Bad start for the U.S. (and for UW grad Hope Solo) in the Olympics–in the first competition of the games, the U.S. women’s soccer team lost 2-0 to Norway, with both goals coming in the first four minutes. It’s just the second-ever Olympic loss for the squad.

Ben Obomanu was the star of Seahawks practice yesterday, writes Danny O’Neil.

The NBA schedule comes out today, and the Blazers’ first 24 games are brutal, writes Blazers’ broadcaster Mike Barrett, who saw an early version. “If this team comes through the first 24 games with a record anywhere near .500 it will be remarkable. You think I’m overstating that. Again, you’ll see. I guess a baptism by fire isn’t necessarily a horrible thing. For this team’s sake, let’s hope not.”

It took working construction to convince high-school All-America pick Chancellor Young to buckle down and work his way back to the Husky football team. He tells Bob Condotta: “It was like, ‘I’d rather be catching footballs than tearing down drywall or ripping up carpet.’” OC Tim Lappano says the Huskies are thinking of Young mostly as a special-teamer, not a receiver. Young’s dad, is former Seahawks TE Charle.

An exciting win for the Mariners last night, as they fell behind 2-0, stormed ahead on a three-run jack by Ibanez, gave up the lead (Corcoran/Putz) then took the lead back in the eighth on Jose Lopez two-RBI double. J.J. Putz got a nailbiter of a save.

Gardenhire to John Hickey on Ibanez, who now has 11 RBI in a series the M’s could sweep with a win today: “I think if we could get him to come up without anyone on first we’d be OK, because we’d just walk him. He’s hotter than a match right now, and we’re throwing good pitches at him, but he’s just getting good wood on the stuff.”

Ibanez’ 11 RBI in two games ties the M’s record, writes Geoff Baker. Said record is held by Ken Griffey Jr. (1999, included a 6-rbi game vs. Detroit). Speaking of Griffey, the M’s win, combined with the White Sox extra-innings victory over Detroit, but Griffey and the ChiSox back atop the A.L. Central

Morrow goes to AAA, where he’ll stretch out for some September starts. Pelekoudas said in a statement that “as our season progressed and it became obvious we were not going to reach the goals we had entering this year, we began internal discussions on the best time to convert Brandon back to a starting role.” I heard Morrow on KOMO with Matt Pittman yesterday, saying that he thought he could stretch out just fine in the majors…don’t think he was too keen on going back to the minors.

Vidro’s gone, the Mariners say they wanted to wait to see if they could trade him. Jim Riggleman told MLB.com’s Jim Street: “This is all about getting Balentien up here, period. We didn’t want to give him a September-only look. In doing that, we needed to create a roster spot, and Jose was that spot.”

Vidro told John Hickey: “I’m not surprised at all. But it’s disappointing, because I take a lot of pride in what I do.” He’s headed home to Puerto Rico to be there when his son starts school on Monday.

The M’s have to decide whether to keep Batista in the rotation, writes John Hickey.

The Orioles’ Adam Jones is on the DL with a fractured foot–his season could be over as recovery time is four to six weeks.

Husky LB coach Chris Tormey talks to Molly Yanity about Josh Gage, the former walk-on who moves into the starting lineup with E.J. Savannah out: “He’s very smart and he understands schemes and what we’re trying to get done on defense and how offenses are trying to attack us. He’s very disciplined with his eyes so he reacts very quickly and so he’s just a very efficient player. He makes very few mistakes and makes a lot of plays.”

Cougar RB Dwight Tardy notices a difference between Paul Wulff’s coaching staff and the Bill Doba regime, telling the P-I’s Howie Stalwick: “I think they are more intense, more strict. They expect more from us.”

Tardy is back after reconstructive knee surgery last season, and he’s been installed as #1 on the depth chart, writes TNT’s Todd Milles. How’s the knee, Dwight? “First day was great. It was like being a kid again. No aches and pains. After practice, it was a little sore, but nothing ice can’t handle.”

There was some question whether Jeshua Anderson, who won the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA championships, would quit football to concentrate on track, but he’s practicing. Anderson miss spring and summer drills training for the Olympic Trials, but he was knocked out in the semifinals.

OSU’s #2 running back Jeremy Francis, who’s recovering from a knee injury, hurt the same knee. If he were out the Beavers would have just two scholarship running backs.

The schedule for the Maui Invitational b-ball tourney came out–Oregon will play against Alabama in the first round, and, if they win, would likely face UNC. I made the proper update to the Sports Northwest calendar.

Former Husky and Garfield High star Charlie Mitchell (who also played in the NFL), is now Dr. Charles Mitchell, and chancellor of Seattle Community Colleges. He tells Dan Raley about the racial “position stacking” (that is, black players forced into a few select positions, and not permitted to play elsewhere) he endured while at UW: “Probably I was less affected than the other black ballplayers because I was a hometown person, a high school All-American. I was concerned with what was happening to all black players, but stacking was throughout college football. It was everywhere. The Oregon schools were worse.”

Seattle will get a “Rock ‘n Roll Marathon” next year, a full 26.2 mile race from Tukwila to Downtown with live bands every mile and a main headlining act at the end. There are similar events in Phoenix, Philly, and San Antonio.