Sports Dept. Blog
Ron Newberry, Sports editor
Ron has spent 20 years in sports journalism. He will write about a broad range of sports topics. 
Gail Wood, Sports reporter
Gail's special interests are college sports and the South Sound scene.
Meg Wochnick, Sports reporter
Meg specializes in high school sports coverage for The Olympian. She is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University, where she was an NCAA Div. III All-American in track and field. She will provide insight on high school sports in South Sound.
Brendan Funtek, Sports content producer
Brendan is a native of Amarillo, Texas and graduate of The Evergreen State College, his sports interests are geared toward the national scene.
Marcus Burns, Sports page designer
Marcus is a Northwest native and graduate of The Evergreen State College. He will address Northwest college and professional sports.
Mike Lang, Copy editor
Mike came to The Olympian in 2006 from the Kansas City Star, where he worked just about every job in the sports department. He would rather be playing poker or be fishing than picking high school sports teams he knows very little about.
SPORTS
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Some final thoughts on Capital's loss to Bellevue
Wow. So those are the Bellevue Wolverines.
Two series and BAM -- a gaping 14-0 hole for Capital.
The Cougars never really were in this game. They played courageously and put together some decent, time-consuming drives against the Wolverines, even picked up many clutch third downs, but the trouble is Capital just couldn't get a handle on Bellevue's tricky Wing-T ground assault and that kept nullifying Capital's positive developments on the field.
Bellevue's 28-6 victory was never much in doubt from the game's opening minutes. But as one Seattle Times reporter pointed out, no team facing Bellevue's Wing-T offense for the first time ever comes away with good results. He gave a stat that first-time victims are 1-23 against Bellevue since 2003. Prosser was the only one that figured them out.
Give credit to Capital for one stat, however: Last South Sound team standing. The Cougars delivered in the playoffs, winning two state postseason games in exciting fashion before running into a team that has a great system and talent to go with it.
Heck, even former Seattle Seahawk Paul Moyer is an assistant coach for Bellevue. His son, Nick Moyer, No. 11, plays tight end and linebacker for the Wolverines. After the game, I almost wanted to go over and shake hands and chat with Moyer (coincidentally, I'm currently reading he and Dave Wyman's book, "Then Zorn said to Largent," which is a very fun read about behind the scenes moments with former Seahawks teams).
Yes, I was one of those in awe a bit of Bellevue's prowess. Yet I also was impressed with Capital's crowd, which filled up much of the home bleachers. The WIAA announced a crowd of 3,500 at the game. The home side, which seats 2,200, was packed with Cougars faithful except for the ends where fans could get wet. Not bad for a rainy Monday night.
The atmosphere added to the excitement. TV crews for KOMO, KIRO and Q-13 FOX were at the game, mainly following the storyline of a Bellevue team that was able to get back on to the field only three days after a horrific bus crash. Two Olympia radio stations broadcast the game.
All the while, antsy Capital fans waited patiently for something good to happen so they could erupt in cheer.
When Capital got the ball for only the second time, the Cougars already trailed 14-0. Capital went from its 20 to the Bellevue 36, converting two third downs in the process, one on an 18-yard run by junior quarterback Kellen Camus. But the drive stalled when Bellevue stopped Capital on fourth and 1.
Capital's fans went wild on Bellevue's next possession when the ball popped loose for a fumble and Chase Lamoreaux recovered, but Capital wasn't able to capitalize.
It only took four plays for Bellevue to score again and go up, 21-0.
Capital's offense only touched the ball three times in the second half. The last time was when Cougars ate up a huge amount of clock on an impressive 17-play, 90-yard drive capped by Riley Wall's 1-yard touchdown run.
Camus, a junior, said the Cougars wanted to score on that final drive for the seniors on the team.
Capital is losing some very talented seniors: the Wall brothers, the Ingman brothers, tight end Hunter Sapp and defensive end Donnie Johnson to name a few that come to mind. Coach J.D. Johnson was talking to the younger players about what it will take to continue to improve to take even a greater step in the future.
But 2008 was one big step for Capital and Johnson. Here's a little perspective: My alma mater, Steilacoom, has had solid football teams almost since the day the school opened in the fall of 1981. Steilacoom has had many talent-rich teams that had people wondering if this would be the year, including this season when the Sentinels went 10-0 in the regular season and looked like a team that might go far.
This brings me back to Capital's accomplishment. In 27 years of fielding football teams, Steilacoom has never made the state semifinals.
Ron Newberry -
Bellevue up 28-0 with one quarter to go
There's a reason Bellevue has won five state titles in the past seven seasons.
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The Jim Zorn lowdown
No coach is ever safe facing the trigger finger of Washington owner Daniel Snyder.
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Wakamats-who?
Don Wakamatsu was introduced as the Mariners' new manager Thursday, drawing a collective feeling of bewilderment from many M's fans.
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Cable TV reach grows bigger
It is important to remember that ESPN just won the rights to one of the big six sports championships in the land.
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Update on Lacey's NFL trio
Mike Sellers turns video star for his Pro Bowl campaign, Jerramy Stevens finds a place in Tampa to call home and Jonathan Stewart hopes to avoid hitting that rookie wall.
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Imagine Griffey and the Big Unit back in Seattle ... OK, don't
Anyone up for a Big Unit, Ken Griffey Jr. reunion in Seattle?
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Seahawks, Huskies and Cougars did something strange this weekend: they offered hope
This NFL Sunday has a different feel to it. Yes, the Seahawks lost, but this one felt differently.
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Do the Huskies and Cougs need California welfare?
It appears as if the Trojans have sucked all the other Pac-10 schools dry of their potential top recruits to go compete for the apple of Pete Carroll's eye instead of, say, the Apple Cup.
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Who's the greatest high school football player you've ever seen?
Let's start the debate now: Who is the best football player to come out of South Sound?
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Being the NFL's last unbeaten team never meant much
Since 1966, the last unbeaten team has went on to win 11 of the 42 Super Bowls. Just over a 25 percent chance
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How are the Mariners too good for Griffey?
Why not Griffey? Last season was so unapologetically horrible, what right do Ms fans have to make the demands of playoff-level expectations?
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Dream scenario: Jim Mora at Washington, Bill Cowher with Seahawks
Talk about a win-win situation: Mora with the Huskies, Cowher with the Seahawks! Man, I like that sound of that a lot.
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The Rocky IV curse ends -- Phillies win
Coming from a fan whose favorite teams have won three championships off Philadelphia teams and once publicly advocated that the city be banned of pro sports due to its unruly fans, I appreciate what the Phillies did last night.
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Mike Sellers' jersey to be retired, but what about a Pro Bowl spot, too?
North Thurston High School will be retiring Mike Sellers' jersey No. 44 next week. The question is when?
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Is the NBA still FAN-tastic?
The NBA ... it's FAN-tastic. Is it now? Funny, doesn't seem that way around this region anymore.
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Reflections on the latest Huskies slaying
You can't even drive up I-5 en route to Husky Stadium without seeing a Fire Ty message spray painted purple and gold on an overpass.
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Update on Lacey's NFL trio
Mike Sellers is blocking for the league leader in rushing, Jerramy Stevens is helping the Bucs win in a very defined role and Jonathan Stewart is still sharing the load.
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Good read: Last dose of Sonics pride
A Bennett butterfly flaps his wings and an OKC comment board rancorously erupts.
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