SB Nation Seattle - The Daily Drip

Paul Allen Listening To Offers For Blazers, Seahawks, According to Report

2012-05-16T19:57:35Z

Mega-rich human being Paul Allen is possibly looking to back off his stature as the man who owns two-thirds of Northwest professional sports as rumors continue to swirl that both the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trailblazers are up for sale.

Make the jump for more on this story.

Dwight Jaynes of CSN Northwest spoke about a 'persistent rumor' that Allen is listening to offers. NBA Commissioner David Stern has tried to squash these rumors since, noting that theTrailBlazers are indeed not for sale.

"We know all the investment bankers, all the prospective purchasers, because many of them come through us," Stern said. "And I have been definitively told by Paul ‘Do not send any to us.'"

Hmm. Maybe he has other investors lined up, or this really is just a rumor. Very interesting to say the least.

Allen has owned the Blazers since 1998, while the Seahawks since 1997.

For more on the Seahawks, head over to Field Gulls. For more on the Blazers, check out Blazers Edge. For more on Seattle sports in general head over to SB Nation Seattle.

Seahawks' Russell Wilson Discusses Competition, Determination On The Big 1070 In Madison, WI

2012-05-16T18:14:50Z

Seattle Seahawks rookie quarterback Russell Wilson is keeping himself busy this offseason on and off the field, making his rounds on the media circuit as well.

Wilson joined Jon Arias on The Big 1070 up in Madison, WI on Wednesday to discuss how his rookie season has gone thus far, if he was surprised where he selected in the draft, and what he thinks about Pete Carroll's faith that he could compete for the starting job this season.

On if he was surprised he was chosen in the third round after lots of prognosticators had him going later in the draft:

"No, I wasn't surprised at all. I'd talked to several teams and they thought I could go in the second or third round, and talent-wise I had all the talent in the world and just, the only knock on me was my height. Obviously if you've seen throughout my career and playing at the University of Wisconsin being behind those big offensive linemen, the height's not a factor. And that's just what I had to show teams, and I put it on tape. And that's what I kept telling teams: ‘Just watch the tape and watch the way I play, I have a high, quick release.' And when teams measured my arms and my hands and everything, they were like, ‘Man, this kid's got arms of a 6-5 quarterback.' That's part of it. That definitely helps me. And just knowing the game, just playing smart football. And so it's a blessing to be drafted by the Seahawks, it's a great situation."

Obviously Wilson is confident in his own abilities, but so his Pete Carroll, who believes he has the talent to compete for the starting position this year.

On head coach Pete Carroll stating that he has a chance to compete for the starting job:

"I'm excited about it. I mean, the key for me is just getting there and learning, getting around the guys and just being who I am. And not changing, just competing at the highest level that I can possibly compete at. Learn as much as I can from (Matt) Flynn and (Tarvaris) Jackson and it'll be a great experience. And just do whatever it takes to win games. I think that's the mentality you have to go into it, and I'm a relentless competitor so I'll definitely be competing at the highest that I can and just doing what I have to do."

For more on the Seahawks, head over to Field Gulls.

206 Clicks: Mariners Lose, Polk Looks To Prove Himself in Philly

2012-05-16T15:00:38Z

Seattle 0, Boston 5 [box]: Tuesday's loss was like mostly every other of the team's 22 losses — not enough offense. It's come to a point in the season where everyone in the Mariners lineup is failing to produce offensively. The Red Sox are also in last place like the Mariners, but Boston is going to turn it around because they have Dustin Pedroria, David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez. The Mariners have no power in their lineup and barely anyone who can hit consistently. We all hold hope at the beginning of the season that somehow the M's will exceed expectations, but I'm close to giving up on this team. Thank God we have Felix Days. Game analysis at Lookout Landing. Next game: Today, Mariners (16-22) at Cleveland (20-16), 4:05 p.m. PT, ROOT Sports, 7.5 games back.

Read more Seattle sports links after the jump.

Tuesday's Tweet of the Day:

Happy birthday to our stadium! Home of the #12thMAN and the loudest field this side of the Atlantic. shwks.com/wvw8
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) May 15, 2012

Seattle Storm Head Coach Brian Agler has 14 players, but needs to trim his roster to 11 players by Thursday morning. Read more about the Storm's roster situation at StormTracker.

Paul Domowitch from the Philadelphia Daily News writes a column on the Eagles' undrafted free agent signee, Chris Polk.

Isaiah Thomas finished seventh in NBA Rookie of the Year voting, which makes no sense considering Thomas was named Rookie of the Month in Western Conference in both February and March. Kyrie Erving was the only other multiple Rookie of the Month winner in field of Rookies vying for the trophy.

Eight teams from the Pac-12 made the field of 64 for the NCAA Softball Tournament. Washington was given the No. 16 national seed despite its horrific end to the season in which the Huskies dropped seven straight games. UW will host the Seattle regional, games begin this Friday May 18th, and continue through Sunday May 20th.

Lakeside High School hired Katie Wilson as its volleyball coach on Tuesday. After winning the state championship with Seattle Prep in 2011, Wilson became an assistant at Seattle U presumably to jumpstart her collegiate coaching career. My suspicions tell me Lakeside pays well. Either way, expect the Lions to start competing with Seattle Prep and Eastside Catholic in a couple of years. Wilson knows her stuff.

Beastmode highlights below!

Marshawn Lynch 2011-12 Highlights | HD (via DieselProductions33)

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NBA in Seattle: Arena 'Memo of Understanding' To Be Announced?

2012-05-16T00:45:06Z

According to Chris Daniels of King-5 News, an official Memorandum of Understanding is expected to be released, and will be announced by King County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn in conjunction with Arena investor Christopher Hansen. The M.O.U. will give Hansen the authorization from the city and county to get the ball rolling for his arena deal proposal. Per Daniels:

The formal document, if approved by both the Seattle City, and King County Council, would give investor Chris Hansen the go-ahead to begin preliminary work on his proposal for a new sports arena in the SoDo neighborhood. The key component is an "interlocal agreement" that will lay out how much the city and county would have to commit in bond capacity for the project. A preliminary term sheet called for that number to be capped at $200 million, and be repaid through revenues generated by the arena.

According to Daniels' sources, unless talks break down Tuesday night between parties, the announcement will be made Wednesday at 10:30am.

Former Husky Isaiah Thomas' Hard Work Pays Off

2012-05-15T19:44:45Z

The draft in any sport is a crapshoot. Nobody truly knows what college-aged prospects will do when money, status and the fact that they'll have to work harder than they've ever had to as athlete factors into the equation.

That's why you can't help but root for guys like former Washington Husky Isaiah Thomas.

A 5-foot-9 guard drafted with the last pick in the NBA draft last year, took that as a knock not a reality. He knew he was better than that and he set out to prove it. A full season later, he's the starting point guard on a young, talented team in the Sacramento Kings. His presence and pass-first mentality has balanced a group of gunners.

Thomas won two Western Conference rookie of the month awards back-to-back while taking away headlines from the more heralded rookie guard taken 40+ plus picks ahead of him in Jimmer Fredette. He averaged 11.5 points, 4.1 assists and posted a 17.68 PER, earning him a seventh place finish in the Rookie of the Year voting. Though seventh was actually a slight on his season, getting votes at all coming from where Thomas came from is a feat in itself.

What would happen if the draft happened all over again with the information teams now have about this year's crop of rookies? Maybe we'd be celebrating a first-round pick instead of the last pick.

But maybe, just maybe, Thomas likes it just how it is.

Oregon Ranks No. 5 Among Public Schools In Revenue

2012-05-15T18:18:19Z

You take a program with multiple elite teams like football, track and the occasional basketball break out, add Nike Town to it and what do you get?

A whole lot of money.

The top revenue schools in the country were determined today and the Oregon Ducks were ranked no. 5 in the country for 2011 with $85.8 million. They were tops among the top five in revenue growth at 89.9% and is the only program from the west coast on the list. Three football schools with decent to good basketball programs (Texas, Ohio State, Alabama) round out the top three with basketball power Louisville barely beating out Oregon for the fifth spot.

Oregon's relationship with Nike has changed the game. The football team's uniforms get as much media attention as the team itself and the design of the basketball court is a sight to behold. Winning is always great, but for college kids, winning in style is even better and that combination has put Oregon on the map as one of the premiere athletic programs in the country.

206 Clicks: Bellarmine Prep's Jon Lester Downs Hometown Mariners

2012-05-15T15:00:48Z

Mariners 6, Red Sox 1 [box]: Tacoma-native Jon Lester joined the list of pitchers this year who have dominated this lowly poor thing we call the Mariners lineup. Jason Vargas pitched his worst game of the season, giving up five runs spread over seven hits to the Red Sox. Jeff Sullivan from Lookout Landing breaks it down for us. Next game: Today, Seattle (16-21) at Boston (16-19), 1:05 p.m. PT, ROOT Sports, 7.5 games back.

Read more Seattle sports links after the jump.

Monday's Tweet of the Day:

go... lakers?
— Prometheus Brown (@prometheusbrown) May 15, 2012

The Zombie Sonics absolutely crushed the Lakers on Monday in the first game of the Western conference semifinals. Are you joining the Lake Show bandwagon to help prevent the grotesque image of the Thunder playing in the Western conference finals and possibly the NBA Finals? Or is your bitterness gone?

It looks like the Pac-12 will be inactive in conference expansion and consolidation this year writes Avinash Kunnath from Pacific Takes.

The Slipper Still Fits gives us a recruiting roundup taking a look at a potential transfer from Providence.

Mason Kelley from the Seattle Times profiles Garfield's Byron Howell Jr., one of the state's top 400 meter runners.

The WIAA announced its brackets for the 4A and 3A boys baseball state tournament on Monday. Find the brackets at the WIAA's official website.

Watch highlights from Quincy Pondexter's first career postseason double double in game five of the Grizzlies' first round series against the Los Angeles Clippers:

Quincy Pondexter 2012 playoffs game 5 (via TheDarweb)

Have a story to share? Tweet me @KevinCacabelos.

Aubrey McClendon Caught Up In Oklahoma City Thunder Ticket Scandal

2012-05-15T01:06:28Z

Aubrey McClendon a co-owner with Clay Bennett and others of the Oklahoma City Thunder, is potentially involved with a ticket scandal concerning the team's ticket sales.

A recent report by CNBC Sports Business report Darren Rovell revealed that the embattled CEO's company, Chesapeake Energy, is responsible for a significant amount of the team's ticket revenue — $1.4 million in playoff tickets last year and $3.2 million in regular season tickets this season. These ticket-buying practices may be artificially inflating the ticket market.

The team and Chesapeake energy did not answer any specific questions in Rovell's report, but an unnamed insder source said the move might be advantageous to the Thunder organization:

There's one pro franchise in Oklahoma City, you'd think that they'd invest in a bunch of tickets and suites. It makes sense. The real question is, how many tickets do they really need?

This weekend, London-based hedge fund Noster Capital who owns a small stake in Chesapeake Energy called for McClendon to step down from his post as CEO. McClendon stepped down as chairman from the company at the beginning of the month as a result of his participation in a controversial move to secure $1 billion in personal loans using his interests of the company's wells.