Seattle’s LGBTQ community members say they hope that this Friday’s World Cup “Pride Match” between Egypt and Iran, two countries where homosexuality is criminalized, can be an opportunity to change minds.
Seattle, WA
One Seattle Seahawks hire was a risk that's now apparent
Mike Macdonald is attempting to do something unprecedented in his first year as Seattle Seahawks head coach. No first-time NFL head coach hired since 2017 – who is still active as a head coach today – has ever gone into their first season with either an offensive or defensive coordinator who had no prior NFL experience.
The league has taken notice of Seahawks’ lack of home-field advantage
Why 2017? Sure, that seems like an arbitrary data point, and it very well could be – feel free to go back as far as you want to satisfy any lingering curiosity. But it’s important for two reasons. First of all, to be hired as a first-time head coach back then and still be coaching is impressive. Eight years is an eternity in the fickle world of head coaching. Secondly, that hiring cycle produced three of the most successful coaches in the entire league since then: the Los Angeles Rams’ Sean McVay, San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan, and Buffalo’s Sean McDermott.
The Seahawks are all too familiar with what McVay and Shanahan have done since then, including the Rams’ immediate and meteoric rise under McVay. Shanahan’s tenure began a little slower, but the Seahawks’ roster is in better shape than the 49ers’ was in 2017 and more closely parallels the situation McVay walked into at the start of his career. Because of that Rams success and the comparisons that Mike Macdonald has evoked as a defensive equivalent to the offensively-minded McVay, the path is laid out for what the Seahawks could achieve in the next few seasons.
However, the deviation has occurred in the coordinator decisions, especially on the side of the ball counter to the specialized area of the head coach. For McVay, that was on defense, and he opted to hire then-69-year-old Wade Phillips, who had been coaching in the NFL in some capacity since the Seahawks had existed as a franchise.
The year before Phillips was hired, the Rams’ defense ranked 23rd in points allowed per game. In 2017, that mark improved to 12th in the NFL. The next season, the Rams’ defense held Tom Brady and the Patriots to the fewest points they had ever scored in a Super Bowl. The Los Angeles defense was never a top unit in the league, but it also was never detrimental to the team.
There is a deluge of information and new responsibilities for a first-time head coach to process, in addition to the week-to-week task of actually coaching either the offense or defense. Even that description feels like it minimizes just how much a coach who also functions as a play-caller has to do each week, but it should serve to illustrate the point that the other coordinator has an outsized importance, even to the point of autonomy, on the impact of that entire side of the ball.
It is both a testament to Macdonald’s accolades as a defensive mind while simultaneously an indictment that the Seattle offense, which returned more star power and had fewer holes to fill, has become the biggest liability for the Seahawks. The offensive line has been subpar, but there have been confounding decisions all season that speak to the inexperience of an offensive coordinator (Ryan Grubb) and O-line coach (Scott Huff) who are still acclimating to the myriad of differences between the NFL and college football after jumping to the Seahawks from the UW Huskies.
We’re not going to sit here and litigate every single decision, but what strikes me are the observations from analysts and former NFL players Ray Roberts and Mark Schlereth – who can analyze and explain offensive line play as well as anyone in the NFL – about the general inconsistencies that have plagued the Seahawks’ offense all season, especially on that line.
They have put most of the scrutiny on the play-calling and coaching, and it was particularly insightful on Tuesday when Roberts guest hosted Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob. Roberts opened our show by explaining how the Seahawks essentially out-thought themselves with their offensive game plan against the Packers instead of emphasizing their own strengths.
Big Ray Roberts: How Seahawks overthought the plan on offense
Mark Schlereth is a weekly Wyman and Bob guest on Tuesdays, and he has consistently hammered home the message that the coaching on the offensive line and the play-calling has not put the offense in a position to succeed. I highly recommend listening back through his appearances on the show this season for both comedic and football value.
There is an extra layer to this that expedites the urgency for the Seahawks to figure it out on offense. Next season, the following players are entering the final year of their contracts: Geno Smith, DK Metcalf, Kenneth Walker III, Abraham Lucas, Noah Fant and Tyler Lockett. Throw in the rest of the 2022 draft class (outside of Charles Cross) who will need new deals, and it’s going to be prohibitively expensive for the Seahawks to keep all of their key players around. With those pieces currently in place, this team can’t risk another season of questions surrounding the offense.
Oh yeah, so back to those other coordinator hires for the first-time coaches in 2017 besides McVay.
Kyle Shanahan hired a defensive coordinator named Robert Saleh, who had spent the prior 11 seasons coaching in a variety of roles in the NFL. It worked out pretty well for San Francisco.
Sean McDermott opted to go with Rick Dennison, a former offensive coordinator for the Broncos and Texans, as his OC choice. That didn’t work out, with the Bills firing Dennison after that first season. There’ s a lesson to be learned from that as well, because McDermott proceeded to hire Brian Daboll, and the Bills emerged as one of the most prolific offenses and best teams in the NFL in the four seasons Daboll was in Buffalo.
For Mike Macdonald, a wrong coordinator choice isn’t the death knell for a coaching career, but it does require a critical eye and tough conversation this offseason. I have no doubt that Ryan Grubb would be much improved in Year 2. It’s the natural growth and progression that comes in any vocation after doing something for the first time. For the Seahawks, though, time is quickly running out on offense with this current collection of talent. They must ask themselves whether “improved” is good enough to reach the standard for success.
More on the Seattle Seahawks
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• Seahawks Uniforms: For second straight game, it’s all one color
• Seahawks CB Riq Woolen’s inconsistent play ‘hard to explain’
• Breaking down Seahawks’ NFC West title and playoff odds
• Bump: How Seattle Seahawks can get DK Metcalf going again
SEATTLE — Seattle police are investigating a shooting that left a 17-year-old boy injured early Thursday morning in the High Point neighborhood.
At about 12:48 a.m., dispatchers received multiple reports of rapid gunfire near Sylvan Way Southwest and Southwest Morgan Street.
Officers arrived and found a 17-year-old boy suffering from a gunshot wound to the hip area. Medics transported the teen to Harborview Medical Center in serious but stable condition.
Before officers located the victim, they found a car that had crashed and become disabled near Sylvan Way Southwest and Delridge Way Southwest. Police said multiple suspects were seen running from the vehicle through a nearby Home Depot parking lot.
Officers cordoned off the area and searched for the suspects with assistance from the K-9 Unit, but were unable to locate them. Police recovered the vehicle and impounded it for processing.
During the incident, gunfire struck at least three vehicles and two buildings. No other injuries were reported.
Officers processed multiple nearby scenes and recovered evidence before clearing the area. Detectives with the Gun Violence Reduction Unit will lead the investigation.
Seattle, WA
Council eyes street barricades in fight against violence, sex trafficking in north Seattle
SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council is expected to vote next week on a plan that would give the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) the authority to close off street access for public safety reasons.
The proposal comes after months of outcry from residents in north Seattle who say sex traffickers and sex buyers are looping through the streets surrounding Aurora Avenue North.
The street-closure proposal passed the council’s Public Safety Committee on Tuesday and is expected to be voted on by the full council next week.
“I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say the crime has gotten much worse, much more violent, and much more predator,” said District 5 councilmember Debora Juarez. “I think that we do have the authority to shut down a street for bullets flying and endangering the lives of those who live there.”
Frustrated neighbors have installed their own homemade barricades after a spate of gun violence between sex traffickers in May.
RELATED | SDOT removes street barricades near Aurora Ave; neighbors doubtful of temporary measures
Councilmember Bob Kettle says street closures will help tamp down sex buying in certain areas, but he emphasizes it must be accompanied by an increase in outreach and enforcement.
“We have to have a sustained effort,” Kettle told KOMO News. “My concern is for every action, there’s a reaction. We need to take this flex and then really attack it … because if we do just a bit and our attention wanders, we could have this conversation three months from now and we’re talking about the same thing.”
A 15-year-old boy was shot near 95th Street and Aurora Avenue North around 10:45 p.m. last night. The teen initially claimed he had been shot while walking down the street, but investigators now say he was shot by a passenger in his car.
RELATED | Seattle police say ‘drive-by’ on Aurora Ave. was actually passenger shooting teen driver
Kettle credited the city’s Real Time Crime Center cameras with helping investigators quickly piece together the events of the shooting.
“Just as important to finding out what happened, the cameras help police determine what did not happen,” Kettle said.
According to Seattle police data, reports of shootings and shots fired in the north precinct area are at their lowest levels since 2021.
Through the end of May, there were 48 total reports of shootings or shots fired, with one fatal shooting and seven nonfatal injury shootings.
That’s down from 63 total reports of shootings and shots fired – one fatal and seven injuries – in 2025; and 64 shootings or shots fired reports – one fatal and 17 injuries – in 2024.
At Tuesday’s committee meeting, councilmembers pointed out residents are calling for a new police precinct to be built on Aurora Avenue.
Ten years ago, a new North Precinct building was slated to be built at 130th Avenue and Aurora Avenue North to replace the existing precinct building, which was decades old and did not have enough space for the department’s needs.
Led by former councilmember Kshama Sawant, the “Block the Bunker” movement successfully got the North Precinct replacement project killed in city council.
Kettle said the city’s current financial issues make it essentially impossible to bring back a project similar to the one the previous council defeated.
“We have to connect the dots back,” Kettle said. “If we want to know why we are where we are today, we have to look at decisions made over the last two councils.”
Seattle, WA
Iran and Egypt to play in Seattle ‘Pride Match’ despite earlier complaints | The Jerusalem Post
Seattle revels in its reputation as a welcoming place and Pride flags are visible all over the city, all year round. Its June Pride weekend is one of the biggest in the United States.
So, ahead of December’s World Cup draw, it was only natural that local organizers designated the June 26 match to be held in the city as a “Pride Match.”
Then the draw happened — and the two teams scheduled to play the game were Egypt and Iran.
Egypt’s Football Association urged global soccer governing body FIFA to prevent any Pride-related activities, arguing such events clashed with the Muslim-majority country’s cultural and religious values. The governing body in Iran, where same-sex relations can carry the death penalty, filed an objection with FIFA.
Some in Seattle have doubts over the teams in the ‘Pride Match’
But in Seattle, there is no question that the Pride Match will go ahead as planned.
“The World Cup is going to come and go in three weeks,” Hedda McLendon, from Seattle’s local World Cup organizing committee, told Reuters. “The Pride celebration … has happened on this weekend for 50-plus years.
“It is going to happen this weekend, it is going to happen long after the World Cup.”
Some in the city’s LGBTQ community had mixed feelings given the participants, said Jon Cairns, 49, manager of local LGBTQ+ club Kremwerk.
Cairns, however, said his own view was that it provided a platform to promote acceptance that only the world’s biggest sporting event could offer.
“My reaction is let’s have them,” he told Reuters. “International sports is one of the biggest brokers historically of social change and individual rights and freedoms worldwide, including in the U.S.”
He cited black U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens’ four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Nazi Germany and Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ raised-fist protest in 1968 as moments where “only international sports could reach that big of an audience.”
“They’re not going to turn off the World Cup on state television in Iran or Egypt to block out a Pride flag in the audience,” Cairns said.
The Pride Match is “a host city initiative” and separate of FIFA, a spokesperson for soccer’s governing body told Reuters.
Seattle’s LGBTQ community sees an opportunity
Egypt and Iran’s involvement in the Pride Match is not the first time the World Cup has grappled with stark differences in attitudes between hosts and visitors.
In 2022 World Cup host Qatar, the emir said visitors should “respect our culture” when asked about gay people attending the tournament.
FIFA threatened yellow cards for captains wearing the “OneLove” armband, citing its rules against political slogans. Teams including England and the Netherlands that had been planning to wear the armbands to protest Qatar’s laws against same-sex relationships abandoned the plan.
For Ryan Webster, a 40-year-old lifestyle manager who was at Kremwerk the weekend before Pride, Seattle’s “Pride Match” was an opportunity to show solidarity with people in countries where their sexuality was outlawed.
“I’m choosing to believe that this is our moment to allow the members of the LGBTQ community that come from those countries to have the opportunity to celebrate themselves in totality that they might not have otherwise,” he said outside the club, which will host a watch party for Friday’s game.
Inside, ‘Venus Fengz’ lip-synced to Cher’s “Believe” before introducing fellow drag performers to the stage, clapped and cheered by a raucous crowd.
Fengz, who only wanted to provide their stage name, said Pride coinciding with the World Cup would bring increased visibility, anticipating perhaps some new audience members.
“I think it’s always great for us to be able to share space and share places with people who don’t have the same experiences as us,” they told Reuters.
“Sometimes you just have to be the bigger person and show grace where you can and know that everyone is a human learning (from) different experiences, but also it can get hard — because you’re on the shorter end of the stick, always trying to have to explain yourself around people who don’t grow up with the same worldview.”
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