Cockfighting, rain in Seattle

Seasonal Affect Disorder is big in Seattle; the rain, cold and gray adds up and causes legitimate unhappiness. A man busted for a cockfighting ring has nothing to do with that.

A South Seattle man accused of raising roosters for an alleged cockfighting ring has been charged.

According to the statement of probable cause, several of the seized roosters had alterations to their body, including wattles, combs and earlobes removed, and one or both of he spurs cut. These alterations are "consistent with those made on birds trained and used in cockfighting," investigators said.

Also found at the home were knives, sparring muffs, tools, medical supplies, iron-enriched vitamins and supplements -- all supplies often used by those who organize or participate in cockfighting rings. Along with the paraphernalia, officers found a dismembered chicken foot "that appeared to be used for practice in applying the knifes," the statement said.

Um, better than dogs? Let the Michael Vick jokes begin. (Seriously, though, there is nothing funny about cockfighting. That's pretty fucked up. Wonder who won?)

Cracking down on jaywalking is the first step to cleaning up the nasty streets of Seattle, which aren't really nasty and they're totally fine

Look both ways before you cross the street in Seattle because there might be a cop there waiting to bust you for jaywalking.

That's what happened to White Sox GM Kenny Williams who didn't cross at a crosswalk and is a bad, immoral person because of it, except he's not because all he did was jaywalk, which is like getting in trouble in school for not raising your hand.

Williams was ticketed Monday for jaywalking outside Safeco Field for illegally crossing a street away from a crosswalk, the Associated Press reported. Williams was on his cell phone after exiting a cab and was on his way into the stadium when a traffic-control officer nabbed him and wrote a $56 ticket. Williams tried to tell the officer people in Chicago cross streets anywhere. He said the officer told him, not in Seattle.

They're really cracking down on jaywalking in Seattle. Have been for years. Our sophomore year at UW, there was a mini riot in the Greek System where like some cars were flipped and maybe set on fire and because of that the Seattle police responded by cracking down on jaywalking. It didn't really make sense, but the police felt better about things and people were more careful when crossing the street and frankly the world was a better place for it.

[Chicago Tribune via Ben Maller]

Rumor: Seattle P-I for sale, could close

Scary news for anyone still -- we jumped ship a few months ago -- in the newspaper industry. Seattle's NBC affiliate, KING 5, reported Thursday that the Seattle P-I, the state's second largest paper behind The Seattle Times, is up for sale and could likely close.

KING/5 reported at 5 p.m. that "a source close to the deal" said The Hearst Corp., owner of the Seattle P-I, would announce as soon as Friday that it's putting the P-I up for sale.

The report, which also appeared on the station's Web site, added, "We're told Hearst does not expect another buyer to step forward and that Seattle will likely become a one-newspaper town within the next few months."

The P-I's sport section is pretty good and those writers could be out of work in the coming weeks. Will they look for a job at The Times? Go online? Start a sports blog?

Has Seattle sports reached rock bottom?

After another miserable weekend in the Emerald City, there are very strong arguments that Seattle is the most miserable city to be a sports fans.

Seahawks:

Thought to be a sure-fire playoff contender, the Seahawks have brought the worst kind of hurt: unexpected failure.

In Mike Holmgren's last season, the Seahawks seemed poised to make another run at the NFC West crown (not exactly bragging rights, but still a guaranteed playoff spot) and maybe make some noise in the playoffs.

But after Sunday's loss to Arizona, the 2-8 Seahawks are all but done and will now start analyzing an aging quarterback, mediocre running game and lousy receivers. Arizona is now the class of the NFC West, which is perhaps the worst division the NFL has seen in years.

Mariners:

We wrote a few months ago 100 = 117.

One hundred losses with a $117 million payroll.

The M's are the first team in Major League history to be so miserable and to spend so much doing so. No other team has ever lost 100 games with a nine-digit payroll. You could make the argument that this is the most disappointing team in the history of baseball.

Thank you very much, Richie Sexson, Adrian Beltre and Kenji Johjima.

Washington Huskies (football):

Now 0-10 after a 20-point loss to hapless UCLA, the Dawgs are the lone winless FBS team. They've only been competitive in two games, losing by a touchdown or less to BYU and Stanford.

There's a lame duck coach, the "star" quarterback is hurt and recruiting is looking bleak. Not exactly the prestigious program that UW once was.

And Husky Stadium still has a fucking track circling the field. Disgusting.

Washington Huskies (basketball):

After a two-year hiatus from the NCAA tournament, the Husky hoops squad was supposed to be in the top half of the Pac-10 and make a push for a tourney bid.

But after Saturday's loss to Portland, the Dawgs' confidence is in the gutter and they'll have an eyesore of a loss to an RPI 100-200 team on their bubble résumé. Not the start that U-Dub envisioned.

Sonics:

Now known as the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Sports fans in Seattle are losing their minds. Apathy, depression and anger has set in and Seasonal Affect Disorder is looking like a pretty good alternative right now.

If Seattle isn't the worst city to be a sports fan currently, we don't know what is. (Though the Bay Area isn't that distant of a second. Perhaps bad sports just follow us around!)