but you get the idea).

PRESS CONFERENCE OVER.

Don't Put Stock in Sonics Settlement Reports

2008-07-02T14:12:00.001-07:00

If you've seen the news from The Oklahoman today that the city has been exploring a settlement with Clay Bennett, consider the article's source.

The only source for the report is councilmember Richard McIver, who is facing ethics charges for allegedly awarding a no-bid contract, and is said to be stepping down next year.

If the city and Bennett were having talks, McIver would be the last to know about them--and that's reflected in his statement to The Oklahoman's Darnell Mayberry: "I hear that they were trying to work one up but I didn’t know whether they were successful or not. And I thought it was around something where (the Sonics owners) were trying to get Seattle to involve Schultz’s suit withdrawal and that didn’t come out, so I guess it fell apart."

So, basically, McIver is making a "guess" about something he "thought" he "heard" and that he "doesn't know" what happened. Decide for yourself whether that's really "news," but somehow the Bennett-owned Oklahoman saw fit to print it. Brilliant.

The Stranger's intrepid city hall reporter, Josh Feit, who's been covering the trial for them, has a call in to McIver's people, maybe they can find out what the hell he's talking about.

Um...I take it all back.
Settlement reached. Press conference at 5pm.

Update... The city council has been briefed on the settlement, and one of Josh Feit's city hall sources implies pretty strongly that the Sonics are gone.

Update... Sherman Alexie on KJR: "I'm terrified. From every indication it seems like their gone. There's a huge absence in my life...I'm jealous of Portland--I just checked and they only have 350 season tickets left."

Update... The Times reports that Howard Schultz is refusing to drop his lawsuit as part of the settlement.

Update... The Times reports that a source says the Sonics will move to OKC in exchange for a settlement that could be as high as $75 million. Bennett would pay less if the city were to get a new team.

Update... Kevin Calabro on KJR. He sounds absolutely devastated. "I never thought it would come to this." Calabro mentions that Steve Ballmer said that basketball was likely gone in an interview in the Sunday times. "It was tough to read that."