Northwest Sports: In the Morning

The Husky women lost their top scorer--freshman Katelan Redmon, who tried to get out of her UW scholarship after June Daugherty was fired--will transfer. Coach Tia Jackson seemed surprised: "I never thought in a million years I would be revealing what I am today...Katelan has been an integral part of the success of our program this past season and an absolute gem to coach."

Ex-OSU linebacker Richard Seigler, who was cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers in May after being charged with--essentially--being a pimp, was cleared of all charges against him.

John Canzano calls out Portland hoops fans for failing to show up at the Rose Garden to see PSU win a trip to the dance, concluding: "Maybe you'd be $25 lighter in the wallet for it, but please, someone tell me where you can you buy goosebumps for less." John Canzano is pretty damn good.

The Times' Bud Withers fires an opening salvo in the "The Honeymoon's Over" phase of the Romar era: "Romar is a classy guy who built himself considerable capital during the Roy years. Next season will tell us a lot more about whether the Huskies can return to that rarefied neighborhood, or whether that era was more about Roy than Romar."

The West regional of the DII Women's Tourney is at Royal Brougham Pavilion this weekend. The Times' Terry Wood provides a primer. The #1 seed is undefeated SPU.

Bobby Jones signed with the Heat--his FOURTH team of this season. Looks like he'll get time, Pat Riley says "He just needs to break through, like a lot of these guys. Right place, right time." Jones played 19 minutes and scored 5 points in the Heat's loss to the Knicks last night.

Local events: Mexico will play China at Qwest April 16th, tickets go on sale Saturday. Also at Qwest--the Seattle Golf Show, this weekend. The Times has all the details.

Arthur Rhodes feeling good about his return to the Mariners after surgery. He tells the P-I's David Andreissen: "When I pitched there from 2000 to 2003 we were just like family. We had a great team, and the fans were great. This year we're going to go out and do the same thing. It was like a special moment for me, going back out there with the fans again. I'm feeling happy right now. I'm proud of myself. I worked hard. Now I'm just ready to go. It's an exciting day. I'm glad to be back out there. I felt like a little kid again. I just love going out and playing the game."

Brockman on sitting on the bench: "It was terrible. It was the worst feeling ever, sitting there on the bench. I wanted to run out on the court and check in."

Here's what Carlos Silva does at Christmas, writes TNT's Dave Boling:

The day after he signed his contract with the Mariners, just before Christmas, Silva and his wife flew to Venezuela.

It would have been appropriate if they had made the trip in a flying sleigh.

“Every year, I try to make it a bigger event,” he said of his annual appearance. “This year we helped at least 3,000 kids. We start on Dec. 23 and go the 24th and 25th. We visit the poor neighborhoods and we bring presents and food.”

It isn’t just a giveaway, though.

“It’s not like we go there and say, ‘Here’s your presents,’ ” Silva said. “We go and spend the whole day there; we play games and spend time with them. That’s the important thing. And they love it.”