Northwest Sports: In the Morning

What is it about New Englanders and impersonating unknown athletes? Fifteen years after a Connecticut man served time in prison after pretending to be M's catcher Scott Bradley (among others), a Massachusetts man with the Dickensian name of Robbie Craven has been pretending he's a Sonics scout to get laid. At least he's honest about it, telling the P-I's Gary Washburn: "(The situation was) all brought on by an online dating thing. Craigslist. I lied to her. Does that mean I can go out there and represent the Sonics? No. Does that mean that I did it to get some (sex)? Absolutely." ...

Erik "The Ace" Bedard couldn't get through the fourth and the M's managed just four runs off of Joe Saunders, three of them unearned. Richie Sexson was 0-4, dropping his average below the Mendoza line, and Art Thiel says it's time for him to be released.

On the bright side, Dickey looked good, telling Geoff Baker his knuckleball was "his best ever." And Mark Lowe thinks he found his slider grip again. The M's play at 1:40 today.

Who might the Mariners pick in tomorrow's draft? Larry Stone lists who the mock drafts have us taking, and David Andriesen suggests a few names. "We're looking for starters, we're looking for relievers, and we're looking for left-handed bats with power," scouting director Bob Fountain tells Stone. The real fun will come next year, when the M's look likely to have one of the top picks.

Randy Johnson struck out Mike Cameron to pass Roger Clemens for #2 on the all-time strikeout list.

Yesterday's rain forced the Seahawks to practice at UW's Dempsey Indoor facility, writes Clare Farnsworth, which was pure torture for Coug Marcus Trufant: "Being around all that purple is a little scary at times. I just had to remember I'm not in college anymore."

The Storm lost despite rallying from a 16-point deficit. Lauren Jackson and Swin Cash, the Storm's leading scorers on the year, were a combined 7-25. On the bright side, Sheryl Swoopes may be finding her stroke, she shot 5-8, the first time she's shot better than 50% this season. Tonight the Storm play at Detroit at 4:30pm, the game will be on FSN (joined in progress, I assume, after the M's game is over).

The UW's Nick Taylor, who finished 2nd in the NCAA golf championships last weekend, qualified for the US Open yesterday by winning a tourney at Emerald Valley Golf Club in Creswell, Ore.

Did you know that Gonzaga has a player named Larry Gurganious? I didn't. Anyway, he's transferring.

Did you read about the girl who got kicked out of the Beaverton, OR boys basketball league because she was too good? Turns out her dad used to be Michelle Wie's agent.