Classics Sports Bar

I think that bread was just about the same price.

It looks like summer has decided to tease us with a warm weekend. We have decided that it is summer patio time.

There has been a changing of the guard this year in the NBA. Younger players are stepping it up and making it their league instead of the past generation. This is the first year since 2005 that Steph, KD and LeBron have not been in the playoffs.

NFL draft finished up last night with rounds 4-7. Most draftnicks are giving the Hawks a B grade. Solid but not great. Today they are working on filling up their free agent class. I think that the sexy picks are the skill players. The Hawks needed more of the guys in both trenches. I think that they did well with those and picked up some DBs as well. With the defensive stats that they had last year I was very happy to see that. I remember in 2012 when the Hawks drafted Irvine, Wagner and Wilson Mel Kiper gave them a D. So we should take these evaluations with a healthy dose of doubt. In John we trust.

NFL draft today. Do the Hawks stay put or do they trade down to see if they can pick up a pick in the second round. Trader John might be busy today. For me, this is the beginning of the next season. First the draft, then the mini camps and then around the first of August training camp. I hope that they do well. Kraken have left Root Sports. That means that they just have the M's left. With the rates that Comcast charges to get the broadcast it makes having the channel all year harder to justify.

Great sunny weekend. It is amazing how everyone is always in a better mood in better weather. Snow pack going into summer is not good. The State has already declared an emergency. Farmers and wineries could be experiencing the worst if the forest fires aren't too bad. At least here on the west side of the state things are a little greener and wetter. NFL draft is this week. I view it as the first event in the new NFL year. Should be a lot of interest with the Hawks having a new staff and lots of Huskies that should be drafted. NBA has banned it's first player for being involved in fixing games and betting on his own team to lose. Porter was a local kid too. How do you ruin a career that could have made you $20M for a profit of $20K? The prop bets that he made stood out like a sore thumb. I guess that he might end up playing over seas. M's are at least playing a little better. Great pitching but they can't hit it if you pitched it underhanded. If you are a Kraken fan your team failed this season. Do you change coaching, players or both?

College basketball is done for the year. The women finished up on Sunday. South Carolina proved to be the better team. Last night UConn beat Purdue fairly easily to win their second straight title. With the young talent that they recruited last year and the players that signed this year they should be really good again. For those of us who golf we have the Masters this weekend. That officially means that golf season is here. Next up a little over two weeks away we have the NFL Draft. The beginning of the next NFL season. And last, we have the M's once again stumbling out of the gate so that no one cares.

Great games last night to set the Finals for the NCAAW. Iowa barely scraped past UConn to make it to the finals against South Carolina. After the first half, Clark held with out a 3-pointer, I thought that they were done. But they come back to take the lead in the closing minutes. UConn had a chance but got called for an offensive foul with 3.9 seconds to go. It was a close call but I am not one that is in favor of referees swallowing their whistle at the end of games. I think that if it is a foul in the first quarter that it has to be a foul during the stretch. South Carolina beat NC State by almost 20 to remain undefeated for the season. The final game is tomorrow at 3:00 PM. Clark will really have to shine to beat South Carolina.

On Monday night I caught most of the last two games of the Women's Elite Eight. First was the rematch of last year's finals between LSU and Iowa. Clark put one one heck of a show as they advanced to the Final Four. I caught the first half of the UConn and USC game. UConn prevailed and advanced. So many young stars coming up in the Woman's college ranks. I hope that most of them stay around and continue to grow the game.

Great weekend of college basketball. UConn looks like they are playing in another league. Alabama beat North Carolina and Clemson to advance. I had my doubts about N.C. State in the first half but they took control in the second. Duke just couldn't stop the big guy down low. Purdue took care of Gonzaga and Tennessee to complete the final four. 7'-4" is pretty tough to stop. With how they are playing I don't see how UConn doesn't win it. One more great weekend left for this year.

The hiring for the Washington AD is completed as the UW hires Patrick Chun. Previously the AD at WSU. He has a lot of good experience and in his time at WSU he dramatically increased the fund raising for the athletic department. A man with great NW ties and is unlikely to run away for a job in the midwest. Big loss for the Cougs.

While March Madness moves into my favorite weekend in basketball there is other news. The UW has hired Danny Sprinkle as expected to replace Mike Hopkins. No more experiments with head coaches with no experience. He had done a great job at Utah State and hopefully can recruit the talent to UW that Hopkins failed to do. Sad to see Kyle Smith leaving WSU. He will be the new coach at Stanford. But, when you move to a mid-major conference you have a mid-major budget. I have real concerns about what the eventual budget cuts will be and what it will do to the non-revenue sports at WSU. My fear is that they will be eliminated or turned into club sports.

Congratulations to WSU on a great season. Yesterday's loss won't change that. Every team but one will finish with a loss. Congratulations also to the Zags. Nine consecutive trips to the Sweet 16. Behind by one at the half they blew out Kansas in the second half to win by over 20.

Dawgs losing their Athletic Director. Only here six months, never moved his family here and accepts the same job at Nebraska. I hope that they get a refund from the job search company that brought him in. From what I read it shouldn't delay the hiring of a new head Men's basketball coach. The players would like an internal promotion and not someone from the outside. I hope it is someone that can recruit locally. Under Hopkins they got almost no local recruits from one of the most fertile areas in the country. Time will tell.

NFL free agency has started. Seahawks are pretty much doing their regular thing. Avoiding the big ticket ones and waiting for the market to settle. The exception to that is Big Cat Williams. When they invested a second round pick to get him last year I thought that would happen. The draft is still a ways away. This is one year that I wouldn't mind them trading back in the first round to see if they could get back that second. I am hoping for OL, DL and LB.

A week ago the main sewer line to the building that we are in collapsed. It was an old concrete line from the 1950's. The damage was more extensive than they anticipated. It has finally been repaired. We will be opening back up this morning for business as usual. It has been a rough week. We will be glad to see all of your smiling faces and to put this far behind us.

Jedd Fisch from Arizona coming to Seattle. Another coach who took a dead program and finished #11 in the polls this last year. He is said to be an awesome coach and recruiter. First job is to stop the bleeding of the current roster and the rerecruit those that have withdrawn their commitments.

Wow!! Seahawks moving on from Pete Carroll as coach. Offered an Admin position with the team. Is this the time for the return of Dan Quinn? Maybe a lot of new coaches.

The Bartender community is real! We want to share this Go Fund Me link with all of you so that we can touch as many people as possible. We want to spread the love the way Kenndra has! Kerri and Gary we love you and we are standing with you. Love Classics.

Kenndra"Little Miss Spitfires"Lispie Fund, organized by Classics Family Hello everyone, we are reaching out to our friends,family, and community in… Classics Family needs your support for Kenndra"Little Miss Spitfires"Lispie Fund

Why is it that I am still taking so my pleasure from Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos falling on their face. I was watching the highlights on the NFL Channel and could hardly contain myself.

The Death of the Pac-12. Today's news that the University of Washington and the University of Oregon are joining is no surprise to those who have been following what the Pac-12 has been doing with it's media rights over the last decade. When Larry Scott was hired he was supposed to set up the Pac-12 as one of the true power Conferences in America. But, he passed up deals with Fox and ESPN to establish the Pac-12 network. I admit that a large portion of the games that these networks wanted to broadcast nationally had to be in later time slots due to all of the commitments that they had with existing contracts to teams that are farther east. But, they were guaranteed a lot of national and regional slots for their games. The Pac-12 network has proven to be worthless. The fancy studio that they built for Scott's ego is a testament to the vanity of one man. Now, the bill is coming due. USC and UCLA have already jumped ship to the Big 10. Colorado has gone to the Big 12. I think that Arizona, Arizona State and Utah will depart soon. Most likely for the Big 12. That leaves Washington State, Oregon State, Stanford and the University of California out in the middle of no where. Stanford may think about trying to go Independent like Notre Dame. But, they don't have the national brand that the Irish do. The other three may look to join the Mountain West. I will miss some of the traditional rivalries like UW/WSU, Oregon/Oregon State & Stanford/Cal.

Coming soon.

4 biggest strengths of the Seattle Seahawks entering the 2023 season

June is almost here and training camp is just around the corner. I am really excited about a lot of the rookies.

Five things to watch as Seahawks begin OTAs For the first time since the end of the 2022 season, the Seahawks will reconvene at the VMAC again for OTAs. Here's what to watch for.

It is good to start thinking about this.

Win/Loss predictions for the Seahawks 2023 schedule A smooth start gives way to a savage finish.

First day of the NFL draft is done. Here are some evaluations by Yahoo sports.
5. Seattle Seahawks: Devon Witherspoon, CB, Illinois — Witherspoon isn't the biggest cornerback, but he has all the skills to be a top-flight cornerback for the Seahawks. Tariq Woolen and Witherspoon is an uber-talented young pairing and now the Seahawks have a loaded cornerbacks room, which is never a bad thing. His swagger, physicality and ball skills will instantly make the Seahawks tough to beat through the air. Grade: A+
20. Seattle Seahawks: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State — Great pick for the Seahawks at this point. In the present, they have arguably the best wide receiver trio in the NFL with DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and now Smith-Njigba. The pick of Smith-Njigba will keep their receivers room strong even after Lockett moves on from the Seahawks in the coming years. Grade: A
I hope that they draft some OL and DE and DT today.

We are coming up on the last days until the draft. Here is a link that you might enjoy.

Geno Smith tells Richard Sherman he feels like a rookie Smith is trying to "recreate and improve" himself to show last year was not a fluke.

The more of their needs that they can get taken care of before the draft the better

4 ways the Seattle Seahawks are winning the 2023 offseason The Seattle Seahawks exceeded expectations in 2022 in what some considered to be a rebuilding year. But 2023 is shaping up to be even better after some nea...

Interesting thoughts. I am not sure that I agree with all or any of these.

3 trade offers Seahawks should take for pick number 5 The NFL draft is only a bit over a month away but it will feel like minutes. There are certain things that will happen before the start of the draft (April...