The Stark Truth

Bremerton’s Olympic gold-medal winning swimmer Nathan Adrian is featured in an Outside magazine online interview.
Adrian was asked to name three things he’d like to cross off his bucket list during the expansive interview that appeared online Dec. 19.
He answered:
“Going to space with my medal — maybe I could chat with Richard Branson about that one.”
“Go bungee jumping.”
“Go canyoneering in a foreign country.”
To read the full story, go to outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/my-perfect-adventure/

Would the Seahawks have been among the NFL’s elite teams if they had not let Ted Thompson slip way to the Green Bay Packers. Mike Vandermause, a columnist with the Green Bay Press Gazette, tells the story of how the Packets were able to steal Thompson from the Seahawks.

Here’s Jon Gruden’s interview with Seahawks rookie QB Russell Wilson. Gruden’s been on Wilson’s bandwagon since evaluating him after his senior year at Wisconsin.

MNF trivia: Tonight’s game will be the 731st game televised by the Monday Night Football franchise.

MNF trivia II:  ESPN’s current contract with the NFL runs through 2021 and is valued between $14.2 and $15.2 billion.

MNF trivia III: The Seahawks are 17-8 all-time in Monday Night games.

If the Seahawks asked Bremerton Olympic gold medalist Nathan Adrian to raise the 12th Man Flag he’d probably do it, but would he wear his Raiders’ jersey? Yeah, Nathan’s become a Raider fan since moving to the Bay Area.

Wonder if Bremerton and North Kitsap have ever played a truly meaningful football game, one that had championship implications riding on it? The winner of Friday’s game will definitely take a big step toward winning the Class 2A Olympic League championship. Kickoff is 7 p.m. Friday in Poulsbo. Did you know Bremerton’s the biggest 2A school in the state (1,079 students in the top three grades)? North is ninth (1,003) biggest, according to the WIAA numbers. PA is No. 2 and Olympic No. 10 in 2A enrollment. Class 4A South Kitsap (2,447) remains the biggest school in the state.

Sounders-Mariners don’t break the Rule of 65,000 on Saturday. Rule of 65,000? Read Art Thiel’s story at sportspressnw.com.

Drew Vettleson’s taking part in Tampa Bay’s fall instructional league in Port Charlotte, Fla. Coming of an MVP season for the Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods, the Silverdale outfielder was honored during an awards ceremony at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., prior to a recent Rays game. The 42nd overall pick in the 2010 draft remains one of the Rays’ top prospects. He’s one of 54 minor leaguers taking part in the instructional league, which runs through Oct. 7.

I think I just broke my first story on twitter:

Just in: Olympic gold medalist #Nathan Adrian will put in appearances on Aug. 22 at main fair stage, Ruth World Series and Xtreme Bulls

Get your sharpie ready because here’s a chance to get your Nathan Adrian autograph.

Here’s the plan: 4:45 at the main stage at the Kitsap County Fair, which opens that day (a Wednesday). Then he’ll head to Gene Lobe Fields at the fairgrounds for a 5:30 p.m. stop. No doubt,  he’ll be asked to throw out the first pitch for the championship game of the Babe Ruth 13-year-old World Series. Then he’ll walk a couple hundred yards to Thunderbird Stadium for the Xtreme Bulls competition.

Wonder if he’s got a cowboy hat and boots?

I kidded the Babe Ruth guys about building a swimming lane from the mound to home plate for Adrian’s visit.

Pretty cool for Nathan to do this.

Links, opinions and quick hits on sunny Monday while waiting for 13-year-old Babe Ruth baseball players to invade Kitsap County. Drove by the Kitsap Fairgrounds & Events Center and Silverdale Beach Hotel earlier and things are eerily quiet. Anyway, here ya go:

Don’t know about you, but I’ve seen enough to think that rookie QB Russell Wilson just might be the real deal.  I know that it’s early, but he could bring some serious excitement to CenturyLink. And Matt Flynn looked pretty good too. T-Jack, it was nice to know ya.

Bremerton Olympic gold medalist Nathan Adrian was part of the closing ceremonies and is now back in the area after exploring London and, no doubt, having the time of his life. If you’re into twitter,  check out his tweets here.

Bremerton’s other Olympian, bobsledder Bree Schaaf, is training in Colorado Springs, Colo., trying to regain strength following offseason hip surgery. This is a big year for Schaaf, who needs to secure the No. 2 ride in order to solidify endorsements. If she’s driving the No. 3 sled heading in to the World Cup season prior to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, she will probably have to dig into her own pockets again to pay for training, travel and equipment expenses. Yes, it’s a cruel world sometimes for  athletes involved in fairly obscure sports. Nate Murphy of Kitsap Public Relations has created an online fundraising campaign for Bree at www.indiegogo.com/breeschaaf.

If you want to be reminded how serious folks in the south take their football, check out this $60 million, 18,000-seat high school  stadium in Allen, Texas. It’s for a high school near Dallas with an enrollment of 3,000. A far cry from the muddy bog South Kitsap plays on in the fall, huh?

State high school football players hit the practice field on Wednesday. First games are Friday, Aug. 31. Kentridge at South Kitsap is an intriguing Week 1 matchup. Former Bremerton, OC and Central Washington QB Marty Osborn runs the show at Kentridge and is considered one of the top coaches in the state. Port Orchard native Eric Canton, a former SK QB who played at Washington, will be making his head coaching debut for the Wolves. Elsewhere that night, North Kitsap, considered by many as the team to beat in the Class 2A Olympic League, visits powerhouse Archbishop Murphy in Everett, and Central Kitsap heads to Bainbridge for an all-Kitsap County affair.

I’ve been told that Waite Park, Minn., the Midwest Plains Regional 13-year-old Babe Ruth champs, played in the Cal Ripken 12-year-old World Series a year ago. That could be an advantage during the Babe Ruth World Series at the Kitsap Fairgrounds & Events Center this week. Remember, tickets are just $5 a day and it looks like the weather is going to cooperate. It would be nice to see the stands packed during the 10-day tournament.

Ichiro’s not exactly ripping it up in New York, but he’s fitting in with the Yankees. He’s hitting .265 (he was hitting .262 this season with the Mariners). It will be interesting to see how the 38-year-old performs in the postseason. Think he raises his game? Or will he go 1-for-4 with a meaningless slap single to left field?

Congratulations to Silverdale’s Erynne Lee for another top finish at the U.S. Women’s Amateur. She’s been a quarterfinalist three times and a semifinalist once. Here’s hoping the Silverdale golfer can break through in 2013 or 2014, which will be her last chance before turning pro. She’s going to attempt to qualify for the Canadian Women’s Open in British Columbia before returning to UCLA for her sophomore year.

Kitsap’s PGA Tour golfer Troy Kelly is back in action this week, playing in the Wyndham Championship, which starts Thursday at the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C. I was in Reno for the Reno-Tahoe Open two weekends ago. I watched Kelly bomb a couple 400-yard plus drives (consider the elevation, 5,800 feet with some steep climbs on both sides) on his way to a tie for 48th. It was a Stableford format and Kelly didn’t take advantage of his length on the par 5s, but it was a lot of fun watching from outside the ropes. And did I mention the elevation? And the heat? It was 100 every day.  I thought someone was going to have to give hefty Guy Boros, Kelly’s playing partner the last day, mouth to mouth. Kelly’s currently No. 102 on the money list ($747,984) and needs to stay above 125 to keep his card for 2013. This is also the final week for players to move inside the top 125 in FedExCup points. Kelly is 117th, but starting with the No. 126 player in points (Brendan Steele) going into this week, 44 of the next 55 players in points are playing at Sedgefield. The top 125 in FedExCup points will play at The Barclays Championship the following week at Bethpage State Park in Farmington, N.Y.

You can find updates on Bremerton’s Nathan Adrian and stories about the 2012 London Olympics at this page. Wire updates and features from London have been routed to go to this page, so it’s good place to find out what’s going on.

Quick hits on a Thursday night while chasing deadline with the daily miracle:

Villopoto up for an ESPY Award
I’ve been out of action for a week, and I just noticed that Poulsbo motocross champion Ryan Villopoto has been nominated for an ESPY in the Best Male Action Sports Athlete category.
The 2012 ESPY’s will be televised live Wednesday at 6 p.m. on ESPN From the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.
Villopoto’s got some stiff competition. Snowboarder adn X Games superstar Shaun White is a six-time winner of the fan-voted awarded. The world’s best surfer Kelly Slater, and best all-around snowboarder Travis Rice, are the others.
Villopoto won the AMA World Supercross and AMA Motocross titles in 2011, in addition to the $1 million Monster Energy Cup, and led Team USA to victory at the Motocross of Nations. He defended his Supercross title in 2012 but a knee injury prevented him from defending his outdoor AMA title.
Click here to vote for Ryan. Voting ends Monday, July 9 at 11:59 p.m.

Good times for SK big leaguers

Orioles pitcher Jason Hammel was nominated for the MLB All-Star game. A tough-luck loser to the Mariners on Monday, Hammel didn’t win the fans’ vote, but being nominated for the honor had to be satisfying. The 29-year-old’s got a chance for a big contract if he can keep it up through the second half of the season. He finished third in the fan balloting. We sent Jeff Graham over to talk to Hammel on Monday. In case you missed it, here’s his story.

Willie Bloomquist, now seeing action at third base and shortstop for the Diamondbacks, raised his average to .301 after another multi-hit game on Wednesday (3-for-5 with a stolen base). This guy makes an argument that Willie is more deserving of a spot in the All Star game than Atlanta’s Rafael Furcal.

And Aaron Cunningham hit his first home run and collected a couple of pinch-hit singles in recent games for the Indians. Little-used until now, maybe it’ll translate into some more playing time. Cunningham, by the way, got the silent treatment from his teammates after hitting his home run.

Marvin heads to Utah

The deal won’t be official until July 11, but it looks like Marvin Gaye Williams will be playing for the Utah Jazz next season. It’s the best thing that could happen to the 6-foot-9 Bremertonian. Seven years in Atlanta was enough. It wasn’t Marvin’s fault that the Hawks passed on Deron Williams and Chris Paul, to take him with the No. 2 pick. That was always going to be over his head. Plus, he was never an option on a team that seemed to have too many Marvin-like players. Now Williams gets a second chance to prove that he can be a 15-point, 8-rebound kind of guy. He’s already proven to be unselfish and willing to do the dirty work on defense.

On tap

The Babe Ruth World Series for 13-year-olds is coming Aug. 15-22 — and the host team is the Kitsap County All Stars, not North Kitsap All Stars as somebody wrote last week.

Next week’s West Sound Senior Games. The event for the over-50somethings runs July 11-14.

And Little League’s Western Regional Big League tournament returns to Gene Lobe Fields at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds, July 15-20.

The Kitsap Pavilion will be the site of a Reign Forrest Championship MMA card on July 21. Bristol Marunde  is promoting the card.

Random thoughts

Is it just me, or does it seem like there’s not much of a buzz about the coming football season for the Washington Huskies? Seems like the Dawgs are now playing second fiddle to the Seahawks in the region.

Congrats to Bremerton’s Nathan Adrian on winning the 100 free at the U.S. Olympic trials. I’m sure he’s disappointed about not qualifying in the 50, but counting the relays, he’s still got a chance to win three medals in London. That, I think, would ease any pain he might be feeling about being KO’d in the 50.

Nobody ever asked my opinion about Seattle’s offensive woes, but after being laid up for a week or so and able to watch more Mariners’ baseball than I’ve watched in a long time, I’ve got a theory on the M’s hitting woes: Maybe it’s because of their youth, but as a group, Seattle’s hitters are not very selective when it comes to the pitches they flail at. Good hitters swing at strikes. I’ve never seen so many guys swing at bad pitches at the Major League level.

And while we’re on the subject of Mariners’ hitters, who’s tired of watching Ichiro bail out of the box and hit those weak pop flies to the opposite field?

I really like the blue-collar approach of Kyle Johnson, Matt Friesen and most of the Kitsap Pumas. They’re not afraid to stick their nose in their and makes things happen.

That’s all I got. Deadline’s looming.

‘Hey, let’s go play 12′

Really enjoyed listening to golf architect John Harbottle III talk about what he did during his re-model at White Horse Golf Club, and also what he had to say about the state of the game.

“There are no really new ideas in golf,” he said. “It’s just old ideas being done better.”

Among the ideas being bantered about now are the shortening of golf courses, or making alternative courses.

“Two of first golf courses in the world —  Prestonwood and St. Andrews (in Scotland) — were 12- hole courses,.” Harbottle said. “They played more British Opens at Prestonwood than any other golf course. They don’t play it anymore because it’s too short. Orginally, it was a 12-hole course.”

Just like St. Andrews.

You played a round of 22 — the first hole, 10 out toward the sea, then you played the same 10 and finished on the last hole.

In the mid-1770s, they converted four of the holes — two on the way out, two on the way back and that’s how golf became 18 holes.

“It had nothing to do with how many shots were in a bottle of Scotch,” Harbottle said.

Here’s my story on the changes at White Horse.

Adrian best in events U.S. used to own

Bremerton swimmer Nathan Adrian is the best sprinter the U.S. has, but he remains a bit of an underdog when compared to the world’s best.

“This is almost un-American,” writes  Jen Floyd Engel of FOX Sports.

“I am trying to bring it back,” Adrian told her. “I am trying my hardest to make it America’s event again.”

So why did it stop being our event?

“That is good question,” Adrian said. “I think it’s maybe a little bit of a bigger deal in some other countries to be a sprinter. For instance, France, to be a French 100 freestyler, you are a household name. In Australia, you know, to be a 50 or 100 guy, you are a household name. Look at Cesar Cielo in Brazil, he is their Olympic hero. It is a big deal.”

Read the entire story here.

Time for leather helmets?

It sounds silly on the surface, but former WSU and Seahawks defensive lineman Chad Eaton might have the answer to all of this crazy football safety stuff and concussion talk that’s dominating the airwaves and sports pages these days. Eaton was asked how you fix the problem.

He said it’s time to go back to leather helmets.

Nobody’s gonna want to mess up their pretty faces and stick their head in there like they do now, he said. Or something like that.

It’ll never happen, but if you can take the helmets out of play, then you’re going to solve a lot of problems.

The concussion crisis has also hit girls soccer. NBC News aired an eye-opening report on a news segment this week. Check it out here.