crosscut.com : Sports

The M's need a smarter management team

Crosscut — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:00:01 PDT

As the team continues to occupy the bottom of the standings, it's time to look at who's at the top — of the decision-making tree, that is.

Memo to the owners of the Mariners

Crosscut — Wed, 14 May 2008 08:00:01 PDT

In calling attention to some scathing advice for the team's ownership, penned by USS Mariner blogger and local author Derek Milhous Zumsteg, I'm giving short shrift to a very thoughtful, statistics-rich analysis of the poorly performing Seattle Mariners. But DMZ says what mainstream writers dare not, or at least in a way they would not, and it's worth highlighting the last three paragraphs of his assessment:

Comcast's high-definition baseball asterisk

Crosscut — Mon, 12 May 2008 23:47:01 PDT

Those Comcast high-def customers who flipped to Mojo (Channel 664) Monday night, May 12, after Kenji Johjima smacked a game-tying, three-run homer in the 12th instead saw George C. Scott starring in The Exorcist III.

Perhaps Oklahoma City would also be interested in a baseball team

Crosscut — Sun, 11 May 2008 22:00:01 PDT

OK, probably not — they already have a pretty good triple-A minor league team. So what the heck is going wrong at Safeco Field?

Fast times and loads of fun, despite expensive gas

Crosscut — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:00:01 PDT

Photo story: Drag racing today is a AAA-sanctioned activity for high school students — on a track, without alcohol, and with plenty of supervision. But high-priced fuel takes a toll.

Maybe they just need some home cookin'

Crosscut — Sun, 04 May 2008 17:00:01 PDT

Maybe it's a lot worse than that. The Mariners finish a dismal 1-5 road trip.

Thousands trade four wheels for two during Bike to Work Month

Crosscut — Thu, 01 May 2008 17:00:01 PDT

Rising gas prices, crowded buses, concern for the environment, and the desire to squeeze in a workout are motivating more people to commute by bike. Here's what you need to know if you're thinking about joining them.

It doesn't look like WaMu Field is terribly likely, so ...

Crosscut — Thu, 01 May 2008 09:21:01 PDT

Some great alternative names for Safeco Field are turning up in the comments on Mike Henderson's recent blog post about the implications of the Seattle-based insurance company being swallowed by Liberty Mutual. Among the suggestions: Costco Park, Taxpayer Park, Starbucks Grounds, and a no-brainer: Boeing Field.

Seahawks draft pick is a real star — on YouTube, anyway

Crosscut — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 05:01:01 PDT

The National Football League draft this past weekend yielded its usual array of players unknown to all but the growing legions of college-football-talent specialists. The rest of us may not know a long snapper from a red snapper, but we certainly know a YouTube star when we see one

Parents on the bench

Crosscut — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 05:00:01 PDT

A University of Washington study aims to help you help your child with school sports.

It's safe to ask what's in a name

Crosscut — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:56:01 PDT

Notwithstanding assurances from their CEOs that the sale of Safeco Corp. to Liberty Mutual Insurance will result in little outward change, Crosscut sports writer Mike Henderson was right to ask "with Safeco gone, what will we call the Field?"

With Safeco gone, what will we call the Field?

Crosscut — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 05:00:01 PDT

Locals may gaze across the landscape past the inexplicably lit-up-all-day-and-night Qwest sports facility and see that other Elysian field: Safeco, where the Mariners play. This week, in reference to the latter, we hear or read: "You will not be going to Liberty Mutual Field, I can assure you of that."

The sun sets on another Seattle bowling alley

Crosscut — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:00:01 PDT

Sunset Bowl in the Ballard neighborhood has closed after 51 years in business. While some talk of a new bowling alley to be part of the development replacing it, others mourn the loss of a community institution that can't be easily replaced.

Attention lawyers: The Sonics game is over

Crosscut — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:00:01 PDT

Video commentary: It's time re-do KeyArena without the NBA.

Angry Art Thiel spares J.P. Patches

Crosscut — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:00:01 PDT

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Art Thiel has long been my favorite local columnist. What makes him a good columnist is also what makes us lucky he's not a gun-toting spree killer who's climbed a clock tower to teach us all a lesson. Thiel's latest column on the Sonics reminds me of the last scene in the movie Bataan where the movie fades out as doomed G-I Robert Taylor defiantly sprays machine gun fire as he's about to be over-run by the enemy. Thiel stands his ground like he's defending the Alamo, and he's generous in spreading blame and naming names when it comes to answering the question: Who lost our storied NBA franchise?

Shanghai Surprise

Crosscut — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:00:01 PDT

A group with Northwest ties is aced out of a pavilion bid for Expo 2010 in China. Instead, the U.S. State Department has given the go-ahead to a team with connections to Warner Brothers and a major D.C. law firm. Now all they have to do is raise $80 million.

The Mariners in the playoffs? What you might miss while obsessing over the Sonics

Crosscut — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:23:01 PDT

Intergalactic visitors, depending on their reference point, might view our old globe upside down. Upon closer inspection maybe they would see that the most viable country just now is in what we dismissively call the Southern Hemisphere. Brazil has no debt, plenty of oil, sustainable growth and — most promising of all — no New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox, much less the Los Angeles Angels and Seattle Mariners.

When Proust met Miss Bardahl

Crosscut — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:00:01 PDT

I happened to be down near Seward Park late Thursday morning. Weekdays are usually very quiet along Lake Washington, save on Thursdays when the model plane guys fly their buzzing aircraft over Andrews Bay. But today, I heard the unmistakable roar of the past, a familiar RUH-RHU-RHU-RHU of an old-time hydro. I could see the flying spray of a rooster tail and spotted KIRO's Chopper 7 hovering overhead. As I came around the corner to Stan Sayres pits, a crowd had gathered. There in all her glory was Miss Bardahl, the Green Dragon of hydroplane racing's glory years.

Why the Sonics should go away

Crosscut — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:00:01 PDT

Brave is the mortal who takes on Art Thiel, the Post-Intelligencer's ace sports columnist. Advocates for a Legislative fix for Husky stadium still think Thiel's withering column about that request sank the idea in a day. (Thiel dislikes the commercialization of college sports and has become the scourge of Huskies.) And now, he's arguing to defy the Oklahoma Sonics group until the last lawsuit dies. "Just say no," contends Big Art.

Steve Ballmer: still in the basketball game?

Crosscut — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:45:01 PDT

The on-again, off-again saga of saving the Sonics and KeyArena has taken another turn. Apparently the drop-dead date of April 10 for having a deal for the Steve Ballmer ownership group is really just a coma-threat. The group of heavy-hitter owners-in-waiting will simply go into hibernation once the Sonics decamp to Oklahoma City.