Author: Art Thiel

Part of the large Mariners entourage for the 2001 All-Star Game in Seattle included, from left, manager Lou Piniella, 2B Bret Boone, RF Ichiro, DH Edgar Martinez, 1B John Olerud and RHP Freddy Garcia. / Alan Chitlik, Sportspress Northwest Among long-time Mariners fans, news Tuesday of the return of MLB’s All-Star Game to Seattle, this one for 2023, evokes some grand memories about what might be called the pinnacle non-Griffey episode in franchise history. The Seattle All-Star Game in 2001 was a rollicking salute to a bad franchise gone good. For those new to town, the game featured eight Mariners…

RB Richard Newton is Washington’s leading rusher after two games with 97 yards in 29 attempts. / Drew Sellers, Sportspress Northwest As a hitter, Lou Piniella’s temper regarding pitchers was so short, some wondered if he should be trusted near one with a wood club in his hands. As a manager of Mariners pitchers, he had to become a bit more tolerant. He learned he shouldn’t fire them on the spot for a walk. After watching a relief pitcher walk two batters in a row, a steamy, yet more controlled, Piniella had seen enough. As he stepped onto the mound,…

DE Rasheem Green, who may have had his best pro game, lays a hit on Colts QB Carson Wentz. / Rod Mar, Seattle Seahawks Eight months of alteration came together in an exultation. “We want to keep the defense guessing,” said an exuberant Russell Wilson. “We want to constantly have them question: Who’s getting the ball? Where’s it going? What are they doing? We were able to do that. “You can kind of smell the blood in the water.” On the road Sunday against a crowd of hostiles indoors and an 11-5 Indianapolis playoff team a year ago with an…

DB Brendan Radley-Hiles and coach Jimmy Lake confer on the sidelines at Michigan Stadium Saturday. / UW Athletics After the debacle at home against BCS Montana, there was little surprise that the Washington Huskies wilted Saturday on the road on national TV, in front of 108,345 loons waving yellow pompoms at Michigan Stadium. So the 31-10 pounding (box) at the hands of the Michigan Wolverines was expected. The way it happened was a little breathtaking: The Huskies were dominated on both sides of the scrimmage line.

If as advertised, the Seahawks have a better line and a better plan, Russell Wilson won’t feel as compelled to do too much by himself. / Drew McKenzie, Sportspress Northwest Much of the wailings and lamentations that followed from Russell Wilson’s complaints in February about the shortcomings of the Seahawks offense were based on the awareness of his age. As if 33 somehow thrust him to the edge of sudden career extinction, akin to the Permian-Jurassic “Great Dying” 250 million years ago. That seemed to add urgency to the need for upgrades right away, so as to not squander his…

LT Duane Brown and QB Russell Wilson have hugged it out. / Art Thiel, Sportspress Northwest Duane Brown is the sort of athlete upon which every pro sports franchise should be built. The least of his virtues is that he has the arms to carry one. Savvy. Cool. Formidable. Like Denzel Washington in The Magnificent Seven. So it was not surprising to learn Wednesday that after Russell Wilson rocked the world of Seattle sports in February with public complaints about his unhappiness with the Seahawks, including the pass protection, a called was placed. “He reached out to me,” Brown said,…

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has been an outspoken advocate for vaccination protocols. / Rod Mar, Seattle Seahawks Within the same hour Tuesday morning, the Seahawks, Sounders and Kraken all announced the same thing: Their fans must be vaccinated and masked at their games and facility events, or stay home and watch on TV. Shortly thereafter, University of Washington football announced a similar tightened policy at Husky Stadium with the season’s third home game against Cal Sept. 25. Washington State football said its identical policy will begin for home games in October.

Low on wide receivers, QB Dylan Morris went after sophomore backup TE Devin Culp for a short gain. Saturday against Montana. / Drew Sellers, Sportspress Northwest Here in the college football tomb that the state of Washington has become, my imagination conjures Jimmy Lake and Nick Rolovich each having the Indiana Jones role of out-running the giant round rock bearing down from behind. Not sure whether they’re fast enough, but I’m loading up on popcorn and eager to find out how this movie ends. It’s safe to say that never have the state’s premier programs started so perilously, simultaneously. On…

RB Cameron Davis had 29 of Washington’s 65 rushing yards Saturday against Montana. / Drew Sellers, Sportspress Northwest In 2020, the University of Washington football team played in front of cardboard fans. In 2021, University of Washington fans watched a cardboard team. Unable and unwilling to muster the gumption to conduct business as a standard Power 5 conference team, the Huskies, attempting to celebrate the season-opening return of fans (64,053) to Husky Stadium, instead stunned them with a 13-7 defeat to a second-tier University of Montana team that played with an intensity absent in the big boys. The humiliation –…

New Seahawks CB Sidney Jones, in his days as a University of Washington star in 2016. / Drew McKenzie, Sportspress Northwest Ahkello Witherspoon was a priority hire, the Seahawks offering $4 million guaranteed on a one-year deal at the start of the NFL’s free agency period in March. He quickly accepted. The one-time rival at San Francisco was Seattle’s first choice to fill the left cornerback position vacated by Shaquill Griffin, who received from Jacksonville a three-year deal worth up to $40 million that the Seahawks didn’t want to pay. Apparently, the Seahawks’ judgment at the corner was another misread,…