Your Seattle Sports Weekend: Midwest Edition

This weekend the Seattle sports world parachutes into a Midwestern hot pocket as footballers Sounders FC, Huskies, and Seahawks play within about 300 miles of each other in Indiana and Ohio. Their respective opponents are tough. We're hoping at least two, if not all three squads win, because we think imbibing is much more fun in victory than in defeat.

What to watch in chronological order:

Saturday 12:30 p.m., the Huskies take on Notre Dame -- a school they've never beaten in seven tries. The Dawgs flirted with a Top 25 ranking last week before Stanford ran them (literally) out of Palo Alto. Hopefully coaches have patched the porous defense, and ND's Touchdown Jesus will witness his first Husky victory, ever, Amen.

At 4:30 p.m., the Sounders try to solidify their playoff chances against the defending MLS champion Columbus Crew. Sounders Head Coach Sigi Schmid's former team is atop the league again, and riding a 24-game home winning streak. We know the Sounders have a frustrating 11 ties this season, but would be glad to take one here.

Sunday 1:00 p.m., The Seahawks kickoff against the undefeated Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium and Car Wash. Other than winning, the injury-plagued Hawks' goal will presumably be to not get hurt, because we're running out of players to wear those poppin' new green jerseys.

Finally, not to be forgotten, we'll watch the Mariners' season finale Sunday night at Safeco Field. Win or lose, they'll finish 2009 with a winning record and a collective pat on the back. The cliffhanger will be whether Ken Griffey Jr. continues the great nostalgia tour next season.

Here's hoping you do, Kid.