Seattle

Ryan Leaf is running out of time and teams. Once regarded as a franchise quarterback in the NFL, he is now viewed as a salvage-operation project. Once the second pick in the 1998 draft behind Peyton Manning, Leaf is fighting to win the Seattle Seahawks' third-string job against the likes of seventh-round draft pick Jeff Kelly and free-agent rookie Ryan Van Dyke. Worse yet, he's no guarantee to win that third-string job. Seattle is Leaf's fourth team in 15 months. His monumental flop in San Diego cost the Chargers more than $12 million and sent general manager Bobby Beathard into a premature retirement (Beathard only resurfaced this month as an adviser with the Atlanta Falcons)

SEATTLE -- The NFC West race might have ended yesterday. Seattle's Shaun Alexander romped again, this time for 165 yards on a season-high 33 carries and three touchdowns, and the Seahawks beat the mistake-prone St. Louis Rams, 31-16, at Qwest Field. The Seahawks (7-2) turned St. Louis' botched fake field-goal attempt in the second quarter into a 24-3 scoring run. They have a three-game division lead on second-place St. Louis, which had won two straight to resuscitate its season. Essentially, that is a four-game bulge with seven regular-season games remaining because Seattle has swept St. Louis after losing the previous four to the Rams (4-5)

SEATTLE -- There's trouble in the soul of Seattle. In the ringing of cell phones, the beeping of expensive car horns and the bleeping of e-mail, some denizens of this once sleepy seaside oasis that now harbors the instant millionaires of the Internet Age can hear the sound of community spirit lost. "We have world class-itis," said Eric Pollard, a merchant in the city's funky, 93-year-old Pike Place public market. Seattle's retail center, a few blocks south, has physically recovered from the mayhem of five months ago, when protesters and police made a spectacle of the World Trade Organization talks.

Think about the dusty deserts of Arizona. Think about the sandy beaches of Hawaii. Think about sawdust if that'll help. Whatever you do, though, don't think about that wet stuff that keeps falling outside your window, today, tomorrow, and - if the forecast can be believed - the rest of our lives. This advice to think dry thoughts comes from someone we should listen to because she is wet herself a good deal of the time. That is because Meeghan Black lives in Seattle, a place where it rains about as often as the daily newspaper comes out. At least it seems that way. Actually, on average, it rains only 150 days of the year in Seattle (compared to 113 days in a normal year here)

SEATTLE -- If the Seattle Mariners developed an aura of invulnerability on the way to tying the major-league record with 116 regular-season victories, somebody should have told Cleveland Indians pitcher Bartolo Colon. The hard-throwing right-hander dominated the supposedly indomitable Mariners for eight innings yesterday on the way to a 5-0 playoff victory that shook sold-out Safeco Field to its foundation. It was supposed to be a mismatch, and it was, but it was the Mariners hitters who were overmatched in the first game of their best-of-five American League Division Series.

SEATTLE -- The solutions to the Orioles' starting pitching problems remain as elusive as a quality start from the group. The trade market is mostly barren of effective starters. The farm system is bare of pitchers who the organization feels are ready to step in. There's no getting around it. The Orioles need help now, they just don't know where to turn. They thought their top pitching prospect, Hayden Penn, could help, but the right-hander, who was supposed to start tonight, needed an emergency appendectomy last night and is now on the disabled list.

SEATTLE -- In all likelihood, the Chicago Bulls will be recognized as one of the greatest basketball teams ever by the time this NBA Finals series is over. But the coronation may have to wait at least a couple of days.The Seattle SuperSonics saw to that. With the fans at Key Arena shouting "Not in our house" repeatedly, the Sonics came out and dominated the Bulls last night on the way to a 107-86 win.For the Bulls, it was just their second loss in the postseason and the end to a nine-game winning streak.

SEATTLE -- The No. 45 on the back was familiar, as were the days-old stubble on the baby face and the involuntary reddening of his cheeks as the game's intensity increased. It was Erik Bedard as Orioles fans remember him, except for the name on the front of the jersey and an inability to control his devastating curveball. Pitching his first regular-season game apart from the only organization he has known since the 1999 amateur draft, Bedard labored but survived his Seattle Mariners debut.

Seattle is among 20 U.S. cities with at least three major sports franchises. And one of those will play in the Super Bowl on Sunday. So it must be a great place to be a fan, right? Well, the Seahawks, SuperSonics and Mariners have combined to play 97 seasons. Of those, exactly one, the 1978-79 NBA campaign, ended with a championship. In the "winning is the only thing" culture of pro sports, that futility is nearly unmatched. Sure, fans in Philadelphia think they've faced a dry season since the 76ers won the NBA title in 1983.

WASHINGTON - The Washington Wizards made it back to national television last night for the first time since Michael Jordan finished his career there, and showed why they might be worthy of a few more appearances as their promising season progresses. Taken advantage of the road-weary, slow-starting Seattle SuperSonics, the Wizards built a 19-point lead late in the first half and withstood a second-half comeback by the NBA's fourth-best team before pulling out a 107-96 win at MCI Center.