Seattle Times Baseball Writer Stone Promoted.

If you were looking for the MLB power rankings in the sports section of today's Seattle Times, they were no where to be found.  The reason was that Larry Stone has been taken off the baseball beat.  Seattle Times Sports editor Don Shelton announced  in today's paper that Larry Stone will fill the position left vacant when Steve Kelley left the paper as  Sports opinion columnist.  In addition to covering Mariner games, Stone's inside pitch page gave Times readers incite into what was happening around the baseball world.
Shelton said that Stone had covered baseball for the Times for 16 years.  He said that the combination of Stone and columnist Jerry Brewer would give the sports page a "great 1-2 sports opinion punch."

In The Right Place At The Right Time

Dasher's picture is in the top left in this photo taken at the Alki Arts Gallery.  It appeared on page B-1 of the Seattle Times August 8th edition.  The dogs were all painted by Jeanne Romano.  Although Dasher is not the subject of the picture, he does appear prominently.

Steve Kelley Nostalgic In Sunday Column

As Steve Kelley winds up 30 some years as Seattle Times Sports Columnist, he picked the 30 top sports stories during his tenure with the paper you can click here for the entire list but here are his top 10:
10. Mookie Wilson's dribbler trickled through first baseman Bill Buckner's glove, scoring Ray Knight and giving the New York Mets a Game 6 win. Two days later the Mets won the deciding game of the 1986 World Series.
9. With the score tied 52-52, Derrick Wittenburg's desperation jumper fell short, but Lorenzo Charles read the shot's arc, grabbed the air ball and dunked the game-winning field goal. North Carolina State beat the heavily favored Phi Slamma Jammas of Houston in the 1983 title game and coach Jim Valvano ran around the floor looking for someone to hug.
8. In a jaw-dropping sprint, Tyus Edney dribbled the length of the floor in the final 4.8 seconds and scored at the rim over Derek Grimm to stun Missouri 75-74 in the second round of the 1995 NCAA tournament. UCLA eventually won the final Final Four played at the Kingdome.
7. The Sonics and Utah Jazz, two teams playing at their absolute best, gave us a classic seventh game of a dramatic 1996 Western Conference finals. It was Gary Payton vs. John Stockton and Shawn Kemp against Karl Malone. Kemp had 26 points and 14 rebounds in Seattle's 90-86 series-clinching win that still gives me chills.
6. In a hold-your-breath moment, Michael Phelps beat Milorad Cavic by one hundredth of a second in the 100 butterfly to win the seventh of his unprecedented eight gold medals in the Beijing Olympics. Even every sportswriter was cheering for Phelps.
5. Dodger Kirk Gibson painfully limped to home plate to face Oakland's Dennis Eckersley in the ninth inning of the first game of the 1989 World Series. I don't know how, but he slammed the game-winning home run and as he hobbled around the bases, broadcaster Jack Buck put words to our feelings, saying, "I do not believe what I just saw."
4. Edgar Martinez doubled down the left-field line. From first base, Ken Griffey Jr. expertly cut the edges of second and third and slid home into a delirious celebration as the Mariners came from a 2-0 series deficit to beat the New York Yankees 3 games to 2 in the 1995 American League Divisional Series.
3. All morning, Seattle was in a state of nervous anticipation as it waited for the first pitch of this one-game playoff with California for the 1995 AL West title. But Randy Johnson calmed the city's fears, pitching a complete-game three-hitter in the M's 9-1 win.
2. Michael Johnson hit some gear I've never seen from a human as he rounded the turn en route to setting a world record and winning the gold medal in the 1996 Olympic 200 meters. I thought it was the most thrilling performance I'd ever seen, until ...
1. Usain Bolt easily pulled past the world's fastest humans and was heading for a world record in the 100 meters, when he raised his hands and celebrated his 2008 gold medal about 10 meters before the finish line. Sitting about 15 rows from the track, I thought he'd blown his chance at the world record. And then I looked up at the scoreboard. And then I heard the roar inside the Beijing Bird's Nest. He did it.

Steve Kelley Leaving Seattle Times

Steve Kelley, perhaps the best known  newspaper sports columnist in town for over 3 decades, has announced that he is leaving his position at the Seattle Times.  Known for his candor and measured criticism of local teams, owners, players, and fans,  Kelley's column was a "must read" after any significant college or professional sports event in the area or around the nation.
 Kelley sited the posted reader's comments on line for one of the reasons that he is leaving.  The forums at the end of newspaper articles provide for anonymous comments that are often mean spirited.   Like veteran sports talk show host Mike Gastineau, who left KJR last year,  Kelley also spoke of repetition of covering the same things continuously, that made the position less enjoyable.

Seattle Times Gives Free Advertising To Republican McKenna

In  a move that has outraged everyone in this state who is not a supporter of gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna, the Seattle Times has granted unilateral free advertising to McKenna, who is currently in a neck and neck battle with former Washington Congressman Jay Inslee.  Washington State Democratic Chair Dwight Pelz (pictured above) said he had never seen anything like that in his 35 years in politics.  McKenna is currently Washington's Attorney General. The Times, the state's largest newspaper, also granted free advertising to R-74, the bill for marriage equality.  The Times has endorsed both McKenna and R-74 in it's paper.

Seattle Times Editorial Writer Spars With Sports Talk Radio On Sonics Arena

More audio at MyNorthwest.com

The Seattle Time's Bruce Ramsey has some valid opinions, but does not seem to be in possession of correct facts in this interview Mike Salk and Brock Huard on 710 ESPN.

Dasher Keeps His Dad Informed

Every morning, Dasher will walk down the driveway and bring the Seattle Times to me.  Except on Sunday's when the paper weighs a ton.  Not bad for a 4 month old!

Could The NBA Return Soon?

A Seattle Times report about an NBA team relocating to Seattle has the town buzzing.  Seattle first major sports franchise, the Seattle Super Sonics left town in 2008.  The Times said talks are going on behind the scenes to about a privately financed arena being built, possibly to house what is now, the Sacramento Kings, should a deal for an arena fall through in that city.  The article said that the proposed site would be south of Safeco Field and would possibly also lead to an NHL Hockey franchise relocating to the area. 
After a nasty battle to keep the Sonics in town, many area sports fans lost their taste for the NBA. Comments from Commissioner David Stern aimed toward the city government added insult to injury.

Letter To The Editor Published In Seattle Times

My letter challenging the Seattle Times for advocating the removal of precinct committee officer elections on the primary ballot.was published in the Tuesday, September 28th issue of the Seattle Times.
Northwest Voices Seattle Times Newspaper