Author: Art Thiel

Rookie CB Tre Brown’s season was cut short Nov. 22 by a knee injury on this play against Arizona. / Drew McKenzie, Sportspress Northwest One of the rituals of the NFL post-season is fans of the non-participating teams measuring their guys against the participating teams, to judge whether next season might be THE season, or whether contention remains distant as the first light from The Big Bang — at the far edge of the universe. For Seahawks fans Sunday, that pastime means nearly all the focus is on 49er-Rams, for obvious reasons. But the AFC game features a team in…

David Ortiz was the only candidate selected by writers for this year’s Hall of Fame class. / Drew Sellers, Sportspress Northwest Former Mariners farmhand David Ortiz, whom they called David Arias and traded away for nearly nothing in 1996, was voted by sportswriters into the Baseball Hall of Fame Tuesday, the only one selected from this class, and on his first ballot appearance. Glad for him. I don’t much care. I was glad for Seattle hero Edgar Martinez when he was selected a couple of years ago, too. I didn’t much care then, either. The annual ritual has become so…

A statue of John Stockton, frozen in time, outside the Jazz arena in Salt Lake City. / Wikimedia Commons John Stockton attended Gonzaga a long time ago, from 1981-84. So the hope is that the academic culture at the Spokane school has picked up since then, right along with the basketball program. If it hasn’t, the value of that highly regarded Jesuit-school diploma has taken a dive more dramatic than when Stockton would attempt to draw a charging foul on Gary Payton. Giving professors the benefit of the doubt, perhaps Stockton was on a Zags road trip and missed the…

Seahawks DE Carlos Dunlap went high to block a pass from 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo (10) to save a 30-23 win Dec. 5 at the Loo. / Rod Mar, Seattle Seahawks In the wake of an NFL post-season weekend that has seen the abrupt cashiering of Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, while establishing the NFC West as the citadel of badassery, we turn to Jimmy Garoppolo, eminent sage of The Bay. Normally not one sought for his incisive clarity in matters of the pro football state, the San Francisco quarterback nevertheless offered a simple observation that was as prescient as…

Julio Rodriguez is rated the No. 2 prospect by Baseball America. / Alan Chitlik, Sportspress Northwest file The simultaneous collapses of the local pro and semi-pro football seasons were objects of perverse fascination. By mid-October, the Seahawks were crumbling after Rams DT wrecked Russell Wilson’s finger. At Montlake, a 2-4 record for the Washington Huskies ran counter to all logic, reason and the optimism of the head coach. In Pullman, the improving Washington State Cougars were facing local and national ridicule for having to fire their head coach and half the staff for refusing COVID-19 vaccines despite a state requirement…

Two Sonics greats, Lenny Wilkens and Spencer Haywood, celebrate Wilkens’ selection for the Paul Allen Award for community service at the 78th annual Star of the Year event at Benaroya Hall in 2013. / Scott Eklund, Red Box Pictures The Sports Star of the Year Awards Show, longest-running celebration of its kind in the nation, is undeterred by COVID-19 and back for its 87th renewal. Normally in February, the 2022 edition, presented by the Seattle Sports Commission, will be live at the Westin Hotel May 26 — hopefully beyond the reach of the pandemic. For the first time, FOX 13…

Pete Carroll and Ken Norton Jr. were together a long time, but friendship always finishes a cold second to results in the NFL. / Drew McKenzie, Sportspress Northwest Whoever succeeds Ken Norton Jr. has to be comfortable with two awkward things: Pete Carroll is really the defensive coordinator, and SS Jamal Adams. Right away, the awkward things limit the field of candidates. Carroll’s football roots are on defense, and Adams has no roots, at least as far as knowing how and where he should best be deployed, which is a not a good sign for the unit’s most expensive player…

Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, who took a hard hit from Arizona’s Budda Baker, scored his second rushing touchdown, a four-yarder, of the season in the fourth quarter of the final game. / Drew McKenzie, Sportspress Northwest Now that his agent has fired anonymously the first volley in the Russell Wilson Winter of Discontent Saga, Part Deux, and after the week’s NFL development playoff developments, a question arises before the House of Seahawks: How would Wilson know where the chances for his stated goal of winning three more Super Bowls are better served than in Seattle? After one quarter of NFL’s…

Seahawks RB Rashaad Penny laid waste to Cardinals defenders Sunday. / Drew McKenzie, Sportspress Northwest In addition to rushing for 671 yards over the Seahawks’ final five games, most in the NFL in that span, RB Rashaad Penny struck a blow against sports-language abuse. He gashed the credibility of the phrase, “injury prone.” One of the most over-used terms in sports, it implies a vulnerability that is non-existent, unless an athlete has a condition such as lactose intolerance, which might increase the chances for bone breakage. But sports fans, and most of their predecessor hominids, have to have an explanation…

Seahawks QB Geno Smith looked as if he had an NFL future against Jacksonville. He damaged his chances Sunday night on I-90. / Drew Sellers, Sportspress Northwest Among the many what-ifs in a 7-10 Seahawks season that included five losses of three points or less, I was intrigued with the adventures of Geno Smith. Backup quarterbacks were an acutely trendy topic this NFL season, given the seemingly higher injury rate among starters, coupled with absences because of covid protocols. Plus, there were the unvaccinated QBs like Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins, who managed to play all their games despite helmets…