It's been awhile. Here are five questions that will test your Mariners history knowledge...

1) Who is the all-time Mariners career leader in runs scored?

2) Dave Niehaus was the college basketball announcer for a Pac-10 school early on in his career. What school was it?

3) Name the top four all-time leaders in opening day starts for the team.

4) Who is the all-time single season record holder for doubles?

5) Who is the Mariners pitcher is the all-time career record holder for games played as a Mariner?

 See the correct answers after the jump!
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Last spring I graduated from Seattle Preparatory high school, and took one last drive back to my home which was just minutes away from Rainier Beach high school. The student demographics of the two schools are polar opposites in terms of race, education, and economic status.

My story, and the stories of dozens of other kids that dealt with this divide during high school have found its home on the pages of Doug Merlino's, "The Hustle." 

In "The Hustle," Merlino tracks down his old Seattle-based AAU team from two decades ago that combined rich affluent white kids from Seattle's richer neighborhoods and poor black kids from the inner-city.

While Merlino himself is a journalist, he finds his teammates everywhere from a prison cell to a hedge fund office. But, it was one teammate's death that led him to the writing of the book. Tyrell Johnson's murder happened in 1991, a mere five years after his participation on the AAU team.

At times "The Hustle" reads like a memoir with Merlino writing about his own and his teammates impressions of their team in 1986. At other times, the book feels like a provocative and candid commentary on the history of class, race, and wealth in Seattle and in America.

The history of Black Seattle/White Seattle is explored throughout the book as Merlino skillfully contrasts the experiences of the team's members after high school, with some graduating from Lakeside and moving onto successful careers, with others going to public schools in the inner-city and failing to finish out.

One of the more intriguing passages in this book is a description of Lakeside's student section at sporting events in the late 80's.

Merlino writes,

" 'It's all right, it's OK, you'll all work for us someday'...The chant, while I was at Lakeside, was always initiated by an upperclassmen...Toward the end of a game we were losing, he would stand, motion to the rest of the class, and lead the mantra...the message so clearly seemed to be: No matter what the score of this game, you are the losers."

Despite the differences that separated the team before, during, and after their championship season, William McClain's (the team's coach) vision is more than inspiring,

" 'We're going to have a mixed team this year. We're going to play with some white players. It might be a culture shock, so I want you to be ready. A lot of things are going to be different. But you remember what I've been telling you about opportunities? This could be something really good for you guys.' "

Merlino is able to invest the reader's interest in the individual lives each player on the team has led since 1986. As a reader, it is easy to understand the motivation that drove him in the writing of this book: friendship.

Though the conflicts between class and race are clear, there are some moments like Merlino's visits to the currently imprisoned Myran or the team's reunion that make this book a passionate narrative.

I read this book in search of a feel good sports story. I finished this book and found much more than I expected. "The Hustle" exceeded my expectations as a result of its ability to teach me about the city I call home and the deep racial divide that is still present within.

Read our interview with the author here.

The Hustle
One Team and Ten Lives in Black and White
Doug Merlino
(Bloomsbury, $26)

My childhood would not be the same without these movies. Though their plots were extremely predictable, and the actors were pretty terrible (see: Michael Jordan), these movies collectively have had a positive impact on my life.

There were two requirements to be on the list. One was that they had to made for kids, which throws out Rudy, Hoosiers, and Love and Basketball (though those are all great sports movies). Secondly, these movies had to have come out on VHS. Because VHS is trendy and old-school, and I want to make this feel like an "I Love the 90's" episode on VH1.

Here are my five favorite kids sports movies from the 90's (in no particular order):

The Sandlot (1993)

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"Heroes get remembered, but legends never die"

Told through the voice of Scott Smalls, better known as "Smalls," we witness the narrator's transformation from being clueless to falling in love with America's past times. This is one of those movies that you'll never get sick of. It's witty down-to-earth plot and memorable one-liners help make this movie an instant classic. There are certain scenes in this film that we can all vividly remember from it. Mine happens to be when the group is trying to retrieve the ball through intricate and complicated ways; each ending up in complete failure. This is one film that I'll appreciate FOREVER, FOR-EVER, FOR-EVER.

Space Jam (1996)

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"You ever heard of the Dream Team? Well, we're the Mean Team, wussy man."

As the Looney Tunes are threatened to be captured for a theme park, they resort to challenging the "Nerdlucks" to a game of basketball to save themselves. Who would actually think that combining Looney Toons and Michael Jordan could produce a decent movie? It may seem a little bizzare. But for whatever reasons, it works. It is funny, it is real, and you end up buying into the whole thing. Count this as a sort of a redemption for M.J., especially because he is willing to recount his failures in the Minor Leagues for the film.

D2 The Mighty Ducks (1994)

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"And when the wind blows hard and the sky is black - Ducks fly together! "

Coach Bombay is on a mission to lead Team USA to a title in the Junior Olympics goodwill games. But the fame and fortune tempt him into caring more about other things. On top of that, half of the team is made up of new faces. Can the Ducks still Quack? Though, this is a sequel, I think most people my age would agree that this film stands out the most to them among the the three Mighty Duck films. The knuckle puck, the evil european hockey team, and Coach Bombay's rise, fall, and comeback are all reasons why this movie so memorable.

The Little Giants (1994)

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"What a hunk. Wait a minute? What am I saying? I'm the Icebox. Icebox doesn't like boys. Except for that one... "

This movie is about Danny and Kevin O'Shea, two brothers that are coaches of pee-wee football teams in a small town. Kevin is a local football hero and has a pee-wee team with the best players. Danny on the other hand, has always been second place to his brother, as a result, he puts together a team to challenge his brother. Maybe I like this film because it reminds me a little of my freshman football experience. Either way, this is a great movie, because for a change a girl plays a central role in it. The main character is Becky O'Shea, better known as "Icebox," she is the daughter of Danny O'Shea. Icebox is a nice representation of all tomboys around the world. It's okay to like sports if you're a girl, even if its a football.

Rookie of the Year (1993)

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"You're the best thing to happen to baseball since Cracker Jack!"

Not to be confused with Dennis Quaid's inspirational "Rookie", this movie is a fictional depiction of every kid's dream, playing baseball in the major leagues. As a result of a freakish injury to his arm, Henry Rowengartner is blessed with an ability to throw a wicked fast ball and soon finds himself putting on a uniform for his hometown Chicago Cub at the ripe age of 12. We get a human look at what it takes to be in the Major Leagues, with the main character battling between his childhood and his responsibilities as a professional baseball player. Oddly enough, the main character has an interesting resemblance to Tim Lincecum. One of my favorite scenes is when one of the coaches for the Cubs ends up locking himself in between the two doors that separate neighboring hotel rooms.

Others in the running: Air Bud, Angels in the Outfield, Big Green

Update 12/23/11--This is never going to be up to date. To prevent lots of work on my end, I decided to provide links to twitter lists that are being constantly updated by other bloggers and I.

If you are into twitter and semi-stalking your favorite athletes, here is a directory of all the Seattle related athletes that are tweeting. To find these athletes simply type in their usernames into the search box on the right side of your twitter interface. You can follow us at twitter.com/seatownsports

• High School Sports (Players, Coaches, Reporters) 
• Husky Football (Players, Coaches, Reporters)
• Local Athletes
• Local Journalists/Media Type
• Seattle Mariners (Players)
• National Sports 
• Seahawks Football (Players)

Huskies/Former Huskies

• Ryan Appleby--@ryanappleby
• Jon Brockman--@mrjonbrockman
• Matthew Bryan-Amaning--@mbalive11
• Justin Dentmon--@justindentmon
• Abdul Gaddy--@gaddy253
• Spencer Hawes--@spencerhawes00
• Jernard Jarreau--@slimboogy_33
• Quincy Pondexter--@quincypondexter
• Aziz N'Diaye--@ziza221
• Nate Robinson--@nate_robinson
• Terrence Ross--@TRossRozay
• Steve Sarkisian--@coachsark
• Brendan Sherrer--@SherrerB
• Hikeem Stewart--@HStewart_1
• Scott Suggs--@scottro15
• Isaiah Thomas--@Isaiah_Thomas2
• Donald Watts--@donaldwatts24
• CJ Wilcox--@UCjwilcox23W
• Tony Wroten--@TWroten_LOE
• Official UW Athletics--@UWAthletics
• Official UW Men's Basketball--@UW_MBB
• The Dawg Pack--@UWDawgPack
• Montlake Madness--@MontlakeMadness

Seahawks

• Official Seahawks--@seahawks
• Pete Carroll--@PeteCarroll
• Aaron Curry--@seahawk59
• Matt Hasselbeck--@Hasselbeck
• Justin Forsett--@jforsett
• Walter Jones--@bjrth
• Darryl Tapp--@dtapp55
• Earl Thomas--@Earl_Thomas
• Dave Krieg's Strike Beard--@DKSB17
• Field Gulls--@FieldGulls

Mariners

• Felix Hernandez--@RealKingFelix
• Josh Lueke--@Josh_Lueke
• Jamie Moyer--@moyerfoundation
• Geoff Baker--@gbakermariners
• Jason Churchill--@Prospectinsider
• Dave Sims--@DSpxp
• Lookout Landing--@lookoutlanding
• Official Mariners--@Mariners
• Pro Ball Northwest--@ProBallNW
• Shannon Drayer--@shannondrayer
• USS Mariner--@d_a_cameron

If you know of any other Seattle athelete twitter accounts, please post it in the comments section or shoot us an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , so we can update this list. Tweet away!

Junior’s retirement has gotten the SeaTown Sports staff thinking. Two decades ago, Ken Griffey Jr. became the unequivocal face of the Seattle Sports scene - a smiling image of our city to offer those out east who weren’t so into Grunge or Cappuccinos. Never would our town be the same.

From the final year of his first stint with the M’s until the final year of his last, Seattle has witnessed two new ballparks, Japanese fever, a Super Bowl, 116 wins, the WNBA championship, the loss of a basketball team, the gain of a soccer team, whatever the hell happened with the Huskies, and of course, the relocation of the Thunderbirds to Kent.

While Griffey’s influence on much of these occurrences can be called into question, it was without a doubt that the moment upon his second coming he was still the face of this city, and his departure may leave a popularity vacuum large enough that even David Oreck himself cannot market (some Googling required). So as #24 hangs up his cleats, who do we in turn hang our hats on now for some good ol’ escapism?

See our list of Seattle's most popular athletes after the jump!

Besides SeaTown Sports, there are some other great blogs covering Seattle sports. I have compiled them all with links to all the blogs. I recommend bookmarking some of these blogs and subscribing to their RSS feeds as well. See the guide after the jump. (I posted this last year, but have updated links and have added some blogs)