The Stark Truth

Bremerton’s Glenn Carden advanced to the finals in open singles at the United States Handball Associations’s Hall of Fame and Rocky Mountain Regional tournament in Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday.

The 61-year-old Carden, a 15-time national age-group champion, takes on David Fink, a touring pro who is about 35 years younger, in Sunday’s singles finals. Update: Fink beat Carden 21-3, 21-3.

Carden was also awarded the Marty Decatur Sportsmanship Award during the tournament. Here’s a picture of Glenn and his wife Jackie with the award.

Carden’s been in the Phoenix area for the past month or so.  He was going to enter the 60s, but there weren’t enough entries and they made him the No. 2 seed in open singles.

Carden heads to San Diego for the U.S. Masters singles tournament the first week of April.

Wonder how much of a difference Mark McLaughlin, the well-traveled, sometimes troubled basketball player from Bothell, would have made to the Washington Huskies if he’d decided to stay in Seattle and play for coach Lorenzo Romar and the Dawgs this season.

The 6-foot-6 McLaughlin was recently named MVP of the Great Northwest Conference. This story by Roger Underwood, the former Sun staffer now working for the Yakima Herald, is a month old, but it sounds like McLaughlin’s found a home at Central Washington.

If you’re my age you might.

The memory’s a bit fuzzy. I think it must have been the summer of 1967 because I didn’t move to Bremerton until the middle of my eighth grade year and that the late fall of ’66. But I remember trooping down to Roosevelt Field, the grand old baseball stadium that was knocked down and turned into the parking lot next to the Warren Avenue Bridge, with my buddies. The Chymes of Freedom were headlining a rock show at the old ball yard. At least, I think they were the headliners.

They reminded me of the Byrds, or perhaps the Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan must have been an inspiration. His album, Chimes of Freedom, was originally recorded in 1964. Bremerton’s Chymes of Freedom were a really good band, and only around for a couple of years. They were comprised of CK grads Bill Carter and John Carter, West High’s Rick Belyea, George Goins, Scott McDonald and the late Earl Weida.

Why am I reminded of this band 45 years later?

Well, I was riding to a softball scrimmage at Western Washington over the weekend — I’m a volunteer coach at Olympic College these days and enjoying every minute of it — when our head coach, Danny Haas, informed me that Bill Carter had been on the Late Show with David Letterman last week (Feb. 21), and Johnny Depp was playing slide guitar. Bill Carter & The Blame’s the name of the band. Turns out Carter moved to Austin, Texas, in 1976 — the same year I was going to school at the University of Texas — and he’s become a Texas legend as a singer/song writer.

Carter and his wife, Ruth Ellsworth, are prolific writers and have written songs for several major artists. Among Carter’s songs: Steve Ray Vaughn’s “Crossfire.” He also wrote “Why Get Up?” for the Fabulous Thunderbirds and “The Richest Man,” which has been recorded by 40 artists. Carter and Ellsworth played with Depp’s band P in the 1990s. Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers, actor Sal Jenco were also in the band. Others, like Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, played from time to time.

The Blame played  ”Anything Made of Paper,” on the Letterman Show. It’s featured in the 2012 documentary film “West of Memphis,” which is about three teenagers who were unjustly charged with murder and spent 18 years in jail in Arkansas.

Sounds like Carter’s lived an interesting life. Check out his website.

Don’t look now, but Tim Lincecum’s sporting a new look. The San Francisco Giants pitcher from Issaquah has cut his flowing locks. The hippy look is gone, replaced by a clean-cut hairdo that would make most of our mothers proud.

Can we still call him The Freak? That will likely determined by how he fares on the mound. The 28-year-old is coming off a disappointing season, although Tim seemed to have his old stuff back coming out of the bullpen in the playoffs. He was nasty while helping the Giants bag another World Series. He’s making $22 million this year, but there’s plenty of incentive because it’s the last year of his contract.

Whatever happens, you can’t knock what he’s done to date: Tim’s a two-time Cy Young winner, a four-time All-Star and has two World Series rings.

A little known fact: Lincecum’s dad, Chris Lincecum, once played for the Kitsap Outsiders semi-pro club in the early 1970s. He was a pickup player. The Outsiders played their home games at old Roosevelt Field.

The Outsiders coach? Former East High and Central Washington baseball player Wayne Gibson, who assembled the best local talent and augmented it with some of the best players from across the state. Steve Glasser, Butch Holt, Larry Seabaugh, Dave Pyles,

Gibby was an assistant basketball coach at Olympic College, and later head coach at Ferndale High School. He also assisted at Western Washington for a year, and was an assistant under Marv Harshman at the University of Washington for a year before assisting four years at Wisconsin-Green Bay. He’s currently the owner and president of Unlimited Potential and he worked this season as a volunteer coach with the men’s hoops program at Pacific Lutheran.

Bremerton’s Myrt Kressin, named the Kitsap Sun’s Female Athlete of the Century in December of 1999, died on Wednesday. She was 87.

Kressin, as Terry Mosher writes in his column that will run in Thursday’s paper, was a special lady.

Kressin was a friend, a mentor, a legend and someone everyone respected. One of the outstanding pitchers in softball during her day, I watched her late in her career when she played for the the Bud Higgs Lakers. Kressin later became the oldest woman to bowl a sanctioned 300 game when she was 71. She was an assistant softball coach at Olympic College for years.

Here’s the story I wrote in ’99 when Kressin was named the Athlete of the Century.

Radio waves and deer-antler spray, the latest way to get an edge on the playing field? Hologram stickers? Are you kidding me? SI.com has published a story about a company called Sports with Alternatives to Steroids (S.W.A.T.S.) and its connection to high-profile athletes like Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. Lewis said he didn’t use deer-antler spray, which contains a banned substance (IGF-1),  during his recovery from a torn bicep. Here’s the Yahoo Sports! report. A longer version of the Sports Illustrated story will be in the magazine that hits newsstands Feb. 4. You will  shake your head and wonder what’s next?

And that’s not the only news breaking on the Tuesday before the Super Bowl. A-Rod’s back in the news. A Miami Times report names Alex Rodriguez and other MBL players in a story about how performance enhancing drugs. (A spokesman for A-Rod has already issued a denial). Rodiguez’s account was paid through Aug. 30, 2012, according to the report in Yahoo Sports! This could lead to another BALCO-type scandal for baseball and suspensions for the players named. Texas outfielder Nelson Cruz and Washington pitcher Gio Gonzalez are among the players named. The same clinic has also been connected to players who have already served suspensions: Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon. MLB is investigating.

And some stories coming out of the Super Bowl:

The future of the NFL is debated in this story by FOX Sports. Bernard Pollard of the Ravens predicted that the NFL won’t be around in 30 years, and President Obama said if he had a son he wasn’t sure if he would let him play football.

If Seattle ever lands a Super Bowl, Baltimore QB Joe Flacco won’t be in favor of it. If northern cities earn the bid, as New York has for the 2014 game, he thinks stadiums should have a retractable roof.

Mike Sando of ESPN raises an interesting question, wondering if option runs means less contact for NFL backs like Frank Gore and Marshawn Lynch, who now operate in systems where the option is valuable part of the offense.

San Francisco’s Randy Moss calls himself the best wide receiver ever.

Mike Silver of Yahoo Sports! says the Harbaugh brothers aren’t even close when it comes to naming the No. 1 siblings in sport. Who do you think he picked as No. 1?

Did you see where Shane Moskowitz,the former Central Kitsap distance runner now competing at Oklahoma State, ran a 3:59.48 mile during an indoor meet at the University of Arkansas?

And Moskowitz placed sixth!!!! Three Oklahoma State teammates also dipped into the 3:50s. The race was won by Patrick Casey of Oklahoma (3:56.28).

I’m hardly a track and field expert, but the four-minute mile has always been a magical number. It’s been nearly 60 years since Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile, covering the 1,760 yards (or 1,609.344 meters) in 3:59.4 in 1954.

I googled and I binged, but I couldn’t come up with an answer as to how many male runners belong to the club that was started by Roger Bannister in 1954 when he ran 3:59.4. Five years ago, someone said 1,000 runners had broke the 4-minute barrier.

The world record for the mile? According to the IAFF, which oversees records, it’s owned by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco, who ran a breath-taking 3:43.13 mile in 1999. The Moroccon runner also holds the indoor mile record (3:48.45), set in 1997. The female record for the outdoor mile is held by Svetlana Masterkova (4:12.56).

Moskowitz, a sophomore in eligibility, helped the Cowboys win an NCAA title in cross country in November.  He won a state cross country title and four state track and field titles (in the 1600 and 3200) at Central Kitsap. He’ll run the 1,500 meters this spring for the Cowboys.

Somehow, you get the feeling that Moskowitz will go even faster. And you have to be pretty fast to break the 4-minute mark. It’s the equivalent of running 4 miles at the speed of 15 miles per  hour, or running 14.91 seconds per 100 meters. Nice goin’ Shane.

Jordan Spieth, who won the U.S. Junior at Gold Mountain in July of 2011, has turned pro and is using a sponsor’s exemption to play in this week’s Farmer’s Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

FYI: Central Kitsap grad Troy Kelly is struggling in the first round. He was 5  over through 13 holes and last in the field of 156.

UPDATE: Kelly wound up with a 5-over 77 (four bogeys, one double bogey, one birdie) and is tied for last, but at least he has good company. Ricky Fowler and Geoff Ogilvy also shot 77s. All three played the South Course at Torrey Pines. Spieth shot an even-par 72 on the North Course.

Kelly got his birdie on the par-3, No. 3 hole. He hit his  9-iron to within 2 1/2 feet from the cup. Kelly tees off at 10:10 a.m. today on the North Course.

It’s not Duke-North Carolina, it’s not Washington-Washington State. For me, it’s more compelling than that.

It’s No. 8 Gonzaga (17-1) vs. No. 13 Butler (15-2), two men’s basketball programs that symbolize what’s good about college hoops.

Saturday’s showdown in Indianapolis (ESPN, 6 p.m.) features a couple teams that aren’t afraid to take on the big boys, and they’re not afraid to do it on the road.

Butler’s been to a couple Final Fours, and this could be the year Gonzaga gets there, partly because of Kelly Olynyk, a mobile 7-footer who is the most improved player in college basketball. Olynyk’s already had 33- and 31-point games, and has become the Zags’ best offensive force since Adam Morrison. Figuring he wouldn’t get much playing time a year ago with Robert Sacre and Elias Harris up front, Olynyk decided to redshirst last season.

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Here’s an open letter from a Sacramento basketball fan to SuperSonics’ fans, which followed a letter from the producers of Sonicsgate to Sacramento Kings’ fans.

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Everybody has an opinion about Lance Armstrong.

Michael Rosenberg of SI.com writes: Without doping, Armstrong would be a nobody.

Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post, author or two books about Armstrong, says the cyclist has apologized to her. In her most recent column about Armstrong, published Dec. 15, Jenkins says she’s not angry at the man who duped the cycling world.

Rick Reilly of ESPN.com is having a hard time forgiving Armstrong. He wrote:

It’s partially my fault. I let myself admire him. Let myself admire what he’d done with his life, admire the way he’d not only beaten his own cancer but was trying to help others beat it. When my sister was diagnosed, she read his book and got inspired. And I felt some pride in that. I let it get personal. And now I know he was living a lie and I was helping him live it.

Check out this video on deadspin.