Seth Kolloen | Sportspress Northwest

Seth Kolloen

If you drove down Corliss Avenue North in mid-80s Seattle, you probably saw Seth.

He was the kid sorting Alvin Davis cards on his porch, mimicking Paul Skansi in street football games, or arguing the merits of Alton Lister with his friends. Seth has grown up just enough that his interests now include politics, the arts and the value of his Roth IRA; yet he also has season tickets to the Mariners, Sounders and Huskies, and frequently attends high school basketball games for fun. That is to say, he loves sports and still cant stop talking about them.

Shortlisted for a Genius Award by The Stranger for his sportswriting, Seth was a frequent guest columnist for the Seattle P-I the best young sportswriter you never heard of and has also written for Seattle Metropolitan and Deadspin. Seths sports posts have been cited by The Washington Post, USA Today, and ESPN.

He served as executive editor of Sports Northwest magazine from 2008-2009. He was also sports editor for Seattlest.com and The SunBreak, and founded a Seattle sports blog, Enjoy the Enjoyment. Join Seth in suffering the daily slings and arrows of Seattle sports fortune in his column, Exit 164.

Exit 164: Michael Pineda's Television Debut

BY Seth Kolloen 07:28AM 03/17/2011

"Felix Jr." draws mixed reviews in his four-inning stint.

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Exit 164: Another Season in Section 119

BY Seth Kolloen 07:22AM 03/16/2011

John and Rachel got engaged in the offseason. Tom is bummed he can't scream out "SUUUUUUB STURGIS!" since Nathan Sturgis left the Sounders in the expansion draft. Two rows down, Sabrina is a year older --probably eight now --and still accompanying her Dad to the games, which means we'll continue to omit the "a**hole" from the traditional shout of "You suck, a**hole" whenever the opposing keeper takes a goal kick. Although maybe Sabrina is growing up faster than we think--I spotted her mouthing the lyrics to the aggressively violent Sounders song, "Take 'em all,"* which was a little disturbing.READ MORE»

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Exit 164: Sounders ready to kick it

BY Seth Kolloen 02:46AM 03/15/2011

Sounders first game is a huge game: Ideally you want to start your season with a warm-up game against a patsy opponent, but the Sounders will not have that luxury. Instead they get the MLS' best team, the L.A. Galaxy, who embarrassed the Sounders 4-0 last year in the famous refund game, on what's likely to be a soggy, cold night. Bring your coats, people! I'll be in mine, in Section 119.

Felix Jr. to go north with M's? Fireballing 22-year-old Venezuelan Michael Pineda looks likely to win the M's 5th starter spot. With Nate Robertson out until June (elbow surgery, the team announced today), mediocre lefty Luke French is the only healthy guy who has started a game this spring who isn't already in the rotation. Hernandez, Vargas, Fister, Bedard, Pineda? Hmmmm.READ MORE»

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Exit 164: Ranking I.T.'s Shot, Scouting Georgia

BY Seth Kolloen 09:01PM 03/13/2011

Cold-Blooded: For pure buzzer-beating thrill, has Isaiah Thomas' shot to beat Arizona ever been matched? Quincy Pondexter had that shot against Marquette last year, but that wasn't, strictly speaking, at the buzzer. Brandon Roy had those two buzzer-beaters against Arizona in '05, but those forced overtimes in a game UW lost. In 2001, the 9-19 Dawgs shocked #13 UCLA on a Michael Johnson buzzer beater. Others? Anyone? (In case you haven't seen: the replay.)

Thomas won the tournament MVP, he's only the second guy ever to do that in back-to-back years. (Sean Elliott.)

Georgia's Next: The Dawgs may have gotten a break in drawing Georgia. The Bulldogs are the worst at-large team in the tournament other than much-maligned VCU, according to Ken Pomeroy's computer rankings.

Quick info on Georgia

Top player: Forward Trey Thompkins, Georgia's only All-SEC selection. He's a Joevan Catron type--beefy, savvy post player who can also step out and shoot.READ MORE»

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Exit 164: Big Five Help Dawgs Survive Klay

BY Seth Kolloen 07:22AM 03/11/2011

Lorenzo Romar's shortened rotation pays off for Washington

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Exit 164: First Time Watching the M's

BY Seth Kolloen 07:44AM 03/10/2011

Got a chance to watch the Mariners for the first time tonight (they beat L.A. 9-4, behind homers from Jack Wilson, Jack Cust, and prospect Alex Liddi). A few observations:

--Was beautiful to see Ichiro and Chone Figgins reach 1st and 3rd with no outs twice.

--Was awful to see #3-hitter Franklin Gutierrez make feeble outs each time.

--Michael Saunders looks exactly the same: He falls behind in the count, then waves at a pitchers' pitch for a K or soft ground out. Wouldn't count on him winning the LF job.

--Doug Fister did just what Doug Fister should do. He threw strikes, got a few called strikes on his big curve, and kept the M's close.READ MORE»

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Exit 164: Confusion -- as M's do the unthinkable

BY Seth Kolloen 04:54PM 03/08/2011

Rare "Ding-Baby" Helps Mariners Win: Mariner OF Milton Bradley hit a pitch over the outfield fence yesterday, throwing the Mariners/Dodgers "B" game into utter confusion. Bradley, Mariner teammates and coaches stood in shocked silence until umpires informed them that this event is called a "home run," and that Bradley was permitted to run unimpeded around the bases.

Mariner coaches, sensing a trick, forced Bradley to stay on first base, but the umpires showed them a copy of the Official Baseball Rules and Rule 6.09 (d): "The batter becomes a runner when a fair ball passes over a fence or into the stands at a distance from home base of 250 feet or more. Such hit entitles the batter to a home run when he shall have touched all bases legally."

Still wary, Bradley sprinted around the bases, knocking over the Dodgers catcher just to be on the safe side. A run was indeed awarded and the Mariners went on to hit two more "ding-babies," as I believe they are called, in a 7-1 win over L.A.READ MORE»

COMMENTS

Exit 164: 7 Pac-10 Losses, Champs? It's Been Done

BY Seth Kolloen 08:10AM 03/08/2011

Can a team with seven Pac-10 losses win an NCAA crown? Sure, as long as they are close losses. And that's the striking thing about the Huskies' losses this year -- they have all been so close. Of the Dawgs' ten losses, eight were by less than ten points. Four were by two points or less. So I think it's a fair question: Are the Huskies a good team having bad luck?

Here's another team that suffered from a rash of close losses and went 11-7 in Pac-10 play. The 1996-97 NCAA Champion Arizona Wildcats.

Just like the Huskies, eight of the '96-97 Cats' losses were by ten points or less (one a 92-88 loss at Hec Ed). Like the Huskies, Arizona had four losses by two points or less. Like the Huskies, Arizona finished the regular season on an uninspiring note, losing two in a row.READ MORE»

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Exit 164: Mariners Power Outage Continues

BY Seth Kolloen 07:42AM 03/07/2011

Mariners Homerless Yet Again: You'll notice a common feature of every Mariner linescore. "Home Runs SEA: None." The Mariners have not hit a home run since Tuesday. Given that most of the pitchers they're facing are either minor leaguers or established pitchers tuning up for the regular season, I find this troubling.

Miguel Olivo Injured: The free-agent catcher suffered a groin injury Saturday while running the bases. He had to be taken to the clubhouse on a cart. Olivo had an MRI Sunday, but since no doctor can be troubled to do any work on their day of yachting rest, we won't know the severity of the injury until sometime today. We do know Olivo will be resting for at least a week. Adam Moore is the only other catcher on the M's 40-man roster, though former MLB starter Josh Bard is in camp as an NRI.READ MORE»

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Exit 164: Seattle's Prep Hoops Golden Era Ends

BY Seth Kolloen 07:16AM 03/04/2011

Mark it down. Last night in Tacoma, at 8:57 p.m., Seattle's prep hoops golden era ended. When Sealth's Keon Lewis couldn't find rim with his desperation three at the buzzer, it meant that for the second consecutive year, Seattle will not be represented in the semifinals of the state 3A boys basketball tournament -- a tournament that city schools once dominated.

A Seattle school won the 3A boys tourney nine out of ten years in the 2000s. Every 3A championship game had a Seattle representative from 1997-2009. Every 3A Final Four had featured at least one Seattle team for 18 consecutive years -- until last year's shutout. And now that shutout is repeated again.READ MORE»

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Exit 164: Pineda steps toward M's rotation

BY Seth Kolloen 12:01AM 03/03/2011

The mammoth 22-year-old rotation candidate pitched two perfect innings

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Exit 164: Snooki among King Felix's anointed 12

BY Seth Kolloen 07:18AM 03/02/2011

Plus bad news about Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck

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Exit 164: Forbes Mag Says You're Miserable

BY Seth Kolloen 07:08AM 03/01/2011

Based on our teams' unique record of non-championship play, Forbes Magazine says Seattle is "America's Most Miserable Sports City." Writeth author Tom Van Riper: "Through a cumulative 111 seasons and 37 playoff appearances, Seattle boasts only one champion: the 1979 Sonics."

Do you feel miserable? I don't really feel that miserable. Maybe I take the long view because my family has been in Seattle since 1889, but it could be a lot worse. I mean, take Portland: They have only one pro team, and it's cursed. Or the larger metro areas without teams at all, like Las Vegas, San Jose, Austin.READ MORE»

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Exit 164: Huskies Flop, Mariners Flourish

BY Seth Kolloen 07:18AM 02/28/2011

And who is the mysterious "Trialist" trying to stick with the Sounders?

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Exit 164: Will Nate end up a hero or a coward?

BY Seth Kolloen 07:29AM 02/25/2011

You know the phrase "damned if you do, damned if you don't?" That's Nate Robinson after his trade to Oklahoma City.

Like any Seattle-bred hoops fan, Nate Robinson is pissed that the Sonics left. "Seattle deserves its team back... not now, but RIGHT NOW!", Robinson said in a Seattle Times chat last August. Responding to a question from a guy chatting as "David Stern," Robinson said: "I'm not gonna answer any questions from David Stern until he brings the Sonics back from (sic) Seattle." Robinson has even posed holding a t-shirt for the documentary Sonicsgate.

Robinson's stance was innocuous when he was a Celtic. Innocuous no more, now that he's on the Zombie Sonics. Current Thunder Nick Collison has gotten crap simply for living in Seattle in the offseason. How will OKC fans react to a player who supports the notion that the team isn't rightfully theirs?READ MORE»

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Exit 164: Ichiro, Indie Rock Muse

BY Seth Kolloen 07:25AM 02/24/2011

Ichiro Inspires an Indie Pop Song: The Baseball Project, a band led by R.E.M. co-founder and part-time Seattleite Peter Buck, has recorded an homage to Ichiro. You can hear the song "Ichiro Goes to the Moon" here. Longtime Seattle musician Scott McCaughey wrote the tune, which imagines Ichiro as a superhero. I transcribed the lyrics for you here. A sample: "At age 40 he'll turn to pitching / With a fastball that hits 95 / A knuckler that defies gravity / A curve with a 12-to-6 dive." Hey! That's some real baseball terminology! Go Scott! Death Cab for Cutie frontman and marrier of famous hot indie chicks Ben Gibbard -- who performed at Mariners' opening day last year --sings backing vocals on the song.

Mariner Hitters Get New Training Tool: New Mariner hitting coach Chris Chambliss has his pupils playing the game "pepper." As you may know, Pepper is a game where you hit a baseball two feet, so M's hitters should excel at it.READ MORE»

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Exit 164: New Husky Stadium banishes rich

BY Seth Kolloen 12:09AM 02/23/2011

Husky Stadium is class warfare: We got our first in-depth info about the seating in new Husky Stadium, and if I were rich, I would be pissed. Plan is that the people who donate the most money will be forced into glass-enclosed rooms, shut off from the crowd and band noise that make college football so fun!

Regular folks (who I may remind you have the same God-given rights as the more fortunate) get to sit closest to the action. I pay $50,000 a year for six football games and I have to sit behind Scott from Ferndale? Sounds more like Fidel Castro's Cuba than America to me. Don't blame me, I voted Stan Smith for President.READ MORE»

COMMENTS

Exit 164: City Championship Day

BY Seth Kolloen 12:01AM 02/22/2011

"Battle" for Seattle tonight at KeyArena: Wouldn't it be nice if this Seattle U./Washington game was generating excitement? Not until the Redhawks show they can compete. The Redhawks lost to the Huskies by 47 points last year, fouling so much they were down to four eligible players by game's end. Our Art Thiel pleads for a more competitive game this time around. Who knows, maybe the Redhawks can pull off an upset as colossal as their 1952 victory over the Harlem Globetrotters. I wouldn't count on it. SU's problem is that they play an up-tempo game, just like the Huskies. When you try to beat a taller, more athletic, more talented team at their own game, you end up with some ugly numbers.READ MORE»

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Exit 164: Will Experts Misread M's Again?

BY Seth Kolloen 07:20AM 02/21/2011

Last year, the Mariners were your trendy division winning pick. ESPN's Joe Morgan and Orel Hershiser both picked the M's to win the A.L. West. Sporting News and Sports Illustrated both had the M's finishing over .500, and even the know-it-alls at Baseball Prospectus thought the M's would finish 2nd with 83 wins.

Just picked up my The Sporting News baseball preview, and you probably don't need me to tell you where they've picked the 2011 Mariners to finish. "Could be another long season in Seattle," the magazine writes. An anonymous rival scout interviewed by The Sporting News assays the M's thusly: "This is a terrible team."

Does this get your blood stirring? It does mine. It's one thing for you or I or our other fellow Mariner fans to dis the team, but when these national magazines do it, I get pissed off. "Terrible"? Get a real job, scout man.READ MORE»

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Exit 164: J.J. Putz as clubhouse leader? D'Backs need Google

BY Seth Kolloen 10:59PM 02/17/2011

Plus, guess what Mike Carp's new tattoo is? This isn't a trick question

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