Epic Photo of Greatness: Mt. Rainier

Here's a photo of Mt. Rainier taken by Casey at his workplace...

Meme Mondays: Shower Meme

When I take a shower at 4 p.m. ...

Why the Zags at No. 1 is a big deal

After surviving BYU and crushing Portland this weekend, the Zags did what they needed to do and they were rewarded handsomely.

Gonzaga is No. 1 for the first time in school history, and unlike having to play any more regular season games - the move right into the WCC Tournament.

Why is this such a big deal?

Spokane usually doesn't get to lead the country in anything except for weird street people that like to ask for money and mumble to themselves. The town will go absolutely nuts and they deserve it since they live and die with their Zags.

Playing in the WCC, Gonzaga is the definition of a mid-major. While a No. 1 mid-major squad has happened before, it's still amazing for someone that doesn't play in the big 6 conferences to get the nod. Look at how the Zags have been chewing up the WCC and it's in stark contrast from years past where Gonzaga was eeking by these opponents and then wondering why they didn't get respect from the national media. They're impressive, if not the most impressive version of the Zags I've seen.

What does this mean? Probably a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which practically means a trip to the Sweet 16 (probability wise). The Zags have never gotten any further than the Elite Eight and it looks like that this season Gonzaga might be able to go further.

Is this the year the Zags make the leap?

(Click here to get on the bandwagon now)

Seattle Sounders FC First Kick

The 2013 Seattle Sounders FC season kicks off in just about an hour as they take on the Montreal Impact.

(Buy your Seattle Sounders FC gear here)

Ready to get pumped up?!? BOOM BOOM CLAP!

Portland Timbers new jerseys 2013

The official Portland Timbers site has posted a sneak peek of the new 2013 Portland Timbers jerseys. I'm excited to see actual pictures. But the preview appears to be very close to the leaks we posted earlier.

(Buy your Portland Timbers gear here)

Check out the preview:



Thoughts on the new jerseys?

New Sounders Jersey

Tonight the Seattle Sounders FC revealed their new 2013-2014 kits. And I liked them.

(Buy your Seattle Sounders FC gear here)


The green kits was exactly as the leak, (we posted about that a few weeks ago), but the black kit is different.

While the leak is close, it's no where near as cool as the jersey that was revealed tonight. The stripe is in fact both Sounders colors, not just the green as originally leaked. While I'll always be a fan of the bright green jersey, the shale is pretty cool.

Here's what the Sounders press release said about the new kits:

The primary kit remains rave green and features a subtle silhouette of the Space Needle positioned vertically on the right chest.  The traditional adidas three stripes and trim are in Sounders blue. 
The secondary kit continues in cascade shale with the addition of a two inch vertical stripe which connects team colors through a mosaic design to emphasize the team’s unique and diverse fan base.  The adidas three stripes and trim are also in rave green.  Fans will notice a new lettering and numbering font for the 2013 and 2014 seasons.  This will be the first time the primary and secondary kits feature different patterns.

And now, here are the new kits. What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Epic Photo: Glow of a Nuclear Reactor

The weird thing about a nuclear reactor is that the water pool isn't even dangerous. You could actually take a swim in a nuclear reactor pool and not really get a heightened exposure of radiation. Here's a look at a reactor...

Gonzaga heading to No. 1?

Spokane is about to implode on itself from the combined weight of it becoming the center of the college basketball universe. First, Gonzaga was recently ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll, and last night the No. 1 team Indiana lost to Minnesota 77-73, which means the Zags could be looking at their first No. 1 ranking in school history. 

Now there is a chance they could get leap-frogged by Miami or Duke, but considering they've been ranked as high as No. 2 already and receiving first place votes, you'd think the voters would also give them the nod for No. 1. 

But hold on, Gonzaga still has to win their games this week to be considered. And it won't be easy.

Coming up, the Zags travel down to Utah to face 20-9 Brigham Young on Thursday, then on Saturday will host the 11-19 Portland Pilots. They might be a little slowed from travel to BYU in the Portland game.

If they win those two, expect the Zags to be No. 1 and be shocked if they aren't.  

Seattle getting the Key Arena ready for the Sonics

While Sacramento and Seattle are still kind of battling over the fate of the Kings, the Emerald City has already decided to roll out the red carpet. Sacramento keeps coming up with these mysterious owners that still are $350 million short of the Kings' asking price, which is quite laughable, but Seattle is now scheduling Key Arena for the Sonics.

Seattle officials are blocking out space for the Sonics to play at KeyArena in the 2013-14 National Basketball Association season, now that a legal challenge to the deal for a new arena has been dismissed.

Scheduling the Sonics includes working around the seasons of current tenants at the Key, including the Seattle Storm and the Seattle University Redhawks.

Those prospective schedules also depend on the NBA Board of Governors voting to approve a sale of the Sacramento Kings to the Seattle investment group headed by Chris Hansen and to move the team to Seattle. Both decisions could come at the Board of Governors meeting April 18.

Mayor Mike McGinn, who was approached by Hansen 18 months ago about a potential public-private partnership to build a new arena, expressed excitement that a team could be playing at KeyArena in a matter of months.

“We’re working hard to get Key ready by this fall,” he said. “We’re negotiating with Hansen’s people now about physical improvements. It could all happen relatively soon.”

That's about as real as you can get when people start talking about the Sonics actually coming back. I personally think that this is a done deal and there will be NBA basketball next season in the Emerald City. I will, no doubt, be buying  tickets.

(Get your Sonics hat now)

Nick Offerman in his underwear

I've always said not many things would be cooler than being an alpaca farmer. Well Nick Offerman has put on a pair of alpaca underwear for the NBC's green initiative.



(Catch up on all the Parks and Rec seasons here)

Gonzaga No. 2 in the AP Polls

At 27-2 overall and 14-0 in the West Coast Conference, the Gonzaga Bulldogs are having one of their best, if not the best, seasons in school history. They just got another cherry on the top as the new NCAA rankings have come out and Gonzaga is ranked at No. 2 behind Indiana. Spokane must be exploding at the seams right now.

Gonzaga becomes the first team outside the major six conferences to be ranked in the top two since Memphis was No. 2 in the final poll of 2007-08, a span of 92 AP polls.

"It establishes us as a national program, which I believe we have been for the last 10 years," Few said. "This group has done a great job of competing at that level, winning games at the highest level."

Now usually I'd go into an age-old rant of how Gonzaga plays in a weak conference and blah, blah, blah. But they're actually a really good team this year and I wouldn't be suprised to see them move up to No. 1. So there you have it, the Bulldogs might actually get a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Shocking.

(To hop on the Gonzaga bandwagon, go here.)

Beavan doing work for Mariners

Blake Beavan went 11-11 last season with a 4.43 ERA and 67 strikeouts. This offseason he gave University of Texas pitching coach Skip Johnson a call to work on his throwing angle and take advantage of his 6'7" frame.

And at least for now (He's throwing in spring training and some of  these players will literally be bagging groceries in a few weeks), it looks like he's improved.

Beavan made his spring debut on Saturday against San Diego, tossing two scoreless innings and generating numerous ground balls. One of the first people he phoned after the game was Johnson.

Mariners pitching coach Carl Willis feels Beavan's new throwing angle and ability to repeat his mechanics helped him "hide" the ball from hitters longer in Saturday's game.

"It looked like the ball was getting on the hitter a little quicker," Willis said. "They were having a tougher time getting started than in the past."

Willis cautioned that it's still early spring and pitchers are mostly ahead of hitters. But he says Beavan is now repeating his delivery not only on fastballs, but also on breaking balls as well.

"It's so huge that he's staying in his (arm) slot," Willis said. "Because last year, with breaking pitches, he was a little inconsistent and I think it sometimes tipped off the hitters. Now, everything looks like a fastball until the ball leaves his hands."

Good, now it may not be just Felix out there throwing well.

(To get your Blake Beavan gear, go here.)

Meme Mondays: What's the worst that could go wrong?

I mean everything looks on the up and up right?

 

Winter in Portlandia

Hope you had a great weekend! This is how we spend our weekends in the Northwest...

(Buy Portlandia Season 1/Season 2 DVD pack HERE)

Eastern Washington Harlem Shake

This Harlem Shake thing has taken over the world, it even has reached the campus of Eastern Washington University in Cheney!

SWOOP!!!




(Buy the Harlem Shake single here)

Epic Graphic of Greatness: Oh Nickelback...

Nickleback catches a lot of crap for being crappy. And it's all deserved...

(To buy music that will make you want to kill yourself, click here.)

Things aren't going so well for Robert Swift

Remember the Sonics' former savior Robert Swift? He was Seattle's first round draft pick in 2004 right out of college (Back when the NBA Draft had morphed into a weird "pick any kid you want from high school" phase) and had his best year in 2005 when he averaged 5 rebounds and 6 rebounds a game.

Now? Not so good. The Thunder renounced their rights to Swift in 2009, and he joined the NBDL Bakersfield Jam but played only two games and left because of personal reasons. He played in Japan between 2010-11 but has since run into even more trouble.

Swift's house was recently foreclosed despite him making an estimated $20 million during his NBA career. He refuses to leave, however, and the new home owner has had to deal with it.

"And it seems like a very sad story and I definitely feel for him," said the new owner, who wanted to hide her identity.

She thought she knew what she was getting when she bought the foreclosed home in January.

Cans of beer dot the grass outside the home. A bullet hole pierced the garage window at some point.

"Cars that don't look like they've moved in a long time," she noted.

Water festers in buckets outside of what was once a million dollar home in a wealthy Eastside suburb.

Well I guess the new Sonics won't be needing him for any more savior duties...

(Here's a Robert Swift autographed card, worth all of the 13 dollars)

Epic Sweater of Greatness

The greatest video game-themed sweater ever?

(To buy a Contra t-shirt, click here)

Epic Video: Best student section in the country... Maryland

I dunno Gonzaga, can you beat what Maryland has?

 

 (Buy the Maryland t-shirts they were wearing.)

Michael Saunders is using a pool noodle

Don't fret Mariners fans, I know your team was woefully under-powered offensively last season just like they've been for much of the past 10 years. I know the Mariners have made a big splash in the season by signing the over-the-hill Jason Bay and Raul Ibanez. I know Kendrys Morales will probably suck this season.

But don't fret! You guys have Michael Saunders... a guy that hit .247 last season but has been practicing with POOL NOODLES in the offseason. Better watch out American League. Saunders is gonna hurt you. Or at least splash water in your eye.

The noodle has actually been cut down to a small, straight foam tube, with a rubber strap attached at both ends. 

During batting practice, Saunders slides the contraption on over his head, with the foam coming to rest under his left armpit and the strap running tight across his chest and around the outside of his right arm. 

 "I call it 'The Lifejacket,' " Saunders said. "Brendan Ryan likes to call it 'The sushi roll' or 'The spicy tuna roll.' " The idea behind the device is for the foam to block his left elbow from getting in too tight against his body and "stalling out" when he swings. Instead, the foam forces his elbow to stay on its path in a stronger hitting position.

The Big Canadian has been apparently praised for the work he did improving his swing last year with private hitting instructor Mike Bard. Bard must work magic after being employed despite not getting his guy hitting over .250. Here's how Saunders has hit in the past three seasons...

Year     Avg.      HR      RBI 
2012    .247       19         57
2011    .149        2           8
2010    .211       10         33

As you can see, he has productive that would make any half-drunk middle relief pitcher with a sprained elbow the shakes. Consdering everyone will be hitting .247 for the Mariners next season, maybe Saunders will look like the strong point in the lineup.

Oh and I'm not mad the Red Sox barely beat Northeastern today 3-0. Nope not at all.

(To buy your future AL bating champion Michael Saunders jersey, click here.)