George Karl Entering Basketball Hall Of Fame

 George Karl, legendary Seattle Super Sonics coach one of two coaches to guide the Seattle Super Sonics to the NBA finals, will soon be a Hall Of Famer.  

Karl is the 6th winningest NBA coach,  Lenny Wilkins, who coached the Sonics to a title in 1979, is one of only 5 NBA coaches with more wins than Karl in the league. 

Karl coached the Sonics for 7 years.  He was extremely popular with the fans.  I believe that he also had an interest in ICON, a Seattle based telecom, where I worked in the mid to late 1990s.  

Karl also coached at Golden State, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Denver, and Sacramento.  

Former Seattle Storm great Swin Cash will also be inducted.

Cougs Dreams Die In NIT

 The Washington State Cougars, happy to make the NIT Semifinals, ran into an angry Texas A&M team that thought itself deserving of an NCAA tournament invitation, losing 72-56.  

The Cougs were only 6 behind at the half, but the 2nd half turned into a runaway.  It was clear that Texas A&M was in control. 

It is still a good step for the Cougars under 2nd year coach Kyle Smith.

Go Cougs!

The WSU men's basketball team play in the NIT Semi Finals tonight.  The Cougs plays Texas A&M at 6:30 PDT. 

And In This Corner...

 

Ken Levine, iconic TV comedy writer and veteran blogger, had this to say about last night's Oscar flair up between Chris Rock and Will Smith. Click here

Sign Of Spring 3

Now for the moment we have been waiting for!  The tree in front of our house is now in full bloom!  It combines with other blooming trees in the background to make a spectacular scene in the cul-de-sac.

John Clayton | This is SportsCenter

John Clayton will be missed.  This ESPN promo helped endear him to viewers.  

Glad that he knew how to hold chopsticks!

Foo Fighter Drummer Is Dead At 50

 Taylor Hawkins, drummer of the band Foo Fighters has died, he was 50.  The band was formed by ex-Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl.  Grohl now plays guitar.

No cause of death was given.

Sign Of Spring 2

Within two days, the tree is almost in full bloom.  I know I post this almost every year, but its beauty always amazes me 

WSU Is Rolling In NIT

 It's maybe not getting the most attention in the sports world, the the WSU Cougars are headed to the NIT semi-finals after defeating Brigham Young 77-58 in the tournament's quarters.

Senior guard Michael Flowers above had 27 points including 4 three pointers. 

The Cougs will travel to Madison Square Garden where they will play Texas A&M on Tuesday.

Sign Of Spring

The tree in our front yard is budding. Pretty soon, it will bloom and be beautiful.  Pictures will be coming.

More Seattle Night Market . March 19th 2022

I could not hear myself talk as I narrated this while standing in line, so I did this a couple of times.

Seattle Night Market

I enjoyed the Seattle Night Market last night with my wife and cousin.  It was rainy and cold, but much of it was held in the big hangar in Magnuson Park. 

Sports fans remember local sportscaster John Clayton

He wrote for newspapers, appeared on radio and TV and did it all with excellence.   John Clayton passed away Friday and tributes abound.  

I remember always listening to his Saturday morning call-in show on KJR.  It usually started with a "JB From Renton" on the first call.  Then there was some rapid Notre Dame fan named "Irish Menke" who addressed him as "Mister Clayton" in what is thought to be an Irish Brough. 

One thing I missed writing my post Friday is that he had been inducted into the writer's wing of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  

Tacoma News Tribune writer Jim Moore has a wonderful tribute.  click here

National Sports Journalist and Area Resident John Clayton Dies

 Word has been received that John Clayton, well known NFL analyst and Seattle area resident, has died.  

Known as "The Professor", Clayton was a familiar face on ESPN during the NFL season.  He also did a Saturday morning sports talk show on KJR.   When KIRO AM became all sports and affiliated with ESPN, Clayton moved his show to that station. 

Clayton began covering sports in his native Pittsburgh.  He came to the Seattle area in 1986 to cover the Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune.

Clayton was laid off from ESPN in the summer of 2017.  

Most recently, Clayton had become a fixture on "The 5th Quarter" on KING 5 TV, a show where the Seahawks game was analyzed weekly during the season. The show ran after NBC's Sunday Night Football. 

Never Forgotten

 My dad passed away 6 years ago. March 18th, 2016.

Actor Tim Reid on WKRP in Cincinnati and The Who concert - TelevisionAca...

Tim Reid, who played DJ Venus Flytrap on one of my favorite shows, WKRP In Cincinatti, tells about an episode based on a tragedy at a concert in that town.

Wear Your Green Today!

 The Jewish holiday of Purim is today, as well as St. Patrick's Day.

Walking Larsen Lake In Bellevue

Just off 148th Street in Bellevue, Larsen Lake is a great place to walk, with or without a dog.

Gentlemen Start Your Engines

My friend Rick and I raced indoor go-carts at K1 Speed in Redmond last weekend.  That's me in front.

Palm Springs 9--Indio

One of my favorite pictures, taken just outside the World Mart in Indio where we stay when we are there.

After Big Wilson Deal--Could Seahawks Go Be Headed For The Market?

 Well, the big shoe dropped last week with the trade of franchise quarterback Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos.  Veteran area sports analyst Art Thiel is suggesting in an article in the Seattle political blog, Post Alley, that it could be a prelude to the sale of the team. 

Playing in a state of the art (no pun intended, Art Thiel) stadium approaching 20 years of age, the relocation of the team is probably not a concern, there are many examples of sports teams annually failing because of bad ownership.  Let's hope that doesn't happen to our favorite NFL team.  

You can read the article by clicking here.

Tom Brady Says He's Coming Back To Play

 Tom Brady, who announced his retirement at the end of last season, apparently has changed his mind. 

In a Sunday night tweet, Brady said something to the effect that he has come to realize his place is on the field and not in the stands.  

It will be interesting to see what is in store for Brady's 23rd season in the NFL. 

Palm Springs 8--Marilyn and Billy In Palm Desert.

Another clip from that great concert at McCallum Hall in Palm desert on March 5th.

Downtown Bellevue Website Recognizes Debra Barer

My wife is currently feature in a write up on the Downtown Bellevue Association website.  In the article, she talks about running the two locations of The UPS Store.  She also talks about her favorite spots in Bellevue to shop and dine.   

You can read the article by clicking here.
 

Palm Springs 7--Dinner In La Quinta

On our last night, we had dinner at Rd Rnnr LPP with desert at Nitro Infusions.  

Both located in Old Town La Quinta. 

Tentative Agreement On Baseball Lockout

Sources say an agreement was between the owners and the players to end the baseball lockout. 

Palm Springs 6--Worldmark Indio. Pool

The weather was finally nice enough to visit the swimming pool.

Palm Springs 5--Polo

I had never seen a live Polo match, but we drove through the El Dorado Polo Club where matches were taking place.

Palm Springs 4--Marilyn McCoo And Billy Davis, Jr At McCallum Theatre

The 5th Dimension was the easy listening part of the 60s rock revolution.  Their music was mainstream, and unoffensive, even while doing music for the Rock musical "Hair".   It was dubbed Champaign Soul.

In 1975, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr left the 5th Dimension.  The two, by then a married couple, became very successful act, winning 7 Grammys.   They also became the first African-American couple to host a variety show.  That was Solid Gold. 

Last Saturday (March 5th, 2022), McCoo and Davis performed at McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert.  We saw an excellent show, McCoo seemed ageless with her smooth voice and Davis with his raspy soul.  

The couple have just completed an album with their arrangement of Beatles songs.  The idea is to promote social justice.  Some of the Beatles songs performed that night were Blackbird, a song written in the middle of Civil Right upheavel,  A Ticket To Ride, and one of the Beatles more underrated songs, And I Love Her. 

It was a great performance. 

Rocky Mountain Heist

Sources say Seahawk quarterback Russell Wilson has been traded to Denver.  

For more details, click here.

Palm Springs 3--All Girl Cover Band

This band was playing at a street show on El Paseo in Palm Desert on Saturday night. We caught their act while walking after a great dinner at Kitchen 86.  Later that night, we went to a concert at McCallum Theatre nearby.

Palm Springs 2--Local Wildlife

This roadrunner stayed still long enough for us to snap a picture.  

We saw it at the place we were staying.

Tahquitz Canyon Waterfall

We spent the weekend in the Palm Springs area.  We thought a great way to begin our trip would be to visit Tahquitz Canyon on the outskirts of the city.  

Even though it was very windy and there was even a bit of rain, we still decided the hike would be fun.  The highlight of the trip is this waterfall about halfway through, it the beautiful waterfall that you can see above.

Marilyn McCoo "Last Night I Didn't Get to Sleep at All" Live 2008

We saw Marilyn and her husband perform last night.  Concert review will come later this week.

Jim Swanson--Legendary Seattle Sports Bar Owner

 Larry Stone, the veteran sportswriter for the Seattle Times, wrote a great piece of Jim Swanson.  Swanson owned Swannies, a sports bar a couple of blocks from the Kingdome.  Swanson passed away this past week, he was only 69.

Swanson burst out upon the sports scene as the left-handed catcher of the Northwest League's Portland Mavericks.  To read about the zany goings on at Swannie's, click here

Pickwick Books In Hollywood

 Pickwick Books was owned by the Epstein Family.  Son Aaron and indeed the entire family have been best friends of ours for decades  

The bookstore, which was sold to B. Dalton, was on Hollywood Boulevard and known for being a hangout for movie stars.

The bookstore started in downtown and was scraping by when a movie studio asked to rent 5000 books.  Louis Epstein, the bookstore proprietor, wrote up a contract for the studio to rent the books for 30 days at a nickle a day.  The studio returned the books a year later and wouldn't pay past the 30 days.  Epstein called an attorney, who won a huge settlement. The attorney set up an escrow with the settlement, encouraging the young immigrant to purchase a better location.  You can read the incredible story by clicking here.

Meet the police officer who ended The Beatles' last show

Anyone who has seen the Beatle's iconic Rooftop concert remembers the police showing up, repeatedly trying to shut down the show.  This officer was one of the rooftops cops and begins by explaining himself with a Beatle fan's point of view, calling himself "the idiot who happened to be on the roof"

Being that it was the band's last performance together, Officer Ray Dagg had earned a rather infamous note in history, but looking back, the scene in the movie was so emblematic of the period.   

Heavy rains causing landslides around western Washington

Steady rains are making for hazardous conditions across Western Washington.