The Huskies narrowly escaped an embarrassing defeat, and ultimately went home happy after beating Arizona. But it’s a stretch to think they solved any of the long-term issues that have made almost every game an exercise in frustration.

Considering that Wednesday, Oct. 20, was the 20-year anniversary of the Mariners’ last postseason victory, it would be understandable if many casual fans in these parts have stopped paying attention to October baseball.

After years of political tension and city-wide debates, after exploding budgets and construction delays, after a pandemic that did whatever it could to halt the opening — Climate Pledge Arena is ready.

Here’s one of many ironies in the whole sordid mess that is the Nick Rolovich downfall at Washington State: He was in the midst of a brilliant coaching job. Even his detractors would have to acknowledge that.

You’re never going to convince guys like ex-Washington State coach Nick Rolovich to get the shot. It’s a waste of breath. The best scientists and all the evidence in the world couldn’t. Losing a $3 million-a-year job didn’t.

The Seahawks' season wasn't just slipping away, it was going down with a pitiable vengeance. The Seahawks were as feeble in the first half as every worst-case scenario of Seattle without Russell Wilson.

There was a glimmer of hope from the Seahawks' 23-20 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday night, Oct. 17. Geno Smith can play.

The defending Pac-12 North champions have logged six games against opponents of all different talent levels. There have been moments of joy and occasional causes for celebration. But the reality is this: The Huskies just aren't a very good football team.

This season, something has been missing from the Seahawks defense. And considering just one of the quarterbacks Seattle has faced (Matthew Stafford of the Rams) ranks in the top 10 in NFL passer rating, things might only get worse.

Tuesday's game was the birth of a franchise, the realization of a longtime dream that at one point seemed so preposterous that to call it a long shot was to imbue credence that didn't seem warranted.

Jon Gruden might still be coaching had he merely been exposed as a remorseful racist. His email about union chief DeMaurice Smith's lips was both disturbing and despicable, but it was from a decade ago when Gruden was not coaching in the NFL.

We have reached perhaps the bleakest crossroads of the Pete Carroll coaching era in Seattle.

In case this is the first Seahawks story you've read after spending five weeks in a cave — their defense stinks. They have given up 450.8 yards per game, good for the most in the NFL.

There are no preconceived notions with the Kraken in its first year. The players are like scientists in a laboratory, working on combinations to find the desired chemistry, on and off the ice.

The Mariners co-opted the Ted Lasso meme “Believe” as their slogan for the stretch drive, and rode it all the way to Game 162.

The first thing Seahawks coach Pete Carroll did when he approached the podium on Sunday, Oct. 3, still flush from his team’s victory, was to laud the Mariners’ thrilling win Saturday that kept them alive, albeit temporarily, in the wild-card race.

There are two ways to view this Mariners season and what it means for the team and the city. Two ways to process the unforeseen playoff push that ultimately extended the organization’s 20-year postseason drought.

On Sept. 26, a visiting birder from Indiana stopped and scoped out the Two Rivers HMU to see what birds were in the area. What he located was unbelievable and totally unexpected in Walla Walla County.

Sometimes I travel vicariously — I have the sense to be an armchair hiker. I cannot hike every trail.

Strangely, a franchise that does pretty much everything right on the field — the low-budget team made it to the World Series last season and is heading back to the playoffs with the best record in the American League — keeps messing things up away from the diamond.

It’s a simple question that doesn’t have a simple answer. In this season of over-achievement in Seattle, one in which the Mariners are defying metrics and logic, who is their Most Valuable Player?

With Mariners now just a half-game out of the second wild-card spot this playoff push resonates to the excitement of 1995.

For the past two weeks, it has been a horror story for the Seahawks that could have been written by Stephen King while in a particularly macabre mood.

Perhaps in three months, the Seahawks will be 12-4 and playing for a division title. Perhaps in four months, they'll be in the NFC Championship Game and vying for a fourth Super Bowl appearance.

UW coach Jimmy Lake takes pride in the Huskies being a physical team that can bully opponents. That didn't happen in the first two games.

Washington's 52-3 victory over Arkansas State Saturday wasn't excellence so much as it was an exhalation. It was the outcome necessary to temporarily — very temporarily — shield the team from the vitriol they endured through its first two contests.

Considering Pete Carroll received a contract extension that would keep him in Seattle until he is 74, it looks probable that he will retire as the oldest to have a head-coaching job in the league.

The 42-year-old needs to satisfy coach Pete Carroll's desire to run the ball more with quarterback Russell Wilson's desire for an open offense. Can he do it?

Spending in free agency is important, but the Mariners' top prospects, and whether they can become key contributors in the majors, will determine if the Mariners meet their goal of perennial contention and legitimate championship potential.

For the most part, these are the 2021 Seattle Seahawks, give or take a few tweaks. The roster came into much sharper focus Tuesday, and now, with less than two weeks until the season opener, we can sit back and ponder just how good they can be.

The college sports world has turned into a giant reality show, “Conference Survivor.” And just as we’ve seen on innumerable such shows, the best way to keep from being sent packing is to form the right partnerships. With George Kliavkoff at the helm, the Pac-12 has a chance to do just that.

How many times this year have the Mariners been dead and buried, written off for good? How many times did it appear that the joy ride had finally careened to a halt, and the inevitable (and inexorable) collapse had commenced?

The good news for Fred Couples fans entering this weekend's Boeing Classic in Snoqualmie? His game is on point, having finished in the top seven of his past eight events, including tied for second and tied for third in June.

Author and former KJR-AM host Mike Gastineau became enthralled with the ’91 UW football team when he moved to Seattle that year.

Now that Jamal Adams is holding a four-year contract extension with the Seahawks that makes him the highest-paid safety in NFL history, he segues immediately into a new challenge: Showing he’s worth it.

Cornerback was really the only position Seahawks coach Pete Carroll seemed to criticize after Saturday's preseason game, saying, "We didn't make any plays to stop the third-down attempts." It's hard to say whether this was an indictment on the CBs in general or really just Tre Flowers.

Much is expected of Washington's offensive line this season. It has been rated as fifth in the nation by one publication

When judging the Mariners' trade-deadline moves, much will depend on how deeply you believe in team chemistry, and how realistic you thought their playoff chances were when they pulled within one game of the second wild-card spot July 26 on Dylan Moore’s electrifying grand slam.

"The season, when we reflect back, the team and coaching staff will have a special bond for the rest of our lives," Walla Walla Sweets manager Larry Price said following their season.

Speaking to the media after a training-camp practice on Monday, Aug. 9, Huskies running back Sean McGrew answered a question about team expectations that might make a few bulletin boards — assuming teams still use those things.

Right when the M's lured the city into thinking they might finally end this 20-year postseason drought, they seemed to revert to their maddening losing.

Matty Beniers' Michigan teammate, Owen Power, was selected first overall Friday, but there were a few mock drafts that had Beniers in that top spot.

With Lake Union and the Seattle skyline in the backdrop, the Kraken unveiled its roster with captivating flair.

The Legion of Boom's story had been about bonding, friendship, overcoming adversity and proving doubters wrong. Now you just hope the players can find their way to a better place in their lives. And that the people they impacted can find peace in theirs.

WOW, has it ever been HOT! Wildlife and wild plants have really suffered and been horribly stressed during the dominance of this unprecedented heat dome sitting over the top of the Pacific Northwest.

When Ali Aguilar was a kid, she dreamed of playing for USA softball. But then softball (and baseball) were yanked from the Olympics after 2008. The sport is back for at least this year's Tokyo Games and the former Husky star is finally a softball Olympian at age 25.

I think it’s pretty safe to say Hector Santiago was not the whale that MLB may have envisioned snaring when it decided to step up its enforcement of foreign substances on baseballs.

Her hardwood success took root during four productive seasons at Walla Walla High School.