Safeco funding was the right move

This is my favorite time of year. I love the weather change. No offense to all you summer lovers out there, but I’ll take 68 and partly cloudy to 91 and sunny any day. Fall is in the air, the Baseball playoffs are nigh, and the NFL season begins.

A few thoughts from the world of sports on this Friday.

First up, kudos to the King County Council for voting to fund the maintenance of the baseball stadium to the tune of $135 million dollars. Even though the final vote is in a few weeks, this is the right move. I know that sounds like a lot of money to me and you, but it’s actually quite reasonable and is picked up mostly by visitors to the area.

It’s surprising to me how profoundly most people misunderstand how government budgets work. You can’t just arbitrarily rank issues by importance and then say this thing that I care about is more important than that thing so let’s just take that money and move it over here. That’s not even close to how things work.

RELATED: Safeco Field funding compromise is big loss for tourism industry

If you want to argue that the county shouldn’t have built the stadium in the first place, I’ll go down that rabbit hole with you. But to try and jump ship now because of the homelessness crisis is naive and foolish.

Side note: the Mariners should be ashamed of how they squandered this season. They should have made the playoffs easily in my opinion, but I digress.

Are the Seahawks a playoff team?

Now, on to the NFL. The season officially opened last night. I’ll be paying close attention to the new helmet to helmet rule. I think it’s the most consequential rule change in a very long time.

Remember when Marshawn Lynch left the team and I said that the window was closing on a championship quality team? I said we should all appreciate the team that Hawks had built? Well, I hate to say I told you so, but the window is now closed.

That back to back Super Bowl team may have 4 or even 5 future Hall of Famer’s on it. They were special, and I’m so happy that they brought a Lombardi trophy to the Emerald City. Obviously back to back would have been better, but seeing that trophy in the case in Renton is pretty nice.

About this year’s squad: I doubt that this is a playoff team, especially in this division. But there are plenty of intriguing story lines to follow. Shaquim Griffin making his first start on Sunday is worthy of your attention. Earl Thomas and how his smoldering anger and bitterness will translate between the lines will hold interest. And now that Russell Wilson got all the money, how will he do without a dominant defense?

Fall is here. Pumpkin spice everything is right around the corner, wax up the snowboard and enjoy the season.

“What Are We Talking About Here” can be heard every weekday at 4:50 p.m. and 6:50 p.m. on the Ron & Don Show on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM.