SEATTLE PRO SPORTS

As the Seahawks prepare for the Broncos and their new quarterback on Sunday night in Denver, one area the Seattle team has shored up recently is the special teams.

The News Tribune's Mike Sando looks at the improvement over the course of the season, and how that can translate into wins.

But what is really special, according to many Seahawks, is having Matt Hasslebeck back. And you know what else is special? The relationship between Seattle receiver Deion Branch and the Broncos Javon Walker.

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You may have noticed I don't write much about the Sonics here. The reasons for that are simple: I'm not a huge NBA fan, they are on their way out of the Northwest anyway, they're not very good and they're not popular in Spokane.

But the new ownership brought Sonic legend – and current basketball color man – Lenny Wilkens on board yesterday in an advisory capacity. That played well in the Seattle media, with Dave Boling writing about it and the announcement Wednesday of the hiring of arena design firm HOK. Boling seems to think this means the team has a better chance of staying in the Puget Sound area.

Me? I'm cynical. More cynical even than the P-I's Art Thiel or the Times' Steve Kelley, who seems to buy into the hire as well. We'll see.

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Speaking of cynical, the M's are making a HUGE play in the free agent market, talking with 39-year-old Luis Gonzalez. Wow. That'll make a HUGE difference in the lineup. (As you can tell, I'm not too excited about this. The term over-the-hill comes to mind.)