Northwest Sports: In the Morning

PITCHERS AND CATCHERS REPORT TODAY!!!

Another day, another former Husky felony...
And this time we've upped the ante to double murder! Sigh. Spider Gaines, best known for his 78-yard miracle catch in the 1975 Apple Cup, is a suspect in the 1990 double murder of a Seattle lawyer and his roommate. (Via Husky Sports Blog)

A lesser Husky offense, Tim Morris' inbounds pass off Alfred Aboya's face, is still news...
John Wooden weighed in: "I would have jerked [Morris] out of the game immediately. And after the game he'd have heard about it. You do have to keep in mind that these are kids and they are going to get over-excited at times and are still not completely mature. But that is no excuse for what happened."

Romar responds to Wooden (via Bob Condotta): "Coach Wooden is the wisest man I’ve ever met. And I know that based on his comments he was probably upset by it...I’m not sure if he felt Tim did it intentionally or not and he reacted that way...I know how Coach is, and I understand what he said."

Morris also explains what happened on the play: "We were running a play where a couple of guys were cutting off. I looked and none of them were open. Coach Howland was in the way, so I couldn’t throw it deep and it was just a reaction."

Lorenzo Romar defends Morris: "I just know Tim Morris pretty well – I’ve known him since he was 2 years old – and Tim Morris is not a gangster, he’s not a thug...If Tim Morris would have reared back and taken aim at the guy’s face and hit him in the face, we would have had problems. Him and I would had problems. But that wasn’t what happened."

Tim Morris tells the Times' Bob Condotta he wasn't upset that Aboya refused his handshake after the game: "Honestly, I wouldn’t have either. Somebody hits you in the face, you’re not going to want to shake their hands afterward."

Other Husky basketball news...
How bad is the Huskies' free-throw shooting? It's so bad, writes TNT's Don Ruiz, that "as of last week, the Huskies would have ranked behind 10 of the 16 boys teams in the South Puget Sound League, where high schools such as Kentlake, Rogers, Curtis, Todd Beamer and Emerald Ridge are more accurate from an identical 15 feet."

Karma strikes, as Justin Holiday sprained an ankle in practice and may not play against the Oregon schools. This and other Pac-10 injury news from TNT's Don Ruiz.

Seattle's top daily columnists come through.
Art Thiel says that Jim Zorn's inexperience may not be as much of an issue as the fact he's too nice to succeed as an NFL coach. Writes Thiel: "As one former NFL player put it to me not long ago: 'To be a head coach in the NFL, you usually have to be an a--hole.'" Question--Isn't Jim Mora a nice guy? Discuss.

Steve Kelley catches up with Bob Sapp, who says after his NFL career ended he wasn't working and had only $3K in the bank when he started his wrestling career. After achieving mega-celebrity in Japan (he needs bodyguards to get through the streets of Tokyo), Sapp fights his first USS M.M.A. match on the 22nd at Emerald Queen. Sapp doesn't mind that he didn't make it in the NFL: "I've gotten to live so many people's dreams. People dream of playing in the NFL, of having a hit CD, of being in Hollywood movies, or being a pro wrestler, or playing college football. They dream of being able to travel the world. I've done all that. They say success is the best revenge, so I guess I've gotten my revenge on the NFL."

Reinforcements for the Hawks O-Line?
The Seahawks will talk contract with former Pro Bowl left guard Mike Wahle, reports the Times' Jose Miguel Romero.

John Morgan of Field Gulls is all for signing Wahle: "Wahle is consistently healthy, has the exact skill set Holmgren covets in a guard and shouldn't be terribly expensive. Guards last into their mid-thirties, so we're not talking about a washed up retread with little left to produce."

In other news...
The Seahawks need a new running backs coach after Jim Zorn poached Stump Mitchell.

Wally Szczerbiak is naming his son "Maximus.", reports the Times' Jayda Evans.

Opening rounds of the NCAA women's tourney will be at Hec Ed in both 2009 and 2010.

Rodney Stuckey is the 2007 Inland Northwest Amateur Male Athlete of the Year, and Jeremy Pargo is WCC Player of the Week, reports the Times.

Kurt Thomas and Wally Szczerbiak could be gone by the February 21 trading deadline, writes TNT's Eric D. Williams. Jayda Evans of the Times adds Earl Watson to that list.

I was at the Garfield/Inglemoor game last night, showing off Tony Wroten to a friend who'd never seen him before. Wroten came through with 29 points, some fantastic passes, and a ridiculous block in Garfield's 73-62 win. Wroten also took a charge on what looked like a game-tying layin late. As he walked the ball upcourt at the start of the fourth quarter, I saw him look up into the stands and nod to someone as if to say "I got this." Garfield plays Roosevelt Friday night at Juanita with a state berth at stake. I'll probably check out Beach vs. Prep in the Metro title game at Roosevelt, primarily because driving to the Eastside is a pain in my ass.

Today's games:
Blazers (28-23) @ Dallas (34-17), 5:30pm, KGW 8. One team will stop a losing streak--two straight for the Mavs, three straight for Portland. Last game 11/30, @ DAL 91, POR 80, Josh Howard had 23 pts and 14 rebs, Roy was 3-12.

Sonics (13-37) vs. Utah (33-19), 7pm, FSN. Last game 12/15 @ UTAH 96, SEA 75. Boozer 21 pts, 16 rebs. Tix on Craigslist: center court, row 17 for $80 per.