Art Thiel is a longtime sports columnist in Seattle, for many years at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and now as founding editor at SportsPressNW.com.
The expectation is that the Huskies late Monday will be trailing by two points with one second left. Then the NCAA penalizes Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh for being an all-around scoundrel. The five-yard advance allows kicker Grady Gross to attempt a 60-yard field goal that bounces once, then again, on the crossbar before falling past the uprights for the win.
For the sport's only franchise that has never been to the World Series, asking for more patience after 47 years -- and in light of being leapfrogged by the formerly woebegone Rangers -- is the most misguided Mariners statement since former owner Jeff Smulyan said in 1992, "(Bankers) have concluded this isn't a viable business."
The football game at Husky Stadium Saturday is of sufficient magnitude and pulchritude to make it easy to look away from the business detritus, which includes the imminent expiration of the Pac-12 Conference. This breakthrough moment is what longtime sports fans used to call fun.
Cal Raleigh's pain was emotional, daring to question whether the commitment to winning among management and ownership was as sincere as what he felt in the clubhouse after three consecutive regular season win totals of 90, 90 and 88.