M’s broadcaster Mike Blowers predicted before Sunday’s game that Matt Tuiasosopo would hit his first career home run. And it would be on a 3-1 fastball.

Guess what? Yep, you guessed it.

710 ESPN reporter Shannon Drayer has the broadcast links on her Mariners Blog. Dave Niehaus’ call is priceless.

Take it away guys:

Former Yankee Bernie Williams plays Take Me Out to the Ballgame on his guitar.

Seahawks defensive lineman Craig Terrill jams with Soulfish.

Lil Wayne checks in with Im’a Go Getta, a tribute to Michael Phelps.

Here’s Steve Goodman’s classic a Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request.

And last, Seattle’s Sir Mix-A-Lot sends us out with a nostalgic tune about the Sonics that you won’t be able to get out of your head: Not In Our House. Best line is at the end. “Steve Scheffler is having a barbeque at the end of the bench. Bring your own bowl.”

You got a song you’d like to put into the mix? C’mon, I want to hear from you. It’s just gotta have some sports angle to it.

Golfweek’s Ron Bilak and Lance Ringler offer some pretty high praise for the hospitality and the facility at Gold Mountain Golf Club, which is hosting the Ping/Golfweek Invitational, which winds up today.

Oklahoma State, by the way, is well on its way to victory. The Cowboys opened the day with a 12-stroke lead over host Washington and the Huskies have managed to cut into the lead by just a stroke through six holes. OSU is 4- over par, UW 15 over and USC 20 over.

The wind is howling and scoring conditions are even tougher than it was Sunday.

Back to the video:

Bilak raves about the food. “It’s the best corn on the cob I’ve ever eaten,” he said.

And Ringler says the course needs to be put in the rotation for NCAA championship and regional events.

They also give you a recap of the first day’s action. Check out the video here.

I’m not out at Gold Mountain, but the teams should be in the middle of the first round.

I’ll be out for the second round. Look for the report later tonight.

Oklahoma State’s grabbed the early lead. The Cowboys are 1-under through seven holes. There’s live scoring updates here.

In the meantime, Lance Ringler of Golfweek.com talks about the top teams and players in this video.

I’m getting ready to head out to Gold Mountain Golf Club, site of the Ping/Golfweek Invitational. Fifteeen top college golf teams, featuring some of the best young players in the country, are participating. They should all be on the Olympic Course right now, taking part in their practice rounds.

They’ll play 36 holes Sunday and the final 18 holes on Monday.

Here’s a podcast from Golfweek.com that gives you a pretty good summary of what’s going on. Lance Ringler of Golfweek, who will be in town for the tournament, says the hosts Huskies, Arizona State and Oklahoma State are the favorites.

Looking for a place to watching tonight’s 6 o’clock game between the Huskies and Stanford? Kevin Welling of the Cloverleaf Sports Bar & Grille confirmed that his establishment will have it on their big screens. The ‘Leaf is located in east Bremerton off of Wheaton Way.

Jeez, maybe I’ll get a free beer and some pizza for this free plug.

Jerry DiGiovanni passed along some sobering news on a ferry ride back from Seattle Thursday evening.

I’d been at a hospital in Seattle, visiting my dad, who’s recovering from knee replacement surgery.

“Dick Todd died,” DiGiovanni said.

I knew he’d been battling cancer, and the prognosis wasn’t good, but I wasn’t prepared to hear those three words.

“Dick Todd died.”

Now, nearly six hours later, I’m sitting at my home computer and Thursday night has become early Friday morning and I don’t know where to begin, or what I’m about to write. I’m not even sure how old Dick was. I think 75. And I can’t remember now if Todd died on Wednesday or Thursday morning.

All I know is that I’m feeling a little blue that the man a lot of people simply called “Blue” is gone. I feel kind of like I did the day Donny Krick, my old pal from Illahee who’d been so involved with youth sports and fastpitch softball, died after a heart attack.

Dick Todd, like Donny Krick, was one of the nicest guys I’d ever met. I wish I’d taken the time to visit Todd after learning last month that his health wasn’t good.

Like DiGiovanni, and my dad, Dick Todd was an umpire. Todd was also a soccer official and a football official.

And no disrespect to my dad or DiGiovanni, or any other umpires, past or present, but Dick Todd might have been the most liked, respected and beloved official to grace the peninsula.  

He was the State Umpire-In-Chief Emeritus for the Amateur Softball Association.

I don’t remember the first time I met him but I remember the night he kicked me out of a softball game. It was the only time I was ever ejected. And, yes, I deserved it. I totally lost it during a fastpitch doubleheader at old Roosevelt Field. I just snapped after a call. Turned into Lou Piniella. As soon as I tossed my glove on the ground (OK, I spiked it liked I’d just scored the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl) in protest, Todd tossed me, which only fueled my insanity. Todd, who’d just returned from Colorado Springs, where he worked the Olympic Sports Festival, could only take so much. He eventually walked off the field and our team had to forfeit both games because of my tirade.

I’m still ashamed of the way I behaved that night.

Todd brought such respect and dignity to the game. How could I go off on a gentleman like him?

Todd got over it, and we laughed about it over the years. I continued to apologize almost every time I’d bump into him.

And I’d bump into him a lot because Todd remained a big part of the Kitsap sports scene. He was one of those guys who gave back to community after retiring from Keyport. He served as president of the Bremerton Athletic Roundtable and Silverdale Pee Wees. He continued to work with the local and state officials’ associations, where his influence helped shape the careers of countless others. In recent years, he served as a volunteer usher/ticket taker/utilityman for the Kitsap BlueJackets on game days. He also held down a part-time job with the county, working at the Kitsap Sun Pavilion, Village Greens Golf Course and wherever they needed him.

Yeah, it seemed like Dick Todd was everywhere. He’s one of those guys who had a tough time saying “no” to people.

I’ll never forget that infectious smile, or that slow gait of his. You might be standing in the middle of a hurricane, but if you there with Dick Todd, you’d never feel like you were in a storm.

There was just a sense of calmness, kindness and common sense about him.

It seems so trite to say that he’ll be missed. But, lord, the people of Kitsap County are going to miss Dick Todd.

Sometimes, we’re the last to know.
A friendly between the Kitsap Pumas and Portland Timbers took place Wednesday at PGE park in Portland.
Turns out the Pumas won 1-0.
I’m still not clear why the Pumas didn’t want to publicize the game beforehand, but we didn’t catch wind of it until we got a call from Pumas executive director Ben Pecora, telling us the Pumas were up 1-0 30 minutes into the game.
The score would hold. Friendly or no friendly, it’s another example of just how talented the Pumas are. Portland won the USL D-1 league’s regular-season title. Pecora called them the hottest team in North American soccer, saying the Timbers hadn’t lost in over 20 matches.
Here’s our report on the game.
And here’s David Falk’s report in the Examiner, with photos.

And here’s the Timbers’ fan club report.

Our report says the Timbers used most of their starts during the first 60 minutes, but something might have been lost in translation while piecing together the report. You’ll notice that the Timbers’ report says few starters played in the first 60 minutes.

Regardless, the Pumas have reason to feel pretty good about beating a club of that stature. And it’s Alex Megson, not Alex Winger, who scored Kitsap’s goal. Yes, Alex Megson is a winger, and sometimes, we make really, really stupid mistakes.

Sorry about that Alex, but congrats on a nice victory.

Looking for something to do. Here’s some suggestions:

* Golf: The Ping/Golfweek Invitational at Gold Mountain Golf Club features some of the best young players in the country. After a practice round n Saturday, they tee off at 8 a.m. Sunday (36 holes) and Monday (the final 18 holes). Best part? It’s free.

* Prep Football: If you’re looking for high school football game this week, the Seattle Prep-Bainbridge game is the best one in our backyard. It’s the Metro League opener for the Spartans. If you’re willing to put a few miles on your car, head to our state’s capital to watch the South Kitsap Wolves and Olympia Bears in an early-season showdown between top-10 teams. Looking ahead, mark Oct. 2 down on your calendar. That’s the night SK hosts Central Kitsap. And you can always log on to our live streaming video game of the week. It’s Timberline-Bremerton this week and CK-SK the next.

* The Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame banquet, Oct. 3, noon, at Bremer Student Center on the Olympic College campus: This annual event has produced some pretty cool moments and this one, no doubt, will have its share. Some of the big names being inducted this year, Aaron Sele and Benji Olson, won’t be able to attend, but the swimming Kirk sisters — who made this community awfully proud when they both represented the U.S. at the 2004 Olympics — will be there. It’s a big day for Central Kitsap fans and alums, too. The 1969 CK football and basketball squads, two of the best in county history, will be inducted. John Keister, the former host of Almost Live!, will be the MC. Here’a a story that mentions all of the inductees. Also, look for features on some of the inductees in our print editions and online the week leading up to the event.

QUICK HITS

* Willie Bloomquist, the Kansas City Royal from Port Orchard, is hitting .404 in September. He’s 21 for 52 (including 3 for 4 in pinch-hitting situations) and he’s raised his average to .271 after dropping to .251.

* When’s the last time a Stanford-Washington game had as much meaning as the one that will be played Saturday in Palo Alto? If the Huskies don’t win, the upset over USC doesn’t mean nearly as much, does it? And if Stanford does beat the team that beat THE team, then the Cardinal are suddenly 3-0 and, well, you know what I mean. Washington doesn’t need an impressive win, just a win to keep the momemtun rolling.

* Remember the Mariners? They’re 78-72 and if they were in the Central Division, they’d be smack dab in a pennant race with the Tigers (79-70) and Twins (76-73). An interesting fact, at least I think it’s interesting: The M’s are averaging less fans (27,452) through 75 home games than they did duirng 2008’s 101-loss season (29,349). Is it the economy?

* Don’t know about you, but I’m starting to think that maybe the Seahawks should have taken quarterback Mark Sanchez with the fourth pick in the NFL draft. And I thought that before Matt Hasselbeck’s latest injury. Seattle’s offensive needs an infusion of some new blood. And Justin Forcett might not be the long-term answer, but he needs more carries.