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.
Between July 28-Sept. 13, 2013, the Sounders played nine matches. They won eight, including the final five in a row. Following a 2-0 victory over Real Salt Lake in front of 55,107 at CenturyLink Field, the Sounders sported the best record in MLS and seemed primed to win the Supporters’ Shield.
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The NFL has reinstated former Pro Bowl cornerback Brandon Browner, an unrestricted free agent who played eight games for the Seahawks in 2013 before his second suspension in two years. The question is whether the Seahawks should attempt to re-sign Browner or wash their hands of him.
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Slightly more than a year ago, the Mariners concluded their third consecutive spring-training tease with a 22-11 record that featured a Cactus League-record 58 home runs. After providing that false hope, the Mariners delivered a 71-91 clunker that sent manager Eric Wedge ranting into unemployment and transformed GM Jack Zduriencik from fading genius into the lamest of ducks.
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Nearly three years ago – March 12, 2011 – Washington junior guard Isaiah Thomas delivered his most memorable performance as a Husky. In the Pac-10 Championship game against No. 1 seed Arizona, Thomas played all 45 minutes, scored 28 points and, as time was about to expire in the first overtime, ignored Lorenzo Romar’s plea for a timeout and dropped an 18-foot buzzer beater to knock out the Wildcats 77-75.
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According to Las Vegas sportsbook Bovada.com, the Mariners are destined – or doomed – to finish 2014 with about as many wins as losses. If you've followed the ball club for any length of time, that amounts to more yawn than progress. Bovada.com listed for the first time last week the club’s over/under for wins at 81.5 and placed its odds to win the AL West at 7-1, behind Texas, Oakland and Anaheim. They are 28-1 to win the World Series.
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According to a report Thursday by The Washington Post’s Mark Maske, who received his information from a league source, the NFL is strongly considering expanding its postseason field to 14 teams by 2015. Owners might even vote on the proposal next month during the league’s annual meetings in Orlando, FL.
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Name the only city in America to simultaneously feature the single-season MLB record holder in base hits and the single-season NFL record holder in touchdowns. Many in these parts will know the answer is Seattle, for the period 2004-05, when Ichiro, with 262 hits for the Mariners in 2004, and Shaun Alexander, with 28 TDs for the Seahawks in 2005, were both in their prime.
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With 12 home runs, 45 RBIs and six steals in 369 at-bats last season, Nick Franklin seemed a sure shot to become the Mariners' every-day second baseman this year -- until, of course, the club grew so desperate to achieve relevancy that it signed free agent Robinson Cano for $240 million over 10 years. The inking immediately made Franklin expendable.
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A sports fan with a long memory may recall Terry Forster, who played for five teams over 16 major league seasons (1971-86) and retired with 127 saves, the bulk of those with the Chicago White Sox in the early 1970s. Forster gained most of his notoriety not for anything he did on the diamond, but for feats at the buffet table that, in 1985, drew the attention of David Letterman.
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Eddie O'Brien, who helped place Seattle University on the college basketball map in the early 1950s along with twin brother, Johnny, died Friday, according to the school. O'Brien was 83. In addition to his basketball exploits, O'Brien had a notable career in major league baseball and later served as Seattle U.'s athletic director and baseball coach and as a pitching coach for the Seattle Pilots (1969).
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If Lorenzo Romar lists the most disappointing teams he mentored during his time at Washington, his current one is certain to rank near the top -- even though it is headed for exactly the sort of finish Pac-12 media mavens predicted in October.
Washington was picked to finish eighth, ahead of Utah, Oregon State, USC and Washington State. After 26 games, the Huskies are in a tie for seventh (with Utah), but must play the Oregon schools on the road this week before closing out against UCLA, USC and WSU.
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Two days ago, we knew this much about Michael Sam: As a 260-pound defensive end at the University of Missouri, he won the SEC Defensive Player of the Year award (11.5 sacks) and worked himself into a probable draft pick – perhaps as high as the third round – in the NFL draft in May. Now, of course, we know a whole lot more about Michael Sam.
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All championship teams contain seeds of their own ruin. Only a select few survive intact long enough to become dynasties. With one Super Bowl in the books and a roster whose average age is 26.1 years, the Seahawks certainly have that potential for long-term success. Even Russell Wilson stoked such conversation, saying within days of Seattle clobbering Denver 43-8 that he would settle for four Super Bowl rings.
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The morning of June 4, 1979, a Monday, started gloomily, with thick clouds and drizzle, but the overcast began to clear about 9:30 a.m., a couple of hours before the start of what The Seattle Post-Intelligencer predicted would be “the biggest parade the city has seen since the end of World War II.” The newspaper wasn’t wrong.
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It would suit head coach Pete Carroll just fine if Seattle-area schools and businesses shut down Wednesday when his Super Bowl champion Seahawks are saluted during a mid-morning parade that will course along -- starting at Denny Way -- Fourth Avenue and end at CenturyLink Field.
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Seattle's 35-year pro championship drought ended in a shower of blue and green confetti Sunday night at MetLife Stadium. The Seahawks, a three-point underdog, utterly overwhelmed NFL Most Valuable Player Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in an unexpected 43-8 rout. The Seahawks not only scored about every way imaginable, they rendered the Broncos and their No. 1 offense non-competitive.
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Walter Jones, once famously described by Warren Sapp as a "man who blocks out the sun," entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame Saturday -- as expected -- in his first year of eligibility. The 12-year Seahawk (1997-08) becomes the third longtime member of the organization elected and will be inducted into Canton Aug. 2 (see Hall of Famer Walter Jones, A Career Snapshot).
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This weekend has the potential to become the sweetest in Seattle’s pro sports history. Of course, the Seahawks need to defeat the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII Sunday to make it so, but that’s all that’s standing in the way of a remarkable trifecta that’s already two-thirds a done deal. Question is, which is the source of the greatest elation?
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The Seahawks and Denver Broncos, entrants in Super Bowl XLVIII Sunday at MetLife Stadium, faced each other 53 times since their first official squabble Oct. 2, 1977, including 52 times in regular-season play and once in the playoffs (Dec. 24, 1983). The first 50 were when Seattle was a member of the AFC West (1977-01).
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Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Russell Wilson’s two-year tenure as quarterback of the Seahawks is the unflappable manner in which he has gone about his business. While Wilson has said often that he refuses to let his emotions get the better of him, regardless of circumstance, he seemed to get the jitters in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship game.
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