Seattle, WA
FIFA Club World soccer means Seattle will be clean for ten minutes
Hey, all you soccer haters: put your seething disdain for the world’s favorite sport on hold and thank the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup for giving us a brief glimpse of a clean, livable downtown Seattle.
Lumen Field will become one of the U.S. host sites for the FIFA Club World Cup in 2025, with global powerhouses like Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Juventus potentially gracing our streets between June 15 and July 13. This comes not just with significant economic opportunities, and some hopefully great soccer, but an added perk that’s been long overdue.
Though we won’t know how many games Seattle will get (or which teams we will host) until December, the real winners are the people who want downtown to stop resembling a post-apocalyptic zombie wasteland — at least for a few weeks.
More from Jason Rantz: In Tacoma, businesses fight for electric fences amid crime surge
Will Seattle get cleaner and safer for the FIFA Club World Cup?
If you remember MLB’s All-Star Week this past summer, you already know the drill.
Seattle’s beloved homeless encampments, the open-air drug markets and the aroma of urine that clings to your soul? Poof! Gone. Mayor Bruce Harrell suddenly found the resources and energy to clean up Downtown, SODO and Pioneer Square — for MLB’s executives. He’ll do the same for FIFA executives and the big teams. When Seattle plays host to those Harrell respects, the city suddenly works. Meanwhile, Seattleites and tourists? Yeah, we get the short end of the stick almost every other day of the year.
But hey, at least when FIFA execs roll through with their high-profile teams, we’ll get to experience the fantasy: a version of downtown Seattle that doesn’t make you question why you call such a poorly run city home. The streets will be hosed down, the fentanyl zombies will temporarily vanish and the stench of desperation will be magically lifted. You might actually feel safe walking around without having to dodge nearly lifeless bodies of homeless addicts.
It’s a sad reality, though. Once FIFA leaves, Seattle will immediately backslide into its grimy comfort zone — homeless addicts will flood back in, public spaces will again smell like a truck stop bathroom that hasn’t ever been cleaned, and Harrell will resume his “meh” approach to governance.
But hey, we’ll enjoy it while it lasts. Beggars can’t be choosers, right? It’s just too bad that we have to wait another year for it.
More from Jason Rantz: The truth behind Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell ‘endorsement’ of anti-cop socialist
Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason on X, Instagram and Facebook.
Seattle, WA
FOLLOWUP: West Seattle pickleball players band together to save court access
West Seattle pickleball players rallied this week as they ramp up opposition to Seattle Parks‘ Draft Outdoor Racquet-Sports Strategy, which would – among other things – change dual-striped courts at High Point and Alki to tennis-only. Next milepost along the way: Tomorrow night (Thursday, April 23), the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners – a city-convened advisory group – gets briefed on the “strategy.” Though board meetings usually have a public-comment period, the department is directing comments to the three feedback meetings (none in West Seattle, though some local advocates are trying to get one set up). The advocate who contacted us says they’re trying to “show their support to save these vital community resources. These courts are used by hundreds of people every week to stay active and connect with neighbors. We have no idea why the city would seek to do away with such highly used and inclusive gathering places.” They’re describing what they’re doing as a “WS-specific effort … aimed at saving pickleball at Walt Hundley and Alki. We are planning another larger rally on a weekend in Mid/Late May where we hope to turn out the entire West Seattle pickleball community and invite our local elected leaders and city officials to see how many lives are touched by pickleball in West Seattle.” In the meantime, they’re continuing to collect petition signatures here. Tomorrow night’s Parks Board meeting is being held in person downtown and via Zoom at 6 pm – attendance info is here.
Seattle, WA
The Honorable Brandon Lee Gowton Picks for Seattle at #32 | Field Gulls
over at Bleeding Green Nation. During the off-season, he’s been writing his mock
draft blog and just wrote up–a rather lengthy–mock pick for the Seahawks at
#32.
Personally, not enamored with the pick, but he does a VERY deep dive into the
offensive and defensive makeup of the Hawks, trying…
Seattle, WA
Brock: 2 drafts fits at edge rusher for Seattle Seahawks
After months of build up, the Seattle Seahawks are less than 48 hours from being on the clock for their first pick of the NFL Draft, as long as they hold on to pick No. 32 in the first round.
Seahawks Draft: A mid-round edge rusher with elite length
While the offensive line has long been a need for the Seahawks in drafts, this year running back, edge rusher and cornerback are among their top positions of need.
Former NFL quarterback Brock Huard highlighted a pair of players who could help bolster the Seahawks’ edge group as he continued his draft profile series Tuesday during Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.
In this edition of Huard’s draft profiles, he looked at Michigan edge rushers Derrick Moore and Jaishawn Barham, who also played on the same team together in high school at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore.
Huard pointed to the connection head coach Mike Macdonald, a former Michigan defensive coordinator, and many members of his coaching staff have to the Michigan program.
“They know these guys, they know them inside and out,” Huard said. “They typically like they’re Michigan men, and these are two physical guys that have all the attributes you’re looking for on the edge.”
The high-floor pick
Moore is coming off a decorated four-year career at Michigan where he piled up 24.5 tackles for loss, 21 sacks, eight passes defended and three forced fumbles in 53 games.
This past season, the 6-foot-3, 255-pound Moore totaled 10.5 tackles for loss, 10 sacks and two forced fumbles while earning first-team All-Big Ten honors.
“I think this is a pretty fair quote about him: ‘Unselfish, well-rounded, high floor.’ Is he a high-ceiling guy? Not as much as Barham, but he’s a very high-floor guy,” Huard said.
NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah has Moore ranked as the No. 65 prospect in this years draft. ESPN has him ranked 60th.
“He is just your fierce, tough, edgy, productive (player),” Huard said. “He played in space a little bit more. They are field-boundary scheme at Michigan at times. He’s been more of the field rusher, more against your left tackle. And (he’s) just got more in the tool bag… He’s been a defensive end. He’s pretty well versed in it. He’s going to have a bigger tool bag, I think, than both Boye (Mafe) and Derrick Hall had, and he’s going to be a second, late-second-round (pick). Rugged, tough Michigan guy.”
The high-ceiling pick
Barham spent his first two college seasons at Maryland, which included earning Freshman All-American honors in 2022, and transferred to Michigan in 2024. He played linebacker at Maryland and in his first season at Michigan before making the move to edge for his final college season.
In 12 games at a new position in 2025, the 6-foot-3, 240-pound Barham amassed 10 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks.
“Jaishawn Barham is a little bit more of a wild card, and one of the scouts that was quoted in some of the prep for this said he may bloom with the right coaching,” Huard said.
Huard recalled seeing Barham as a freshman at Maryland while he was doing color commentary for FOX and being in awe of how physically mature he already looked.
“I remember being on the field, as a freshman, looking at him going, ‘There’s just no way. There’s no way humanly possible that that guy played high school football the year before,’” Huard said.
Jeremiah has Barham ranked as the No. 77 prospect in the draft. ESPN has him ranked 88th.
“He is a higher ceiling guy you’re going to have to coach up,” Huard said. “He doesn’t come with years and years and years of experience on the edge.”
Seattle Seahawks NFL Draft coverage
• An under-the-radar Seattle Seahawks need Brock Huard sees
• NFL Draft: What – and who – Seahawks could get by trading back
• Why Hasselbeck says Seahawks are in great spot to trade back
• Seattle Seahawks open to trading top pick for bigger draft class
• A player Seahawks could trade for another draft pick
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