Wednesday, February 8, 2012 @ 6:38pm

The Go 2 Guy dreams of NBA, NHL teams in Seattle

By Jim Moore

Kevin Calabro says he's cautiously optimistic about potential arena plans that were revealed in a Seattle Times story last weekend.

Brock Huard, in a story on 710Sports.com, says that a source has told him the process is not as far along as we might be led to believe. The source also told Huard that the plans for a new arena south of Safeco Field hinge solely on the Kings leaving Sacramento.

We'll find out more about the Sacramento situation on March 1, the NBA deadline for the Kings to present financing plans for a new arena.

But if it's all right with Kevin and Brock, I'm going to put the cart before the horse even if it risks jinxing the whole damn thing. Forget cautiously optimistic; I'm going to be wildly optimistic.

I like to imagine what it will be like with the Kings here and the Phoenix Coyotes here, just like Matt Pitman did when he recorded a mock SportsCenter Tuesday.

What a beautiful thing that was, listening to previews of the Totems' game against the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Sonics' game against Blake Griffin and the L.A. Clippers, with both games being played at Amazon.com Arena.

If this year were next year, the Sonics would be playing the Thunder Thursday night -- as it is, Oklahoma City will be playing the Kings in Sacramento. Think about what that first game against the Thunder will be like in Seattle. Great stuff to be sure, boos mixed with cheers on an emotionally charged night.

And if this year were next year, the Totems would be preparing to host the Calgary Flames, hoping to keep their playoff surge alive. The Coyotes have won four of their last five games, including a 3-1 win over Detroit, the NHL's best team, on Monday.

We'd be fired up for the Totems, hoping they could squeeze into the playoffs, rooting against Minnesota, Colorado, Calgary and Dallas, who are in a five-way dogfight with our favorite hockey team.

If the Phoenix Coyotes were to relocate to Seattle, forward Ray Whitney and company could show Northwest hockey fans what they've been missing. (AP)

It would take some of us time to get up to speed with hockey, but we'd be good to go with the Sonics when they return to town as the former Kings.

We'd be excited about our two blossoming stars -- DeMarcus Cousins and Tyreke Evans, both of whom are averaging 17 points a game this year. We'd have heard and probably read about Cousins being a piece of work, but he'll get a clean slate and fresh start here.

We'd also be excited about Jimmer Fredette coming to town, hoping he'd "Jimmer" teams in the NBA like he did at BYU. In fact, if the Kings were the Sonics now, we'd be talking about how he almost "Jimmered" the Timberwolves Tuesday night, scoring 13 points in the fourth quarter of an 86-84 loss in Minneapolis.

And yes, I'd even have to become an Isaiah Thomas fan -- the diminutive Kings guard is averaging 7 points a game in his rookie season. Thomas missed all five of his shots against the T-Wolves but still made positive contributions with four assists and two steals.

We'd look at the Sonics and see a roster with only one player in his 30s, 31-year-old Francisco Garcia, and dream of better times ahead for our young team.

And if you're really buying into this like I am, you'll start following the Kings from this point forward and hoping they don't make the playoffs. If they don't make the playoffs, they'll be in the lottery, and how incredibly unbelievable would it be if they moved to Seattle AND had the No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft?

At 9-16, the Kings have the fourth-worst record in the NBA, undercut by only Detroit at 6-20, New Orleans at 4-21 and Charlotte at 3-22. (Who knew the Bobcats were this bad?)

Truth be known, as much as I'd like to see the Kings move to Seattle, I'd still rather see them work things out in Sacramento. You remember how it felt when the Sonics left town, and you don't wish that on any other city's fans.

But if March 1 comes and the financing for a new arena falls through in Sacramento, well, what are we supposed to do? You and I can't do anything about that, and it paves the way for a Kings' move to Seattle.

If it happens, there will be at least one transitional season, maybe two, at KeyArena before the new arena is completed. That, in my mind, would be perfect with KeyArena connecting the past with the future.

Jim Moore also writes for his website, www.jimmoorethego2guy.com, and 710Sports.com. You can reach Jim at jimmoorethego2guy@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @cougsgo.

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Wednesday, February 8, 2012 @ 6:29pm

ESPN's Ric Bucher doubts Sacramento will keep Kings

Talk of the Sacramento Kings possibly heading to Seattle has been a hot topic all week, but for the most part, it's been speculation.

Ric Bucher, an NBA reporter for ESPN, brought some optimism to Seattleites when he joined "The Kevin Calabro Show" Wednesday.

The Kings have a March 1 deadline to find a deal for a new arena, or else they could be in a similar predicament that the Sonics were in prior to their departure. Bucher said he doesn't think the money is there to build an arena.

"I don't think there's anyway, anyhow that they stay in Sacramento," he said. "I don't see them being able to meet that deadline."

When the Maloof brothers, who own the Kings, almost moved the team to Anaheim last year, Sacramento was granted a year to find a new long-term plan for a building. Since then, Bucher says, all Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson has done is buy the Kings time.

Should the Kings fail to find a solution in Sacramento, Bucher thinks Seattle is the NBA's best option.

"The market and the money are in Seattle in a way that they simply are not in Sacramento in this point," Bucher said. "I can't ignore the fact that they simply haven't been able to get it done and it's for reasons that have not changed since they've been trying to get a new arena."

In Wednesday's Warmup video, Jim Moore and Steve Sandmeyer discuss the possibility of the NBA returning to Seattle, specifically focusing on whether or not commissioner David Stern might feel obligated to make it happen given the hit his reputation took when the Sonics left for Oklahoma City.

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Tuesday, February 7, 2012 @ 5:10pm

Reporter: Stern seems genuine about NBA in Seattle

If you were to make a list of the most hated people in the history of Seattle sports, it would be hard not to include NBA commissioner David Stern. The image of Stern sitting in front of the Washington state legislature demanding a new NBA arena is one that continues to rile fans of the team that gave the city its last major sports title.

But for the first time since the SuperSonics left for Oklahoma City nearly four years ago, it appears that Stern is open to having a team return to the Emerald City.

NBA commissioner David Stern said Seattle is back on the NBA's radar. (AP)

Smith, a beat reporter covering the Utah Jazz, told "The Kevin Calabro Show" on 710 ESPN Seattle that Stern seemed genuine with his comments.

"I was impressed by the tone of his voice and the honesty, and exactly what he said," Smith said.

While the Thunder has been a huge success, playing front of sell-out crowds in Oklahoma City, the void the team left in Seattle has been a black mark on Stern's legacy as commissioner.

"To the best of my knowledge ... Stern, ever since Oklahoma City kind of stole the Sonics, has really seemed to distance himself from that situation, the city. Always diplomatic but at times very negative," Smith explained. "[But] he sounded interested, he sounded like the door was open."

Stern's optimism is preceeded by recent developments regarding a new arena plan being discussed with Seattle city leaders. Christopher Hansen, a wealthy hedge-fund manager with Seattle roots, has purchased multiple properties south of the Safeco Field parking garage and intends to build a facility that could house both an NBA and NHL franchise.

In an exclusive interview with the "Kevin Calabro Show," Seattle mayor Mike McGinn said Tuesday that city leaders are taking Hansen's proposal seriously.

"Both sides are taking it very seriously and that's different than what we've seen over the past few years," McGinn said.

Most of the funding for a new arena will have to come from the private sector given the city's reluctance to foot the bill during such a dire economic climate.

"Clearly there is a lot of excitement," McGinn said, "but we also recognize that we're in a tough budget time, and there are folks who have expressed skepticism as well."

Nonetheless, the excitement generated from the most recent developments have the nation talking, and the commissioner has been listening.

"Basically it sounds like if Seattle and [Hansen] can find funding for a new arena and find funding for an NBA team," Smith said, "the NBA -- for the first time, Stern basically said -- is open to returning to Seattle."

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Monday, February 6, 2012 @ 6:00pm

Perspective means everything with NBA, Seattle speculation

With all the talk of the NBA coming back to Seattle, perspective means everything.

Steve Miletich of The Seattle Times and Tony Bizjak of The Sacramento Bee both joined "The Kevin Calabro Show" Monday and, not surprisingly, had different views on where the Sacramento Kings will be playing in the future.

Miletich co-wrote a piece for The Times over the weekend that detailed the recent work of Seattle native Christopher Hansen, who hopes to have an arena built to attract both the NBA and NHL. Miletich also reported on emails and documents between Seattle mayor Mike McGinn and Hansen that suggest they've been discussing a new arena plan in detail.

"Given what's happening in Sacramento, what these documents show, I think you add all that up and these appear to be some very serious minded folks who've done their research," Miletich said. "When you mention the NHL component, I think everyone agrees probably, that would have to be combined with NBA to make this work along with concerts and entertainment events so that venue is generating constant revenue.

"Given all those things, I'd say there's a strong likelihood this could happen."

In the Sonics' final years in Seattle, some fans remained optimistic that owner Clay Bennett was genuine in his effort to keep the team in the Northwest. Citing KeyArena as unviable, Bennett eventually moved the team to Oklahoma City.

While the Kings seem to have more support from the NBA than the Sonics had, they still need around $200 million in private funding for a new building.

Bizjak maintains some optimism that an arena deal will get finalized before the NBA-implemented March 1 deadline.

"Our sense is that David Stern does like Sacramento, does recall the days when we packed the arena for [a] decade-plus every night and would like to see a deal in Sacramento," he said. "At the moment I would say that the NBA is quite focused on seeing if they can make a deal work in Sacramento for a new arena."

Both Bizjak and Miletich pointed out how Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof have consistently said they don't intend to sell the team. But as Sonics fans learned with Bennett's group, talk is cheap.

"Given that there's this March 1 deadline for Sacramento to come up with an arena deal -- a satisfactory arena deal to the NBA -- things can change very quickly, so you know, people say those things," Miletich said of the Maloofs.

Friday, February 3, 2012 @ 7:05pm

Audio: A former teammate's take on Cortez Kennedy

For three seasons, Dave Wyman had a front-row view of Cortez Kennedy's dominance.

Wyman, a former Seahawks linebacker who was teammates with Kennedy from 1990-92, watched as Kennedy got to the quarterback at a rate uncommon for a defensive tackle.

As Wyman and John Clayton discussed during Friday's editon of Cold Hard Facts, Kennedy racked up 58 sacks in 11 seasons despite playing in a defense that often called for Kennedy to take on multiple blockers.

"He wasn't lining up in gaps. He wasn't hiding. They were triple-teaming him," Wyman said. "It was just amazing to watch."

Clayton noted that Kennedy has more sacks than any other defensive tackle in the Hall of Fame (though some HOF defensive tackles predate the NFL's recognition of sacks as an official stat).

Clayton is among the selectors who will decide this weekend whether or not Kennedy and 16 other finalists will make the Hall of Fame.

You can listen to the conversation here.

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Friday, February 3, 2012 @ 4:11pm

Breaking down Washington's win over UCLA

Kevin Calabro and Dave Wyman discuss Washington's win over UCLA on Thursday before Wyman shares his Super Bowl plans.

Friday, February 3, 2012 @ 10:42am

The Go 2 Guy's Super Bowl gambling manifesto

By Jim Moore

If you've ever tuned into "The Kevin Calabro Show," I'm sure I've mentioned pointspreads and betting on football from time to time.

I don't bring it up all that often because it still strikes me as a "taboo" topic even though it's a multi-million-dollar industry in Las Vegas and on the Internet. Part of the mega-interest in the NFL comes from fans who love to bet on the games.

The Super Bowl is the biggest sports-betting event of the year. Most everyone knows the line on the game -- the Patriots are favored by 3. The "smart" money will be on the Giants. I'm calling it "smart" money because that's where my money will be. If the Patriots win by 4 or more, my wager on the Giants will henceforth be called "dumb" money or money that has completely disappeared.

Others who follow this stuff are also aware that the over-under on the game is 55. I plan to take the over, anticipating that the Giants will win 30-27. I like the fact that we're dealing with two relatively high-powered offenses that will battle it out in a climate-controlled domed stadium.

I also plan to bet that the game will be decided in overtime. Why? Geez, I don't know, I just do. At Bodog, you can get 6.5-1 odds on the game going to OT. If you wager $10 on it going to OT, you'll win $65 if it does.

These look like two evenly matched teams to me. The pointspread suggests as much. I'm also counting on the game going into overtime because NO SUPER BOWL HAS EVER GONE INTO OVERTIME.

I know what you're thinking -- if they've played 45 Super Bowls and none of them have gone to OT, why in the world would the Go 2 Guy think this one will when history says that it won't.

One minute, 34 seconds is the over-under for the time it will take Kelly Clarkson to sing the national anthem. John Clayton says take the over. (AP)

If the Cougs don't win that day, Scott believes that they're due to win in their next game, and so on.

Using the Scott Sutton logic, I will put 10 bucks or 20 bucks on the Super Bowl going to OT, and if the game ends in regulation time like all of the other Super Bowls, I will shrug, laugh and tell myself "boy, that was a stupid bet" and wager on next year's Super Bowl to go to OT, too. Sooner or later, according to Scott anyway, it will happen.

Here's one for you: I bet $25 on the Baltimore-New England AFC Championship Game going to OT two weeks ago. I think the odds were 9-1 on that one, meaning I would have won $225 if the game had gone to OT.

As you'll recall, the game did not go to OT because of Billy Cundiff, the Ravens' kicker who whiffed on a field goal that would have tied the game with 12 seconds remaining. Before he kicked the ball, I knew he'd miss because I never win those kinds of bets.

You would think I would have wanted to strangle Cundiff for missing, but I didn't. I felt worse for him and for Ravens' fans than I did for me and my cockamamie wager. When you bet on this stuff, you have to learn to expect the unexpected.

Which brings me to other crazy bets you can make on the Super Bowl. They're called propositional bets, and they're really, really stupid because you have to get really, really lucky to win them. More than anything else, you have to be really, really sick to wager on a "prop" bet, and I guess you could say I'm ICU sick because I probably will.

At Bodog.com, where you can find all of the crazy bets that I'm mentioning here, you can actually bet on how long it will take Kelly Clarkson to sing the national anthem. The over-under is one minute, 34 seconds, and John Clayton has already advised gamblers to take the over, saying that Clarkson will stretch it out, milking every second of the spotlight.

You can also bet on whether the coin flip will be heads or tails. What better way to get things rolling than to bet on the coin flip, sitting on the edge of your chair, the drama, the excitement as the referee shows each captain the head of the coin and the tail of the coin before flipping it into the air. And then when everyone looks down to the field to get the result, Wow!!! You can't beat that with a stick!

Other interesting bets include:

• Whether Madonna will wear a hat during her halftime show.

• The result of the first replay challenge: ruling on the field stands or ruling overturned.

• 10-1 odds on a missed PAT

• Over-under at 1/2 -- the number of times Tom Brady's wife, Gisele Bundchen, is shown on the NBC telecast. (Let's all hope for the over whether we bet on it or not.)

• Who will the Super Bowl MVP thank first? The favorite is teammates at 5-4. God is 4-1, the team owner is 5-1, family is 15-2 and the coach is 12-1. The second-favorite? "He won't thank anyone" at 5-2. So basically if you think the MVP will be an ungrateful, narcissistic jerk, you can get 5-2 odds that he'll talk about himself and no one else.

• And then there's my personal favorite -- which color the Gatorade that's dumped on the winning coach will be: Clear's the favorite at 3-2, followed by orange and yellow at 5-2, red at 13-2, green at 15-2 and blue at 10-1. (Go 2 Guy prediction: This feels like betting on the hydro race at Safeco Field -- go with the green at 15-2!)

Jim Moore also writes for his website, www.jimmoorethego2guy.com, and the Kitsap Sun. You can reach him at jimmoorethego2guy@yahoo.com. Follow Jim on Twitter @cougsgo.

Thursday, February 2, 2012 @ 8:20pm

Analyst: Jeff Lindquist is a better fit for UW's offense

As is often the case with college football recruiting, the Washington Huskies' 2012 class took its shape in the last few days before national signing day.

But unlike most programs, UW was able finish its recruiting effort by signing two highly touted quarterbacks in Cyler Miles of Mullen, Colo. and Jeff Lindquist of Mercer Island. Scout.com ranks Lindquist as the No. 8 quarterback in the 2012 class, while Miles comes in at No. 18.

Quarterback Jeff Lindquist threw two touchdown passes in the Jan. 3 Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl. (AP)

In Lemming's eyes, it's Lindquist who has more potential to become the successor to Keith Price at quarterback for the Huskies.

"I think Miles has gotten more publicity, but I love Jeff Lindquist," he said. "We had him down at our Semper Fi game. He's the first quarterback I selected for that game (Lemming helps decide the rosters for the game) and he didn't disappoint. Jeff's got a great arm [and] he's a tremendous leader both on and off the field."

At 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, Lindquist has the build of a pocket passer. He threw for just over 1,900 yards and 22 touchdowns in 11 games a senior at Mercer Island.

Miles is considered as a more athletic quarterback than Lindquist. However, as Lemming points out, that may not be the best option for the Huskies under head coach Steve Sarkisian and his pro-style offense.

"[Lindquist] is a good sized player who can run," Lemming said. "He's not a sprinter, but he makes good decisions, better so than Cyler Miles. Miles is a super athlete, great runner, but I think as far as being a pure passer, working with a guy like Steve Sarkisian, I think Jeff is the kind of guy that can really get the job done."

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