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A spectacular day at USC
What a day in LA LA land. The University of Southern California has a rich football tradition. All that history, SC’s game-day traditions and the pageantry of the great game of college football were on full display on a beautiful, sunny day in Los Angeles. We flew into Santa Ana on Friday, and made the hour or so drive to the USC campus Saturday morning, long before the 4:30 p.m. kickoff. The LA Memorial Coliseum, the home of the Trojans since 1923, is adjacent to USC. So most people park in designated parking lots around campus and walk to the…
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I brainwashed her, and I’m truly sorry … sort of
Vicki teaches a Bible study on Friday mornings. Last week, she told her group she couldn’t be there tomorrow because she’ d be in California. “Oh, you’re going to see your sister?” one of the women asks Vicki, who grew up in California and two of her sisters still live there. “No, we’re going to LA to see the Washington-USC football game,” Vicki replied. Looks of disbelief ensued. Some people are surprised Vicki goes to more sporting events in a year than many women attend in a lifetime. It’s really not her fault. That’s what she signed up for when…
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Hiking (not so) Easy Pass, step by step
EASY PASS – Before we get started, let’s just make one thing clear: There’s nothing “easy” about the hike to Easy Pass. Sure, the clearly-marked sign off Highway 20 is easy to spot. The trailhead, unlike many starting points for hikes, is easily accessible, just a short, paved road from the highway. After that? Easy doesn’t do it. It’s a 3,000-foot climb to the pass. That’s a tough slog for even the hardiest of day hikers. Our group of four – which included my son-in-law Peter, his 11-year-old son Isaac and longtime friend and hiking fanatic Bob “Next…
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The tall and short of it
I entered the Land of the Giants recently – literally and figuratively. It was the 68th gathering of the Northwest Basketball Legends in Seattle. Seven-foot-1 Spencer Hawes was there. His uncle, Steve Hawes, a mere 6-foot-10, received a Merit of Excellence award at the banquet. Steve was an All-American at the UW and also played 10 seasons in the NBA, including two for the hometown Seattle SuperSonics. He was introduced by his brother, Jeff, a relative shrimp at 6-foot-7 inches who played alongside Steve at UW. Also in attendance were other former college basketball giants in our state: Jim McKean…
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It’s time for me to get Kraken
They said playoff hockey will hook you. Consider me hooked. I tried to be disinterested. But how can you not be caught up in this team and this game of skill played at lightning speed? I credit my Chicago-raised, son-in-law, Karl, for sparking our interest in hockey. Karl is a big Chicago Blackhawks fan and a hockey player himself. Vicki and I usually visit Karl and Greta in May, and our visits between 2010-2015 invariably overlapped with playoff hockey in Chicago. The Blackhawks made deep runs in the NHL playoffs during that five-year span, including two Stanley Cup titles. We…
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I have a shallow interest in the Kraken’s deep dive into the postseason
The Seattle Kraken are in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Whoop-dee-freakin-doo. Please excuse my sarcasm. I’m trying – I really am – to embrace hockey. I should be over the moon that the Kraken, in just their second season in the NHL, are in the postseason. I may watch tonight’s Game 1 against the Colorado Avalanche. On the other hand, I may not. Yes, I’ve been to Climate Pledge Arena to watch a game. Vicki and I were there in early February to see the Kraken maul the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-2. We went more out of curiosity to see the new…
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Duel in the Desert
I am a huge Washington Husky fan. That’s not a surprise to anyone. I can thank my dear dad for that. It’s in my DNA. My earliest childhood memories of Saturday afternoons in the fall were listening to Husky football on the radio with my dad, watching the rare televised game together (on black-and-white TV), and of course the once-every-year-or-so trip to Husky Stadium to see our beloved Huskies in person. The underpinnings for my passion for the purple and gold, however, run much deeper: I love college sports, football and basketball in particular. Vicki knows it. Our daughters know…
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The tale of Two Queens
We mourn the loss of Queen Elizabeth. Her magnificent 70-year reign is over. Just two days after her passing, we celebrate “Queen Victoria,” who turns 66 today. I only mention the two in the same paragraph because they’re connected … at the neck. When Vicki turned 60, I planned a birthday party fit for a queen. I photoshoped her head on Queen Elizabeth’s body (see above). The photo I used was the same photo that ran on the front page of Friday’s Seattle Times (seen here below). The black and white photo of Queen Elizabeth was taken in 1969. She…
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Eyes in the sky
Doing a story on a fire lookout watchman has long been on my bucket list. I can now check that box. I have to say, though, this was not an easy story to do. First of all, only about a third of the state’s remaining 93 fire lookouts are staffed. I talked to several rangers with the U.S. Forest Service. No dice. Finally, one ranger suggested I contact North Cascades National Park. A spokesperson with the park directed me to the guy who mans the famous Desolation Peak fire lookout, which also happens to be the only one in the…
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Visiting the mecca of auto racing
To paraphrase the most interesting man in the Dos Equis beer commercial, “I don’t visit race tracks very often. But when I do, I kiss the bricks at the finish line of the Indy 500.” Full disclosure here. I’m not into motorsports. The last time I stepped near a racing oval was Skagit Speedway, in like 1962. I have watched only small portions of auto races on TV in my lifetime. I am, however, familiar, with the drivers who made names for themselves in a city they call “The Racing Capital of the World:” A.J. Foyt. Mario Andretti. Al Unser.…
