Steve began his journalistic career in an era in which social networking mainly occurred in saloons.
In the years since, he has been a reporter and columnist (Seattle Post-Intelligencer), a magazine founder and editor (The National Sports Review), the Director of Research at ESPN (once had the chore of looking up the history of rain delays in major league baseball), a radio talk show host (fired by KIRO because stupid people need radio stations, too, according to the program director), and the producer of a syndicated sports statistical feature (titled Wow!Stats), distributed by Universal Press Syndicate (quick, name three countries in which athletes are eaten when they fail to perform).
He wrote (with Karen Chave) 100 Years of Husky Football, Who The Hell is Bob? (one of Seattles more remarkable people) and collaborated with Art Thiel (Sports Press Northwest) and Mike Gastineau (KJR-AM) on The Great Book of Seattle Sports Lists, a ribald compendium of Seattle sports exotica that should be made into a movie (Brad Pitt playing Steve).
He gained everlasting infamy in 1985 (at least in Corvallis, Ore.), when, in a column in the Post-Intelligencer, he called the Oregon State Beavers The Barney Fife of College Football, then sat stupefied as the 37-point underdog Beavers cast aside a 28-year slump and beat the Huskies.
As of this writing, that game (which resulted in an official, Oregon State-issued game ball for Steve) still generates 314,000 Google pages, most of them from unenlightened (and presumably salt pillar-licking) OSU fans. Steve has yet to issue an apology on Facebook or Twitter and has no plans to do so.
Washington is a 17.5-point pick over Arizona State Saturday night in Tempe (7:45 p.m., PT, ESPN) even though the Sun Devils have some compelling data in their favor. According to ESPN's College Football Power Index, the Sun Devils will be the best team the Huskies have faced, having supplanted the previous best, Colorado.
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After falling behind 10-0 Sunday to the Rams at the Los Angeles Coliseum, the Seahawks knitted together 16 consecutive points to post a 16-10 victory that vaulted Seattle (3-2) into the NFC West lead. Entering the contest, the Rams carried the NFL’s highest scoring average, 35.5 points per game.
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Before all focus is trained on the Seahawks-Rams game Sunday at the Los Angeles Coliseum, a final note on the Seahawks-Colts. In Seattle's 46-18 win, the Seahawks scored two rushing touchdowns, two passing TDs and two return TDs. Never in their four decades had the Seahawks tallied with such a combination of scores.
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RB J.D. McKissic made a substantial impression in his 2017 debut Sunday, flashing 30 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter and snagging a 27-yard TD pass from QB Russell Wilson late in the fourth. Inactive for Seattle's first three games, McKissic probably would not have been on the field if third-down specialist C.J. Prosise hadn’t been nursing a hurt.
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Shortly after the mid-July All-Star break, the Mariners published a blurb in their game notes titled “Transactions in Bulk.” It noted that GM Jerry Dipoto had, since Opening Day, made 122 roster moves, averaging one transaction every 19 hours and five minutes, his major frenzy occurring May 9-23 when he made 32 moves.
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In one of the most astonishing and least appreciated feats in franchise history, the Seahawks led the National Football League in scoring defense every year from 2012 through 2015, allowing 15.3, 14.4, 15.9 and 17.3 points per game, respectively. Seattle also led the league in total defense and pass defense in two of those seasons (2013, 2014) and in run defense once (2015).
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One week ago, the Mariners resided on the fringes of contention for the second American League wild card slot. But a 1-5 meltdown in the season's final home stand, including Sunday's 4-2 loss to Cleveland (box), officially eliminated Seattle (75-81) from the postseason for the 16th consecutive season. The Mariners play out the string to great yawns next week in Oakland and Anaheim.
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After falling to Washington 41-10 in the Pac-12 championship game in December, Colorado lost a four-year starter at quarterback (Sefo Liufau, the school’s all-time leading passer) and nine starters from a defense that ranked in the top 20 in the FBS. Largely as a result, Pac-12 media in late July picked the 2017 Buffaloes to finish fourth in the South Division behind USC, Utah and UCLA.
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Seattle (1-1) defeated NFC West foe San Francisco 12-9 Sunday thanks to QB Russell Wilson’s 22nd fourth-quarter comeback and no thanks to the best offensive player at CenturyLink Field, 49ers RB Carlos Hyde, who gained 124 yards on 15 carries and twice set up field goals with long runs.
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After taking three in a row at Texas, the Mariners were broomed out of Minute Maid Park in Houston Sunday (box), losing the series finale 7-1 as Justin Verlander beat them for the second time in 12 days. The only good news for Seattle, which dropped six consecutive games to the Astros and 14 of 19 for the season, is that it doesn't have to play the AL West champions again. Not that it matters much: The Mariners fell 4.5 games behind Minnesota for the second AL wild card with 12 to play.
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If Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke get their way and all goes well, a spectacular makeover of what was KeyArena will debut in October 2020 that will include the city's National Hockey League team and concerts by world-renowned artists. The 2020 completion date assumes that construction would begin in October 2018.
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The Mariners did nothing to help themselves in the American League playoff race by losing four of six, including all three to AL West leader Houston. The 5-3 defeat to the Los Angeles Angels Sunday (box) leaves Seattle at 71-72, fourth in the West and in a nearly impossible position (see below) to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2001.
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Washington moved up one spot to No. 6 in the Associated Press college football rankings Sunday following Saturday night's 63-7 victory over Montana at Husky Stadium. UW (2-0) collected 1,124 points, 200 fewer than USC, which jumped from sixth to fourth after its 42-24 triumph over No. 14 Stanford, which dropped to 19th.
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Throw out the 2012 “Fail Mary” game and the NFC Championship corker two seasons later, when Seattle rallied improbably to win in overtime after trailing 19-7 with four minutes remaining in regulation, and the Seahawks have not enjoyed much success against the Green Bay Packers. Especially at Lambeau Field, where the teams will re-engage Sunday (1:25 p.m. PT kickoff) in the 2017 season opener.
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After getting swept by Baltimore in a three-game set at Camden Yards to begin the week, the Mariners (69-68) ended the week by brooming the Oakland Athletics at Safeco Field, including Sunday's 10-2 romp (box). After falling 4.5 games behind at midweek in the chase for the American League's second wild card, Seattle starts a new week Monday 2.5 in arrears. But next up are the AL West-leading Houston Astros, 8-5 against Seattle this season, including 4-2 at Safeco Field.
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In June 2016, Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto and his staff determined that INF Chris Taylor was not going to amount to much as a major leaguer. While the 25-year-old shortstop/second baseman had a .314 batting average over parts of five minor league seasons in the organization, he’d been a .240 hitter for Seattle in 86 games after the club selected him in the fifth round of the 2012 draft.
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Eight seasons removed from that ghastly 0-12 season, the University of Washington football team (No. 8 AP, No. 7 coaches) has an opportunity to flip the worst into the best -- a 12-0 regular season. That would duplicate the mark of the 1991 co-national champions, an outfit that pummeled its first 11 foes by a combined 461-101 before rolling Michigan 34-14 in the Rose Bowl.
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The Mariners had a chance to take possession of the second wild card, but two losses over the weekend at Yankee Stadium landed Seattle 1.5 games in arrears.
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The Mariners opened the week with a brutal loss and ended it with a lame one, falling to Tampa Bay 3-0 Sunday at Tropicana Field (box). In between, they strung together four impressive victories as Nelson Cruz continued his almost-daily assault on the franchise record book and newcomers Andrew Albers, Yonder Alonso and Erasmo Ramirez helped keep Seattle in the AL wild card race.
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What started off as a good week -- the Mariners swept a two-game series in Oakland -- ended embarrassingly with four consecutive losses to the Los Angeles Angels at Safeco Field, including Sunday's 4-1 setback (box). Seattle rose to a season-high three games above .500 (59-56) and held sole possession of the AL's second wild card at mid-week, but ended it underwater (59-60) after dropping the quartet to the Halos.
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