​Last Friday, after the Seattle Storm beat the Minnesota Lynx 65-55, the team invited reporters into the locker room for questions. Sarah Toce from the Seattle Lesbian blog was there and reported that during the question-and-answer session, someone yelled out "They just passed [same-sex] marriage in New York!" and there were cheers all around. Forward Lauren Jackson even said it made her "proud for humanity."

So, considering that the team will meet with President Barack Obama in the White House today, and given the WNBA has a well-earned reputation as possibly the most gay-friendly professional sports league around, one can't help but wonder if the Storm players will ask Obama why he doesn't support same-sex marriage.

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Merritt Paulson

​UPDATE: Our elephant-brained editor points out that The New York Times penned a similar, Seattle-centered "Gosh, they sure do like their soccer in that part of the country, don't they?" story near the outset of the Sounders' inaugural MLS season back in 2009. To The Times' credit, at least the earlier story is spared the unequivocal "best soccer city in the country" blather.

You may have read this article in the paper of record about how the Portland Timbers have the raddest, most (welcomingly) rabid soccer fans in the country. Not to get all defensive about it, but has the Grey Lady never been to a Sounders game?

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​You know what sucks? Being a long-over-the-hill athlete by your early 30's. Just ask Derrick Anthony Dillon, a standout receiver and defensive back at Rogers High in Puyallup, a special teams player at WSU, and now, at age 32, an accused bank robber.

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​Aging-but-still-awesome NFL defensive end Raheem Brock hasn't played a single down for the Seattle Seahawks since they signed him at the end of last season. He has, however, been arrested twice.

At least he seems to have an excuse for his latest arrest. Namely, a sandwich.

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Venoy Overton and his gold grill.

​The Seattle Times has unearthed some new details about the sleazy past of former UW basketball player and alleged pimp Venoy Overton. The paper of record reported Saturday that in August 2009, when Overton was a sophomore at UW, he was investigated by Seattle police for drunkenly propositioning his 15-year-old cousin via text message. The girl's mother complained, but Overton was not arrested and prosecutors declined to file charges, apparently buying the baller's excuse that his cousin had the same name as another girl he had on booty-call speed dial. But judging by the photo of Overton the Times chose to accompany their story, Overton was caught red-handed.

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​On July 23, KeyArena is slated to host some serious homegrown NBA talent--the first NBA talent to grace its hardwood since the Sonics skipped town three years ago--in an exhibition game for charity that is being marketed at "Seattle vs. the League." Seeing Aaron Brooks, Brandon Roy, Martell Webster, Michael Dickerson, and Spencer Hawes up close and in person should be fun. But let's not confuse this event with anything having to do with the return of the NBA to Seattle, OK?

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​Erik Bedard is finally starting to redeem himself. After three frustrating, injury-plagued seasons and an 0-4 start to this year, he is once again pitching like the guy who finished fifth in the Cy Young Award voting in 2007, ahead of Roy Halladay, Justin Verlander, and Johann Santana. He is, in other words, the guy the Mariners expected to get when they traded five players to the Orioles for him in 2008. And his return to form is exactly why the M's will likely send Bedard packing before the July 31 trade deadline.

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​The Vancouver Canucks didn't just lose to the Boston Bruins in last night's final game of the Stanley Cup Finals--they got blown out, 4-0. Enraged fans responded in the only way they felt was appropriate: by burning and trashing everything in sight.

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​In explaining the decision to invite Seattle University to join the Western Athletic Conference, WAC commissioner Karl Benson specifically cited the team's home stadium, KeyArena, as a reason he felt the school was worthy.

Three years ago, when the Seattle SuperSonics left Seattle, that same arena was cited as a reason why an NBA team was unworthy of staying in Seattle.

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Charlie Whitehurst: QB1?

​Thanks to protracted labor negotiations, who knows if there's even going to be an NFL season this fall? If not, as Ray Lewis has sagely warned, we're all doomed to commit senseless crimes, and everything's pretty much going to suck. On the other hand, if there is a season, the Seahawks will have to clear up one of the murkiest quarterback situations in the league. On that latter point, the unsettlingly well-connected Peter King of Sports Illustrated has some insights that he's been Twittling about over at the website Twitter.

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​Since the Sonics were hijacked to Oklahoma City, it's become understandably en vogue for Seattle die-hards to root against their former team. But Thunder general manager Sam Presti, universally regarded as a wunderkind by colleagues and media alike, has made this task extremely difficult, swiftly demolishing and subsequently reconstructing a team that made it all the way to the conference semifinals this year. But take heart, Supe faithful: Presti's lone fuckup probably cost him a trip to the Finals, where Dallas and Miami are currently deadlocked at 2-2.

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​Ben Broussard has tenuous connections to a lot of things. He's sort of a famous baseball player, in that he shares the obscure record of having the most single-season pinch-hit grand slams. He's sort of a famous musician, in that he's in a band that makes albums. And he's sort of connected to the Weinergate scandal, in that he has a close relative who was one of the Anthony Weinerbabes.

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Mike Carp is not a fish. He's only named after one.

​UPDATE 6/8 @ 7:34 a.m.: Carp got the call up to the Mariners following last night's loss to the White Sox. He replaces Mike Wilson on the roster, proving that baseball, like life, just ain't fair sometimes.

The Mariners have won six consecutive series, the first time they have accomplished that feat since the record-setting 2001 season. Aside from the home-run derby this past weekend against Tampa Bay, the victories have come despite an offense that's as impotent as a geriatric eunuch. Everyone from casual fans to the front office acknowledges that their standout pitching staff (and solid defense) can only carry the team for so long; sooner or later they're going to have to start hitting. And, fortunately, sooner is just a phone call to Tacoma away in the form of Mike Carp.

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​UPDATE: The results of Baze's autopsy have been returned. He died of an "accidental overdose involving cocaine and prescription medication" (oxymorphone). More here.

If there is thoroughbred racing royalty in the Pacific Northwest, the Baze family surely heads it. That royal lineage is down one member now, however, as Michael Baze, a talented young jockey with $1.2 million in winnings this year, was found dead yesterday in his Cadillac near the stables at Churchill Downs, Kentucky. He was only 24 years old.

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​The Portland Timbers' skinny-jeaned legion of drunks, aka the "Timbers Army," had a bit of an off day this weekend. Fan blog moderator Andrew Brawley thinks the cheering (especially the losers in sections 101-108 & 201-208) sounded terrible. The reason: They were all hungover.

To avoid this problem in the future--namely when the Timbers play the Sounders again on July 10--Brawley is asking fans to take a pledge of sobriety for 24 hours before the match.

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​The Mariners clawed their way back to a winning record with a gritty 4-3 win over the Orioles yesterday at Safeco Field. The victory came thanks to 7 1/3 stellar innings from Doug "Fisty" Fister and despite another atrocious performance from Chone "Figgy" Figgins, who struck out with the bases loaded (capping an 0-3 day at the plate) and made three blunders at third base that nearly cost his team the game. Manager Eric "Wedgie" Wedge had moved the feckless Figgins from second to eighth in the batting order to shake things up, but the real change the Mariners need is in the nickname department, 'cause apparently their creativity is limited to adding 'y' sounds to the ends of people's names.

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​In a recent Wall Street Journal article discussing the National Football League's efforts to more seriously address the problem of concussions in its ranks, the WSJ reminded us of an old quote from former all-pro defensive back Ronnie Lott, who said that "if they took away half my padding, they'd take away half my power." The author followed that up by stating: "No one wants to take anything away from the Ronnie Lotts of football." But with former players fraught with gridiron-related brain damage that has led to at least one recent high-profile suicide (that of Dave Duerson, pictured), it's puzzling to figure out why the NFL isn't considering just that.

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​Halfway through writing this post, Craigslist yanked the ad, but needless to say if you have $40,000 and want to be the proud owner of a new Portland-based co-ed kickball team, the current owner of the Dirty Birds would like to talk to you.

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​The Mariners travel to San Diego tonight to take on their bitter interleague rivals the Padres, and they take with them one of the worst-hitting teams in baseball. Skipper Eric Wedge said it best earlier this week after his club tallied just two runs or fewer in seven of 14 games: "We need something . . . I sure as hell am not going to continue watching this." Perhaps having a pitcher hit instead of designated hitter Jack Cust (.226 avg, 0 homers), as the M's will do this evening in a National League park, will do the trick. Or even better, Jack Zduriencik could acquire this assortment of NL hurlers and beef up the entire batting order.

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​Back in October we told you about the group of Pacific Northwest Football Officials Association referees who got flagged for using pink whistles at a high-school football game. The reason for the mauve instruments was to show support for breast-cancer research (the refs donated their checks from the game as well).

At the time, the Washington Officials Association said the whistles were inappropriate because they hadn't been cleared with the bosses. The group threatened to suspend the refs if they used the whistles again. Then the refs used the whistles again.

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