Junior is Back in Town

Things are starting to wrap up at school and the last few weeks that I have spent with my nose to the grindstone are finally starting to pay dividends. I still have a substantial amount of work to get done, but the list of remaining reports and presentations before the end of the semester is now at a reasonable level.

I have finally made enough progress that I can watch the Mariner's home opener. I am watching the pregame ceremony now. I think they will have a little tribute for Nick Adenhart, the Angel's pitcher that was killed by a drunk driver last week. They have quite a few things lined up before the game starts.

The biggest attraction of course is the return of Ken Griffey Jr. to the Seattle Mariners. Seattle is pretty excited to welcome back their favorite son and thrilled to have him wearing a Mariner's jersey. I am sure Safeco Field will explode when he is introduced.

I was pretty happy to see him back with the Mariners, although I don't expect a lot of production from him. I am just happy to have a legitimate sports superstar with no hint of scandal attached to him back in town. I am hoping to see a little bit of magic from Griffey today, but even if he doesn't hit one out of the park, I am sure he will get a very warm welcome and I am really happy that I have the chance to watch the game, even if I couldn't be at the ballpark.

Go M's!!!!

Thunderstruck...or is it Thunder-Suck

I saw that the NBA had a game between the Washington Wizards and the Oklahoma City Thunder yesterday. Prior to the game, the two teams had a combined record of 7 wins and 50 losses. Oklahoma City was beaten 104-95 and walked away with a record of 3-28. They suck. The Thunder are really bad. A terrible team. It puts a really big smile on my face.

The truth is, I have no animosity towards the people of Oklahoma. I just detest Clay Bennett for the way in which he moved the Sonics. He had purchased the team in 2006 with vague reassurances that the team could remain in Seattle. It became clear that his intention all along was to move the team out of Seattle when some emails became public in which he was discussing the move with his OKC buddies.

I also blame Starbucks chairman Charles Schultz for selling the team to Bennett and then claiming to have been deceived when it became apparent that the team was going to be moved. The guy heads a multi-zillion dollar a year business, but he wasn't bright enough to see this coming?

The other person that I blame is David Stern, who basically told Seattle, "if you fight this move, you will never have basketball in Seattle."

Some people blame our liberal government in Seattle and Washington State. I don't. The reason I don't is because I am sure that Stern and Bennett were collaborating against Seattle the entire time. Bennett wanted a team in OKC because that is his town. He was willing to lie every step of the way to get what he wanted. Of course, he was selected as 2008 Oklahoman of the Year. David Stern was just greedy to expand the NBA into a new market. Never mind that Seattle had a team for 41 years with pretty good attendance and that excitement was building with the addition of Kevin Durant to the team.

Okay, enough ranting about the move. It is old news that was brought to mind again when I saw the results of the match between the two worst teams in the NBA. Let me say that I am thrilled the OKC Thunder have affirmed their place as the worst team in the NBA. I hope that this team eventually turns into a huge money pit for Clay Bennett.

Oklahoma, I wish I could say that I am sorry that the Thunder are having a terrible season, but I am not. Wasn't it enough that you guys sent us Brian Bosworth? Did you really have to take our NBA team as well? I don't have any real animosity towards you, but please forgive me if I express some glee that your team is an unmitigated disaster this year. I hope you have many more years of the same.

Sports in the Northwest

One of the things that I missed during my time in the service was sports. It was practically impossible to follow any season from start to finish. While out at sea, our sports update was a line or two of text about some of the games that had been played, and often, all we saw was a final score. Even while I was in port, it would be difficult to keep up on the games that I wanted to see, featuring the Seattle area teams. Most of the games that I watched while I lived in Hawaii were various teams from California.

Perhaps the hardest thing to get used to was football while I lived in Guam. Monday Night Football becomes Tuesday Morning Football and Super Sunday comes on a Monday morning, one of which I spent in a classroom attending training.

In any case, one of the things that I really looked forward to when I retired and moved to Washington State was being able to watch entire seasons of college football, pro football, and pro baseball. I am not much of an NBA fan, but I would have been happy to watch the playoffs if the Seattle Sonics had gotten in. Now that I can watch most of the games, sports in the northwest have taken a sharp turn south.

Today, the end of the regular season of Major League Baseball is upon us. The Seattle Mariners, with over a $100 million payroll have already broken into 100+ loss territory, and with a loss today coupled with a Washington Nationals win, still have a chance to own the worst record in baseball this year.

The Seattle Sonics, after going 20-62 and posting the second worst record in basketball last season, have been taken from Seattle to Oklahoma City.

The Seattle Seahawks, have stumbled out of the starting gate to a 1-2 record.

The Washington State Cougars have started 1-4 with their lone win coming against lowly Portland State at home. After yesterdays game, when discussing the upcoming schedule, the commentator suggested their next win will likely have to wait until next year.

The Washington Huskies have fared even worse, starting at 0-4, setting the stage for this years Apple Cup to be a battle for last place in the Pac-10.

I tell ya, it's been a pretty rough run for sports up here in the northwest over the last year. Maybe I should take up knitting.