SEATTLE β Seen and heard from Arizona's 80-53 win over the Washington Huskies at Alaska Airlines Arena on Thursday.Β Β
Extra COVID-friendly
In normal times, Washingtonβs Hec Edmundson Pavilion (also known as Alaska Airlines Arena) might be the Pac-12βs most claustrophobic atmosphere, with fans tightly packed all the way around and the student Dawg Pack section literally breathing down both teamβs benches.
Of course, breathing is out of the question these days.
So with fans not allowed, Washington pulled back its foldable seating even further than many arenas. Arizona and Washingtonβs benches went four rows deep, allowing plenty of distance between every member of a teamβs party.
Meanwhile, on the north concourse, the Huskies took advantage of suddenly unnecessary space without fans by creating a makeshift weight room with plenty of distance between stations.
In fact, one of the stations was separated by an idle Dippinβ Dots ice cream stand, while the other end featured a mobile cleaning station.
Just business
Thursdayβs game marked a return home for both Arizona assistant coach Jason Terry and senior guard Terrell Brown, but they might as well have been in Kansas for all they knew.
Families arenβt allowed at games, meaning neither had anyone on hand watching them, while all players are expected to strictly limit social interaction off the court no matter where they are.
βYouβre not really allowed to do that, so itβs hard,β UA coach Sean Miller said of Brownβs situation earlier this week. βItβs hard on Terrell. Itβs hard on all of us, on everybody. Weβre no different than you guys and weβre trying to follow the rules as best we can.β
So close and yetβ¦
Electronic traffic boards all around Seattle flash the words βStay safe WA. Wear a mask. Limit gatherings.β
Arizona signee Shane Nowell is following those protocols, too. His coach at Eastside Catholic in suburban Sammamish, Brent Merritt, said his team hasnβt even bee able to practice so far this season.
βNothing going on here,β Merritt said via email.
Like just about everyone else, Nowell had to watch Thursdayβs game on television, too.
βThe Kidβ brought friends
Ken Griffey Jr is among the celebs βatβ tonightβs game pic.twitter.com/YDIlXAtCbY
— Bruce Pascoe (@BrucePascoe) January 1, 2021
Washington kept its cardboard fans to just two sections: Behind the west side basket are rows of Washington students, all with purple UW polo shirts on, while the east side features fans, celebrities and four different βHuskiesβ (real ones and mascot ones).
Among the celebrities included Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, actor/martial artist Bruce Lee, βDwightβ from The Office and, of course, Mariners great Ken Griffey Jr. β even though βThe Kidβ sent his own kids, Trey and Taryn, to the UA.
Not quite the same
Dawg Pack probably wonβt be too intimidating for a change. pic.twitter.com/gDJZNBiVgl
— Bruce Pascoe (@BrucePascoe) January 1, 2021
Washington still tried to throw out some of the usual intimidation at the Wildcats. With its students limited to cardboard, the Huskies threw up a montage of fans turning the other way when Arizonaβs starting lineup was introduced.
βWho cares?β it read.
Then Washington did the usual home-court video intro, entitled βWelcome to the 206,β Seattleβs primary area code.
Hair raisers
Struggling on the court in the early season, the Huskies still might lead the Pac-12 in one category: Hair.
RaeQuan Battle, Marcus Tsohonis and Nate Pryor all have big heads of hair.
So much so that Battle, the first Tulialip tribe member to earn a Division I scholarship, was even asked jokingly on Wednesday if the trio had some sort of βHair Clubβ endorsement scheme going.
βNot at the moment, not really,β Battle said, chuckling. βYou know, I think it just came out of nowhere. My hair grows pretty fast and Marcus has been growing for a while and Nate just showed up with his hair out. So I mean, it just all came together. Weβre all bros, you know β weβve known each other for years so I guess itβs just a friend thing.β
Both Battle and Tsohonis played for the well-regarded Seattle Rotary club team on the Nike EYBL circuit.
Last season, Tsohonis was even called a βHair-Raisingβ Husky in a story that said he could have fit in with the ABA, alongside Dr. J and Artis Gilmore.
Different times, different name
While Washingtonβs venerable Hec Edmundson Pavilion officially took on the Alaska Airlines Arena name in 2011 for at least $700,000 annually, Seattle neighbor Amazon put a different spin on corporate names when it bought naming rights last June to what was Key Arena.
The renovated building is now called βClimate Pledge Arena,β and will house the NHLβs new Seattle Kraken in 2020-21 along with former Key Arena tenants Seattle Storm (WNBA) and Seattle U Redhawks.
Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke told the Seattle Times that the arena aims to produce zero waste, sell locally sourced food and eliminate single-use plastics by 2024.
βWe were talking about Amazon and talked about community,β Leiweke told the Times. βAnd they came back and said, βLook, the No. 1 community cause for us and what we believe in most is climate and Jeffβs commitment to the Climate Pledge.β And we came away inspired.β
Of course the βJeffβ referred to is Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who pledged $10 billion to fight climate change in February.
Help for Pike Place
Almost seems like business as usual at Pike Place Market. pic.twitter.com/jnPxB8JCyq
— Bruce Pascoe (@BrucePascoe) December 31, 2020
While things are a bit quieter in downtown Seattle these days with tourists generally gone and office workers largely at home, Pike Place Market still featured nearly the usual winter time crowds strolling its farmers market section Thursday.
But, as with nearly everything, life has been hardly normal for the cityβs famed market, which said more than 450 businesses were forced to close initially after the coronavirus hit, forcing significant financial damage.
In an effort to help, the Pike Place Market Foundation set a goal of generating $3.5 million in donations to a three-pronged βPower of Pike Place Recovery Campaignβ β with one arm to help its small businesses, another for those who work or live in its community he market community and nearby social services such as a medical clinic, food bank, senior housing and a preschool.