I'm a glutton for punishment and still root for most NW sports teams.  I'll even admit to sneaking a peek at the former Sonics' box score today. 

While the Mariners' season was pretty dismal, it was made enjoyable for me due mainly to two excellent blogs about the team, ussmariner.com and lookoutlanding.com.

For those who haven't been there, both contain outstanding analysis that includes both respect for the emotional aspect of the game as well as critical statistical looks at things that often debunk the emotional arguments.  Both are well worth a visit.  The comments at USS Mariner are generally of the more thoughtful variety and they do require that you spell correctly and construct fairly well designed sentences.  Lookout Landing is more of a locker room free for all, but with its own, unwritten to my knowledge, code of conduct.

The reason for this fanpost is to mention that one of the founders and contributors of USS Mariner, David Cameron, is in a contest that may net him a 10k scholarship.  He's studying economics in NC and is recently married.  In fact, one of the few breaks I remember him taking from the site was during his recent honeymoon.

Their site is free, although they do accept donations, and I think a quick vote for Dave is a very efficient way to show appreciation for the fine work they do.  Lookout Landing's on board and while Dave has a very comfortable lead at the moment, voting is still open for awhile.

If you've visited USS Mariner in the past, I'm preaching to the choir, but if not, take a look and I think you'll be impressed.

http://www.ussmariner.com

To vote...

http://tinyurl.com/VoteDave

The tinyurl above is safe.