Northwest Sports: In the Morning

Bennett email fallout...
Seattle is showing its mettle in the fight against Clay Bennett, writes Steve Kelley.

Those emails reveal that Clay Bennett is a master manipulator, writes John McGrath.

Let's give up on the Sonics and build around the Sounders and Storm, writes Crosscut publisher David Brewster. (He has a healthy bit of enmity for Art Thiel. MEDIA FIGHT!)

Downtown Fred Brown's been wanting to get involved with the Sonics for a while now, writes Gary Washburn.

David Swidler of Seattlest wonders--will Paul Allen agree to kill the Sonics?

Yakama Sun Kings fans don't get a long legal fight. Yesterday, the team shut down.

M's lost again...
John McLaren's plan to go into the Angels series with momentum didn't work out so well, writes Geoff Baker.

Unlike M's pitchers, Angels pitchers are stepping up for their injured comrades, writes David Andriesen.

Kenji Johjima says he just needs one hit to get him out of his slump, writes John Hickey. Johjima has never had a slump this bad, and he's pressing, writes Ryan Divish.

Miguel Batista didn't have his usual velocity yesterday, but he managed a decent start by inducing pop-ups and soft grounders, writes Baker.

Eric O'Flaherty's problem has been that he can't get his fastball over, writes Jeff of Lookout Landing.

Good Sonics news...
Sene won NBDL co-Defensive Player of the Year.

On the college scene...
It's hasn't been a bad year for Husky athletics if you're a crew fan. The men are ranked #1, and the women are #4.

Brandon Johnson tells Don Ruiz the most important thing he learned from Louis Rankin was patience: "When I was first here I was just shooting through the holes. He was being more patient, so he was having the longer runs. He taught me how to be patient, so now I’m having the longer runs." The guys who sat behind me at the Stanford game screaming "stop dancing!" at Rankin all game are not going to like this...

At least one Husky player prefers Ed Donatell to Kent Baer, writes Molly Yanity.

Coug WR Daniel Blackledge patterns himself after Michael Bumpus, writes Todd Milles.

Despite losing Yvenson Bernard, the Beavers feel good about their running backs, writes Paul Buker.

Solo watch...
Hope Solo recorded a shutout as the US women clinched a berth in the Olympics.