Morrow's Musings
- By Jeff Morrow
509-582-1507
Big Unit's turn to enjoy Safeco Field
Things we can think about as the hydroplane races breathe down our necks:
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I don't usually get worked up over professional sports. But I'm actually pretty excited about Randy Johnson pitching against the Seattle Mariners tonight.
I got tired of his whining last season when the Mariners refused to sign him to a long-term contract, and instead traded him to the Houston Astros.
But love him or hate him, if it wasn't for him, there would be no Safeco Field.
As much as people like to say Safeco was the house that Griffey built, I think it's the Big Unit's house even more.
That one-game playoff against the California Angels back in 1995 was the key moment to it all.
Like many long-suffering Mariners fans, I would follow them through mid-August before they faded, and then concentrated on the Seattle Seahawks and preseason football - which, I believe, many Northwest fans did, and why everyone respects Dave Niehaus so much. He had to be there until the bitter end every Mariners' season, doing play-by-play on the radio and TV.
But back to the playoff game. Many of us half-expected the M's to lose that game, once again having our hearts broken - this time, with cruelty.
But Johnson was clutch, as he was that entire season. That win helped even the modest M's fan become fanatical, as the divisional series was about to begin.
That's why I hope the Big Unit does well tonight. He finally gets to play in the house that he helped build.
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This from contributor Jeff Place:
If you were looking for Prosser's Kelly Blair-Labounty in last month's heptathlon competition at the USA track championships, you didn't find her.
Blair still is trying to overcome a hip injury suffered in 1998. She skipped out on the USA meet, and thus will miss the World Championships later this summer.
Blair-Labounty will move to Austin, Texas, in August to prepare for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Her personal coach is retiring and moving to Hawaii. He apparently told her that he could work with her every two weeks, but she feels with the Olympics coming up, she needs to work hard and concentrate on them.
As a result, Blair-Labounty will begin working out full-time with a trainer at the University of Texas.
After the NFL season is over, her husband Matt Labounty, a defensive end for the Seattle Seahawks, will join her in Texas.
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