Gov. Jay Inslee happily sent off the Apple Cup trophy to a sea of Huskies players at WSU’s Martin Stadium after Washington won in 2016. It would be good to see the trophy change hands Friday. / Office of the Governor I thought the worst part of my Tuesday was over when I left the dental office after a root canal. Then I worked the Sounders playoff game. Sadly, no pain-numbing medications were made available. Hey, Major League Soccer: Work on that, willya? Yes, I’m aware that five years earlier, the Sounders played a similar no-shots-on-goal game in Toronto, and…
Author: Art Thiel
Art Thiel
Never having met a metaphor he could not twist beyond recognition, Art has been illuminating, agitating, amusing and annoying Puget Sound sports readers for a long time. Along with Steve Rudman, he co-founded Sports Press Northwest because it didnt seem right that the Google monster should aggregate daily journalism into oblivion without at least a flesh wound from somebody. Thiel and Rudman labored under the Seattle Post-Intelligencer globe until the print edition died an undeserved death in March, 2009. Art continued on at its online successor seattlepi.com while working on SPNWs creation. His radio commentaries can be heard Friday and Saturday mornings and Friday afternoon on KPLU-FM 88.9. In 2003 he wrote the definitive book about the Seattle Mariners, Out of Left Field, which became a regional bestseller. In 2009, along with Rudman and KJR 950 afternoon host Mike Gastineau, Thiel authored The Great Book of Seattle Sports Lists, a cross between historylink.org and Mad Magazine that has become mandatory reading for any sports fan who has an indoor bathroom. A graduate of Pacific Lutheran University as well as two dead papers and a live one, the News Tribune of Tacoma, he has become a fan of entrepreneurial online journalism because it allows him to continue a lifelong passion to take the English language to places it rarely visits willingly, and does not involve the cleaning of kennels or stables.
Sounders midfielder Nicolas Benezet keeps possession past RSL’s Pablo Ruiz Tuesday the playoff opener at Lumen Field. / SoundersFC.com Any witness to the proceedings Tuesday night at the Loo would have no difficulty identifying the superior team. Just as any followers of the Seattle Sounders in 2021 would have no difficulty understanding how their team, on a late-season fade, ended up losing to a foe that never managed a shot on goal in 120 minutes of professional soccer. Still, it was still hard to comprehend how dominance turned to despair for the most successful team over the past 13 Major…
WR A.J. Green catches a 31-yard pass, Arizona’s longest of the day, after CB Tre Brown goes down with patellar tendon injury. Knee surgery will end the promising rookie’s season. / Drew McKenzie, Sportspress Northwest Awkward as it is for Seattle fans to think of the Seahawks out of realistic playoff contention before Thanksgiving, imagine coach Pete Carroll feeling compelled to teach Sports Psychology 101 in the middle of a pro football season. After five losses in six games, including the first three-game losing streak in the pro career of Russell Wilson, counseling is on the coaching agenda. Hey, it…
The photo of Pete Carroll was taken before Sunday’s game at the Loo against Arizona. Afterward, the smile disappeared. / Drew McKenzie, Sportspress Northwest The Seahawks have no idea why it’s happening. But at least they know what is happening. “It’s shocking,” said SS Jamal Adams. “Seattle is not used to this.” As it is turning out, that’s part of the problem. Especially for Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. He’s like an airplane pilot who was never taught how to pull up the nose. “I’m not prepared for this,” he said. “I’m struggling to do a good job of coaching when…
WR Rome Odunze scores on an eight-yard pass in the second quarter Saturday against Colorado in Boulder. / Washington Athletics The unenviable task of the interim coach is to convince players that matters are not as bad as they are. So he tries things to elevate. To motivate. To distract. To ignore. To minimize. Huskies interim head coach Bob Gregory’s tactic Tuesday at Washington’s weekly press briefing was to wear a black T-shirt with yellow letters that read: PLAY WITH JOY. Turned out it wasn’t quite as effective as fictional soccer coach Ted Lasso’s “Believe.” But what the hell. If…
Seahawks DE Carlos Dunlap takes down Arizona QB Kyler Murray on a game-saving sack a year ago at the Loo in a 28-21 Seattle win. / Corky Trewin, Seattle Seahawks If I were a betting man, I would find a way to jump on the back of Usain Bolt and run away as fast and as far as possible from wagering on the Seahawks-Cardinals game Sunday. Since the teams’ hopes for success depend heavily on premier quarterbacks recovering from injuries, any wise guy who says he believes he knows what’s going on with Russell Wilson or Kyler Murray probably also…
The first day back on the job, Russell Wilson had a bad one in Green Bay. / Drew McKenzie, Sportspress Northwest Of all the ponderables in a game that featured a Russell Wilson-led offense getting zero points, one stood out: The Seahawks offense targeted wide receivers 23 times and produced six receptions, which is about five more than what SpongeBob SquarePants could have done (he figures to connect once going deep). The problem in the 17-0 flop at Green Bay Sunday wasn’t just that Wilson’s repaired finger impeded his throws; it was also the month away from practices and games.…
Packers CB and former Huskies star Kevin King turned around to intercept Russell Wilson’s third-quarter pass in the end zone in front of WR DK Metcalf. / Drew McKenzie, Sportspress Northwest When an NFL team coming off a 12-win season with a $35 million quarterback and the best receiver tandem in the game gets shut out, the questions are almost without end. Russell Wilson would like the answer for all to be confined to his two interceptions. “I got to play better, and that was on me,” he said after the 17-0 loss (box) at Green Bay Sunday that was…
The University Bridge was broken, covid lingers, the weather was bad and the Huskies are mediocre, so excuses were plenty for staying away from Husky Stadium Saturday. Still . . . / Art Thiel, Sportspress Northwest As long as the Huskies have an 0-12 under coach Tyrone Willingham, there will always be the floor of 2008, below which no season can go. Yet, five years after making the College Football Playoff, they are 4-6 and were playing Saturday night at Husky Stadium with an interim head coach less than 24 hours before head coach Jimmy Lake was fired by the…
In case you forgot what he looked like, here’s Russell Wilson not long before he was injured against the Rams Oct. 7. / Drew McKenzie, Sportspress Northwest In Cheese World, there was a thought this week advanced by a local columnist that the Packers should consider deliberately not playing QB Aaron Rodgers Sunday against the Seahawks, even if he is released Saturday from COVID-19 protocol, the rationale being that the 10-day layoff from quarantine might pose a higher risk of injury. For the 7-2 Packers, a single potential loss now would be better than losing him for weeks, and because…