Kim Little with Seattle Reign in 2017?

I adore Kim Little.  She is a once in a lifetime player and i'm so happy to have the opportunity to see her play.  She is a joy to watch, every game.  By all accounts she's a great person too.  We are so lucky.  She has spoiled us for midfielders for ever: can you imagine trying to live up to the standard set by our magic Scottish Unicorn?  I hate even the thought of her leaving the Reign.  But sadly i think she has played her last game in the Blue and Black.

To be clear, she has not made any statements about it one way or the other.  I'm not certain she will leave, not at all. I don't have inside information and i don't claim to know the future. I hope and hope and hope and hope and hope that we are all wrong, but the arguments are piling up and everyone i talk to takes it as a given.  I want to be wrong on this one, but it's looking grim. 

The arguments:

1. THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS.
Scotland has qualified for Euro 2017 in the Netherlands.  This is great!  The Scottish men have only qualified twice (in the 1990s) and the women never have.  It's a very big deal for the Scottish Fans, and for us: Kimmie finally gets to shine in a major tournament.  She deserves this opportunity.  I'm happy for her and i hope she makes the most of it.   I plan to watch.  I might even attend! 

      However, this tournament is going to be Kim's entire focus from now until August.  So even if she stays with the Reign, she would be gone for six to ten weeks mid-season; and wow that's a lot of travel, probably 10 or 15 trans-Atlantic flights.

      (Hey Laura Harvey, here's my brilliant idea:  Loan Little to Arsenal for 2017, bring her back to Seattle for a championship in 2018!!)

2. REFS.
Kim is one of the players who suffers the most from the horrible refereeing in the NWSL.  She is fouled constantly.  There are no stats on this, but i'm certain she's in the top few players with the most uncalled fouls against her.  Teams can't beat her so they try to stop her another way -- sometimes they try to hurt her.  A player of her caliber needs the protection of good refereeing and that is sorely lacking.  It's really amazing that she hasn't been seriously injured.  Commissioner Plush is doing nothing at all to protect the players; it's a scandal.  She's clearly fed up with it.

3. FAMILY.
It's well known that Kim is not comfortable being so far away from her family and boyfriend.  She talks about that a lot.   (Can the Sounders sign Tom Pett?)

4. 2016

      I think we were unknowingly fortunate to have had her in the team this past season. The widespread rumor last summer was that she was leaving as soon as we won the championship. But then after that frustrating loss in the game at Jeff' Plush's ludicrous 'neutral ground' in Portland, she was convinced to stay and give it one more go.

5. PAYCHECK.
It's never spoken, but well known that she could make 8, 10, 12 maybe even fifteen times as much money playing in Germany, France, Sweden, Japan or most likely at back home in the UK.  Little is one of the few in the leauge being paid as 'high' as five figures, but that paltry excuse for payment barely qualifies as poverty wages.  Any athlete, but especially a world class superstar like Kim Little deserves a living wage.   All male athletes of her caliber are making eight figures.

      We don't like to talk about it, but the NWSL is a league for upper class young women who's parents can support them in their hobby for a few years.  Kimmie is a true professional (10 seasons so far!) and so she really needs to be in a real league.  Jeff Plush is just not doing his job:  the players must be paid.

6. TEAM CORE.
There was something very special about the 2014 - 15 Seattle Reign team.  Little was very clear that it was important to her and a reason to play here.  One of her stated reasons for coming to Seattle in the first place was to have the opportunity to play alongside Hope Solo.

         

      Sport is frustratingly fickle; that core is disappearing.  Both the Captain and Assistant captain (Winters & Cox) are gone, and Brooks and Foxhoven and Deines and Solo of course. I expect Matthias may be traded and we'll surely lose one or two more.  Kim's telepathic buddy, Fishlock is still around, but is that enough?

7. LEARNING.
Kim Little's original excuse for taking the big pay cut to come to the USA was for the opportunity play in a more physical, faster, if sometimes less skilled league.  She said she could learn from playing in the best league in the world.  After 2015 she said she had learned all she could here.  In fact this year she was looking for new things to learn  -- that's one of the reasons she played more defense this year:  the Reign were kind of looking for things to keep her interested.

8. LEAGUE.
On the other side of the coin, the NWSL has caught up to her. When she first got here in 2014 she was like a super-hero, no one had ever seen someone with her wonderful combination of skills: ball handling, vision, game management, soccer IQ, speed, experience, fitness, passion, drive and more.  There were many players with one or more of those but none with all.  She could do as she pleased and no one could stop her.  But the defenders have caught up with her and have found ways to deal with her.  And she has defined the importance of a dominating mid-fielder that all NWSL teams must have now.

9. TRAVEL.
For three years Kimmie has crossed the Atlantic, about eight times a year, maybe more. There's no doubt she's a professional, but even without the major mid-season tournament in Holland doubling that, it takes a toll. 

10. MANCHESTER CITY.
Khaldoon Al Mubarak, an oil multi-billionaire in Abu-Dhabi owns Man City and he's stated repeatedly that he wants to build the world's best men's and women's teams and money is no object. Last year he started putting together a women's super team in the UK.  They just won the FAWSL title.

         

     In the NWSL off season last year Kimmie was the main star for (undefeated) Melbourne City, a super team assembled by and owned by Manchester City FC. The UK is home for Kim and Tom plays there.   I've talked to several people who suspect she already has a deal inked.  This is the biggest reason for the suspicions.  I hate to say it, but if i were her, i would go.   

Seattle Reign 2017 roster change predictions

My take on the upcoming roster changes. 

I think Harvey will be much more active in the off-season than in the last couple of years... It's going to be exciting to watch.  Here i have categorized players by what i expect to happen.  This is just a guess.

Not going anywhere. 

(Under contract through 2017.) 

• GM extraordinaire Laura Harvey 
• 10 Jess Fishlock, our Welsh Dragon (she has said she would probably end her career with the Reign) 

Remaining Reign!. 

(Have stated they are returning. -- i realize that's not a formal commitment on either side )

• 14 Gabriëlla Melis (A healthy Manon up front will frighten the rest of the league.)
• 15 Megan Rapinoe (A healthy Pinoe with few USWNT commitments will be a huge help!) 
• 36 Naomi Kawasumi (A full season of Naho runs!) 

Solid Seattle. 

(Core team, no brainer.) 

• 3 Lauren Barnes (Barnesie is a deserving winner of the NWSL defender of the year in 2016!) 
• 13 Kendall Fletcher (A couple more seasons of Super-FLETCH!) 
• 17 Beverly Gobel Yanez (Why she hasn't been called to the USWNT is baffling.)
• 28 Haley Kopmeyer (#KOP2019)

  Most likely staying 

(I can't see her being traded, released or walking away.)

•  4 Rachel Corsie (May have SCT national team commitments in Euro 2017, but i don't think she would have spent three months here in Seattle recovering from her MCL tear if she wasn't staying.)
• 16 Carson Pickett (2015 top draft pick. Developing nicely. May have a future on USWNT.) 
• 19 Havana Solaun (2014 top draft pick -- possibly will be #10 if Little leaves) 
• 20 Rumi Utsugi (Left Back or more likely filling the gap left by Keelin at DM.) 

  I expect retirements.

• 7 Elli Reed (One good year in 2014. No roster space, so will probably be allowed to retire.)
• 25 Kiersten Dallastream (A 4 year Reign bulwark who really can't keep up. No roster space so will be allowed to retire.) 

Almost certainly going to Europe. 

• 1 Hope Solo Stevens (Treated TERRIBLY by the USWNT. Is loyal to Seattle, but has lots of offers in Sweden, France, Germany, UK) 
• 8 Kim Little (Sad for us, but she's going places: probably a good paycheck at Man City and a high finish for Scotland in Euro 2017.) 

  The always disappointing retirements .

• 18 Dani Foxhoven (Retired early in the 2016 season for health reasons.) 
• 14 It's safe to say we're still reeling from Steph Cox's retirement for financial reasons last year. 
• 11 Now we've lost the irreplaceable Keelin Winters for financial reasons. (I'm still sobbing about that.) 

We need a NWSL Commissioner who cares about the league and can do the job. These athletes must be paid! 

Unknown -- but Reign still owns the rights 

• Paige Nielson (playing in Greece, possibly on loan) 
• Summer Green (was injured when drafted, have heard nothing since) 
• Antonia Göransson (is recovering and playing in a lower level league at home in Sweden) 
• Verónica Pérez Murillo (playing in Sweden but still has Seattle links) 
• Arianna Romero Tellez (playing in Iceland(??))

  That leaves:

• 6 Lindsay Elston (2016 walk-on, Seattle native, might not make the team, but probably not going anywhere else) 
• 9 Merritt Mathias (who probably has decent trade value, but would be great to keep at right back) 
• 21 Michelle Cruz (who Harvey must believe in because she's been kept on the roster for 3 years without playing!!) 
• 24 Andi Tostanoski (maybe stays on as 3rd keeper?) 

Incoming

From what i can tell, in January's College Draft we've got two 1st round picks, and a 3rd and 4th, which i think means 3rd, 6th, 26th and 36th overall. Harvey is a know wizard in the trading market.

We also have fewer US/CA/MEX NT members than any team, i personally think we should be owed at least one more.  The National Team allocation wheel resets on October 9th and we should be 6th on that wheel. (Portland loses their first spot on that wheel when the 2016 Championship match kicks off!)  Pinoe, Fletch and Jess are all over 30 and likely have 2 seasons each in them, so some proactive drafting could fill those holes ahead of time. But i think we have at least one championship season left with them.

The big issues for 2017 are:

• Little and Winters leave a huge hole to be filled in midfield, 
• we need a backup keeper, 
• and we still need to fill that gap at left back. 
• In addition, if next season is anything like this one, we're going to need a couple of baseball players just to make the tiebreaker into the playoffs. 

 Pickett and Barnes may be able to hold down left back, but neither is close to Steph Cox at that position. I really like Andi, but i don't think she's ready to be the #2 keeper -- maybe i'm wrong.

I see Utsugi slotting in for Keelin and a new acquisition in Kimmie's #10. (My dream is Daniëlle Van De Donk or Mana Shim there, but there is absolutely no evidence of either.)

Goal of the Weak!

Pay the players and keep them safe.

The NWSL is very important.  Not to me.  I'm a fan and i love this league, but seriously, it is important to the dedicated professional athletes who have committed their lives to it.

Yes, it's a young league and there is plenty that needs to be done, but really only two things matter at this point.  The players must be paid and kept safe.

I want to repeat this because the commissioner has shown absolutely zero understanding of this. THE PLAYERS MUST BE PAID AND KEPT SAFE.

The refs must be paid and monitored.   They must pull out the red card for dangerous play.

The facilities must be checked that they are be safe. Unsafe facilities must not be used.

And the Players MUST be paid.

Why does every league fail after 3 years?  Because that's how long people will wait to be paid.

The commissioner has only one job.   Pay the players.  Keep them safe.   If she can't do that, she shouldn't have the job.  Furt!

Fire Jeff Plush!   After a year and a half he is a complete failure.

• The inexcusable farce of paying professional adults less than half of a McLords clerk.
• The outrageous state of the fields that professional athletes are expected to play on, with not a word of protection from the league office.
• The constant stream of injuries caused by those fields.
• Giving teams a free pass for complete failures of venue, medical facilities and corruption.
• The constant stream of retirements of healthy active players because they can't afford to pay to play.
• The complete incompetence of the amateur referees.  
• The incredible risk, and consistent injuries, caused by poor refereeing.   (No one really minds bad refereeing if it is even and safe -- but multiple players are stretchered off  weekly because 90% of the time the referees cannot or will not control the game.)
• The ludicrous last minute decision on the location of the 2015 Championship match.  (Plush & The NWSL become an international laughingstock.)
• The laughably amateur decision on the location of the 2016 Championship match.

Jeff Plush must stop fooling around with moving the Championship match to help out his friends and must PAY THE PLAYERS and KEEP THEM SAFE.   

Raise money.  Pay the players.  Keep them safe.   The commissioner must be in Corporate board rooms every day promoting the league and raising money.  That is the job.  If Plush can't or won't do that.  Fire him now.   Eighteen months is way too long.  He certainly has not done a single positive thing for the league that anyone can see.

Pull the red card on Jeff Plush before he hurts more players.

Draft Day

It's NWSL Draft Day.   Here's my report.

Preview

There are five ways that the NWSL rules say that players can be added to teams.  The first is the College Draft, that's today!   The US college women's soccer program is the strongest in the world.  In fact it has long been the world center of women's soccer.  All American players play at college and some foreign players come to college here.  Some of the college teams could compete in some of the European leagues.   Thanks to Title IX passed in 1972, the USA got a 20 year headstart on the rest of the world.

The second method of adding players is the Allocations from the US Women's National Team.  USWNT players are employed, not by their clubs, but by US Soccer.  The third way is called Discovery.  A team may put a hold on an unclaimed player (as long as that player had not declared in the most recent draft.)  This was intended to be used for unsung US club players, and it is, but more and more it is being used to acquire players from other countries, the first notable of these being Kim Little.  Each team is allotted 4 slots for international players.  

The fourth method is through open try-outs (Reign try-outs are going on now) although technically these players are added thorough Discovery.  Lastly players can be traded between teams.  Trades can also include intangibles such as international slots and this year and next year's draft picks.  They cannot include money or competitive considerations (e.g.  player will not play against former team).  This year there was also an Expansion Draft in October to populate the new team in Orlando.  Orlando chose players from other teams.

This draft today is a selection of US college seniors who want to turn pro.  Only players who have officially declared themselves available may be drafted.  The list of  declared players was circulated a few days ago, although players may declare up to the start of the draft.  The draft is for the rights to players.  Teams still have to work to sign them; the player may still choose to play overseas or to retire.  And once signed, the player will still have to be good enough to make the team; some of these players, especially in the later rounds will not make the teams.

The draft is four rounds, each of the ten teams gets a pick in reverse order of 2015 standings finish.  Many of the picks have been traded so the order is not consistent.  Portland has the top TWO picks.  The Thorns have been packing their lineup with quality players this off-season and they are clearly the team to watch in this draft (and in the 2016 season). 

Next year's class (this year's juniors) is packed with great prospects.  This year is considered a fairly weak class, however there are a large number of quality central defenders.  The one major exception is  an international (Costa Rican) attacking midfielder named Raquel Rodriguez, by far the best prospect in the draft.  Only about the top 4 or 5 picks can be expected to be immediate starters, most will take a year or two of development first. 

USI

First off, just an hour before the draft, they announced a significant change to how USWNT players will be handled in the NWSL.  Allocated players will now be called Subsidized players.  (I preferred the term Allocated, it sounds better.)  Here's how it works:  When there is a National Team player who for any reason is not assigned to an NWSL team (newly capped, returned from overseas, etc) any NWSL team can select that player.  If more than one team selects the player, there is a wheel which determines who has priority called the USI (unattached subsidized individual) order.  Since these players are in demand, in effect the next team in line will always get the player.  When a team invokes their priority, they move to the bottom of the order.  Teams may swap positions in trades, but only swap (you can't give up or double your positions).  The entire order resets the day after the Championship match each year, by reverse order of finish, including playoffs.  The initial order is: Boston,  SkyBlue, Western New York,  Portland, Houston, Washington, Chicago, Seattle, Kansas City, Orlando

Seattle losses and additions so far

The Reign's main lineup from 2015 remains in largely place, with one major exception.  Kim Little decided to stay, which was a great relief!  Stephanie Lopez Cox retired for financial reasons, which will be a huge loss.  She's going to be a coach at Gig Harbor High.  Mariah Nogueira Bullock retired probably also for financial reasons but she's heading off to Grad School in Utah.  Amber Brooks was traded to protect the lineup in the expansion draft.  That will also be a big hole to fill, but she was not happy and was probably leaving anyway.  Katrine Vejey was not happy here and returned to Denmark.  Harvey just released third goalkeeper Caroline Stanely (which i found strange).  Sadly Megan Rapinoe tore her ACL in USWNT practice in November and is facing a long recovery.  She will not play for the Reign before the Olympic break in July, and possibly not for the rest of the season either.

Two international signings last month appear to have filled two of these holes.  Swedish National Antonia Göransson is an exceptional left back who can also play midfield.  I assume she will replace Cox at left back.  I'm looking forward to seeing her play.  She has a history of not getting along with her coaches though.  Gabriëlla 'Manon' Melis is the highest scoring player in the history of the Netherlands national team.  She's a fast and creative forward who is very exciting to watch.  She is nearing the end of her career.  I assume she will replace Vejey, although with Pinoe's injury coming just days afterwards, her signing seems even more important.

Havana Solaun, Seattle's first pick last year, is finally healthy again after that broken ankle we saw in the pre-season.  She should be a powerful forward and/or attacking mid.  She was extremely impressive in the one half we saw her play.  I don't see her starting this year, but she will be an important part of the team.

Regardless of what happens in this draft, i expect more movement from Harvey before the season starts, hopefully discovery signings, not trades, but i don't think the roster is settled yet.

Seattle needs

KEEPER.  I think one of our biggest needs is a backup goalkeeper.  Solo will miss a fair number of games due to the Olympics, and potential legal issues.  Kopmeyer is an excellent starting caliber goalie that i have come to think of as our main keeper, but when Solo is gone there must be a keeper to back her up.

DM.  With both of our backup defensive mid-fielders gone, we're going to need at least one player who can sub in late like Brooks & Nogueira did. 

FORWARD.  Maybe someone to fill in for Pinoe during her injury?

Seattle has picks numbers 4, 25, 30 and 40  (as the league winning team, the Reign's assigned picks before trades were last in each round: numbers 10, 20, 30, 40).

Brianne Reed - is an excellent left back from Rutgers that i'd like to see come to Seattle.  She will go in the first round (Oh, and she does a flip throw in!).  Britt Eckerstrom is the goalkeeper for national champions Penn State and i think she'd be a good fit.  Cari Roccaro from Notre Dame is a center back and DM who could fit in well.  If we were going to use an international slot, Rachel Daly from the England national team looks like a strong defender, is a left sider, and can play anywhere.  I think she would a good choice.  Samantha Witteman looks to be a good DM too, an Amber Brooks type player.  Harvey has said pretty clearly that she would not pass up Raquel Rodriguez if she is still available by the forth pick.  She's a very exciting player. 

Results: Seattle got

Ryan and i had fun watching the draft, although it did drag on for quite a while -- i hope next year they pay more attention to the clock.  There was some excitement, when there were trades and so forth.  We got to learn about the players coming up, it will be fun to see them play when they come to town.  So how did Seattle do?  Not bad i think:

pick #4 Carson Pickett - Florida State - left back, can play left mid

            ranked #56 in the country, #22 of seniors

            Very strong left foot, fast, tenacious

            She has only one arm.

            Great pick.  Should be a good part of the team. 

            Might be a replacement for Cox a year or so down the line

pick #25 Summer Green - UNC - wide back

            not ranked.  She's injured and has been a lot, otherwise she would've gone much higher. 

            She's very young (20), skipping a year in both high school and college.

            This is Harvey thinking ahead to next year

pick #30 Paige Nielsen - UNC - defender

            ranked #78 in the country, #28 of seniors

            She's actually signed to play in Germany, she DID declare for the draft, but Harvey was on the             phone to the very last second, i'm assuming to confirm that she would actually play in the
            NWSL.

pick #40 Lindsey Luke - Utah - goalkeeper

            not ranked.

            25 shutouts!

We certainly didn't get the flashy players, but almost all post-draft analyses i've read count the Reign draft as a huge success, with all four players listed as under-rated bargains that should've gone higher.

Everyone Else

Right before the draft Syd Leroux was traded from WNY to KC in a trade that included a couple of draft picks.  Probably good for WNY.  KC, will not be as strong as they have been, and Leroux will be a liability unless they seriously change their style of play.  I'm kind of glad to see KC knocked down a little bit.

The list of all players taken is below, but here are the notable ones:

             1         Portland Thorns          Emily Sonnett

             2         Sky Blue FC               Raquel Rodriguez

             5         Houston Dash             Cari Roccaro

             6         Houston Dash             Rachel Daly

            18        FC Kansas City           Brianne Reed

            26        WNY Flash                 Britt Eckerstrom

Chicago traded for a bunch of fourth round picks as the day went on meaning that they eventually had 4 out of 5 picks and half the picks in the whole round.  Washington picked two Maryland based players who only declared at the very last minute, no one else knew they were available.

Thorny

The biggest story of the day, exciting to Portlanders and distressing to the rest of us, is the way The Thorns are building a super-team.  The commentators actually called them The Galacticos, referring to the Real Madrid Teams from 10-15 years ago when they started buying up all the best players in the world, Beckham & Renaldo and so forth.  There were also a number of cries on twitter of  'collusion', suggesting that Portland had some advanced knowledge of some changes at the USWNT and the introduction of the USI wheel.  I don't know about that, but two things are certain:  The Thorns are going to be fun to watch, and hard to beat.  I'm not happy.  They've got some fantastic players, but the management and the fans make me hate them.

The Thorns made a couple of very interesting trades.  They traded their #2 pick to Sky Blue (who used it to get Rodreguiz!) for Sky Blue's #3 draft pick and Nadia Nadim, the fantastic Danish striker.  Then moments later they traded that #3 pick to Boston for the top spot in the USI wheel; meaning that next time a new USWNT player who is not in the NWSL is capped, Portland gets her.  Then they announced that they are expecting U-20 superstar Mallory Pugh, who is only 17, to turn pro.  She's in the senior national team camp, so they will have first dibs.  Holy Moley!

Of course they had already made that fancy trade with Orlando during the Expansion draft, trading away often injured superstar Alex Morgan for phenomenal USWNT left back Meghan Klingberg.  This four team trade also sent Amber Brooks from Seattle to Houston and protected our strong roster in the Expansion draft.  Klingberg was a member of the Seattle Reign for about 4 days.

In addition they have placed discovery holds on three players currently playing in Europe, all of whom no one else knew were willing to play in the US:  American Lindsey Horan who has long played in France, French midfielder and World Cup superstar Amandine Henry and the amazing Dagný Brynjarsdóttir, the last two of them are widely expected to be the next "best player in the world".  (Along with Rodriguez.)

And all of that is in addition to the number 1 draft choice, Emily Sonnett, all time Canada scoring record holder Christine Sinclair, England speedster Jodie Taylor, USWNT star Tobin Heath, one of my favorite players: Mana Shim, as well as Allie Long and Michelle Betos.  They are going to be a force.

The Full Draft

1    Portland Thorns       Emily Sonnett

2    Sky Blue FC            Raquel Rodriguez

3    Boston Breakers      Christen Westphal

4    Seattle Reign          Carson Pickett

5    Houston Dash          Cari Roccaro

6    Houston Dash          Rachel Daly

7    Washington Spirit    Cheyna Williams

8    Houston Dash          Janine Beckie

9    W New York Flash  Michaela Hahn

10  Orlando Pride          Samantha Witteman

11  W New York Flash  Makenzy Doniak

12  Washington Spirit   Cali Farquharson

13  Sky Blue FC            Leah Galton

14  W New York Flash  Mallory Weber

15  Orlando Pride          Christina Burkenroad

16  FC Kansas City        Katie Bowen

17  Boston Breakers      Brittany Ratcliffe

18  FC Kansas City        Brianne Reed

19  Chicago Red Stars   Katie Naughton

20  Washington Spirit   Alli Murphy

21  Portland Thorns       McKenzie Berryhill

22  Chicago Red Stars   Sarah Gorden

23  Sky Blue FC            Erica Skroski

24  W New York Flash  Laura Liedle

25  Seattle Reign          Paige Nielsen

26  W New York Flash  Britt Eckerstrom

27  Boston Breakers      Abby Smith

28  FC Kansas City        Alexa Newfield

29  Sky Blue FC            Caroline Casey

30  Seattle Reign          Summer Green

31  Orlando Pride          Dani Weatherholt

32  Chicago Red Stars   Courtney Raetzman

33  Chicago Red Stars   Jannelle Flaws

34  Washington Spirit   Madalyn Schiffel

35  Chicago Red Stars   Adrienne Jordan

36  Chicago Red Stars   Candace Johnson

37  Washington Spirit   Kara Wilson

38  FC Kansas City        Alex Arlitt

39  Chicago Red Stars   Ashleigh Ellenwood

40  Seattle Reign          Lindsey Luke

Graph of Seattle Reign Roster by age and tenure

Gridiron and the Zombie Apocalypse

A week ago today the Seattle Seahawks were in the Superbowl.

That is to say, the American Rules Football team that plays here in my city were in the championship game. The Superbowl is an interesting sports event, because even people who don't care about the sport tend to watch it.  It's a major national holiday.  I, however, don't care about it at all. I do like that the Seattle team is named after Osprey, the eagle-like raptors that hunt fish in the fjord.

Seattle is a terrible sports city. The fans are not very passionate, and tend to not know much about sports... and the teams tend to be terrible. There is a long history of losing teams here and it's even become a national story in the last few years about how bad Seattle teams are.  There was a hockey championship in 1902 and a basketball championship in 1979. And the Seahawks lost the championship game in 2006.  Otherwise almost always losing seasons in all sports and the baseball team is the worst in baseball history.

Suffice it to say there was a lot of excitement about this game, nationally of course, but especially locally.  Although i certainly wanted the Seahawks to win, i had no interest in watching the game. I planned a bike ride with a friend.

We drove in her truck about an hour and a half to Olympia and set out on a gorgeous trail through the forest.  One reason we chose a trail was because this day, Superbowl Sunday, is one of the biggest days for drunk driving. Not being on roads seemed a good idea.  We set out late, around lunchtime, on purpose. 

We rode from across downtown Olympia to a new trail called the Woodland Trail.  It was very short, about 3 miles, but it was gorgeous!!  It was also very well signed.   Normally the signs on bike trails are poor.  This trail had signs with street names at cross streets, a great feature which is sorely missing on many bike trails.

Early in our ride there were a lot of people walking on the trail before the game, but before long we were alone. Neither of us had ridden long miles in quite a while and we tired quickly, but we pushed through it.  By the time we got to the end of the trail we both felt like we didn't want to go back the same way (26 mi) we came so we decided to head out on the road.

When we got to the little town of Tenino it was as if it had been completely abandoned.  No cars, no people, no activity.  You almost expected tumbleweeds to be rolling through.  We did find a grocery store, which had no customers, and we fueled up there.  Then we set out on old Highway 99, up over a small mountain.  This is a road i would not normally ever ride on, due to fast, busy car traffic.  But on this day it was almost empty.  We saw maybe a dozen cars in 12 miles!  No people walking or outside in yards.  Not even dogs.  Sue kept joking that it was like the Zombie Apocalypse.

It was very strange having the whole world to ourselves.   Even in the towns, while fast food restaurants were opened, there was no one in them,  sidewalks were empty, busses were empty, parking lots were empty and there were NO CARS ANYWHERE on the streets.  It was amusing and strange.  We rode up through Olympia, which was also empty and packed our bikes in Sue's truck right at sunset.

It was a very very nice ride and both of us got stronger as the day went on. It took over an hour to drive back to Seattle.  There were cars on the freeway but traffic was VERY light.  As we drove into my neighborhood, we opened the windows.  The bars were packed with people, but everything was silent.   We couldn't determine the status of the game.  As we were unloading the bikes outside my building we heard some shouts and whoops, but they were all coming from just one apartment.   We figured that could mean bad news.  They might be Denver fans.

But pretty quickly people started yelling out the windows of all of the nearby buildings.  Horns started honking.   This seemed like a good sign.   A bottle rocket shot out of my own building!  And then the blue and green official fireworks show started on the Space Needle.

That told me all i needed to know.  I didn't care about the game (or the sport), i didn't want to watch, but i did want the Seahawks to win the championship and i wanted to hear about it from my neighbors.   It was fun!!! 

Shells From The Nova

When i was in High School i read a science fiction book that i cannot remember the name of.

Pretty much all i did in High School was read science fiction.  I would often bring two books to school with me because i would finish one each day.  Many of those books were on my bookshelves until a big garage sale a few years ago.

However there is one book that i think about fairly often that i cannot remember the name or the author.  Maybe someone can help.  I don't really remember the story, i remember the setting.

The setting was a trading planet where people came to meet up, lots of races mixing, and lots of humans from all over the galaxy on the planet.  It was a dark and dismal place. No one was there because of the place rather they were there because they needed to be; It was a big active port that no one really wanted to spend time at. 

The unusual thing about this planet was it's star.  At regular intervals (2 years? I don't remember exactly.) the star would under go a Nova like explosion and would send a layer of energy and particles out.  This layer would settle, invisibly, on the planet and cover everything and every one on the planet.  It didn't hurt anyone, but once a layer of the dust settled on you -- you could never leave the planet.  So before every Nova there was a scramble to get off planet.  Of course the protagonist was caught by a serious of unfortunate events on planet during a Nova.

Once you were stuck on planet, you started accumulating layers of Nova dust.  While the dust was invisible, it slightly distorted your senses.  However as more layers accumulated, that slight distortion became greater. 

Each layer of dust that accumulated on you made it harder and harder to communicate with people with no layer or a significantly different number of layers from you.  Eventually, "oldtimers" were invisible to newcomers.

If you know the name or author of this book, please leave a comment!

Guest Post: An Unusual Commuting Hazard

Guest Post by my friend Ryan

There are many hazards to be weary of or at least incidences that are probable in city riding.  I’ve experienced most of them, but every once in a while something new blindsides you.  After reading my encounter, you may well be wishing it would happen to you.

It was late last November on a routine yet pleasurable ride through Frink Park on Lake Washington Blvd. through the upper reaches of Leschi Neighborhood.  I’m headed south and homebound after work, making my way to Beacon Hill, thinking about dinner and trying to forget about the work day as best I can while cranking through the dusk.

This is a section of Lake Washington Blvd., diverged from the shore, where you may see a car or two over a miles distance.  It’s what you wish the rest of the Blvd. were.  It is heavily canopied belt of forest, mostly holding it’s own against invasive intruders.   The stretch of my encounter has much intrigue on it’s own, inhabited by an old bridge with adornment and water flowing down at a bend in the contour line with very little city light penetrating.  Much as the beloved Interlaken Park, it is looked forward to.

As it is fall, the hazards are increased beyond the usual pothole ridden pavement.  Tree debris and puddles must be considered.  A line must be chosen and you must take a relaxed stance on the bike to absorb the inevitable jolts of that line.  So I finesse as I am  able and ready for the smooth negative grade ahead.  The road begins to straighten out and a street light begins to light the way, welcoming the rider out of the woods.

But then, through this moment of relaxed anticipation of clear road, I’m struck by what from all other experience, feels like a low hanging branch against my helmet.  No big deal I think in a half seconds time... except that I’m more or less in the middle of the road, with no wind, and foliage well out of reach... and the branch has struck me in the back of the head.  1, 2 and 3 seconds tick by in my confused noggin before I start to doubt my dismissal of the incident and respect for my curiosity allows me to turn my head back toward the darkness.  Now I’m not expecting to see anything or anyone, which is usually the case here.  But what barely materializes in my credible night vision is the full span of a ghostly grey owl, drafting my head by no more than 6 feet of distance.  Big round head with wings gracefully extended on either side of its bulk.

It doesn’t take me long to instinctively start to pedal my low geared single speed with greater cadence, until I feel i’ve outpaced the predator.  After looking back to confirm and seeing clean darkness, I break out into a mix of laughter and shouting in glee to myself.  A grin remains for the rest of my commute.

Woodland Creature Strikes again:

Not a couple weeks later, I’m taking the compost out to the worm bin in the dark gutter of our back yard.  The bin resides under a small flat roofed open shelter overhung with shedding maple branches.  As I’m bent over to close the bin, I get a weighted thud on my right shoulder blade.  It’s not the knock of a perpetrator looking to put me on the ground.  Though no less shocking, I let out a sort of yelp and look around for evidence of the impact.  As before, I have a moment to reflect and settle on the theory that a soft body has landed upon me... no claws, no squeak.  I’d swear it was a legless, headless, chubby woodland creature.  Just then, it scurries off through the leaves, unidentified.