Links, opinions and quick hits on sunny Monday while waiting for
13-year-old Babe Ruth baseball players to invade Kitsap County.
Drove by the Kitsap Fairgrounds & Events Center and Silverdale
Beach Hotel earlier and things are eerily quiet. Anyway, here ya
go:
Don’t know about you, but I’ve seen enough to think that rookie
QB Russell Wilson just might be the real deal. I know that
it’s early, but he could bring some serious excitement to
CenturyLink. And Matt Flynn looked pretty good too. T-Jack, it was
nice to know ya.
Bremerton Olympic gold medalist Nathan Adrian was part of the
closing ceremonies and is now back in the area after exploring
London and, no doubt, having the time of his life. If you’re into
twitter, check out
his tweets here.
Bremerton’s other Olympian, bobsledder Bree
Schaaf, is training in Colorado Springs, Colo., trying to
regain strength following offseason hip surgery. This is a big year
for Schaaf, who needs to secure the No. 2 ride in order to solidify
endorsements. If she’s driving the No. 3 sled heading in to the
World Cup season prior to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi,
Russia, she will probably have to dig into her own pockets again to
pay for training, travel and equipment expenses. Yes, it’s a cruel
world sometimes for athletes involved in fairly obscure
sports. Nate Murphy of Kitsap Public Relations has created an
online fundraising campaign for Bree at
www.indiegogo.com/breeschaaf.
If you want to be reminded how serious folks in the south take
their football, check out this $60
million, 18,000-seat high school stadium in Allen, Texas.
It’s for a high school near Dallas with an enrollment of 3,000. A
far cry from the muddy bog South Kitsap plays on in the fall,
huh?
State high school football players hit the practice field on
Wednesday. First games are Friday, Aug. 31. Kentridge at South
Kitsap is an intriguing Week 1 matchup. Former Bremerton, OC and
Central Washington QB Marty Osborn runs the show at Kentridge and
is considered one of the top coaches in the state. Port Orchard
native Eric Canton, a former SK QB who played at Washington, will
be making his head coaching debut for the Wolves. Elsewhere that
night, North Kitsap, considered by many as the team to beat in the
Class 2A Olympic League, visits powerhouse Archbishop Murphy in
Everett, and Central Kitsap heads to Bainbridge for an all-Kitsap
County affair.
I’ve been told that Waite Park, Minn., the Midwest Plains
Regional 13-year-old Babe Ruth champs, played in the Cal Ripken
12-year-old World Series a year ago. That could be an advantage
during the Babe Ruth World Series at the Kitsap Fairgrounds &
Events Center this week. Remember, tickets are just $5 a day and it
looks like the weather is going to cooperate. It would be nice to
see the stands packed during the 10-day tournament.
Ichiro’s not exactly ripping it up in New York, but
he’s fitting in with the Yankees. He’s hitting .265 (he was
hitting .262 this season with the Mariners). It will be interesting
to see how the 38-year-old performs in the postseason. Think he
raises his game? Or will he go 1-for-4 with a meaningless slap
single to left field?
Congratulations to Silverdale’s Erynne Lee for another top
finish at the U.S. Women’s Amateur. She’s been a quarterfinalist
three times and a semifinalist once. Here’s hoping the Silverdale
golfer can break through in 2013 or 2014, which will be her last
chance before turning pro. She’s going to attempt to qualify for
the Canadian Women’s Open in British Columbia before returning to
UCLA
for her sophomore year.
Kitsap’s PGA Tour golfer Troy
Kelly is back in action this week, playing in the Wyndham
Championship, which starts Thursday at the Sedgefield Country Club
in Greensboro, N.C. I was in Reno for the Reno-Tahoe Open two
weekends ago. I watched Kelly bomb a couple 400-yard plus drives
(consider the elevation, 5,800 feet with some steep climbs on both
sides) on his way to a tie for 48th. It was a Stableford format and
Kelly didn’t take advantage of his length on the par 5s, but it was
a lot of fun watching from outside the ropes. And did I mention the
elevation? And the heat? It was 100 every day. I thought
someone was going to have to give hefty Guy Boros, Kelly’s playing
partner the last day, mouth to mouth. Kelly’s currently No.
102 on the money list ($747,984) and needs to stay above 125 to
keep his card for 2013. This is also the final week for players to
move inside the top 125 in FedExCup points. Kelly is 117th, but
starting with the No. 126 player in points (Brendan Steele) going
into this week, 44 of the next 55 players in points are playing at
Sedgefield. The top 125 in FedExCup points will play at The
Barclays Championship the following week at Bethpage State Park in
Farmington, N.Y.
