Seattle Sports: In the Morning

Sonics got stomped by the Cavs, 95-79. They've lost six of their last seven.

These four women bought the Storm.

What's this? Praise for Clay Bennett? From Seattle city attorney Tom Carr, re the Storm sale: "I view this as an incredible act of good faith on Mr. Bennett’s part. He could have used the Storm as leverage, but instead chose to help preserve their basketball heritage in Seattle. I hope that this bodes well for the future relationship between the Professional Basketball Club and the City of Seattle."

Goose Gossage made the Hall of Fame--he'll be the second ex-Mariner in the Hall, the other being Gaylord Perry. Larry Stone got a
memory of Gossage's Mariner days out of John McLaren, then a coach. Rookie Roger Salkeld strolled into the bullpen late, and Gossage had a thought for him: "Rog, let me ask you a question. I've been in the big leagues 25 years. I can't remember which year you won the Cy Young Award."

The M's signed veteran second baseman Miguel Cairo to a one-year deal. This gives the M's an alternative should Jose Lopez go in the tank again. Also, Cairo's deal is a major league one. With Willie Bloomquist also signed to a guaranteed deal, there's no chance for Mike Morse to make the team, which is crappy. I like Mike Morse.

Brian Russell tells Clare Farnsworth that he doesn't think trickery will help the Hawks on Sunday against Brett Favre: "He's seen every coverage. You're not going to fool him. You might as well stop disguising."

Former UCLA center Swen Nater--who backed up Bill Walton at UCLA--remembers some rowdy behavior by Coug fans: "I enjoyed playing at Wazzu, too. When Keith Wilkes was shooting a free throw over there, they mooned him. I don't know if they practiced that or not." This from Dan Raley's ongoing and consistently fascinating Where Are They Now? series. Nater, writes Raley, is an assistant buyer for Costco.

Ryan Feierabend doesn't exactly blame Mariner fans for his awful second-half, but he gets close, saying how much getting booed in the Griffey game threw him off: "That took my breath away, getting booed in our home stadium. I thought, 'Oh my God, this is really happening.'" Perhaps the M's should've started another pitcher in that game, not a rookie? Just a thought.

The Mariners have until the end of January to trade for Eric Bedard. After that, Bedard's off the market. So reports the Herald's Kirby Arnold.

Deion Branch ran on the side during practice. Heal, calf, heal!

I can't make heads or tails of the TV situation for the UCLA game Thursday. Apparently it will be on Fox Prime Ticket, whatever that is. I have four Fox sports channels, but not that one. Basically, if you want to watch the game live, head to a bar. The Wazzu game is live on Fox Sports Northwest at 7:30, with the UW/UCLA game afterwards on delay.

Since 1960, the Dawgs have played in Pauley Pavilion every year, and have won only three times: 1980, 1987, and 2006. The 2006 win was the same day as the Hawks previous playoff win over Washington.

Image via LiveJournal