The pitching-rich Tampa Bay Rays were so overloaded with arms, they were forced to get rid of Jason Hammel, the South Kitsap grad who will start Game 3 of the NLDS for the Rockies on Saturday. Here’s an interesting take from ESPN.com that gives Hammel, who pitched 177 innings and won 10 games, a lot of credit for Colorado’s run back to the playoffs.

With the series tied 1-1, Hammel’s going to be pitching the biggest game of his life.

Game 3 starts at 6:37 p.m. and, like all of the postseason games,w ill be broadcast by FOX. Locally, the game will be up against the FSN broadcast of the Washington-Arizona football game, which kicks off at 7 p.m.

Huskies or Hammel? I think there’s going to be a whole lot of channel switching going on in the Port Orchard area.

South Kitsap grad Jason Hammel will make the first postseason start of his career on Saturday. The Colorado right-hander has been tabbed to start Game 3 of the NL Divisional Series against Philadelphia.

Rockies manager Jim Tracy says he chose Hammel over All-Star Jason Marquis because the 6-foot-6 right-hander has pitched well during the second half of the season.

The former Treasure Valley Community College player takes the spot of lefty Jorge De La Rosa, who will not participate in the NLDS because of a left groin strain that he suffered in his last regular-season start.

The rest of this is from MLB.com:

Tracy decided on Hammel (10-8, 4.33 ERA) because of his strong second half (5-4, 4.23 ERA). Hammel often faced big-name opposition on the mound and kept the Rockies in position to win.

“Did he necessarily win all of them?” Tracy said. “He no-decisioned quite a few of them. But he pitched so competitively, so deep into the game and gave us opportunities to win, you cannot ignore that.

“Jason Hammel hasn’t been given anything. He deserves the right to pitch because of everything he’s done since the All-Star break.”

Hammel, who was with the Rays last year but missed the postseason with a knee injury, said he expected to be pitching out of the bullpen.

“This doesn’t come along too often, but I’ve worked hard for this opportunity,” Hammel said. “Tracy has given me his blessing. He said, ‘Your second-half consistency and your progression have been unbelievable.’ It’s time to go to work now.”

The strong second half put Hammel ahead of Marquis (15-13, 4.04 ERA), who made his first All-Star Game at midseason, but finished the year 1-5 with a 6.23 ERA in his final eight starts.

Washington’s finally going to give in and play a lower division school in football, which should satisfy those who believe the Huskies’ schedule — one of the toughest around in recent years — has contributed to the decline of the program.

The Huskies announced today that it will play a home-and-away series against Hawai’i and Wisconsin, and it will host Eastern Washington on Sept. 3, 2011.

Washington’s one of four NCAA Division I school that has never played a lower division school. The others: USC, UCLA and Notre Dame.

Washington opted out of its home-and-away series with BYU, scheduled for 2011 and 2012. The Huskies are still looking for an opponent for its opener in 2012, scheduled for Sept. 1.

Washington, which was already scheduled to play Hawaii on Sept. 10, 2011, will face the Warriors again on Dec. 7, 2013 in Honolulu and Sept. 19, 2015 at Husky Stadium.

The Wisconsin series is set for 2017 and 2018.

Go to gohuskies.com for the complete press release from the University of Washington.

* Ken Griffey Jr. carried Seattle baseball on his shoulders so many years that it was about time someone returned the favor.” That’s what Jim Caple of ESPN.com wrote following the Mariners’ final game of the 2009 season.

* And this is what Junior had to say following what might have been his final game as a big leaguer. Check out this video from KJR radio.

* The No Fun League is suddenly fun again. Who’d have imagined the Denver Broncos would be 4-0? And the 49ers and Bengals are off to unexpected 3-1 starts. The Lions have even won a game. And it’s hard not to root for Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. And a lot of people dissed Brett Favre for coming back again, but you gotta love what he’s doing in Minnesota. And you gotta like that headline in today’s Minneapols Star Tribune: PACKER SMACKER. Here’s a column from the same paper on the ‘Silver Fox.’

* While on the subject of unexpected surprises, I don’t think too many people in the West Sound Fantasy Sports thought the Illahee Idiots would be sitting on top of the league with a 4-0 record (the standings to the link haven’t been updated, but the Idiots are 4-0). Yeah, the smack talking around the water cooler is about to begin …

* South Kitsap grad Jason Hammel (10-10 with a 4.34 ERA) is a candidate to start Game 3 on Saturday in the Rockies’ NL Divisional Series against the Dodgers. Jorge De La Rosa will make the start if he’s healthy, but he’s a question because of a groin injury. Hammel, the 6-foot-5 right-hander, has been solid down the stretch. By the way, Hammel’s a self-described fantasy football geek. Check out this story from the Denver Post.

* Bremerton’s Marvin Williams told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he spent the offseason healing and working on his game. The forward with the Atlanta Hawks worked overtime on his ball handling skills. The Hawks open the regular season Oct. 28 and they will be in Portland early this season, playing on Tuesday, Nov. 3 against the Trail Blazers.

After Week 1, a 33-21 loss to still unbeaten LSU, I wrote that it didn’t seem outlandish to think that the Huskies would make a run for a bowl bid this season. The No. 4 or 5  team in the Pac-10 goes to the Dec. 22 Las Vegas Bowl and, following an 0-12 season, it seemed like a reasonable goal to shoot for.

After beating Idaho 42-23 in Week 2 and stunning USC 16-13 in Week 3, it was clear that the Huskies were back. Not necessarily back to where they would challenge for a Rose Bowl berth, but good enough to be a factor in the race.

After getting pounded by Stanford 34-14 in Week 4, it was clear the Huskies weren’t ready to make the jump from 0-12 to the Rose Bowl.

Because of the Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame banquet, I was only able to watch the first quarter of Saturday’s 37-30 overtime loss to Notre Dame. But I’ve seen the highlights and heard some of the postgame chatter on KJR radio. The Huskies inability to get into the end zone was perplexing but even more perplexing was Washington’s continuing inability to stop the Irish from moving up and down the field.

I’m still not convinced that Notre Dame is all that, and I’m more convinced than ever that Stanford,which handled UCLA, is the real deal.

So, for me, it looks like Washington, providing it can shore up its defense, still has a legit shot to get to a bowl game. Of their remaining games, only Oregon seems superior to Washington.  The Ducks, USC and Stanford are the class of the Pac-10. Flip a coin between UCLA, Cal, Arizona, Arizona State , Oregon State and Washington. Sorry Cougs’ fans, Washington State won’t be a factor.

The Huskies allowed 38.6 points per game during its 0-12 season. The Dawgs are currently giving up 27.6 points, which isn’t that impressive when you factor in that LSU, even though it’s unbeaten, has not been all that productive on offense. And USC was clearly one-dimensional in Seattle. Without its top QB, USC was running the ball on 3rd-and-13. So, yeah, Washington rose to the occasion against USC on that day, but they were able to stack the line of scrimmage and go after the Trojans. Remember, even Idaho was able to move the ball at will, at times, against Washington.

Stanford smacked Washington in the mouth with its running game and Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen threw for 4,222 yards (OK, only 422 but it must have seemed like 4,000).

Washington’s got defensive problems, but if they can be fixed, that Las Vegas Bowl still looks like a pretty good goal. Remember, folks, this is a team that was 0-12 a year ago. Don’t get greedy.

Plus, the defense lost safety Justin Glenn, who  broke his right leg, and strong safety Nate Williams suffered a concussion late in the game.

Meanwhile, here’s some links on Saturday’s game:

Washington QB Jake Locker wasn’t talking about Saturday’s loss. Here’s a report from the South Bend Tribune.

The controversial two-point attempts haunts the Huskies. Read about it in this Seattle Times story.

The Chicago Times writes about ND’s double goal-line stand.

I find the Indianapolis Colts to be among the most intriguing teams in the NFL. Peyton Manning, in my eyes, is the top quarterback in the league.

Here’s a few stories to get you ready for the 10 a.m. kickoff (FOX Sports):

The Seahawks are going to give Colts’ QB Peyt0n Manning the silent treatment. Read this story and you’ll understand what I mean.

Tony Dungy’s gone, but the Colts are off to another fast start. Read this report in Foxsports.com.

The Colts’ Joseph Addai credits current Seattle backup RB Edgerrin James for getting him ready for the NFL in this story.

The Fort Wayne News breaks down the game.

Will the Seahawks defense be up to the task today. That’s the focus of this story in the Seattle Times.

One again, Seattle QB Matt Hasselbeck is very doubtful for today’s game. Read this AP story.

Prediction: Colts 26, Hawks16.

Fantasy note: Joseph Addai will be making his first start of the season for the unbeaten Illahee Idiots. Talk about a Cinderella story.