Seattle Sports: In the Morning

Sports are crazy, so of course the Sonics snap their 14-game losing streak against the NBA's defending champs. They beat San Antonio at Key Arena last night, 88-85. "It was like we won the championship," said Durant, who hit the go-ahead shot with 32 seconds to go.
Sonics 10-35, 18.5 GB of final playoff spot, next game Thursday at home vs. Cleveland.

The Sonics vs. city trial is set for June, which is likely too late to get a resolution that would allow the team to move to OKC for 2008-09. If you're hoping for some sympathetic sports fan of a judge, forget it. Marsha Perlman, who'll adjudicate the case, said: "I have almost no knowledge or no interest in professional sports."

John Hickey says the Santana trade should help the Mariners get Bedard.

On media day at the Super Bowl, Patriots FB and ex-Hawk Heath Evans had a message for Shaun Alexander's detractors, telling TNT's Frank Hughes: "I watched fans who praised him and set up pep rallies (in 2005) to re-sign the MVP, and they boo him. Which is absolutely ridiculous to me...to watch people do that to him, I have no respect for anybody like that. You’d be a fool to cut somebody like him. Let him get healthy. He is the best there is when he has the ball in his hands."

The Seattle Times "Victory & Ruins" series on the 2000 Huskies wraps up with a look at academics, and the somewhat uplifting story of Anthony Kelley, who struggled in school but is now working on his masters. But it's clear that Kelley was the exception. Many students didn't take academics seriously, saw themselves as football players only.

They also have a response from UW Prez Mark Emmert: "The cases that have been portrayed in this series of stories are shocking and deeply disturbing. They are exactly the kinds of things you don't want the athletic program or any other type of program to represent." But, he adds, "You do not have to give up your values to be competitive in sports."

The story went national yesterday, or at least national blog, with Deadspin and Jezebel writing extremely unflattering posts.

After Oregon's Pit Crew shouted derogatory comments about Kevin Love's sexuality, his family, and Brian Wilson's drug abuse (Love's related to the Beach Boys), Ernie Kent took the PA and demanded better behavior, writes John Hunt of the Oregonian. Oregon's AD also apologized to Love, Love's dad, and Ben Howland. Said Kent: "I just think there's no place for that in college basketball, I really don't. I was very disappointed and made the necessary adjustments, and hopefully it won't happen again."

Franklin beat Inglemoor in a double OT thriller, clinching the Kingco Lake Division crown.

Prep beat O'Dea, they've now got a two-game lead in the Metro Mountain division with three games to play.

Roosevelt beat Redmond to hold on to a one-game lead in Kingco's Mountain Division.

Here's how the local district and league playoffs will work, courtesy of the P-I's Derek Belt and Darren Fessenden.