SEAHAWKS SUFFER FROM A BROKEN HEART
The Seattle Seahawks said goodbye to their sixth-round pick Garret Scott last Friday upon discovering a heart condition. On Thursday, Scott signed a four-year contract with the reigning Super Bowl champions—a fairly reasonable contract considering his 35 starts out of 41 games at Marshall University. However, a day later his contract was waived due to a “non-football illness” distinction. His rare heart condition was said to keep him from any participation on the field. “After undergoing an extensive physical with our medical staff last week, Garrett’s examination revealed a rare heart condition…We think highly of Garrett as a person and as a football player. The team is committed to supporting Garrett,” said general manager John Schneider. The Seahawks backed up their support claim by awarding Scott a signing bonus despite the waiving. The team still has a solid set of players from the draft to work with as they head into the coming season.
MARCH MADNESS COMES TO SEATTLE
It has been officially announced that, after a decade without an appearance from the event, March Madness will come to Seattle for the 2015 NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The second- and third-round games will be held at the University of Washington—the previous home of the Seattle SuperSonics—on March 20 and 22 of next year after. “Everybody in this country wants these events, so when you have 50 cities bidding on these slots you can’t just put in a good bid, you can’t just show you can do a good job, you have to show you can do a great job, you have to be able to show the community is really going to rally behind it,” said Ralph Morton, executive director of the Seattle Sports Commission.
NHL MEETS SEATTLE?
Victor Coleman, owner of several plots of Seattle land, purchased $281 million worth of city blocks in the Stadium District to become a potential Seattle NHL owner. This sum tops prospective NBA owner Chris Hansen’s previous investment in the area. Coleman, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman traveled to Seattle earlier this month to meet with Seattle Mayor Ed Murray. Murray stated that the question that arose at the meeting was with respect to changing the Memorandum of Understanding for the Seattle Arena project, but that city council would be hesitant to do so. Before any construction can begin, the arena project must undergo environmental review, in addition to the acquisition of an NBA team—as there is currently a deal to bring the NBA to Seattle prior to the NHL. Until an agreement is reached, Seattleites will have to channel their sporting energy into the good old Mariners.
MORALES STILL AN OPTION FOR MARINERS
With first baseman/designated hitter Corey Hart expected to be out of the lineup until mid-June with a hamstring injury, the Mariners are hunting for another power hitter to replace him. The right man for the job may be Kendrys Morales, who has been flirting with the Mariners front office since rejecting a $30 million dollar contract during the past offseason. Morales out-priced himself this winter, leading him to go unsigned through the first several weeks of regular season play, despite his obvious talent. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports
has said that Morales may wind up resigning with his old team. According to Rosenthal, “The Mariners remain an obvious fit for free-agent first baseman/designated hitter Kendrys Morales — the team ranks next-to-last in OPS at DH, and Corey Hart is expected to be out until mid-June with a left hamstring strain.” Such a trade would not only benefit the Mariners, but could potentially hurt their AL West rivals, the Texas Rangers, given that the Rangers are said to have interest in Morales after losing the power hitting Prince Fielder for the season.
