Seattle

If you had to sum up the 2013 Seattle Mariners in one word as we approach the end of June, which one would you choose?

Disappointing?

Underwhelming?

Predictable?

For a team still searching for answers, it's hard to stay positive these days.  

Beyond the M's one-two punch of Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma at the top of their starting rotation and the promise of recently promoted rookies Nick Franklin and Mike Zunino, is there anything or anyone else worth rooting for as we inch towards the halfway point in the season?

Rather than lament the Mariners misfortunes, I figured it might be nice to take a break and focus on one of the few positive developments that may have fallen through the cracks during this season so far. 

To anyone who knows and loves the M's, third baseman Kyle Seager is arguably the team's best offensive building block.  What's funny is that depending on your point of view that's either good news or a sad commentary on the current state of the franchise. 

For today, I happen to take it as a positive, as Seager continues to grow on me with each passing game. 

Perhaps what's most impressive about him is that he continues to thrive under some pretty trying circumstances in Seattle.  No matter how poorly the M's are playing, Seager just keeps doing his thing. 

Move him up in the order. Move him down in the order. Play him anywhere in the field. He always gets the job done, while hustling every step of the way.

Fact is, it wasn't supposed to be this way. 

Last year, Chone Figgins was supposed to finally earn his keep at third base, while Seager would fight for playing time as a utility player. 

This year, veterans Kendrys Morales and Mike Morse were supposed to help spur an offensive renaissance, while Seager would serve in a complementary role.  

Meanwhile, college teammate Dustin Ackley was supposed to emerge as the face of the franchise among a crop of young prospects the organization trotted out not only this season, but last season as well.   

Instead, Seager, the proverbial runt of the litter, a guy who I'd imagine quite a few people still see as miscast at third base—not to mention within the top half of the batting order—continues to quietly carry on while leading the M's in several offensive categories again this season, according to ESPN. 

While one could argue that Seager has benefited because so many of his contemporaries have given us an endless stream of doubts, is that really fair to him and what he has accomplished?

Couldn't one argue that he deserves even more credit given the circumstances?

At this point, I think it's safe to say that you can pencil in Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma as the Mariners representatives at the All-Star Game in roughly a month's time.

But is Seager also worthy of a trip to New York's Citi Field?

If so, he has a lot of ground to make up based on the current vote, via MLB.com. Miguel Cabrera is running away with the voting at third base. Sadly, Seager doesn't even show up in the top five as Manny Machado, Adrian Beltre, Evan Longoria and Oakland's Josh Donaldson round out the voting.  

For now, I suppose it's hard to argue about any member of that quintet as all of them are worthy candidates, especially Cabrera, who is once again posting MVP-worthy numbers. 

Hopefully over time, though, Seager will continue to develop his game and begin to make a dent in the voting process. Yet, even if his popularity never really expands beyond the Pacific Northwest, I like to think that the M's have someone in Seager worth building around over the next several seasons.

Crazy as it may sound, who else would you propose the M's hitch themselves to starting tomorrow?

Dustin Ackley, Jesus Montero, Justin Smoak and Michael Saunders may rebound, but only Ackley and maybe Saunders strike me as capable of being solid contributors at this point.  

As for Kendrys Morales and Mike Morse, I'm hesitant to place too much stock in them long-term given their age, durability and potential contract issues.  

Finally, as we learned all too painfully with Ackley, Montero and Smoak, it's much too soon to attach such lofty expectations to Nick Franklin and Mike Zunino. Right now, let's simply enjoy watching them cut their teeth as pros before putting them front and center with the task of saving baseball in Seattle.  

Right now I'm simply trying to hang on to the hope that a few of the players we are seeing now will eventually become every day fixtures, with Seager, over time, becoming the most "senior" among them.

In an ideal world, three years from now I'd like to think that Felix would still front the starting rotation with some help from the likes of Danny Hultzen, Taijuan Walker, James Paxton and Brandon Maurer.  While I doubt all of them will make it, at least two of them should be solid major league starters. 

Beyond them, Seager will still be at third base, Franklin at second, Zunino behind the plate and perhaps Brad Miller at shortstop?

First base could go to Kendrys Morales if he opts to stay at the right price, but would also be happy seeing the recently drafted DJ Peterson or maybe even Dustin Ackley nail down the job?

Where things get really cloudy is in the outfield, but, hopefully, candidates will emerge between now and then to fill the void through both the farm system and in free agency. 

The point I want to drive home though is that whether or not Kyle Seager becomes an All-Star this year is irrelevant. What's more important is that he continues to cement his spot within the M's lineup as the team continues their endless quest out of the wilderness. 

Seager is the hustling, gritty and high-energy player this franchise desperately needs. Someone who can withstand the highs and lows, while steadily making a positive impact both on the field and in the clubhouse. 

If he can continue to bring that kind of effort to the good folks in Seattle, eventually the time will come where he will become an All-Star. 

Until that day, I feel we owe it to Seager to give him our support—both at the ballpark and at the ballot box. Maybe he won't catch Miguel Cabrera this year, but that doesn't mean we should ignore or under value the M's most valuable every day player.  

Fortunately for Liz Carmouche, it looks like a sudden switch-up in the women's bantamweight division won't cancel her next UFC appearance.

Now that Miesha Tate has been called up to the title picture, "Girl-Rilla" will instead greet a newcomer in Brazilian prospect Jessica Andrade at UFC on Fox 8 on July 27.

According to MMA Fighting, this will also be the first-ever UFC women's fight shown on Fox.

Carmouche will look to get back on the winning track after losing a competitive main-event title fight against champion Ronda Rousey at UFC 157, which ended in a first-round submission defeat for the challenger by armbar.

Although Carmouche was a significant underdog, the former Marine Corps technician nearly toppled "Rowdy" with a standing face crank and rear-naked choke attempt, faltering a mere 11 seconds before the end of the round.

Still, she's only lost to elite competition so far, with her two other losses coming at the hands of former Strikeforce champions Sarah Kaufman and Marloes Coenen.

Jessica Andrade, on the other hand, is a more unknown quantity.

Hailing from Brazil with an 11-fight record (9-2), the 21-year-old has fought in regional promotions such as ProFC, Heavy Fighting Championship and Ring of Fire.

Until her last bout in Russia, Andrade had also never fought outside of Brazil.

UFC on Fox 8 is currently scheduled to feature a main event bout for the world flyweight championship, with Demetrious Johnson defending his title against John Moraga.

Interestingly, the event features another women's bantamweight bout between Julie Kedzie and Germaine de Randamie, making this the first UFC card to include two women's bouts on the same night.

To boot, the card will also feature a pair of high-profile matches with Rory MacDonald vs. Jake Ellenberger and Robbie Lawler vs. Tarec Saffiedine. According to the official UFC rankings, all four men are currently listed in the Top 10 of the welterweight division.

Follow @KenTheGreat1

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist. His work has appeared in NVision, PC World, Macworld, GamePro, 1UP, MMA Mania and The L.A. Times.

It's been nearly two weeks since Seattle Seahawks defender Bruce Irvin "got popped" (Tacoma News Tribune)—according to head coach Pete Carroll—after the team's 2012 first-round pick tested positive for performance enhancers by the NFL. 

In a world where stories like these are chewed up and spit out with an all too common regularity, I was surprised to see that reactions were fairly subdued from both the local and national press once the initial news of Irvin's suspension was reported.

On some levels, I suppose it makes sense.  

For local writers, they can't afford to risk biting the hand that feeds them, so instead, it's easier to dance around the topic like Danny O'Neil did over at MYNorthwest.com or simply say nothing at all. 

Meanwhile, beyond Sports Illustrated's Peter King giving us his passing thoughts in the immediate aftermath along with ESPN's Mike Sando sensing a pattern, I was surprised there wasn't more said about the suspension on a national level.

In some ways, I get the feeling that we've become numb to such stories. 

"Bruce Irvin tested positive for what? Pffft, whatever."

Upon hearing the news, I initially found myself feeling quite annoyed with both Irvin and the organization. But then over the next few days, my feelings shifted towards a strange mixture of disappointment and apathy. 

Most of this had to do with Pete Carroll's response that Eric Williams of the Tacoma News Tribune shared early last week:

“We go beyond what the league does,” Carroll said. “We go well past what the guidelines ask us to do, as far as working with our young guys, trying to give them the direction, and trying to give them the counseling.

“We have people on staff that are here specifically to work with our individual guys, because I really see this as an individual challenge.”

But ultimately, Carroll believes that the player has to be held accountable and responsible for his actions.

“Unfortunately if you go wrong, you get popped,” Carroll said. “And that’s how this thing works. And I’m really disappointed that we have to deal with anything like this. But there’s going to be other issues, too. And we have to deal with them.

“For Bruce, we’re going to try and help him along as best as we possibly can. And he’s made an enormous commitment to try and do the right thing, and to try and be right. He made a mistake, and he admitted to it. And he owned up to his teammates. … He wants to do right, and show that he can. And we’re going to see that through.”

At times like these, Pete Carroll earns every penny he's paid because he says everything you think you want to hear while also weaving in gems like, "There's going to be other issues, too." 

While I can imagine that managing dozens of players is a bit of a daunting task, I'd like to know from Carroll what these other issues are and whether we should be concerned?

Are we talking about Marshawn Lynch's never-ending DUI case or something entirely different?

Perhaps the person we should ask is general manager John Schneider.

In one of the more revealing interviews I've heard in some time, Schneider shared his thoughts on Irvin's suspension with SiriusXM Sports hosts Bruce Murray and Rich Gannon (via FieldGulls.com) while discussing a host of other topics surrounding the 'Hawks. 

Yet what caught my attention was the following exchange:

On the number of failures..."does it surprise you?"

"Not surprised, I visit a lot of college campuses, and I hear what's going on there. So, no I'm not surprised."

Quite frankly, that wasn't the response I was expecting from the team's GM, but it begs the question, how many players need to test positive and be suspended for any of us—including the Seahawks as an organization—to really care?

Beyond the apologies, assurances and closed-door meetings, I'm not convinced the message is getting through. 

I had hoped that the suspension of Brandon Browner—along with the overturned ruling on Richard Sherman late last season—would be the wake-up call the team needed to finally come clean, but Irvin's misstep kicked up the issue once again.  

Sadly, I'm left to wonder, "Who is next?"

Do you think that Bruce Irvin is going to be the last player suspended?

If we take what Schneider said along with what Carroll hinted at—and perhaps include Richard Sherman's belief that half the NFL takes Adderall (ProFootballTalk.com)—then I'm afraid I have some serious doubts.  

To me, Bruce Irvin's suspension means a lot more than the loss of a potential starter on defense for the first quarter of the 2013 season, as it makes me just a bit more leery of this roster and its long-term prospects.  

Is this team built to last or simply set up to win now with little regard of the consequences?

What I really liked about this particular team, since Carroll and Schneider took over, is that it appeared that the 'Hawks were building something meaningful that we could all enjoy for the next several years. But now I'm not so sure.

Perhaps I'm being a bit too sentimental and should focus on the present instead while hoping that the team takes what Kam Chancellor and his fellow veterans discussed to heart (Yahoo ! Sports):

"We had our meeting -- the vets put a meeting together to talk to the guys about not making the same mistakes over and over," Chancellor said. "You know, we gotta grow up and move past that. So that's pretty much the message right now -- growing up and not making the same mistakes over and over."

At the end of the day, though, I'd imagine that Chancellor and the other leaders in the locker room know that talk is cheap, as actions speak louder than words.

Unlike past seasons, people will take notice, as the stakes are higher now.  The 'Hawks are no longer rebuilding with the hopes of someday making the playoffs. This is a team looking to win the Super Bowl while sporting a huge target on its back, even without this issue hanging over it.  

For any team to achieve what the Seahawks are setting out to accomplish, so many things need to fall into place, as there is little room for error.  

Can they do it? 

I think they have a decent shot, but everybody from Pete Carroll down to the last guy on the practice squad needs to either put up or shut up. Otherwise this potential dream season could end up a nightmare. 

Jerrod Johnson intrigues me. 

Intrigues me in the same way that receiver Mike Williams did a few years back when Pete Carroll first came to town to take over the Seattle Seahawks. 

I use the word intrigue here, because based on his performance in rookie camp, it's hard to judge exactly what Johnson brings to the table.  Basically all we saw were a handful of raw prospects playing two-hand touch, so forgive me if I'm hesitant to get too excited about what we've seen or heard thus far. 

Yet much like Williams, Johnson is a raw and well-traveled prospect who might be worth rooting for this week as the team participates in official voluntary workouts. 

Honestly, though, when I first heard that the 'Hawks had signed Johnson, per Seahawks.com, a few weeks ago, I didn't really give too much thought to the move. 

It was only after seeing him at rookie camp that I started to recall the story of a passer at Texas A&M who looked like a potential Heisman candidate with a touching story of loss and the hope for redemption that ESPN's David Ubben penned prior to the 2010 season. 

Unfortunately, I lost track of Johnson soon after as he struggled with the Aggies that season and lost the starting job to future Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill. 

Such is life in sports—one minute you're the starting quarterback for a major college football team trying to put your life back together after losing your father unexpectedly, the next you're a journeyman simply hoping to catch on in the NFL.  

After stops in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with the Eagles and Steelers, not to mention stints in both the UFL and AFL, could a player who still qualifies as a rookie make the 'Hawks' final roster?

For all we know, Johnson may end up as nothing more than a passing fancy that over the course of a weekend caught Pete Carroll's eye, who in a few days, months or weeks could be cut loose like so many other prospects. 

Still, I'd like to say that I have hope for Johnson simply because the options behind current starter Russell Wilson leave me feeling a little uneasy. 

Looking back, I can understand why the 'Hawks traded Matt Flynn to Oakland, but the choice of Brady Quinn to serve as backup to Wilson seemed uninspired.  It was almost as if the front office begrudgingly opted for Quinn in seeing him as the least objectionable choice from a bland mix of contestants.

Maybe with a fresh start in Seattle Quinn can make a name for himself after kicking around the league himself for several years, but quite frankly, I hope the 'Hawks never need to find out. 

As for Josh Portis, by this point I feel we know what we're getting after having seen him at camp for several years now.  He's a developmental prospect who really hasn't developed.  Where you wish to lay blame for that is up to you, but I'd imagine everyone sees this year as a now-or-never situation for him in terms of his future. 

Of course, in a few weeks' time who knows what will happen, but I like Johnson's odds and give him a puncher's chance.  He has the size and skill to potentially put the likes of Quinn and Portis on edge, and if he continues to show that his mechanics are sound, he could make it this year.  

Either way, fingers crossed that by the end of summer the 'Hawks have a new quarterback waiting in the wings who intrigues a few more people than just me.  If that happens to be Jerrod Johnson, I think it may solid step forward for both him and the team.  

Depending on who you ask, Vivek Ranadive's agreement to purchase the Sacramento Kings (as reported by Tony Bizjak, Ryan Lillis and Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee) is either great or disgusting.

Obviously, those longing for an NBA team to return to Seattle will be in the latter group. On the flip side, Sacramento basketball fans are thrilled to have saved their team from the Emerald City.

At one time it seemed almost inevitable that the Kings franchise was destined to become the new Seattle Supersonics. Seattle investor Christopher Hansen had seemingly made Kings ownership an offer they wouldn't refuse.

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll honors Hansen's efforts.

Through Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson's efforts, David Stern's interventions and NBA owners' votes, Sactown won.

As a basketball fan on the outside looking in, it is great to see Sacramento keep their team, but it is impossible not to feel for Sonics fans.

After all, they were in a predicament much like the Kings fans back in 2008. The Sonics faithful lost Kevin Durant and their team to Oklahoma City that year.

Bryan Wiedey aka Pasta Padre, producer of one of the top sports video game websites in the world and huge Seattle sports fan, tweeted this about Durantula.

Although DeMarcus Cousins isn't as lovable as a young Durant was for Sonics fans, the city still loves their Kings.

This is a battle where you really wish neither side had to lose. 

It is obvious both cities have the desire and interest level to support an NBA franchise. It is hard to see a fanbase suffer through the possibilities and realities of having their teams taken from them.

Inside Hoops is already noticing the Kings' popularity resurgence.

The Kings organization probably deserves their fate a little more. The Maloof family seemingly hasn't done much to make their team more marketable for the past five to seven years.

Sacramento has been in the bottom five in attendance every year since 2007. A poor on-court product is partially to blame—the Kings have missed the postseason seven years in a row.

In addition to that, the Sleep Train Arena (formerly the Arco Arena) is not ideal for high attendance numbers.

The building's capacity is only 17,317. To put that in perspective, 15 teams in the NBA averaged more than that per home game during the 2012-13 season.

Even with all of those facts supporting the neglect of the franchise, none of it is the fan's fault. The biggest losers in this scenario would have been them, just as was the case in Seattle in 2008.

Seattle nearly had an opportunity to heal their wounds, but it was cruelly snatched away from them. 

Perhaps expansion could give the city hopes in the future, but nothing is for certain. Hansen has vowed to continue the fight to bring the Sonics back to Seattle, but I wouldn't blame fans if they were less than optimistic the next time rumors surface.

Follow me, because I believe fans should have a local NBA team to root for.

Follow @BrianMazique