If you're wondering what happens to the lesser-known bands who used to play Seattle at the Croc, evidence from the sports world shows that you ought to look for them in Kent. Or not at all. As you read, those Seattlests who do follow music weren't too concerned about losing the Croc. Neumos and Chop Suey are the places to go--they book well-known bands (well-known to music types, at least). The Croc booked lesser-known bands,......

After seeing him for the first time last night, Tony Wroten, Garfield's 6-4 9th-grade point guard prodigy, just vaulted to the top of our list of the best things about living in Seattle. You will pay $8 to see Wroten play in some musty high school gym at some point in the next four years, and he will make a pass or a juke or a slam dunk that will make you turn to the......

Franklin vs. Garfield is one of the Seattle sports events that you just shouldn't miss. Here's what we wrote about it for The Stranger in September:True local hoops fans don't miss this game between two perennial inner-city basketball powerhouses, even at the cost of connubial tranquility. The 2005 game at Garfield fell on Valentine's Day, but happily married Husky basketball coach Lorenzo Romar was there anyway. A win in this game means neighborhood bragging rights......

All hail Lofa Tatupu and the Seahawks defense. But mostly Lofa Tatupu. While the offense (311 total yards) and the special teams (2 missed field goals, 30.4 yards per punt, that late game return) were shitting the bed in today's win over the Eagles, the defense forced four punts, two interceptions, a missed field goal, and a turnover on downs on the Eagles' last eight drives. Tatupu, who had three interceptions including the game-clincher, should......

So you're gonna look at that score and think this game was a blowout, but the Sonics--despite a career-high 39 from Dwight Howard--were actually within one point with as late as 4:22 left. They got there--despite having been down 15 at the start of the 4th--because P.J. Carlesimo finally figured out a way to make Kevin Durant an asset on defense instead of a liability--by having him front Howard while Kurt Thomas kept between Howard......

Redmond native and actual Guitar Hero Carrie Brownstein did some work on the advertising of the game Rock Band. You might have seen these commercials; four rocker-lookin types sit around and cut on each other in the jaded and weary fashion of musicians on the road. That's not her work, thank god. She was on a different team pushing a different concept. Anyway, she's got an article up at Slate today about her experiences with......

When you allow a team to reach the century mark in the 3rd quarter, you aren't going to win a lot of games. Unless you're the 1979-80 San Antonio Spurs. The Sonics did enough on offense to win tonight: Eight guys scored in double figures, led by Delonte West's 17. But on defense...oy. Stromile Swift (the one Swift in the NBA who doesn't bring shame on his surname) put 24 on the Sonics, with putbacks,......

It's been a while since we've heard from The Forms. The Brooklyn four-piece put out their debut album Icarus in 2003 to widespread acclaim, with the Steve Albini-produced work earning an 8.5 from Pitchfork for its "wiry, punchy, indie pop with refreshingly un-hackneyed time-signature games and judiciously placed dissonant chords." And then? Nothing. Till this year, when their cover of "Ignoreland" was included in Stereogum’s fifteenth anniversary tribute to R.E.M.’s Automatic For The People,......

Bill Resler, beloved coach of the Roosevelt High School girls basketball team, which was featured in the documentary Heart of the Game, was fired on the eve of the season, reports the Times' Craig Smith. Roosevelt administrators aren't saying why, at least not publicly. Privately, according to Resler, they're telling parents he held forbidden offseason practices, which Resler denies. Smith cites previous complaints against Resler that he encourages rough play and sometimes swears. Those haven't......

Being born about three decades too late early to appreciate Go, Diego, Go LIVE: The Great Jaguar Rescue, a musical based on the TV show of the same name, we sent our two-year-old nephew. Seattlest: How did you like Go, Diego, Go? Our Two-Year-Old Nephew: (swaying from side-to-side) Goooood. Seattlest: Did you have fun? Our Two-Year-Old Nephew:: Yes. Seattlest: What was your favorite part? Our Two-Year-Old Nephew:: (Prolonged silence) Wow, we had no idea that......

The Mariners have hired longtime coach and manager Lee Elia as a consultant. Elia--who had two tours as a Mariner coach in the 90s--will likely have no impact on what the Mariners do in 2008, but his hiring gives us all the excuse we need to post the below, which may be the greatest rant in the history of the world. Elia was manager of the Cubs at the time. His team was on a......

The Sonics open their season tonight in Denver. Game's at 7:30, you can watch it on FSN. If the Sonics' owners weren't trying to move them, we'd probably write about how this is a rebuilding year for the franchise, about how this season isn't really about winning but about watching Durant and #5-pick Jeff Green learn how to play in the NBA. We'd write that the Sonics' front office wisely brought in a couple......

In 2004, Ken Jennings redefined success on Jeopardy!, banking over $2,500,000 as he won 74 games. Those of us who get paid in bar credit know it's hard to make a living through trivia, but Jennings has done it. He turned his obligatory cash-in-on-your-15-minutes book, Brainiac, into something much better and broader, an examination of trivia history and culture. He also moved from Utah to the Seattle area. That, and Brainiac's paperback release tomorrow, gave......

Yes, the World Series starts tonight, starring Joe Buck and Tim McCarver (at least that's what they'd say). A special treat for Mariner fans: both starting catchers were once members of the Mariners organization. Yorvit Torrealba played 42 games for the dismal '05 Mariners after coming over in the equally dismal Randy Winn trade. U.S.S. Mariner dubbed him JoeJessica as a mnemonic device to remember his actual name. Jason Varitek was a #1 draft pick......

Lately the Seahawks' offense has been about as offensive as a Bastyr College commencement address. Against Pittsburgh on Sunday, they didn't score once (much like your average Bastyr College commencement speaker, unless we're talking about scoring weed). What's wrong? Well, it sure ain't the coach. Mike Holmgren has called the plays for four Super Bowl teams--as easy as it is to blame the coach, we can rule it out in this case. Thus, it's the......

Mack Strong, who's played more games as a Seahawk than all but one other player, has a cracked vertebrae in his neck. He won't play football again, KOMO is reporting. Strong's appearance against Pittsburgh yesterday was his 201st game as a Seahawk, pushing him past Steve Largent (200) for second place on the all-time Hawks games-played list. The only player above Strong is Joe Nash (218). Strong's career numbers: Games: 201 Rushes: 230 Rushing Yards:......

An NFL-record streak ended today with the Seahawks' loss to the Steelers. Shaun Alexander had had a run of at least ten yards in 68 consecutive games. But not today. Alexander's longest run, which came late in the fourth quarter, was only eight yards. He rushed for 25 yards on 11 carries, his worst game since 11/17/02 at Denver, when he had 18 yards on 11 carries. But, as Alexander himself stated in "The Road......

Rockstar Seattlest commenter (ex; you're dead to us, Jake) 8bitjake had the scoop earlier this week for those that were paying attention. He got an email from a friend at the Eastside game studio Bungie: "So heres my big secret. You should google Bungie + Microsoft + separation this week. You know that big ol BILLION dollar franchise Bungie has created for Microsoft, to show their appreciate Microsoft is letting Bungie leave. Of course Microsoft......

The Mariners announced yesterday that Manager John McLaren and General Manager Bill Bavasi will both be back next year. McLaren took over in mid-season, the team was 40-41 under his guidance. 2008 will be Bavasi's fourth year as Mariners GM. Out in blogland, they've been calling for McLaren's head since the M's went on a 15 of 17 losing jag, one of the biggest collapses by a contending team in baseball history. The main complaint:......

In April we asked our Bay Area sports correspondent Bob Arkansas to preview the AL West, now he's back to give his thought on Sunday's NFC Showdown. Greetings my soggy friends in the Northwest Province! The last time I wrote something for the Seattlest it was a season preview for the Mariners and pretty much every prediction that I made was wrong. These brilliant insights included the Mariners losing more games than they'd win, finishing......

It's official, Seattlest has a new love: The Georgetown Liquor Company. The draw? Well it's got the words "liquor company" right there in the name which should be enough, but we know that you, our dear readers, demand more substance to make a recommendation valid. Thankfully, when we showed up we found that it's got a well-tended, full bar, all the excellent food is vegetarian and it has old-school console video games like the Atari......

After enjoying last weekend's Washington Brewer's Oktoberfest, we are now preparing ourselves for this weekend's Fremont Oktoberfest. The festivities start at 5pm tonight and continue through Sunday. So, you should have plenty of time to make it to the festival (Without missing any important football games…). There will be a pumpkin carving contest using chainsaws, a 5k Run/Walk on Sunday morning, musical entertainment and a "Dog Day" on Sunday afternoon. But, as is the......

After paying for a financial feasibility study, the Muckleshoot tribe announced today that they'd be willing to donate land for an NBA arena down there in Auburn. The land is more or less here: The Muckleshoots' study indicated that people who attend Sonics games are no less likely to go to the games if they are in Auburn than if they are at Key Arena, and there's a certain logic there. As for us, we......

As we were ducking out of yet another Garfield blowout loss to Franklin, we joked to our friends, "What if the Huskies and Seahawks lose too! That would sure suck." But the Huskies were only three point underdogs, and the Seahawks favored to beat lowly Arizona, so we laughed the laugh of a man who's about to go late to a dinner party. We were still laughing at halftime of the Husky game, having moseyed......

Other than the Apple Cup, Garfield High vs. Franklin High is the best sports rivalry this area has to offer. Both are "inner-city schools" (with all that connotes), and the guys on the teams have usually been playing against each other since they were kids. Winning this game means bragging rights in the neighborhood until you die. Unexpected things happen at rivalry games--like when we went last year, and Nate Robinson was there to watch......

While you're enjoying an unseasonably sunny summer afternoon, we will be at Safeco Field, showing our undying support for the 2007 Seattle Mariners, authors of one of the greatest collapses in baseball history. We're not fairweather fans, not us. We gallantly display our pride for the local nine, those proud lads who...um...ok, fine, we lucked into a free ticket and didn't have other plans. Anyway, misery loves company, so we've fired up the Seattlest History-O-Matic......

Well, that was spectacular. From the heady days of August 25th, when the M's were three up in the wild card and only one back in the division, had won two straight in Texas, when we were all excited about Blue-za-palooza or whatever the fuck it was...to now, after 11 losses in 12 games, when we're all pretty much in wait 'till next year mode. You've all seen the boat sink, here are the numbers.......

There's an article bemoaning our pending loss of Daly's Drive-In in Eastlake in the Post Intelligencer today (with accompanying blog item--probably both inspired by a slightly previous blog item from the Stranger) headlined "Popular drive-in on way out." The thing is, Daly's isn't popular. It should be, and it was, but it isn't. Red Mill Burgers, say, the Phinney location, is popular. There's always a line out the door and it takes forever to......

Seattlest's heart's cockles always get warmed when we see a bunch of people who choose to ride their bikes to get around get together, so we were predisposed to love Northwest Film Forum's Second Seattle Annual Bike-In last night. (Almost getting slammed by a driver opening her car door while riding over probably added to our joy at making it there.) Unlike most communal bike events in Seattle (Critical Mass, Bike to Work Day), the......

Your Seattle Mariners played their biggest series in four seasons this week. With a chance to overtake the first place Angels if they could win three games, the Mariners won zero games. They got outscored 24-8. Ever see that thing they do at the zoo where hippos eat pumpkins? It was like that. Much of the blame is gonna come down on Mariner manager John McLaren, who took the interesting step of using his worst......