Is Brandon Maurer Seattle's next Russell Wilson?

That's asking approximately three tons of any local athlete. Then again, no Mariners pitcher in 20 years has done what Maurer did Wednesday -- make the spring training leap from Class AA to the Opening Day roster. Has to be worth more than a tip of the hat, so a slightly overwrought comparison seemed worthwhile.

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After modest debate and four hours of public testimony, the Sacramento City Council voted 7-2 Tuesday night to give non-binding approval to a term sheet that outlines the financing and construction of a $448 million entertainment and sports center downtown. The vote allows the city to proceed with its counteroffer to the sale agreement signed by Seattle native Chris Hansen in January to purchase the NBA Kings and move the team into KeyArena in the fall.

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No one from UCLA or USC has called him, Lorenzo Romar said, nor has he had anyone speak on his behalf to the two Pac-12 Conference schools with head basketball coaching vacancies.

“It came up last year, too, and I’ve said it so many times, and I’ll say it again,” said the Huskies coach in his seasonal wrap-up press briefing Monday morning. “If Washington wants me to be here, I’m at Washington.”

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Which state's Division I men's basketball coach had the worst ending to the season: Seattle University's Cameron Dollar at 8-22, Washington's Lorenzo Romar at 18-15 and a first-round NIT exit, or Gonzaga's Mark Few, at 32-3 a serious success, yet ousted in the second round after being seeded No. 1?

Obviously, each team was operating at different levels of expectations. But they are united in major disappointments.

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One smart move the Gonzaga basketball team makes annually is playing a game in KeyArena each December. Not only does it treat the alums on the west side, it allows a  glimpse of the Zags for those of us who head east of the mountains only in lentil season for a bag or two of the Palouse's finest.

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The University of Washington doesn’t want to play Gonzaga in basketball. But if the Zags are willing, Huskies fans might accept a ride on Gonzaga’s bandwagon. It’s the only state transportation available to the NCAA tourney.

The Huskies weren't invited to the Big Dance. But the bandwagon won’t have to go far to pick up UW fans who can bear the indignity.

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Painful as it was for Sounders FC fans to a witness a win collapse into a 1-1 draw in the 91st minute, especially against the contemptible Timbers, they aren't in for the pain of Obafemi Martins: Madrid-London-Seattle-London-Lagos in three days.

Sure, he's a wealthy international soccer star used to travel. Still, that itinerary is just silly.

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Predictably, the opportunity to join an online waiting list to purchase Sonics tickets for the maybe season of 2013 made for traffic that smoked the site's servers. It made for good theater, too, even if the principals behind the move, Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer, could have deployed an entire server farm.

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As Pete Carroll was talking on a teleconference with reporters Thursday about the signing of free agent pass-rush stud Cliff Avril, the coach’s cell phone ringtone could be heard: “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” by The Who.

Carroll didn’t answer. The guess was the caller ID said it was Aaron Curry.

Or maybe Bruce Irvin.

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Newest Seahawk Percy Harvin suddenly is Seattle's Most Interesting Man. To hear Pete Carroll and John Schneider tell it, Harvin put the first set of jeans on Smokey Bear, outwitted Steven Colbert and advised Pope Benedict it was time, and don't worry about the never-in-600-years thing.

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After leaving the roadway and slamming into a catch basin with the speeding vehicle he was driving, Austin Seferian-Jenkins was thrown forward and smashed the windshield with his face, requiring hospitalization at Harborview Saturday night, where he refused a blood-alcohol test while demanding to speak to an attorney that was unable to be found by Seattle police.

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The saga of the Sacramento/Seattle Kings had its own special kind of March madness last week:

• The hedge fund Chris Hansen manages had its worst quarter since inception in 2008, news that made the front page of his hometown Seattle Times;

• The little software shop run by his partner in pursuit of the NBA franchise, Steve Ballmer, was fined $731 million by the European Union, news that made it only to A-8 of the Times;

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As the general astride the white horse, Larry Scott will not be offering politenesses such as such as “excuse me,” “pardon us” and “mind the hooves” as he sends the Pac-12 battlewagons across the college sports landscape.

“People accept the arms race as a given,” he said with a shrug Friday morning in Seattle. “We want to be very successful. If we’re honest, the conference had been thinking for some time that we were great enough as institutions with incredible pedigrees that we didn’t have to engage.

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Migawd. Do we have a perverse time with pro sports in Seattle, or what?

In 1970, trucks bearing the Seattle Pilots baseball equipment left spring training in Arizona and instead of heading due north, went northeast and relocated the team to Milwaukee. The state sued the American League, won, and received in 1977 the expansion Seattle Mariners as a settlement.

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He didn't say it directly, but I'm happy to offer up for coach Steve Sarkisian, free from diplomatic hedging, his 2013 seasonal motto for the University of Washington football team.

Beat the Ducks.

The slogan is more meaningful than last season's "Take the Next Step," which could mean a Wile E. Coyote-style drop from the cliff instead of moving forward. In fact, it turned out to be a sidestep -- another 7-6 season.

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Now it is settled, the battle to be the second-best men's college basketball team in the state. After the 72-68 win over Washington State Sunday at Hc Ed, Washington is 3-0 against the Cougars and Seattle U. If you don't know who No. 1 is, well, it's understandable. From here, the Gonzaga Bulldogs are a mere dot on the far horizon. But check the Associated Press poll Monday morning, and the Zags will be better than anyone else in the country too.

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After losing 1-0 in a surprisingly listless effort for a home opener against an ordinary Montreal outfit, the Sounders might be tempted to demand that owner Joe Roth throw an extra $1 million in the pot to get that hot-shot Nigerian striker, Obafemi Martins, on a plane to Seattle.

But that would be unjustified, since a good chunk of the current team was unavailable Saturday night, and those who did play seemed to think it was still a preseason lollygag. It wasn't Martins' problem to solve.

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Defiantly denying Seattle and exhorting his flock in the manner of a Baptist minister, Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson turned his annual State of the City speech into a civic pep rally Thursday night by delivering on his promise to identify the people and the plan to keep the Kings in his hometown.

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Just ahead of Sounders FC's opener Saturday at the Clink for their fifth Major League Soccer season, it feels as if the club is the middle of a checked swing. Wrong sport, but you get the idea. They haven't taken a full cut. Yet general manager Adrian Hanauer claims to be close to a rip.

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So, Huskies and Cougars basketball fans -- on the week of the clash between the state's tiny titans, are you feeling magnanimous or provincial regarding the colossus among us? Never before has Gonzaga been so high and the big state schools so simultaneously so low.

After No. 1 Indiana was defeated Tuesday night by Minnesota, the No. 2 Zags (14-0, 27-2) need to win at BYU (9-5, 20-9) Thursday and at home against Portland (4-11, 11-19) Saturday and will probably be put atop the next Associated Press poll.

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