Eight Things a Seattle Sports Fan can be Thankful for
Yes, we Seattle sports fans have spent the last couple of years in a horrible purgatory. Our once competitive cadre of teams crumbled. The city was banished from the Top 50 of municipal sport elite. There was wailing and grinding of teeth.
But Thanksgiving is always a time to reflect and, by the restorative powers of gravy, realize that no matter how much we think our life sucks, it actually doesn’t suck all that bad.
So in that spirit, we thought it would be appropriate to highlight the things a sports lover in Seattle can still be thankful for. We tried to do a Top 10, but, um, we couldn’t come up with that many.
We start with...
8. Our play-by-play announcers. Specifically the trinity of Dave Niehaus, Bob Rondeau, and Kevin Calabro. If you've ever tried to listen to announcers in other cities, you know that we are incredibly blessed. We once watched a Sounders game online, called by the other team's play-by-play guy who used the word "spiffy" at least four times. Meanwhile in the other booth, you had Calabro, who, in his Sonics days, was known to refer to a three-pointer as a "shocker--two in the cake, and one in the pudding." Eat your heart out, Maya Angelou.
7. Sounders FC scarves. Best way to keep your neck warm when the power goes out. Again.
6. Seattle University Men’s Basketball. They're on their way back with the big boys now, playing their first full Division I schedule in almost 30 years. Seattle U is still in the five-year transition period during which it doesn't have a home conference and isn't eligible for the NCAA Tournament. But some day Dawgs vs. Redhawks on the national stage could happen. In the meantime, thanks guys for keeping the lights on at The Key.
This Friday and Saturday, 2:30pm in at the HoopTV Las Vegas Invitational, 710 ESPN.
5. The Seattle Mist. Look. If we're not going to let women in lingerie serve us coffee, then can we at least allow them to play full contact tackle football? Thank you. The Mist, if you didn't know, are Seattle's entry in the Lingerie Football League. They play in Kent. And say what you will about them, but we wouldn’t want to take the field against this group, especially in our skivvies. Well, ok maybe.
Next game this Friday against the Los Angeles Temptation.
4. Husky Basketball. The Dawgs maintain a #14 national ranking early in the season, but they're already shoring up the future, kind of. While turkey gives you a food coma this week, Turkey, as in the country, has given us Enes Kanter. That country's top basketball prospect, Kanter is 17, 6-foot-10, 240 pounds, and an absolute monster. He's also reportedly committed to play for UW in 2010. Experts say he'll probably go to the NBA after a year. For right now he's playing HS ball in Simi Valley, CA, presumably scaring the bejeezus out of freshmen in PE class.
Next game Sunday vs. Montana at Hec-Ed.
3. Cougs Football. In this weekend's Apple Cup they'll be starting, as a friend put it, "the terrifying" Kevin Lopina at QB. We know that in sports there's no such thing as a guaranteed win, but for the Dawgs, this is a guaranteed win.
Apple Cup, Husky Stadium, 3:30pm PT.
2. Solid High School Football. It was a pretty good football season around these parts, with schools like Bothell, Skyline, and perennial power Bellevue making headlines. We'll remember Friday nights more fondly than Saturdays or Sundays, at least this year.
Class 4A State Semifinals, #1 Bothell vs. #2 Skyline, Saturday 7 p.m. at the Tacoma Dome
1. The Sea Gals --because let’s face it. They’re the glue holding that whole operation together now.
