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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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The changing of the guard and a re-enlistment both happened yesterday in Seattle

The Seattle Seahawks are 60-36 overall in the regular season and 8-4 in the playoffs under Pete Carroll, who received an extension through 2019 on Tuesday. (Jeffrey Phelps / Associated Press)
The Seattle Seahawks are 60-36 overall in the regular season and 8-4 in the playoffs under Pete Carroll, who received an extension through 2019 on Tuesday. (Jeffrey Phelps / Associated Press)

A GRIP ON SPORTS • One professional era came to end yesterday in Seattle. And another continued. Odd, isn’t it, both came on the same day? Read on.

••••••••••

• Sigi Schmid has been the Sounders coach ever since the team reappeared as an MLS expansion franchise. Under his watch, Seattle won U.S. Open Cups, a Supporters Shield and numerous matches. But the Sounders, the most popular franchise in the league, as measured by attendance, never won the end of the MLS season tournament, really the only trophy that matters in our society. They never won the MLS title. And they never will, at least with Schmid as the coach. He was let go yesterday in what he and the team termed “mutual consent.” Sure. Whatever gets you through the press release. But Schmid was fired. Fired for the Sounders’ failings this season, sure. They are near the bottom of the MLS’ Western Conference and played their last match, a 3-0 defeat at Sporting Kansas City, as if they didn’t give a damn. But Schmid was also fired because he didn’t accomplish what ownership wanted and the fans expected: win an MLS title. Being really good every season is fine – for a while. But after a few years of success during the regular season and failure in the post, fans grow restless. Even as 30,000 of them continually marched to CenturyLink to cheer on Clint Dempsey, Brad Evans, Ozzie Alonso and the rest, they wanted to see more. Not less. And this season, when Obafemi Martins bolted for large bucks in China even before it started, they got less. Less star power, less scoring, less effort. Not all of that is Schmid’s fault, sure. The players are at fault, the management is at fault. But general manager Garth Lagerwey isn’t going to say “I failed to replace Martins as I should have, so I am firing myself.” No general manager ever would. And the players? They aren’t all going to be replaced. Some, sure. But not before Schmid, who has more wins than any coach in MLS history, had to go. Maybe he should have been gone a couple years ago, after Seattle posted the best regular-season record in 2014 – the criteria for the Supporters Shield – but failed, as usual, in the postseason. But he stuck around and it’s been a slow, downward slide since. Saturday’s defeat was the bottom. Seattle came this close to not even having a shot on goal. It finished with one. One. And that was it. For Schmid I mean. Now Seattle, with some of the deepest pockets in the game, is in the market for a new manager. There is an interim one, of course. There is always an interim one. And maybe Brian Schmetzer, who was a Sounders head coach way back in the pre-MLS days, will be more than an interim. But the longtime assistant is more than likely a placeholder. Next season Seattle will have a couple new highly paid designated players. (A year too late for Schmid, of course.) And more than likely a well-respected head coach. High expectations as well. The Sounders have had all of that before. And failed. This time we won’t have Sigi Schmid to blame.

• CenturyLink's other tenant has reached the pinnacle. Recently. And because of that, Seahawks’ head coach Pete Carroll will work long past the time he could be retired and collecting Social Security. As if he’ll need it. He, and general manager John Schneider, who agreed to a five-year contract extension recently, will be making a lot of Paul Allen’s money over the next few years. And Allen is happy to give it to them. Carroll, with a roster he and Schneider put together, led the Hawks to their first Super Bowl win in 2013. He brought them back to the game the next season. And he’ll have at least four more chances to get there again, after agreeing to a three-year extension yesterday. Instead of entering the season as a lame duck, Carroll will begin what should be his last contract – he’ll be 68 when it expires – in a position of strength. And with a contract that runs exactly as long as his quarterback’s. There is no coincidence in that. Quarterbacks are the linchpins of NFL success. Carroll and the Hawks have one of the better ones in Russell Wilson. If Seattle is to win another title, it will be up to Wilson to lead them there. Carroll knows this. He celebrates it. And he’ll finish his career with Wilson in Seattle. At least that’s how it looks today. He could drink from the fountain of youth and continue. It could also all fall apart, like this year’s Sounders’ season. But neither seems likely today. The Hawks have a solid roster. They have a smart general manager, a good owner, and, now, a coach under contract for four more years. Sounds like a formula for success.

•••

• WSU: The Pac-12 announced the conference basketball schedule yesterday. To some degree. Times and exact dates are still not determined, but we know which teams will be playing each week. Jacob Thorpe has this blog post on the incremental advance in the hoops schedule. ... Utah is playing with the big boys and its budget shows that. ... The answer to this question is no.

• Indians: One day after clinching a playoff berth, Spokane belted three balls out of spacious Avista Stadium and defeated Tri-City 5-4 last night. Josh Horton has the story. ... Josh also has a story and a blog post in the Indians placing four players on the NWL All-Star team as well as a post on the triumphant bus trip back from Boise. ... Everett began its quest for a second-half playoff berth with a win over Vancouver. Eugene, which won the South, lost for the first time in a week.

• Preps: Greg Lee has a story today on a couple of Lake City grads who have started a high school fundraising company. ... A couple of local teams were knocked out of the State Legion playoffs.

• Mariners: Felix Hernandez is back in the rotation, though he has yet to dominate since returning from his calf injury. He was good enough yesterday, however, to lead the M’s to a 7-4 win at Pittsburgh. ... One of the rites of midsummer is when two teams trade players who “need a change of scenery.” The M’s and the Blue Jays did that yesterday with relief pitchers. ... Taijuan Walker is slowly working his way back.

• Seahawks: Besides the Carroll news, we can pass along a piece on the importance of Garry Gilliam to the Hawks’ offensive line.

•••

• Maybe the Sounders should just hire Carroll to do double duty. He may not know anything about soccer, but he does know how to motivate athletes. And motivation is something the team need right now. Until later ...



Vince Grippi
Vince Grippi is a freelance local sports blogger for spokesman.com. He also contributes to the SportsLink Blog.

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