If you are new to our site, we interact with our readers on our Facebook page and Twitter as well.

Our Facebook page usually has some fun conversations and debates going on between other fans of Seattle sports.

On our twitter account we constantly post breaking news and articles in a quick and timely matter. Most breaking news can be accessed through our twitter page before we analyze anything on our main blog.

Here's a link to our Facebook page

Here's a link to our twitter: @seatownsports

Here are some links for your morning perusing:

• I definitely would love to see Joey Cora as a our next manager for the Mariners...why not? [Lookout Landing]
• Great article from Mason Kelly on UW's newest commit, Kasen Williams [Seattle Times]
• Top restraunts and bars around UW, I got to agree with Dick's and Ezell's two of my all-time favorite fast-food joins [ESPN]
• Here's a great all-encompassing preview on the Pac-10 [SB Nation]
• The football reporter poll came out, O'Dea is ranked No . 7 in 3A with Seattle Prep receiving a vote [PNW Local News]

We are introducing a new weekly feature to our site that we hope you will enjoy. Feel free to give us your own predictions in the comments! Have at it, football season is finally here!

O’Dea vs. Capital

If you need entertainment on a Thursday night, head down to West Seattle Stadium for  a great matchup of two teams that made the state tournament last year. O’Dea, picked to win the Metro Mountain division yet again this year, comes in having lost two major offense keys. QB Gabe Lee and RB Zach Fogerson (who’s looked good in fall practice for the Dawgs) both graduated last spring.

Even with those losses, O’Dea returns the Metro’s top running back in senior Keenan Forch and the conference’s top defensive end in Devante Curry. They looked poised for yet another deep run this year in State. However, Capital has given the Irish trouble in the past. In six matchups in the last seven years, the Irish and the Cougars have split the series 3-3.

This could be the best out of conference matchup in the league this year, just because it will probably be so close. Capital’s RB Tyler Sundberg is a monster and could cause the O’Dea defense problems against the ground game. O’Dea looks great this year though, and with plenty of seniors at important positions, they should run the table. O’Dea by a touch, 24-17

Seattle Prep vs. Mercer Island

While O’Dea and Capital feature two solid state contenders, Prep and Mercer Island could be a possibly more intriguing matchup. On the Islanders side stands QB Jeff Lindquist, a prototypical college prospect as a gun-slinger, with great size and a golden boy type appeal.

On the Panthers side stands the exact opposite. Rugged and tough-as-nails QB/LB Nick Holt (son of the Husky defensive coordinator by the same name) leads Prep on both offense and defense and is the team’s heart and soul. It seems that if these two cancel each other out, it comes down to the rest of team to make the difference in this showdown.

And that’s where the Panther’s depth kicks in. They are strong and fast defensively and have some real gamers in their front 8, including seniors Holt, LB Luke Simpson and DE Michael Hardy, who can scare RBs away from holes with their intensity. MI has a nationally rated quarterback, but still are picked 5^th in the KingCo by the Seattle Times. How does that make sense? It won’t bode well for them against the Metro upstarts, and the Panther Defense will rule the day. 28-14 Prep

Bellevue vs. Union

In the weeks best Matchup, the perennial state contender and most consistent 3A program in Bellevue takes on the states newest legitimate high school program in Union. After making the move to 4A this year, Union has very high expectations. Their high school is less than five years old, and yet they already have a 3A basketball championship under their belt, along with a semifinal appearance in football last year.

But the Wolverines remember which team knocked Union out in the playoffs last year: none other than  themselves. While it’s a new year for both squads, Union has too much to worry about outside of this game to focus on as a revenge game. Amazingly, Bellevue doesn’t have much to lose in this game, and because of their fairly cupcake conference with the exception of Liberty, the Michigan look-alikes will be really focusing on this game.

Look for the Wolverines to come out strong, possibly not throw a pass, and beat Union by two scores, 35-21.

Bishop Blanchet vs. Bellarmine Prep

This could be the oddest matchup of any in the Metro this week, with the Braves making the trip down to Tacoma to take on 4A’s Bellarmine Prep. The Braves were sad to watch last year, as a football team that has always been good enough to possibly sneak into the State Tournament turned into an absolute laughing stock. Need proof? They lost to Lakeside. Enough said.

But maybe the Braves can turn it around this year. They have a talented group of seniors and an experienced quarterback in Brady Flies who doesn’t like to lose and can fire up the troops when he needs to. But can the Braves find it against a 4A squad that isn’t traditional super at football? Probably not. They need some games to warm up.

That being said, they could still win a game or two in the Mountain division if they gel. I'll take Bellarmine by, 23-6.

Highline vs. Nathan Hale

Hale is coming off a pretty mediocre season (5-5) and only returns six starters. And yet somehow, the Seattle Times picked them to win the Metro’s Sound Division. This could mean two things. The division could be down, which is probably the case with West Seattle not being the championship contending they once were , beating O’Dea f two years ago.

But it also likely mean Hale is up, which is good news for a school that really tends to struggle to keep up in most metro sports. Highline will be a good opening test for the Raiders. The Pirates didn’t have a great year last year, just 3-5, and they didn’t win until game #5. If Hale is truly poised to make a run at the title this year, they should be able to handle Highline pretty easily. If not, Hale might be just the best of a few pretty weak teams in the Sound division. 28-13 Hale.

From Andy Katz (ESPN):

"Brigham Young University will leave the Mountain West Conference for the 2011-12 season, become independent in football and join the West Coast Conference in all other sports, notably men's basketball, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told ESPN.com."

This brings much needed competition to the WCC, especially in basketball. BYU could become a consistent challenger to Gonzaga in league play. Will the WCC push for an even number? I think Seattle U would be an ideal candidate to join. They fit the requirements of being a west coast private religious school. So why not?

Amazingly college has made me a more productive blogger, so much free time...at least for now. This means more content on this site more often!

Here are this morning's links:

• Here's a good one on one interview with Abdul Gaddy [Rush the Court]
• UW was ranked No. 23 in the Sporting News pre-season basketball poll [Seattle Times]
• Examining JP Losman [Field Gulls]
• Is Brett Hundley bound for UCLA? [SB Nation- Seattle]
• 10 questions with BYU [UW Dawg Pound]

According to a tweet by Angelo Chol, a current UW recruit, UConn has lost all of their scholarships for 2011. You can read more about it here. Now that UConn is off of Chol's list, Alabama, Georgetown, Kansas, and Washington are in his final four. Chol has already schedule his official visit to Kansas in October.

If this report about UConn is true, this also means that Jabari Brown, another UW recruit will no longer consider them. Along with UW, California, DePaul, Georgia Tech, Oregon, and Saint Johns have all offered Brown. He has scheduled an official visit to UW in September.

Here are our player reports on both of them: [Angelo Chol] [Jabari Brown]

As a former cross-country runner, I have a deep appreciation for the support. This might be the most grueling high school sport there is, but most of these runners don't get any attention until they reach the playoffs. We figured there are some cross country fans that read this blog so we decided to give this a shot. Post your feedback in the comments!

Metro Team Championships: Two-team race
This year it looks like it will be a two-team race for the Metro championship between Seattle Prep and Bishop Blanchet. Both teams had strong showings at the state championships last year with Prep finishing fourth and Bishop Blanchet finishing seventh.

Metro Top Returning Runners
Seattle Prep returns four varsity runners, including senior Sean McDonald who finished 22nd at State. Bishop Blanchet returns three of its varsity runners, including junior stand out Steven Robinson. Robinson owns the second best time out of the field of runners that competed in 3A state last year and placed fourth at the State Track and Field Championships in the 3200m. Two other Metro standouts will be senior Alex Duffy out of O'Dea and senior Abdallahi Abdi from Ingraham.

3A State Team and Individual Outlook
In the state as a whole, North Central is the front-runner again going for their fifth straight championship. Mount Spokane and Everett both placed at State last year and both will be returning five runners. Bellevue, Prep, Lindbergh, and Blanchet all have a strong chance to end up on the podium as well.

I talked to a couple of runners on their predictions for the individual state championship, and in 3A they said three guys stand-out from the rest: Steven Robinson (Bishop Blanchet-12), Casey Adams (North Central-12), and Nathan Weitz (Shadle Park-11).

Here is a list of the top five runners in Metro and in the State going into the season:

Metro (Name, Grade, School, Personal Record)

1. Steven Robinson, 11, Bishop Blanchet, 15:32
2. Abdallah Abdi, 12, Ingraham, 16:07
3. Sean McDonald, 12, Seattle Prep, 16:00
4. Alex Duffy, 12, O'Dea, 16:26
5. Matt Crawford, 12, Seattle Prep, 16:33
3A State (Name, Grade, School, Personal Record)

State (Name, Grade, School, Personal Record)

1. Casey Adams, 12, North Central, 15:31
2. Steven Robinson, 11, Bishop Blanchet, 15:32
3. Nathan Weitz, 11, Shadle Park, 15:47
4. Hunter Johnson, 11, Mount Spokane, 15:50
5. Vince Hamilton, 11, North Central, 16:01

Here are the preseason national rankings

Here is the preseason state coaches poll

Editor's note: We have an opinion and so do you. As a result, I introduce to you our new weekly editorial column. Every Monday morning one of our writers or maybe one of our readers will treat us to some personal writing that hopefully some of you can relate to. This was written last week as one of writer's was leaving for college. Enjoy!

My legs are cramped. The air is dense. My flight lands in Newark in about two hours. The beautiful skyline of Seattle is but a silhouette in the background until December 23^rd. The ever-abundant greenery is being traded for the concrete jungle of New York.

I’m going to miss the announcers. When is the next time I’ll hear Dave Neihaus’ voice? I didn’t bring a copy of “Ken Griffey Jr. MLB Slugfest,” so I’ll have to wait until my oh-so-far-off May return to hear him again. The goofy little accent of the Sounders announcer and his quirky soccer calls will have to wait as well.

I’ll miss the constant influx of Seattle sports news and opinion floating in from KJR and Kiro. Kevin Calabro’s voice will be one especially difficult to not hear. Softy’s daily Husky practice shows were always terrific – they’ll have to wait until next summer now.

I’m going to miss free seats to the hottest ticket in town every weekend – Husky football. There’s nothing like the feeling in the audience as “Till’ I Collapse” streams through the PA system at Husky Stadium, and every single fan bonds together as one as Jake Locker leads the Dawgs out of the tunnel.

Same goes for the Husky basketball team. I’m going to miss watching Abdul Gaddy develop into an all-conference point guard (it’ll happen), Isaiah Thomas careen wildly into the lane and make ridiculous lay-ins, Matthew Bryan-Amaning’s teabags, and Justin Holiday’s freakish wingspan.

Perhaps more than any of that, I’ll miss my ultimate connection – sitting in the front of the Dawg Pound in the Dawg house at Garfield, heckling opposing coaches, posted in my old #3 Garfield practice jersey, watching Tony Wroten lead my beloved Bulldogs to a state championship, and leading the “Any dawgs in the house true dawgs?” cheer. I’ll miss discussing the Garfield teams of old – was Ed Roy really better than Brandon? Was the 99-00 team the best of all time in Washington State – featuring Ed Roy, Brandon Roy, Will Conroy, Tre Simmons, Roydell Smiley, Anthony Washington, Isaiah Stanback, and the self-proclaimed “Great Freshman,” Terrence Williams (a one-year Bulldog).

Life in New York will move forward with thoughts of Seattle sports on my mind, and every once in awhile I’ll have to get on Skype to talk about Garfield, the Huskies, Mariners, Seahawks, and everything else I’ll miss about Seattle sports. I refuse to let my childhood memories fall by the wayside.

1. O'Dea
2. Seattle Prep
3. Bainbridge
4. Eastside Catholic
5. Bishop Blanchet

Metro Sound predictions:

1. Nathan Hale
2. West Seattle
3. Rainier Beach
4. Franklin
5. Chief Sealth
6. Ingraham
7. Cleveland

No team is going to touch O'Dea, they are too loaded on both sides of the football and should take care of each team in the league. Seattle Prep, Bainbridge, and Eastside Catholic will all be fighting for the second place spot that would guarantee them a spot in the district playoffs.

I'm going with Prep to come out on top because of their returning leader in Nick Holt on both defense and on offense. Eastside Catholic definitely has the biggest chip on its shoulder going into the season, and until they can prove that they are better than Prep, I am comfortable with having them finishing second to last. The league is not as strong again as previous years, but O'Dea will represent the league well in the post season.

I don't know too much about the Metro Sound, so my predictions are somewhat of a shot in the dark. Nathan Hale/West Seattle/Rainier Beach have proven themselves to be a cut above the rest of the league these past few years.

Check out our All-Metro Mountain Pre-Season team after the jump!