The Stark Truth

While you’re here, I’ve got 10 things and a prediction for ya:

1) Silverdale’s Erynne Lee, a freshman at UCLA, is ranked No. 3 in Golf Week’s collegiate rankings after six tournaments. Duke’s Lindy Duncan and Sophia Popov of USC are 1-2 in the latest rankings. UCLA is the No. 1 team. Won’t be long before Lee’s cashing checks on the LPGA Tour.

2) Stephen Drew hasn’t  recovered from a nasty broken ankle suffered last July, and that means the Diamondbacks will run Willie Bloomquist out at shortstop when the defending NL West champions open the season at home against the Giants on Friday, April 6. For Bloomquist, the Port Orchard native who took over for Drew last season, it will be his first Opening Day start. Willie hit .266 a year ago, right near his career average.

3) College basketball’s madness returned to normal this year. No Butler. No George Mason. This year’s Final Four is all royalty: Kentucky, Ohio State, Kansas, Louisville. Kentucky’s the obvious favorite. If the Wildcats win the championship game by three points or 11, I’ll hoist one to Mike Gaffke, who is probably running a March Madness pool somewhere. Hell, even if they don’t win by that margin, I’ll hoist one to Mike Gaffke. I’ll forever think of Mike Gaffke this time of year.

4) Bremerton’s Marvin Williams earned his dough on Sunday, playing 44 minutes in Atlanta’s 139-133 four-overtime win against Utah. I thought it might be a career high for the 6-foot-9 forward. I was wrong. He played 51 minutes in an April 8, 2007 game against Philadelphia. Marvin scored 16 points and had nine rebounds last night. His career highs for points? 33 vs. the Sonics in Seattle on Jan. 25, 2008.

5) Olympic College basketball coach Barry Janusch tells me he’s got a line on a 6-foot-11 center from Arizona by way of Philadelphia, and a guard from Tennessee who tried out at UT-Chattanooga might be on his way to Bremerton.  Janusch, who doubles as the athletic director at the junior college, says he’s got some experienced candidates to sort through for the women’s basketball job that is open. He also told me that Seattle Community College is dropping its men’s and women’s basketball programs.

6) Aaron Cunningham’s still in contention to be Cleveland’s starting left fielder or the Indians fourth outfielder, but the South Kitsap grad hasn’t had the best of springs.  Manager Manny Acta has said the job will go to the player who hits and none of the candidates, including Cunningham, have stepped up at the plate. Cunningham, traded to Cleveland by San Diego, was at .210 with one RBI in 10 spring games at last check.

Another SK grad, Jason Hammel, seems to have cemented a spot in Baltimore’s starting rotation. He could wind up as the No. 3 starter for the Orioles. He’s pitched 11.2 innings and has a 3.09 ERA with 12 strikeouts, five walks and 10 hits allowed in four spring starts.

7) Olympic College’s Colin Yoshinaga, the Japanese player whose style of play reminds you a little of Ichiro, can make all of the plays in left field, has a strong arm and a knack for bunting his way on base. The lefty singled in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning in an 8-7 victory over Wenatchee Valley on Sunday.

It’s a wonder some big school hasn’t hired Virginia Commonwealth basketball coach Shaka Smart. I’d hire him in an instant.

9) Warren Hood and the Goods. A really good band from Austin with a pretty good name. Marshall Hood and the Bads. His brother’s old band. Never saw ‘em, but great name.

10) The Seattle Seahawks’ new battle cry: “Flynn Forever.” We’ll see. QB Matt Flynn still has a lot to prove, but signing him for three years with $10 million guaranteed is a relatively low risk deal with potential for some big-time rewards. At the very least, they’ve upgraded the position. If Flynn wins the starting job, and he should, then Tavaris Jackson gives you some pretty good depth at the most vital position on the team.

Prediction: Next Kitsap-area baseball player to get a chance to play professional baseball? Tyler Baumgartner, former Central Kitsap standout and cousin of Drew Vettleson, the switch-pitching star now playing outfield in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. Baumgartner had a monster year as a freshman outfielder at Bellevue CC, and is drawing a lot of interest from a lot of big-league teams. Tyler’s already signed with Oregon. If you want to see a sweet swing, you can watch him next Saturday when Bellevue takes on Olympic College at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds & Events Center. Doubleheader starts at 1 p.m.

Don’t know if it’s just me, but there seems to be a new winning culture — at least a more positive one — when it comes to athletics at Olympic College. Its men’s soccer team reached the NWAACC finals, its volleyball team advanced to the NWAACC Championships, the women’s soccer team was hanging with the top squads by the end of the year. Softball has been on solid footing for a few years and will remain that way as long as Jessica Cabato’s running the show. Baseball is doing things the right way and the Rangers have become competitive in the best cee-cee division in the NWAACC, if not the West Coast. Now it remains to be seen if basketball can raise its level of play.

It was nice to see Vice President of Student Services Ron Shade on the OC sideline both days during the soccer tournament.

It’s been a while since the college administration has taken a pro-active approach with sports at the college.

OC’s added cross country, track and field and golf programs in recent years and there’s no reason why they can’t be competitive.

Basketball still the face of the athletic program at the two-year college, especially the men’s program. If the Rangers can turn it around and put some fans in the stands at Bremer Student Center, that would go a long way toward making a statement that the school is on the right track.

OC’s women get started on Friday, playing Hood Hood at the Clackamas Thanksgiving Invitational. The OC men start hooping at Pierce on Dec. 1.

Also

Here’s a fan’s take on Marvin Williams, the NBA player fom Bremerton.

A new indoors soccer center is scheduled to open in February in South Tacoma.

Bremerton’s Bree Schaafleaves Friday for Europe to begin another World Cup bobsled season. Schaaf’s and Emily Azevedo, who placed fifth at the 2010 Olympics, are the No. 1 team for the U.S. I’m hoping to talk to Schaaf this week and we’ll tell you how she’s feeling heading into this year’s competition. Schaaf’s still aiming for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. AP writer Tim Reynolds recently tweeted that’d he’d just gotten off the phone with one of the world’s funniest bobsledders, but he couldn’t print most of what Bree said. Here’s a recent Bree tweet from Lake Placid, where she’s been training:

Happy birthday to Randy Corley, the Silverdale rodeo announcer with the velvet voice who turned 60 on Tuesday. Corley will be leaving soon for Las Vegas, where he will help announce the 10-day National Finals Rodeo. He’s also among the finalists for Rodeo Announcer of the Year. Bumped into Silverdale native Clint Corey at Corely’s suprise b-day and the former world bareback champ looks like he could still win some money at the NFR. You always come away smiling after hanging with some cowboys. Most of the folks in the rodeo business are just fun to be around.

Congrats to Russ Shiplet for being named the coach of the North Kitsap 13-year-old Babe Ruth team that will play in next summer’s World Series at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds and Events Center. Russ Barker, Brent Stenman and the rest of the host North Kitsap Babe Ruth crew are working hard to make that event a success.

The Clink will be a happening place this weekend. Apple Cup on Saturday at 4:30 p.m., followed by a 1:05 p.m. Seahawks game vs. Washington on Sunday. Predictions anyone? Huskies slither in with a 6-6 6-5 record, and seem ripe for an upset. This is Washington State’s bowl game and the Cougs have got the win-one-for-the-coach thing going for ‘em. This is a tough Apple Cup to predict. Gonna hold off on that one for a day or two. As for the Seahawks, they’re on a bit of a roll and the Redskins are scuffling after a 3-1 start. The Skins have lost six straight and winning in Seattle will be difficult. I like the Hawks to win easily, something like 27-7.

“Perhaps (Tim) Tebow will be the exception, a leader so rare he causes us to rethink what is plausible in pro football and gets an entire franchise – directed on the football side by John Elway, one of the greatest and most talented quarterbacks in NFL history – to invest in defying conventional wisdom on a weekly basis.” I don’t think so either, and neither does the guy who wrote that, Mike Silver of Yahoo Sports!

The thing that amazes me about Tebow is nobody gets a good lick on the Denver QB. Defenders are usually blowing snot bubbles and their eyes bugging out of their head if they think they’ve got a shot at beheading an enemy quarterback. But when Tebow’s out there on the loose, he’s the one delivering the blows.

Remember Norm Johnson, the Silverdale resident and former Seahawks kicker? Norm, once again, will flip the coin and be involved at the Dec. 3 Army-Navy flag football game at Silverdale Stadium. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about Norm.

After Arkansas upsets LSU this week, it looks like it’ll be LSU vs. Alabama for the BCS national championship. But Auburn could upset Alabama, and then Stanford and Andrew Luck, which don’t seem so dominant anymore, are suddenly back in the BCS title picture. College football’s tougher than usual to figure out this year. USC might be playing the best football in the country right now, but can’t go anywhere.

And, in case you missed it, East-West Alumi Game III is coming Dec. 27. Want to play or get involved? Get hold of Rick Walker.

The unpredictability is the best part about sports.

Everybody says Tim Tebow can’t play in the NFL,  and the quarterback/evangelist/right winger proves everybody wrong, nearly leading Denver to a comeback, upset victory over the Chargers on Sunday. You don’t have to agree with his politics or like his passing technique to appreciate what he brings to the football field — the guy’s a winner. It’ll be interesting to see if his role will increase after what he did on Sunday.

Everybody buried the Seahawks weeks ago. But Tarvaris Jackson shows he can play when he gets a little protection, and when he goes down, maligned Charlie Whitehurst comes off the bench to lead the Hawks over the New York Giants. The 10.5-point underdogs thrive in a no-huddle offense, the defense makes a lot of big plays and they shock the world. If not the world, the bookies in Vegas and all of those football know-it-all analysts.

The Yankees, the Phillies, the Red Sox are done, but the Brewers, Tigers, Cardinals and Rangers play on. And the Diamondbacks came thisclose to advancing to the baseball’s Final Four. You can’t figure this stuff out, which is the way it should be.

And how about those San Francisco 49ers? The mild, mild NFC West might have a legitimate contender after all. Jim Harbaugh can coach and QB Alex Smith, the Bremerton-born player and former No. 1 pick who has been labeled a bust, isn’t a such a schmuck after all.

How many of you gave Olympic High a chance to beat North Kitsap in football on Friday night?

How many of you thought Washington’s Keith Price was going to be this good? Steve Sarkisian will never come out and say that Price is flat-out a better college QB than Jake Locker, but he is.

Just when you think you’ve got it figured out, remember that you don’t.

There’s always going to be a Buster Douglas come along to knock out a Mike Tyson.

There’s always going to be some shocking surprises along the way; there always are and it’s a big reason why the games we like to watch and play are so much fun.

Danny O’Neil of the Seattle Times put together an easy-to-follow chart of the Seahawks’ free agency business.

You find out who they’ve got deals with, what free agents are going elsewhere and a list of Seattle’s remaining free agents. Remember, contracts can’t be signed until Friday.

Defensive lineman Brandon Mebane, one of the Seahawks’ top priorities, has been talking to Seattle and Denver.

And O’Neil reports that wide receiver Brandon Stokley’s decision to sign with Washington was premature. He’s now back on the market, according to his agent.

And I’m glad to see there’s somebody else, besides myself, who isn’t down on Charlie Whitehurst. John McGrath of the Tacoma News Tribune. He reminds us that Whitehurst was 22-for-36 for 192 yards and a touchdown in the playoff-clinching win over the Rams when Matt Hasselbeck was hurt. And he did it with 0 fumbles and 0 interceptions.

I also agree with Peter King of SI.com, who says that Hasselbeck deserves to be lumped into a category with guys like John Olerud and Edgar Martinez in Seattle sports history. You’d be hard-pressed to find a pro athlete who represented the city of Seattle any better than Hasselbeck during his years with the Seahawks.

Wouldn’t you like to have really known what was going on when Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, GM John Schneider, offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell  and the rest of the franchises’s brain trust sat down to discuss their quarterback situation?

Take off your 12th Man jersey for a second. If you look at it objectively, the Seahawks did the right thing, right?

Matt Hasselbeck: Great guy, team leader, but he is gonna be 36 in September, is injury prone and his best years are behind him. It won’t be long before he joins older younger brother, Tim, as an analyst on ESPN. Wish him well, but it’s time to move on. You know that’s what the Seahawks’ braintrust was thinking. The Hawks will miss kicker Olindo Mare, who is headed to Carolina, more than Hasselbeck.

Tarvaris Jackson: Great athlete, big arm, mobile, knows the system that’s going to be put in place. Has a career completion percentage of 58.7 percent. Hasselbeck was 59.9 last year. Bevell was the offensive coordinator at Minnesota, which drafted Jackson in the second round out of Alabama State. Nobody in the league knows him better than Bevell, who must have recommended him to Carroll. This is a new start for Jackson, who has 20 starts under his belt. If  the Vikings had not gone after Brett Favre, Jackson might be a star right now. Or not. We’re going to find out.

Kevin Kolb: Kolb must have come up in the conversation. He seemed like a good fit for Seattle, having operated a West Coast offense in Philadelphia. He blew his opportunityh in Philly a year ago, and was pushed aside byMichael Vick.  The Seahawks must have have been tempted by Kolb, but with Bevell running the offense, Jackson is a better gamble. Don’t ya think?

Charlie Whitehurst: The jury’s still out on Whitehurst, a.k.a. Clipboard Jesus. I think he’ll be the starter when the Seahawks open the season. If Seattle can become a physical team that relies on the run, Whitehurst will be a good fit. He’s been inconsistent with his deep throws, but I think that’s mostly because of his inconsistent opportunites. I don’t know why everybody’s so down on the guy. He hasn’t really been given a legit shot as a starter. He throws a great ball and he did perform well in a 16-6 win over the St. Louis Rams to get the Hawks into the postseason. Knowing that he’s the guy coming into camp might be enough to get him to that next level.

Matt Leinart: I thought he’d find his way to Seattle, but when word came down that the Hawks were signing Jackson, Leinart oopted to stay in Texas instead of competing for a job with the Seahawks.

Seattle didn’t seem to have any other QB options. It came down to Hasselbeck or Whitehurst/Jackson. I think Carroll, Schnieder and Co.  made the right decision. Don’t expect a Super Bowl run, but the Hawks might have enough to make a run for another NFC West title.

And whether it’s Whitehurst or Jackson, you gotta like the fact they’ll be throwing to 6-foot-4 Sidney Rice and 6-5 Mike Williams, on paper the  best receiving tandem the Hawks have had in years.

There’s been a lot of speculation about the Seahawks trading for Cincinnati QB Carson Palmer, which would reuinite the former USC player with his college coach, Pete Carroll. Palmer has requested to be traded. But Mike Brown, owner of the Bengals, says Carson’s not going anywhere.

Matt Hasselbeck’s future with the Seahawks continues to be debated. Pete Carroll said contrct negotiations with Hasselbeck, who is a free agent, broke down before the lockout and deal wasn’t made. Will ever be made? There’s also speculation that Seattle has discussed giving Philadelphia a first-round pick for QB Kevin Kolb, now a backup to Michael Vick. Kolb, like Palmer, is familiar with the West Coast offense the Seahawks are reportedly moving towards. Maybe the Seahawks make another run at Hasselbeck, sign him for a year and keep Charlie Whitehurst as backup and go for a QB in the next draft.

How’s your NCAA bracket? Probably not as good as the one filled out by 5-year-old Henry Hasselbeck, the son of Seahawks quarterback. Young Henry ranks No.103 out of 5.9 million who entered a contest on ESPN.com.

Charles Barkley reacts to criticism from Billy Packard by telling him to “shut the hell up.”

Spanish announcer goes loco and is reduced to tears while broadcasting the end of a thrilling Euroleague basketball game. 

The local newspaper is calling Richmond, Va., Hoopstown USA. For good reason. The Richmond Spiders and Virginia Commonwealth Rams both hail from the city. The 12th seeded Spinders and 11th seeded Rams are both in the NCAA Tournament. Sweet stuff, huh?

Wow, I woke up this morning and figured out I wasn’t dreaming. The Seattle Seahawks really did beat the New Orleans Saints 41-36 on Saturday.

Marshawn Lynch really did break 334 tackles on a crazy 67-yard TD run. Watch it again on this You Tube video. Wonder when somebody’s going to write a “Beast Mode” song?

Now that we know the Seahawks are going to be traveling to Chicago to face the Bears, let’s take a minute to look at what other people were writing about the Seahawks’ stunning victory and their rematch with the Bears:

Don Banks of SI.com says the Seahawks win over New Orleans tells us that we shouldn’t pre-judge any outcome of a playoff game. Read his story here.

A couple of Chicago players are anxious for revenge. Seattle beat da Bears23-20  in the Windy City in October. Read the story here.

Just the Bear facts in this Seahawks.com report.

And how about this? If the Seahawks win, they could host the NFC title game at Qwest. Crazy, huh. Read on.

The always entertaining Norm Chad writes: ”Imagine if this shabby 7-9 team now makes the Super Bowl – the entire East Coast might sink into the Atlantic Ocean and Peter King might drown in his venti cup of cinnamon dolce latte.” Read the full story here.

Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times said the fans “were so into the game they practically played it.  They turned Qwest Field into decibel hell.” Read his column here.

Nobody is sure if the Seahawks will offer QB Matt Hasselbeck an extention, but he had a “ridiculoulsy good day,” on Saturday, writes John McGrath of the Tacoma News Tribune. Read his column here.

Dave Boling of the TNT gives coach Pete Carroll credit for getting the Seahawks to believe. Read the story here.

I touched on the same theme in my column because, well, how else can you explain what the Seahawks have done the past two weeks. These are not the same Seahawks who stumbled and bumbled their way through most of the regular season. Of course, I was also the same guy who predicted Saints 34, Seahawks 13.

By now, most of you are aware of the brew-ha-ha going on across the water.

Fans who have been paying for 20 ounce beers were receiving 16 ounces; and according to officials at Qwest, fans who were purchasing 16 ounce beers were getting 20 ounces because the cups were labeled wrong.

Here’s the YouTube video:

A day after winning the NFC West, the Seattle Seahawks have been installed as 10.5 point underdogs against the New Orleans Saints for Saturday’s playoff game.

Here’s some samples of what others are writing about the Hawks:

Les Carpenter of Yahoo! Sports said the Seahawks are “simply a bad football team,” and it’s hard to know what to make of them. Read his story here.

For one game, the Seahawks got it right, writes Art Thiel of sportspressnw.com. The homely kids got lucky. Read his column here. 

Nate Silver of the New York Times crunches some numbes and comes up with this conclusion: The Seahawks are the worst playoff team ever. Read his story here.

“Suck it up America. This is actually a good story.” That’s the view from Jerry Brewer of the Seattle Times. Read his column here.

John McGrath of the Tacoma News Tribune says the odds are long (125-1) for the Seahawks in the playoffs, but at least they’ve got odds. Read his column here.

Dave Boling of the TNT writes that QB Charlie Whitehurst put together a performance that saved the season. Read his column here.

Jim Moore of SeattlePI.com says to expect another QB controversy this week in Seattle. Read his column here.

My take? Whether you believe in the Seahawks or not, they played like a team worthy of being in the tournament on Sunday. Read my column here.

ALSO

The Seahawks announced today that defensive line coach Jim Quinn is leaving the team to become the defensive coordinator at the University of Florida. Read the story here.