NOTE: Some new links and an update on Wagner’s deal have been added.

It’s official.

Russell Wilson signs a four-year, $87.6 million extension with the Seahawks with $60M guaranteed.

That’s an average of $21.9M per year. Only Aaron Rodgers of the Packers has a higher average ($22M). But if you include the $1.5M Wilson is scheduled to earn this year, he’s making $89.1M over five years, or less than $20M a year.

Andrew Brandt of SI.com made a good point in this tweet:

Why deadlines work: good agents know that teams never reveal their best offer until they absolutely have to. #WilsonContract

Brandt compared Wilson’s unique negotiations to other QB negotiations in a story last month.

Bucky Brooks of NFL.com explains why Russell Wilson deserves the big bucks. One of  the reasons, besides helping the team win a Super Bowl and get to another one: He’s orchestrated 15 fourth quarter or overtime comebacks in three seasons.

This is what Warren Moon had to say about Wilson’s negotiations the day before the Seahawks signed him.

Wilson and Carroll discuss the QB’s extension after it was announced.

And Sports Illustrated’s Peter King of mmqb.com weighs in on the deal, too.

The Seahawks have done a nice job of taking care of their own. They locked up safety Earl Thomas (4 years, $40M) and cornerback Richard Sherman (4 years, $56M) to big deals. They also came up with a 2-year extension to keep running back Marshawn Lynch happy, paying him $12M for 2015 and another $12M in 2016, providing he comes back for another season.

Safety Kam Chancellor and defensive end Michael Bennett got new deals, but they’re reportedly interested in re-doing them. Chancellor is playing under a 4-year extension he signed in 2013 that pays him an average of $7M a year, but he didn’t report to training camp, which opens Friday.

Bennett, who signed a 4-year $28.5M deal prior to the 2014 season, has threatened to holdout but he is in camp.

Seattle has also locked up defensive end Cliff Averill (4 years, $28.5M) through 2019 and linebacker A.J. Wright (4 years, $27M) through 2019.

The Seahawks can now turn their attention to linebacker Bobby Wagner, who is next in line for a significant pay raise. Russell Okung’s contract also expires after the 2016 season, as does Bruce Irvin’s deal.

Considering the salary cap, can the Seahawks keep everybody happy?

For updated Seahawks’ contract information, go to http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/seattle-seahawks/.

UPDATE: The Seahawks kept Wagner happy, announcing late Saturday the inside linebacker signed a 4-year, $43 million extension. It makes Wagner the highest paid player in the NFL at his position.

Mike Sando of ESPN.com points out that many of the players the Seahawks signed are only 26 or 27, keeping the window open for  potential championships in the coming years.

ICYMI, check out Greg Bishop’s story about Pete Carroll in the latest edition of Sports Illustrated. It’s all about grit, his philosophy and moving past the disappointing Super Bowl loss.

“It’s been thrilling to learn from this. It really has,” the always upbeat Carroll said of the offseason.

Congratulations to Ashley Robinson, the new girls basketball coach at Bremerton High. Good guy, good choice.

Central Kitsap girls basketball coach Nicole Nelson has resigned after one year with the Cougars, according to a report on the Cougars’ Facebook page. Nelson guided the Cougars to regionals and a 21-5 record in her only season. She works in the medical field and has accepted a new job in Alaska.

Shane Matheny, the Washington State third baseman from Olympic High, is playing summer ball for the Keene Swamp Bats of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. The Swamp Bats (cool nickname, huh) are from New Hampshire.

Congratulations to the Kitsap Pumas for winning another PDL Northwest Division championship. That’s four in seven years. The soccer community should be proud of this club, which won a national championship in 2011 and was second a year ago. Owner Robin Waite has put in a bid to host the conference finals. The Pumas (8-0-2) are one of two teams that have not lost a game in the 63-team PDL. The Charlotte Eagles (8-0-3) are the other club that hasn’t lost.

The Kitsap BlueJackets are still having trouble putting fans in the seats at Gene Lobe Field at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds & Events Center. The Jackets are last in the 12-team West Coast League in attendance, averaging 489 fans a game. Nine of the 12 teams average more than 1,000 fans per game.

I called it the “Blaine Game,” and everybody can play. Match an athlete with a city in our state. Go ahead, give it a shot. Here’s what I came up with.

Good news: The old East High gym is getting a new roof thanks to the state Legislature, which came up with $1 million out of its capital budget for the project.  It’s time to bring out facilities up to speed. I wrote about that a few weeks ago. You can read the column here.

Speaking of facilities, work has started at South Kitsap High School on installation of the  artificial turf at Joe Knowles Stadium, and new scoreboards for the baseball and softball facilities. Too bad the district couldn’t turf the baseball and softball fields at the same time. Makes sense, and would have been cheaper, too.

Speaking of South Kitsap, the Elton Goodwin Foundation is holding a Grand Slam Picnic on July 25 at the baseball/softball fields at the high school. The charity event (Middendorf Chiropractic is a major sponsor) will feature live bands, all kinds of games (waterslide, dunk tank, sumo wrestling etc.) for kids, BBQ, smoked salmon and crab from the Suquamish Tribe and a 29-inning (Goodwin wore jersey No. 29) alumni softball game. Former players (and non-players) can sign up by contacting SK baseball coach Marques Logue at logue@skitsap.wednet.edu.  Advance tickets are $12 for adults, $8 for children (6 and under free). Tickets at gate will cost $15 and $10. Go to EG29.org/EVENTS.html to buy tickets and for more information. Wanna order a brick to the Golden Gardens project at SK? Go to www.thatsmybrick.com/EG29 or call 360-874-2929.

Yes, I am the new softball coach at Olympic College. Just wanted to thank everybody who’s contacted me and offered congratulations. I’m excited and looking forward to the challenge. I hope everyone can stop by Lions Fall next spring and take in a game.

That’s all for now. Enjoy the sun, ah, I mean clouds.

A report from Bleacher Report suggests that Jason Hammel, a 2000 South Kitsap graduate,  is pitching at an All-Star level, but his best chance of getting on the roster is for other pitchers to drop out.

Here’s Andrew Gould’s full report on All-Star snubs from Bleacher Report. Here’s what he wrote about Hammel:

Assemble the NL’s crowd of big-name aces: Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Cole Hamels. Now throw in Gerrit Cole, Jacob deGrom, Jake Arrieta, Michael Wacha, Shelby Miller and Matt Harvey among the young studs with ERAs below 3.00 and Cy Young aspirations in the distance.

That makes it all the tougher for Jason Hammel to garner everyone’s attention.

The Chicago Cubs cleared their budget to snag Jon Lester during the offseason, but Hammel has been their best signing by a wide margin. The 32-year-old righty has notched a 2.57 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 3.09 fielding independent pitching (FIP).

Through 102.2 marvelous innings, he has registered 104 strikeouts and 18 walks. That gives him a 21.1 strikeouts-minus-walks percentage, which ranks third among qualified NL starters behind Scherzer and Kershaw.

NL K-BB % Leaders
Rank Player K-BB %
1 Max Scherzer, WAS 27.7
2 Clayton Kershaw, LAD 26.4
3 Jason Hammel, CHC 21.1
4 Jake Arrieta, CHC 20.9
5 Madison Bumgarner, SF 20.8
FanGraphs.com

Yet a journeyman with a career 4.46 ERA doesn’t carry the buzz of an established stud or electric young hurler. While he’ll have a tough time cracking the original roster, keep in mind that several pitchers always back out of the game.

Here’s what some people are writing about the U.S. Open and Chambers Bay:

Jordan Spieth won a U.S. Junior Amateur championship at Gold Mountain Golf Club in 2011, and he won the U.S. Open on Sunday at Chambers Bay. Jeff Graham of the Kitsap Sun writes about it.

One of the feel-good stories of the week was Kitsap’s own Troy Kelly, who finished with a 1-under 69. I followed Kelly around and talked to him and his brother, caddie Ryan Kelly, after the round.

In the end, the controversial tournament was decided by nerves and the best player won, writes Cameron Morfit of golf.com.

Here’s what Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press wrote about on Sunday.

Mike Davis heard all of the complains, but the USGA’s executive director said the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay was a big success. Here’s Paul Ramsdell’s story about it in the Seattle Times.

The 115th U.S. Open was the “first completely made-for-TV major championship in golf history,” writes Dave Sheinan of the Washington Post.

Chambers Bay hogged the spotlight, and that’s not right, writes Christine Brennan of USA Today.

Can Spieth buck history and win the Grand Slam? 

Chambers Bay wasn’t so tough, according to this Golf Digest report.  Check out these numbers.

Golf Digest’s list of winners and losers, or birdies and bogeys.

Veteran golf writer Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times had this take on the U.S. Open and Spieth’s victory.

Art Thiel of sportspressnw.com writes about Jordan Spieth and his caddie, Michael Greller, and the things swirling through their minds during the mind-humbling final half hour of the U.S. Open.

Billy Horschel took shots at the USGA following his final round, and here’s Adam Lewis’ take for sportspressnw.com. Horschel loved the spectacular beauty of Chambers Bay, but said it was a disappointing week because of the conditions of the green.

For Dustin Johnson, it was a choke, plain and simple, writes Chris Case of USA Today.

ICYMI, here’s Gary Player’s rant about Chambers Bay a couple of days ago. It’s worth listening to if you haven’t heard it.

Chambers Bay designer Robert Trent Jones not ready to get into a debate with Gary Player.

Chris Kirk took a sextuple bogey on No. 1 Sunday. For those of you counting, that’s a 10.

Here’s some quotes from the Open:

Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 champion who closed with a 67, finished a few hours before Spieth. Assessing Chambers Bay, Ogilvy told the New York Times: “You have to move the ball both ways and you have to use your brain, which is a rare thing in modern golf and something we’re not very good at, I don’t think. It’s going to be a class act of a player who wins, and really that’s all you want.”

“It has been a strange atmosphere because [fans] can’t seem to get close and on some holes, there aren’t any. I watched Phil Mickelson tee off at the first today, and then people won’t see him until the second shot on the second hole, because you can’t get down the first. From a fan’s point of view, it must have been even a harder trek than for us players.” — Lee Westwood.

On Friday, Henrik Stenson said it was “like putting on broccoli.”

World No. 1 Rory McIlroy begged to differ Saturday. “I don’t think they’re as green as broccoli. More like cauliflower.”

Sergio Garcia on putting at Chambers Bay: “Obviously, luck is always a factor in golf, but this is pushing it a little bit,. This is beyond luck. Sometimes it’s hope. Some putts you hit and you hope it’s going to take the right bounce right or left . . . It just doesn’t feel right.”

Chris Kirk shot 78 to finish 21-over, last among those who made the cut, then tweeted: “The U.S. Open is a great tournament with incredible history. The USGA should be ashamed of what they did to it this week.”

Dustin Johnson, the disappointed runner-up: “You know, I played well today. I did everything I was supposed to do. I hit the ball really well, and I’m proud of the way I handled myself. I just really struggled getting the ball in the hole today. I didn’t think I was hitting bad putts; I thought I hit them pretty good. They just weren’t going in.”

“The Stars of Tomorrow.”

That’s what they billed the U.S. Junior Amateur when it came to Bremerton’s Gold Mountain Golf Club in 2010.

I’ve mentioned this before, but Gold Mountain’s had its share of young stars pass through over the years, whether it was a USGA national event (Junior Am or 2006 U.S. Amateur  Public Links) or NCAA tournament (Husky Invitational or NCAA regional).

By my count, there’s 11 players left in the field of 75 at the U.S. Open who have competed at Gold Mountain, including co-leader Jordan Spieth, the 2010 U.S. Junior Am champ, and Troy Kelly, the Central Kitsap grad and former UW golfer now living in Steilacoom.

The others: Dustin Johnson, Jamie Lovemark, Beau Hossler, Cheng-Tsung Pan, Luke Donald, Billy Horschel, Kevin Chappel, Keegan Bradley and Morgan Hoffman.

Kelly, by the way, tees off at 8:47 a.m. on Saturday. He carded rounds of 72-73 and made it into the field with 15 others when amateur Nick Hardy bogeyed his final hole on Friday. It’s the first time Kelly has made a cut in a major. He played previously in the 2005 U.S. Open at Pinehurst and at the 2012 British Open.

Kelly has been playing on a major medical exemption for most of the last three years. He has seven PGA Tour starts left after the US Open and unless he changes plans, he will play at the July 2-5 Greenbrier Classic, where he lost a three-hole playoff to Ted Potter Jr. and placed second in 2012.

Troy Kelly and Carl Jonson will try to play their way into the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay on Monday.

They will be among 50 players gunning for three spots in the 36-hole U.S. Open sectional qualifier at Tumble Creek Club in Cle Elum.

Kelly, a Central Kitsap grad now living in Lakewood, has battled injuries on the PGA Tour. The former NCAA runner-up when he was at Washington qualified for the U.S. Open at Pinehurst, N.C., in 2005. His best finish on the PGA Tour was a second at The Greenbrier Classic in 2012. He also played in the British Open that year.

Bainbridge’s Jonson, who just completed his senior year at UNLV, made it through local qualifying earlier this year. He was the Washington State Golf Association Men’s Player of the Year in 2014 and qualified for the U.S. Amateur that was played in 2010 at Chambers Bay.

Washington All-American Cheng-Tsung Pan, recent runner-up at the NCAA national championship, is also in the field. He’s qualified for two U.S. Opens, including 2013 when the sectional qualifier was also at Tumble Creek.

Another former Husky, Richard Lee, is also entered. Lee, a past Bremerton City Amateur champion, has had some success on the PGA and Web.com tours, but hasn’t played this year because of an injury.

Brent Zapp, head pro at Chambers Bay, will try to qualify to play in the national championship on his home course

You can find the complete pairings and tee times here.

U.S. Open Trophy Tour at Gold Mountain

The U.S. Open Trophy Tour stops at Gold Mountain on Saturday (June 6). It’ll be there from 1-3 p.m.

Golfers are encouraged to take a photo with the trophy and share via social media using #usopenforall and #lexusgolf to have a chance to win two tickets to the final round of the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.

City Am June 6-7

The annual Bremerton City Amateur, a 36-hole tournament, will be held Saturday and Sunday at Gold Mountain.

Golfers will play the Cascade Course on Saturday, and the Olympic Course on Sunday. Here’s Saturday’s pairings and tee times.

Mercer Island’s Charlie Kern, who finished his college career at William & Mary last month, will be back to defend his title. Kern’s best finish this spring was a tie for third at the Redhawks Invitational in April at Chambers Bay.

Bainbridge teen Sam Warkentin, who won a Class 3A state championship recently, and Olympic College standout Adam Barker are among the contenders. Past champion Scott Fenske and Devin Loudon, who won the 2014 Kitsap Amateur, also also entered.

Kenyan Fanslow from Tacoma, an NWAC standout while at Olympic College, is also in the field. He’s now at Northwest Nazarene and was the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year.

Another way to get to Chambers Bay

The Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce announced that it will run a shuttle to Chambers Bay for the U.S. Open. Cost is $30 for a roundtrip and reservations are required. Read about it in this Tacoma News Tribune story.

LINKS

Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press has an interesting take on the NFL’s handling of Deflategate and takes the league to task for letting the Seahawks draft Michael Clark:

Sharp writes:

The Seahawks are no doubt ecstatic that the Patriots’ punishment has deflected attention from their gross mishandling of the Clark situation.

Art Thiel of Sportspressnw.com writes about the U.S. Open, specifically how broadcasters Joe Buck and Greg Norman will be tested during the week.

Thiel writes:

This is the first year Buck has done golf, the first year for Norman as a broadcast analyst, and obviously the first time they’ve paired — on a course hosting the Open for the first time in a region that has never experienced it.

Rookie ball for all. Sorta.

“I’d be an idiot to not — not be concerned or apprehensive, but there will be things I’m hit with that I’m not expecting, Buck said. “This isn’t second nature, but it will be. Gotta start somewhere.

“My approach is to take my time and not try to wow everybody with everything I say. Silence speaks volumes, and you pick your spots.”

Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam sings Take Me Out to the Ballgame at Wrigley Field.

Only two pitchers in MLB have six wins, Felix Hernandez and …… Bartolo Colon. Colon, now with the Mets, has 40 strikeouts and just one walk, which adds up to his age (41).

TWEETS

@SteveSandmeyer of 1090 The Fan warns fans that it’s best to stay a little even-keeled when it comes to following your favorite MLB baseball team.

https://twitter.com/stevesandmeyer

Players walkways going up between third and fourth holes at Chambers Bay. @AaronQ13Fox has the photo. 

PUMAS

The Kitsap Pumas get their 2015 season started with a first-round U.S. Open Cup game against Tacoma 253 on Wednesday at Mount Tahoma. The 7 p.m. game will be live streamed. http://ustream.com/channel/sonarfeed or http://www.youtube.com/user/acseattlechannel

The winners plays Sounders FC2 at Starfire in Tukwila on May 20.

Here’s The Sun’s preview story. And here’s the Pumas roster and schedule, or fixtures as  they like to say in the soccer world.

BLUEJACKETS

In case you missed it, the Kitsap BlueJackets schedule is out. They open West Coast League play at Bellingham on June 5.

Here’s a look at some of their players.

PREPS

The annual high school all-star baseball and softball games will be held June 4 (a Thursday) at The Fairgrounds. The Kitsap Athletic Roundtable sponsors the games, which start at 4 p.m. The softball game includes the top players in the area, regardless of year in school. The baseball game (or games, depending on the number of players selected) are for seniors only. It’s affiliated with the Washington State Baseball Coaches Association, and top players will be nominated for the all-state series in Yakima.

Good luck to all of the local teams and athletes as they head into the postseason. Follow them at the prepzone.kitsapsun.com or at The Prep Beat blog.

COLLEGIANS

Baseball

Pacific Lutheran catcher Curtis Wildung (sr., Kingston) and the Lutes, the Northwest Conference champs, will open play in the six-team NCAA Division III South Region at Demorest, Ga., on Wednesday. Wildung hit .308 and started 25 games for the Lutes (30-12). He has two homers, 12 RBI, and hasn’t made an error. He has earned 20 base on balls and has a .446 on-base percentage and a slugging percentage of .487.

Linfield pitcher Joe Stevick (sr., Olympic) and the Wildcats (30-13) were an at-large selection to the NCAA Division III tournaments. Linfield opens the six-team West Region tourney at Tyler, Texas on Wednesday. Stevick, a right-hander, is 2-1 with a 4.15 ERA in 14 relief appearances. He’s pitched 26 innings, allowing 23 hits, striking out 20 and walking four. … A.J. Milyard (so., North Kitsap) is a relief pitcher for Whitworth (28-13), which is also headed to the West Region.

Logan Knowles (fr., South Kitsap) had a 3-run inside the park home run over the weekend, helping Navy (36-18) beat Lafayette in the Patriot League semifinals series. Navy faces Lehigh in a best-of-three series for the Patriot championship on May 16-17. Knowles has started 34 games for the Midshipmen and is hitting .183 with 11 RBI.

Shane Matheny (fr., Olympic) has started all 50 games for Washington State. The third baseman is hitting .219 and has 19 RBI, third-best for the Cougars (27-23, 9-15 Pac-12), who have six regular-season games left.

Softball

Third baseman Erin Kinney (so., Bainbridge) and shortstop Alissa Buss (so., South Kitsap) helped Linfield wins its NCAA Division III regional in Decorah, Iowa over the weekend. The Wildcats came out of the loser’s bracket to win four straight games, sweeping Iowa Conference champion Luther College in the finals. Linfield (35-13) will play Central College (34-10) in Pella, Iowa in the super regionals, starting Friday, May 15. Kinney is hitting .389; Buss .367.

NWAC

Olympic College’s softball team qualified for the Northwest Athletic Conference championship for the eighth straight year and third year under head coach Dan Haas. The Rangers (17-15) were seeded No. 13 and open against No. 4 Mount Hood (29-9) on Friday at noon at Delta Park in Portland. The full bracket can be found here.