Earl Thomas Saga Has Ugly Turn

In today's Sunday Seattle Times, Seahawk beat writer Bob Condotta wrote about the Arizona Cardinals stadium being a "house of horrors".  He had remembered the Seahawk defeat in the 2014 Super Bowl in the final minutes in that very stadium to the New England Patriots.  As well as other unfortunate happenings to the team.  

He could not have been more correct as the Seahawks lost Safety Earl Thomas, very likely for good in that very stadium.  It was probably the most hollow victory.  The Seahawks won the game, but Earl Thomas injured his leg and by all accounts is lost for the season.  Tight End Will Dissly also left the game due to injury

However, the sad part was Thomas's giving the Seahawk bench the "finger".  Thomas had held out for a new contract over the summer.  He came back after the team wouldn't blink and played well.  Since a new deal did not look possible, he was hoping for a trade. 

So it was a win for the Seahawks who are now even for the season at 2 and 2, but you can bet, no won was celebrating on the short trip  home. 

Spurrier Attends Cougar Game

I had to do a double take when I saw legendary coach and Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurrier in the broadcast booth at the Utah vs WSU game yesterday. 
His son Steve Jr, is the outside receivers coach for the Cougs.  Spurrier said it was his first trip to Pullman.

Diaz Gets 57th Save

Edwin Diaz probably has had easier innings, but he was able to preserve a 4-1 Mariner victory over the Texas Rangers. That ties him for 2nd with Bobby Thigpen for saves in a single season.

Jefferson Airplane Lead Singer Marty Balin Dead

Marty Balin, lead singer and co founder of the San Francisco based psychedelic rock group Jefferson Airplane is dead at 76.  It was the second loss of a major player in the group as guitarist Paul Kantner died in early 2016.
Balin left the group after the death of Janis Joplin, fearful of the Rock lifestyle.  He would reunite with some of the members of the group to form the mid 1970s pop group, Jefferson Starship. The group was a smashing success with hits like "Miracles".
He would leave the group for good in 2008

The Park At Issaquah Highlands

Outside of Blakely Hall in the Highlands, there is a circle of the street with a park in the middle. 

Gloria Hatcher-Mays Gets Slog Attention

Gloria Hatcher-Mays, 5th Legislative District Democratic State Committeeman, has gotten recognition in the Slog, the blog for The Stranger, an independent newspaper in the Seattle area.
The article points out that Hatcher-Mays has had comments made on Dino Rossi's Facebook
page have been deleted by Rossi or his staff.   Rossi is campaigning to replace fellow Republican Dave Reichert for Washington's 8th district seat in Congress.
I have worked with Gloria in the 5th LD on endorsements.   In addition to being active in Democratic politics, she also serves in the non-partisan position of Fire Commissioner. 

Neighborhood Bar Provides Chance To Watch Seahawks

We watched last Sunday's Seahawk game at The Barking Dog in Ballard.  We were in North Seattle for a stone unveiling (Jewish Ceremony) for my step mom and wanted to stay in the area afterwards to catch what we could of  the game.  
As the name would imply, it was dog friendly and we brought in our golden retriever.  It has a full menu and a large selection of beers, spirits, etc.,.
What is really striking about the bar is it is in the middle of a residential neighborhood, so you get that local "flavor" of the area.
The Barking Dog is located at 705 NW 70th in Seattle.

Mox Boarding House

We met our work staff Saturday at Mox Boarding House in Bellevue for games and dinner.  We all had a great time.  The games are free to be played on site.  The restaurant has a full menu.

Mox Boarding House in Bellevue is located at 13310 Bel Red Rd.

Seattle City Council Approves Key Arena Remodel

The Seattle City Council, often accused of being anti business, anti sports and anti mainstream, has unanimously approved a remodel Seattle's Key Arena in a principally privately financed deal.  The new arena will be home to the Seattle Storm, who just won it's third championship, and hopefully an NHL expansion team.
The long range goal will be to bring an NBA franchise back to the area.
The last scheduled event in the Key in it's present form is an October 5th NBA game between the Golden State Warriors , featuring ex Sonic Kevin Durant and the Sacramento Kings, who at one time had been thought to have been ready to move to this area.

Blue Friday

Seahawk fans wear blue to cheer the team to victory.

Phlash Phelps KRXY Olympia, Washington December 1999

I'm so mad that Phlash Phelps has different hours. He used to be on Sirius/XM 60s on 6 until 10am. Now he is off at 8. I love listening to him on the radio. Here he is working in Olympia prior to getting the satellite radio gig.

World Series And The High Holidays 1967

I'm going to try to tie two things together that may seem unrelated so let me set up the background. In grade school in Walla Walla, every student who had a perfect attendance would get to stand up in front of the school.  As part of the handful of observant Jews in Walla Walla, we would not get the chance to do so.  The reason is that we would go to shul instead of school during the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. The spacing between the two holidays guarantees that in no year, would both holidays  occur over the weekend.   

My Grandmother Esther Barer (bottom picture with my Grandpa) was a very special woman, she was deeply involved with the community.  She organized the local Sunshine Club, The Garden Club, and other clubs in town.  She was tall in stature, loud and extroverted.  A native of Portland Oregon and a devout Jew, she taught Sunday School.  Of course at the time,  the student body consisted of my sister and me .  She was determined that all the Barer children would grow up and be aware of their Jewish heritage in spite of living in a town where Judaism was probably the town's smallest sustaining community.

As a child, I did not like any sports at all, at least until I was assigned by a tutor to write a paper about baseball.  Somehow, overnight, I became a lover of sports.  I began collecting baseball cards and read about sports history, wanting to watch and talk about it as much as I could.  

I watched my first World Series game on TV on October 5th, 1967, the second game of the series at my Grandma's house.   I was out of school because of Rosh Hashana (I thought it was Yom Kippur through the years, but research proved otherwise). I remember it was an exciting series between the St Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox, at the time, the games were played in the day and the Series was as big as the Super Bowl is today.  School students would bring transistor radios to listen to the games. Grandma had brought me home after the services.   My sister went to school that day.  She wanted to get perfect attendance recognition.   

My Grandmother was furious, she said that we need to go to services on the High Holidays.  In her loud voice, she emphasized the importance of going to service on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.  

I think she may have been as angry with my parents as she was with my sister.  In any case, every year, no matter where I have lived, I have always attempted to attend all High Holliday services.

I'm still a big sports fan and have watched many World Series games on TV.  I still have never attended one as yet, although I've been to many MLB games.  I don't remember if my sister was perfect in attendance for that year.

Yom Kippur Begins Tonight

Seattle Storm Honored

In true Seattle fashion, it was a rainy day as the city honored the WNBA champion Seattle Storm with a parade and rally at Key Arena.  Thanks to Crosscut for the story and picture of  Storm veteran Sue Bird with the Championship trophy. (middle picture)
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan declared 1st Ave North outside Key Arena will be renamed Seattle Storm Way. (Bottom picture)  It was the Storm's third WNBA championship. Bird, was a part of all 3 championship runs.  The first in 2004 after Bird was on the US team that won the Gold Medal in Women's basketball in the Summer Olympics in the same year.

Cougar Flag

The. Cougar flag is a tradition on ESPN's Game Day.  There is actually two flags, the one you see in this picture and a white and crimson one that often appears. 
Cougar supporters take the flags wherever Game Day take place.
Game Day, the college football pregame show,  is broadcast from  a college campus chosen by the network.  So far, it has not broadcasted from Pullman.

Buchan Celebrates 50 Years At UB

A friend sent me a column from the UB.  Jim Buchan celebrating 50 years of writing sports at The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.  I wanted to link to the column, but could not find it  online.  I did find a letter to the editor from his fellow WW sports writer Skip Nichols regarding Buchan's service to the paper.  Remember that links to the UB only stay up for a limited time.

I remember reading articles by Buchan when I was in grade school.  I'm now 61.  According to the column, he began as a sports writer at the Bulletin under the late Jim Reding.  Reding would go on to become sports editor for the Seattle PI.  

Buchan became sports editor in 1983 until his retirement in 2010. He know writes a column and does feature reports.

I never personally met Buchan, but after moving to this area from Walla Walla, I still had a Walla Walla phone book.  This was the early 1990s.  I was watching a Sonics game and the announcer was  saying something about Whitworth College (a college in Spokane).  He could not remember the names of Whitworth's teams. I also wondered.  I, sitting at home, looked up Jim Buchan and called him to ask, without any sign of disgust that a stranger was calling, he told me it was the Pirates.

Congratulations to Jim Buchan on 50 years.  

KIRO Nights Host Leaves Unannounced

For viewers and listeners of media, sudden departures of air personalities is not an uncommon occurrence,  however, I was taken aback that Zak Burns, who hosted KIRO Nights on 97.3 KIRO left the station.  There seemed to be no indication of any trouble.
Burns started on air as a partner to Jason Rantz, a Conservative, who went solo for years in the slot after Ron And Don, the station's long running afternoon drive show.
When Rantz left to take over the morning position at KTTH, Burns became the host.  Burns seemed Liberal, but seemed more focused on entertainment and pop culture. although  news headlines were touched on.  His co-host, Gee Scott has taken over main host.
The show would begin with the sax solo in the Marvin Gaye classic, "What Goin' On".  Burns, on the show, alluded to past addictions and that his dad was  a former NHL player.
A couple inquiries to KIRO employees  did not result in finding any reason behind Burns leaving the station.

Storm Does It Again

The Seattle Storm have beaten the Washington Mystics to win it's third WNBA championship. Final score Seattle 98 Washington Mystics 82.

The Famous Reno Arch

We returned on Labor Day.  While arriving in Reno, we snapped this picture of the Reno Arch.  As we arrived at the airport, there were many travelers who attended the nearby Burning Man Festival. They were not hard to spot. 
We had a smooth flight home on another prop jet.

Remembering 9/11

One of my favorite pictures from the trip. We visited the Chollar Mine in Virginia City.
For just 15 dollars each you can tour this preserved gold and silver mine,   preserved, pretty much in it's natural state.
Work conditions were not pleasant, so you get a real appreciation for what it's like to be a miner.
I think it's much better than going to a museum.

Welcoming Sign To Virginia City

Happy Rosh Hashana!

Cruising The Lake

Celebrating Deb's grandma's 99th.

Virginia City Bar

Virginia City is a ghost town preserved to look much like it did in the 1800s.

Beautiful View Leaving Tahoe

This beautiful rock on US 50 has a tunnel going through. It is on the Road between. Stateline and Carson City.

Sailing On The Safari Rose

We took the Sunset Cruise on the Safari Rose and enjoyed Lake Tahoe.  Here is the famed "Viking Castle".

Hard Rock II

Displayed here is an outfit worn by AC DC guitarist Angus Young.  It is at the Hard Rock in Stateline, Nevada.

Burt Reynolds Dies

CNN reports  iconic sex symbol of the 70s, Burt Reynolds, has died of a heart attack.

Earl Thomas Is Back With Seahawks

Free Safety Earl Thomas, who missed the entire pre season due to a hold out is back with the team for the season opener.  

Thomas had hoped his skipping camp would lead to having his contract reworked or to a trade, so far, he has not been successful in either.  Thomas is the last remaining member of the Seahawk's famed Legion Of Boom.

Great Rock Memorabilia

Autographed guitars, like this one by The Monkees, can be found at the Hard Rock at Lake Tahoe.  This is as somewhat ironic because the group is said to have had other musicians play their instruments, at least in their early years.

Solid Gold Soul

An amazing impersonation of the late Aretha Franklin was just one part of Solid Gold Soul.  
The live show at Harrah' s in Stateline, traced the history of Motown.   It was hosted by Bobby Brooks Wilson, the son of the late singer Jackie Wilson.

Tahoe Car Show

In the village near our hotel.  A lot of cool cars from the 50s, 60s, and early 70s.  Here I am pictured with a '61 Corvette.

Lake Tahoe From 9000 Feet

Right outside of our motel was the Heavenly Village Gondola which took us to an observation deck where we could see the entire lake.

Local Band Queensryche Still Rockin'

I didn't see this concert, but it was great to see one of the great Seattle bands on the Marque.
I worked with the mother of the original bassist of Queenryche Eddie Jackson  many years ago. I'm not sure if he is in this configuration of the group.

I did get to meet Eddie more than 20 years ago.

California-Nevada Stateline

The Lake Tahoe area is unique in that border of two distinct states runs through a street. 
On one said is the rather bucolic California side with motels and resorts.  The Nevada side with legalized gambling, is lined with high rise casinos.