- Good Week — Not only did Sanna Nyassi score both goals in the Sounders’ U.S. Open Cup win over Columbus, he tallied again in a 2-1 win over Kansas City that enabled Sounders FC to clinch a playoff berth.
- Bad Week — After a second 100-loss season in three years, and the ninth straight year of no postseason, CEO Howard Lincoln has some nerve asking fans to have “patience.”
- Sunday, Oct. 10 — Several UW football players reflect on the team’s 2-3 record, senior Nate Williams optimistically saying, “So we just have to execute and everything will be all right for us.” But the Huskies face four ranked opponents in a row, none they’ll be favored to beat. The only certain win on the schedule is Washington State, meaning the Huskies could wind up 3-9.
- Saturday, Oct. 9— Although Jake Locker played with flu-like systems, Washington’s loss to Arizona State at home ranks — so far — as the nadir of the Steve Sarkisian regime, a defeat likely to cost UW a bowl bid.
- Friday, Oct. 8 — Seattle marks the 15th anniversary of “The Play,” Edgar Martinez’s double that plated Ken Griffey Jr., from first base and enabled the Mariners to oust the Yankees in a dramatic ALDS. It remains the single greatest, and most important, play in Seattle pro sports history.
- Thursday, Oct. 7 — UW hoops gets a boost when Garfield point guard Tony Wroten Jr. announces he will enroll at the University of Washington, thereby shunning such suitors as Louisville, Villanova and Connecticut. And down in San Francisco, former UW pitcher Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants whiffs 14 in his postseason major league debut, a 1-0 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of the NLDS. Lincecum, whom the Mariners bypassed in the 2006 amateur draft in favor of the long-gone Brandon Morrow, will one day represent one of the bigger personnel fiascos in Mariner history — perhaps even on a par with 1983, when the M’s selected catcher Terry Bell with the 17th choice in the first round, two picks ahead of Roger Clemens.
- Wednesday, Oct. 6 — Newly acquired Marshawn Lynch, just acquired from the Buffalo Bills, shows up for his first Seahawks practice to the great enthusiasm of head coach Pete Carroll, who says, “He plays with great intensity. He’s got make-you miss ability, and he’s also physical and runs tough.” All UW fans with just short-term memory would agree. On Oct. 21, 2006, Lynch ran for 150 yards and two touchdowns against the Huskies, including a 22-yard score in overtime that gave California a 31-24 victory.
- Tuesday, Oct. 5 — Sounders FC becomes the first franchise in the Major League Soccer era to win back-to-back U.S. Open Cup titles by defeating the Columbus Crew 2-1 in front of a record crowd of 31,311 at Qwest Field. Sanna Nyassi scores both Seattle goals, the game winner off a rebound in the 66th minute. “An amazing night,” said GM Adrian Hanuer. Indeed it was.
- Monday, Oct. 4 — Addressing scribes, one day after a 20-3 pratfall in St. Louis, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll states the obvious by noting, “We have room for big improvement here. At this time it may look like everything is bleak and lost. I don’t feel like that.” We do.
TWTWTW (Oct. 4-10)
By Steve Rudman