Smith, long a Seahawk back-up under Russell Wilson, won the job after the team traded Wilson to the Denver Broncos. He surprised the football experts, who thought that he was merely a placeholder until the team could find a QB solution by leading the team to the playoffs.
Granted, he lead the Seahawks to its first and so far, only Super Bowl victory, but word has gotten out about attempts to get Coach Pete Carroll and GM John Scheider fired.
Matt Calkins, of the Seattle Times writes that Wilson's legacy in Seattle, may be beyond repair. click here
In the past ten to 15 years, letters to the editor have taken a back seat to reader's online comments. Former Seattle Times and PI columnist Jean Godden laments in the political blog, Post Alley, that letters to the paper are going the way of fax machines, phonebooks, landlines. To read the post click here
The former president, the first that I was able to vote for, took office vowing to change politics as they were. However, a series of mishaps and probably the lack of support from a congress of which his party was in the majority, in addition to a charismatic opponent in Ronald Reagan, swept him out of the Whitehouse in a Republican landslide not seen in years.
In the remaining decades, Carter has inspired even longtime opponents, by building houses for the poor and his low-key lifestyle. He is the oldest living former president.
The two-week interval from the conference finals takes me out of the football mindframe.
It's fun when a time you like is in the game. Even more fun when the team that you put your heart and soul rooting for is in the game. Such is not the case this year, but I'll still watch. It's a tradition, after all.
Bacharach was the more famous member of the song writing duo of Bacharach and David. Hal David wrote the words and Bacharach wrote the melodies.
In the late 1960 and early 1970s, his music practically dominated music radio stations as well as variety shows. Songs like "What The World Needs Now Is Love" and "Do You Know The Way To San Jose" became pop music standards.
Bacharach's songs were covered by a variety of artists including himself, but his favorite singer and one who brought the most of his music to the forefront was Dionne Warwick.
Deb and I were fortunate enough to see Warwick perform live in Las Vegas in 2019.
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Thacker, and a trio of other coaches came aboard after certain towns people felt the previous coaches did not put enough commitment toward competing with other conference programs, a feeling that can still be debated to this day.
Perhaps, by design, the game pitted the Blue Devils against the Bombers, whose coach, Earl Streufert, played at Wa-Hi under Thacker.
It could be argued that Thacker was the greatest coach in Wa-Hi history, with many state tournament appearances and in 1998--99, coaching the Blue Devils to its first state championship since 1952.
Blue Devil and Cougar legend Drew Bledsoe, known nationally as Tom Brady's predecessor at quarterback for the New England Patriots,also played basketball under Thacker in his high school days and was present for the ceremony. He is pictured above with the coach and other former players.
Godden would serve three terms on the council. She is a contributor to the political/Seattle culture blog Post Alley Having run for office successfully three times, Godden writes13 tips for anyone considering seeking political office. You can see if you are up to the task of running for a position by clicking here.
Brady, unarguably, the greatest QB in NFL history was the 199th pick in the 2000 draft. He got his chance to play after a catastrophic injury to Patriot starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe. It began a reign of 6 Super Bowl wins for the team. Brady would notch a 7th win with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Conrad is the former chair of the King County Democrats and has been a part of many presidential campaigns.
Crosby first band was the Byrds, a pioneering folk-rock band from LA. He would go on to form another band, with Stephen Stills of the Buffalo Springfield and Graham Nash of the British group, the Hollies. Another former member of the Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young would later join that band.
Crosby was twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.
Presley died today (Thursday, January 12th, 2023). The death was announced by her mother, Pricilla. Lisa Marie had been hospitalized after apparently suffering a heart attack at her home.
One of the last living connections to her famous father, Presley lost a son, Benjamin, to suicide in 2020.
Some will say that it is because we did a lot in this past year, while the more skeptical may say it's because we didn't do a lot. To look at the pages of posts from 2022 you can start here.
Go Seahawks!
He was my Dad's brother, graduating from Walla Walla High School in 1953, moving to Seattle to go to the University of Washington, where he would get his law degree. One of his school pals was Wes Uhlman who would go on to become the mayor of Seattle.
Uncle Arny would come to Walla Walla as I was growing up and was very engaging. He drove a red convertible and to me, represented the big city. He met a Portland school teacher, Carol and married her in 1967. They would have two sons and 4 granddaughters.
Uncle Arny and I shared a love of progressive politics, and family history. He was an avid contributor to the "Barer Family Group" on Facebook. Like my dad, he had a love of classic cars. A hobby that he also shared with his son, Sam. He loved gatherings of family and friends.
Uncle Arny and Aunt Carol were always there for me as I moved to Seattle. When Deb and I started dating nearly 30 years ago, I introduced her to them at the Newport Cafe in Kirkland.
Uncle Arny and I would talk about once a month, and he would always tell me what a wonderful wife that I had. You can see the obit in the Seattle Times by clicking here.
Monson was an outspoken conservative who I disagreed with vehemently many times. I still find his passing shocking and will keep his wife and three daughters in my thoughts and prayers.
You can read Dori's Wikipedia by clicking here
