Surprise, surprise, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman is back in the news. The All-Pro corner went off on Skip Bayless, a co-host of ESPN’s First Take.
Sherman called Bayless “ignorant” and “egotistical.”
More Sherman: “In my 24 years of life, I’m better at life than you. I’m better than you.”
“Let’s not get personal,” said Bayless.
The ESPN show, featuring Bayless and Stephen A. Smith, is hardly must-see TV, but on Thursday morning, it was pretty entertaining.
More linkage …
Willie Bloomquist and Team USA opens the World Baseball Classic against Mexico on Friday ( 6 p.m., MLB.com) in Arizona. Bloomquist, a South Kitsap and member of the Arizona Diamondbacks, gives manager Joe Torre a lot of versatility. And he’s thrilled to be wearing the red, white and blue.
“It’s an honor, especially when you get a phone call asking if you’d represent your country,” he told MLB.com. “That’s about as good an honor as you can get. Obviously, I’m thrilled. Whatever role or capacity they want me to fill remains to be seen, but I’m excited to do whatever is asked of me.”
Former South Kitsap pitcher Jason Hammel struck out four in 2 1/3 innings on Thursday against Toronto as the right-hander appears to be right on schedule for the Orioles.
Dominic Boddie, a redshirt freshman walkon tailback from South Kitsap, is the only local player on the University of Washington’s spring football roster.
Central Kitsap grad Troy Kelly fired a 3-under 69 in the first round of the Puerto Rico Open and is tied for 28th heading into Friday’s second round. It’s the best start of the season for Kelly, who survived the cut in just one of his first six PGA Tour starts. Most of the world’s best players are playing in the Cadillac Championship at Doral, Fla., but the Puerto Rico Open has a solid field. The winner gets $600,000 and a two-year exemption.
Outfielder Aaron Cunningham, a South Kitsap grad who played for Cleveland a year ago, is 6-for-16 (.375) with three doubles and a home run for the Texas Rangers this spring. His home run came against the Mariners. Cunningham’s a non-roster invitee.
Bremerton’s Jarell Flora made a couple of starts for Seattle University in February and scored a career-high 18 points against UT-Arlington, but he’s been coming off the bench in recent games for the Redhawks (8-20, 3-14 WAC). Flora had seven points in a loss to UC Bakersfield Wednesday, and the 6-5 guard is averaging 5.9 points and 16.8 minutes per game. The redshirt sophomore is fourth on the team in steals (28).
Landon Cray (fr., Chimacum) and Nate Roberts (sr., Central Kitsap) hit 1-2 in the batting order for Seattle U (3-10) in a 4-2 baseball loss to Washington (4-8) on Tuesday at Husky Ballpark. Cray was 2 for 5 with a double and is hitting .289. Roberts tripled in 5 at bats and is hitting .208.
Let’s end it with some links about the Mariners:
This CBS blogger predicts another fourth-place finish for the M’s, which means they won’t finish in the bottom of the AL West for the third straight season. That honor should go to the Houston Astros. Yeah, in case you missed it, the ‘Stros are in the AL West.
Mike Morse is bullish on his new/old team, writes Greg Johns of MLB.com.
Moving the fences in should help Seattle. That’s the gist of this Sporting News report.
Three springs ago, they were writing that the M’s were ready to challenge the Angels. No kidding. In case you forgot, here’s the proof.
