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One shining moment
Buy or sell? That’s the question my brother and sister-in-law faced. John and Brenda have been loyal Seahawk season ticket holders for 23 years. Sunday’s Super Bowl game in Santa Clara, California was the fourth in franchise history. But until this year, going to this annual, mega-sporting event was never an option. Until this year. After the Seahawks defeated the LA Rams in the NFC Championship game, John and Brenda learned they had won for the first time a “lottery” for season-ticket holders. That meant they could purchase Super Bowl tickets at reasonable, season-ticket prices. “Reasonable,” in this case, was…
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BETRAYAL ON MONTLAKE
Growing up in western Washington, I naturally gravitated to being a fan of the Seattle SuperSonics, Seahawks, Mariners, and yes, University of Washington football and basketball. As I grew older, however, my passion for the three professional sports teams waned. A big piece of that disenchantment I attribute to my career in sports journalism. As a newspaper insider, I guess I knew too much about “how the sausage was made.” Highly-paid pro athletes seem entitled. Some were hard to talk to. Reporters often had to grovel for interviews. I experienced that first-hand. Too many prima donnas. Too many meaningless games.…
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Mixed reviews on the “Big House”
OK, I’ve done a stint in the Big House. Not time in prison, thankfully, but about five hours in the “Big House” that is Michigan Stadium. I was overwhelmed by the size of the stadium. You could get lost here. I was underwhelmed by the setting and architecture. It’s basically just a big concrete bowl. It sits in the middle of flatland Michigan, not the shores of Lake Washington where the “Greatest Setting in College Football” resides. For as big as the stadium is, it also didn’t feel that “loud.” What screams here is “big-time college football.” This is a…
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Embracing “Mother Pullman”
I don’t know why it took me so long. I was born in Washington, have lived all but nine of my 70-plus years in this state, yet until recently had never set foot on the campus of Washington State University in Pullman. But there we were, in quaint Martin Stadium, surrounded by Cougar fans, on a sun-splashed, late September afternoon in the Palouse, to watch WSU and UW play in the Apple Cup. It was glorious. I’m sorry I was late to the party. And having had many conversations with Coug alums over the years, I understand life at Wazzu…
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BOYS IN THE BOAT
The Three Amigos. The Three Vikings. Three Brothers From Different Mothers. Or, as Bob Swenson suggested, “Oly, Lund and Swen.” Whatever the moniker, the three of us have shared many journeys over the years. It’s a bond built on family and friendship. Kent Oldenburger is my brother-in-law. Bob was a groomsman in Vicki and my wedding, and a longtime friend. For the past 13 years, it was the annual Lund family backpack trip that drew us together. This year, we traded the huffing and puffing up steep mountain trails for a more relaxing passage on Puget Sound’s waterways. Kent owns…
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Summer at the lake
Poem by Bob Swenson It’s another quiet morningFog tiptoes over the waterThe surface is a mirror.Inverted hillsides, clear as day. The coffee’s readyThere’s half & half and sugar.The toaster warms the breadThere’s jam in the fridge. We discuss the plans for the dayAnd wade through the headlines.The world’s a mess.What time is the game? I think I’ll take the boat outOr maybe the paddle board.We’ll play cornhole after lunch. The days are long.It stay light till 9.The water’s warm even where it’s deep. There’s nothing better than summer at the lake.
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Remembering mom
My mom was “Wonder Woman” long before Lynda Carter assumed that title. She did all the laundry, always had home-cooked meals on the table, kept an immaculate house, tended to the garden and flower beds, sang in the choir at church, and had my grandparents and other extended family or friends over for dinner many Sundays after church. She did all that while working full-time beginning when I was 12, in an era when it was rare for mothers to work outside the home. Her jobs at Northern State Hospital and Skagit Valley College in essence made it possible for…
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An initial tall task at UW, and some thoughts on Danny Sprinkle
Had to chance to meet UW basketball coach Danny Sprinkle on Saturday at an annual gathering of mostly way-past-their-prime basketball players, coaches and media-types. Sprinkle spoke to the 70th meeting of the “Northwest Basketball Legends” at the Washington Athletic Club, bringing renewed hope and optimism to a program that hasn’t sniffed the NCAA Tournament since 2019. But first, Sprinkle spoke candidly about the hole he and his staff were faced to try and dig out of when he was named coach on March 25, 2024 to replaced fired Mike Hopkins. “By the time we got the job, I knew there…
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The pursuit of radical generosity
I turned 70 in November. It was a time for celebration while surrounded by family in Arizona. It was also a time for reflection. Let’s face it, I’m old. On the surface “my work is done” and I’m “over the hill.” My career is in the rear-view mirror. I like to tell people that when I was working “I was pulling down good money. Now that I’m retired, I’m good for nothing.” And yet, if I’m honest with myself, that’s actually not true. There’s still time – God willing – to make the rest of my life the best of…
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A memorable, heart-warming day in America’s Heartland
“Thanks for coming,” said an Iowa fan, as Vicki and I walked out of Kinnick Stadium near the end of Iowa’s 40-16 dismantling of Washington on Saturday. “I hope our fans here treated you well.” They certainly did. Better than the visiting team was treated, for sure. We came a long way to watch the visitors from the Pacific Northwest bullied by the always-physical, corn-fed team in America’s Heartland. But while I was expecting the Huskies to be more competitive against slightly-favored Iowa, I’d have to characterize our experience on an unseasonably warm, mid-October afternoon in Iowa City to be…
