Another team and pro sports league appears ready to use the eagerness of Seattle and investor Chris Hansen for a new arena to help an existing franchise score a deal. This time it is the NHL, which has owned the Phoenix Coyotes since 2009 and is trying to leverage Seattle's arena urgency into a new deal for the distressed franchise in suburban Glendale.

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So many roster issues are upside down for the Mariners this season -- led in homers by a 41-year-old, nearly led in batting average by a 35-year-old, and mass failures by the young core -- the assumption is that everything management does is a mistake. A fair, reasonable assumption by anyone. But for the sake of novelty as much as baseball logic, let's offer one contrary thought:

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Such is the aura of success emanating from Russell Wilson that he claims in the dozen  Mariners games he has attended in person since the quarterback came to Seattle during last baseball season, the Mariners have yet to be defeated.

"They haven’t lost yet," he said Tuesday after practice. "I need to keep going.”

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Ever the third grader who flicks from behind the ear of the classmate in front of him, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh weighed in Tuesday at the 49ers training camp on the use of PEDs by several Seahawks players, resulting in suspensions. The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat provided the questions and answers from San Francisco's camp at Santa Clara, CA.

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Apparently Seattle is not on the verge of a one-night “Carmageddon.” When I called the Seattle Police Dept. Monday to ask about what the cops have planned for Tuesday night traffic in SoDo, the detective said, “What’s going on?” Hmmm. As Yoda might say, a big deal this not is.

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A day after becoming American soccer's newest hero, midfielder Brad Evans managed to get from Kingston, Jamaica, to the Clink Saturday night in time to see his Sounders team triumph over the Vancouver Whitecaps.

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Such is the disruption attending the Mariners season that the big moment for a big Safeco crowd (38,252) Saturday came in the third inning when it was alerted via scoreboard message than the heretofore almost invisible rookie, Brandon Bantz, was stepping up for his first major league at-bat. A warm ovation ensued, leaving Bantz momentarily paralyzed.

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As the Mariners entered Friday's game against the Yankees seeking to avoid falling a season-worst 10 games below .500, the situation sparked a recall of Mets manager Casey Stengel's famous quote to his lamentable team:  "Can't anybody here play this game?" But in fairness, the Mariners can modify Stengel's expression, at least for the moment: "Can't ENOUGH guys here play this game?"

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As with the six-pitcher no-hitter last season, the Mariners have proven adept at providing the two-headed-calf style of entertainment. What Seattle fans would prefer is a grand finish that has a happy outcome. That isn't part of Mariners theater yet, and despite the stunning twists in the 5-hour, 42-minute Safeco saga Wednesday, they have to play four games starting Thursday against the resurgent New York Yankees knowing they let escape an immortal victory.

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Suckers that we are for a good weeper, the teensy planet of Marinerworld was pulling for Jeremy Bonderman Sunday. A state kid once a major league star coming back to the majors after two years of ailments, Bonderman was called up from AAA Tacoma and had a 1-2-3 first inning against the Twins in Minnesota. Then he was marinated in the franchise  juices.

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Amused as I was over Eric Wedge's outing of seamheads as the scalawags behind the fall of Dustin Ackley, and surprised as I was over rookie Nick Franklin's impression of Ken Griffey Jr.,  what I would be more impressed with regarding the Mariners is an extension of the contract of Kendrys Morales before they force themselves to get rid of him at the trade deadline.

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Asked what he knew of NBA commissioner-elect Adam Silver, Chris Hansen said, "He's a rational, sensible guy." If true, whew. That puts him well ahead of his predecessor, David "I have a game to get to in Oklahoma City" Stern, for whom vindictiveness is a life force.

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Saying he "won’t be a predator again,” Chris Hansen was “sick to my stomach” from the fight between Seattle and Sacramento markets over the Kings, but remains committed to returning the  NBA to his hometown. In his first interview since the NBA denied his relocation request two weeks ago, Hansen told KJR-AM radio Tuesday afternoon that he underestimated the intensity of the effort by California business people and politicians to keep the Kings.

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The video above is not about the Mariners, but a Mariner once removed, Munenori Kawasaki. He hit a walk-off double Sunday that won the game for the Blue Jays. Just wanted to share a moment of baseball fun for Mariners fans, in case matters Sunday drew more grim. Instead, there was joy in Seattle too, albeit the kind that comes after averting travail, which is different than conquest.

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At 17 and a high school junior, Hannah Cunliffe of Federal Way has a season-best time of 11.53 seconds in the 100 meters, which is 10th nationally in the girls rankings compiled by the authoritative U.S. Track and Field News. Her seasonal best in the 200 is 23.45, also a top 10 number, albeit wind-aided.

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Is it possible to consider a Seattle pro sports team . . . villainous? That's almost as unlikely as calling one a champion. But the Seahawks are opening the door to the possibility of a adding a little awkward color to the generally bland-on-bland canvas that seems almost mandatory for this market.

Or is a Seattle team cast as bad guys an unpleasant prospect? In the words of cornerback Richard Sherman: You mad, bro?

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Once beloved by the pro football nation as Super Bowl favorites, the Seahawks are causing eyebrows to arch, maybe furrow. The local franchise already has been nicknamed by the twitterati the SeAdderall  Seahawks. Affections in the big time are fickle.

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In a celebratory press conference Friday morning at City Hall, Mayor Kevin Johnson summed up the the practical and emotional drivers that preserved the Kings for Sacramento: "It's about jobs and it's about revitalizing downtown. It's about civic pride. It's about not letting somebody take something that isn't theirs."

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Responding to a question about whether Wednesday’s vote by owners wiped out Seattle’s future ability to create momentum for pursuing another team, NBA Commissioner David Stern said something intriguing. “Seattle,” he said, “will always act in its best interests.”

Spoken like the insincere, unctuous monopolist that he is, Stern used used a high-minded phrase to disguise his true meaning that Seattle tries hard but doesn't succeed.

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The Kings will stay in Sacramento, according the NBA Board of Governors, which met in Dallas Wednesday and voted 22-8 in favor of accepting the relocation committee's earlier reported 7-0 recommendation. But Chris Hansen still says he wants to be the 20 percent partner of Maloof family that has not agreed to sell to anyone but Hansen.

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