The New York Yankees beat the Some Other Place Somebody Elses—if the stories online are true.

If you can't beat 'em, make 'em American:

New York (CNN) — For the first time since 1982, an American man won the New York City Marathon on Sunday.

Meb Keflezighi, 34, broke the tape in the 26.2-mile course with a personal best time of 2:09:15.

Keflezighi emigrated in 1987 to San Diego, California. One of 11 children, Keflezighi fled with his family from war-ridden Eritrea during its bloody conflict with Ethiopia. He became a U.S. citizen in 1998.

Each scarf has a tag that reads, "SCARF SEATTLE Show your playoff pride. Upload your scarf photos to ScarfSeattle.com," so I'm thinking this might be a viral marketing campaign. Gnarr says all he's thinking is, "Yay! Free scarf!" Yes, free scarf—free soaking wet, freezing cold scarves.

UPDATE: Scarves have also been spotted in Wallingford. "There are a lot (at least 30) brand new Seattle Sounders FC scarves tied, zip-tied, and draped all over the place at the east bound bus stop at N 45th St and Wallingford across from the QFC. It is rather tastefully done, but would look better if it weren't raining and dark still."

Sounders play Kansas City for a shot at the playoffs. The staff of The Stranger will be at a Strangercrombie-purchased drink-with-the-staff-of-The-Stranger thing, so we won't be liveblogging this one, but if you see something, put it in the comments. Match is at 5:30 pm on KONG 6/16.

Try to imagine how big the world's largest swimming pool might be. You're probably imagining a really, really big pool, like 5 regular pools stitched together, or something.

No, it's bigger.

This man-made wonder is 1013 meters long covers 80 acres, its deepest end reaches 115ft and it holds 66 million gallons of water.

Cost? $2 billion, plus $4 million/year for maintenance. The ocean is about 30 feet away.

via coudal.

We did not lose. Jubilation ensues. The apartment window's open, and drivers have been honking their horns and shouting "Hoooo!" for a very long time now.

The match is at 4:30 on KONG 6/16. They're playing in Columbus, Ohio. Blogging will be intermittent, but if you see something, say something.

• Does this seem like the biggest field we've played on all year?

• Has anything happened in this whole game? We're 30 minutes in. Absolutely nothing has happened.

• GOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLL!! We trap their goalkeeper in some bullshit in the 35th minute, the ball goes free, and Roger Levesque sends it in. Beautiful. (Sounders 1, Crew 0.)

• Alejandro Moreno, of the Crew, gets a yellow card for "embellishment" in the 54th minute.

• All the players have four shadows following them — they look like X's moving around on the TV. There isn't a whole lot happening. It's mesmerizing.

• "There's something seriously wrong with Evans," says the person next to me in the 56th minute, having criticized Evans constantly the last few matches.

• In the 62nd minute, Danny O'Rourke fouls Freddie Ljungberg, gets a yellow card.

• In the 74th minute, Seattle's Alonso kicks the ball toward the goal, it hits the post, spins crazily, looks like it's going to go in, and then doesn't. Gah!

• There are three things you can count on: death, taxes, and Kasey Keller. "Keller with a tremendous save!" the TV announcer says in the 79th minute.

• Crew gets a penalty kick (Hurtado foul) and misses.

• Columbus has not been beat in 22 home matches straight, says the TV announcer. In the 87th minute, it sure looks like they're about to get beaten.

• In the 89th minute, the unfortunately named Peter Vagenas goes in, and Fredy Montero comes out.

• Seattle WINS, breaking Columbus's unbroken streak. Awesome.

At least playing it does:

A study commissioned by the National Football League reports that Alzheimer’s disease or similar memory-related diseases appear to have been diagnosed in the league’s former players vastly more often than in the national population—including a rate of 19 times the normal rate for men ages 30 through 49. The N.F.L. has long denied the existence of reliable data about cognitive decline among its players. These numbers would become the league’s first public affirmation of any connection...

We need more data about watching football, of course, but the anecdotal evidence isn't good.

UPDATE; And by "Could be" I mean "IS." Or "Was," now that the game is over. My 27-10 prediction was wrong, but all that matters is W or L.

Another 4th down—this could be the game. Duh.

UPDATE: Nice fucking catch, shame he wasn't throwing it to you. . . Seahawks timeout. . . now it's crunch time—and if the D prevents out of bound catches, then you go up the middle. NFL football is a great fucking game

FUCK—Seahawks driving. . . but it has to be a TD. 4th down. . . BEARS Timeout was a pure jagoff move, just to make the Seahawks do it twice. . .

UPDATE: OK, for those who don't know (and I don't know why anyone like that would be reading this) the 2 pt conversion means that if the Seahawks score a TD, they have to make the PAT (point after fieldgoal) to win. That pass that just hit the LB in the back is no good sign. . .

UPDATE: OK, forget about that FG. Devin Hester is growing as a receiver. Eat it. But given how unreliable the Bears D has been this game, I'm not sure I'm happy that Williams will have the ball for nearly 2 minutes. the 2-pt conversion is gonna mean a lot.

UPDATE: The last play, a run up the gut by Forte, is all about the Bears burning all the clock and going for the FG at the end.

UPDATE: ALMOST A PICK—but gotta admit that Seneca William is one mobile mofo.

Will the FGA be good this time? . . . 46 yarder. . . yes, he makes one. About fucking time, if you're a Seahawks fan

Bears have lotsa time left . .

I know you are all so sad that my technical difficulties (being bad at computers, plus buzzed, typing not so well) are preventing more updates.

Anyway, this game will come down to whoever has the ball last. Both D's are giving up yards, but neither O can quite put it away.

But the real story of the game: those Seahawks uniforms. WTF? Nice design and all, but . . .

This latest turnover might be the game, unless your kicker misses again. . .

Running late due to a flat tire. . . update on the impending Seahawks/Bears game (and I'm already wrong about the final score, so pile on hatahs!) coming soon.

Loved that missed field goal just now, though. . . .

UPDATE: WIDE LEFT! It's like the opposite of the Democratic Party in Congress.

UPDATE: Now you're driving. . . 3rd Quarter coming to the end, and it's outta hand. . . as is my technical difficulties. Let's see if this posts.. .

UPDATE: OK, the 'Hawks are driving or swooping or whatever it does avifauna do. time for another turnover, but Wallace just threw a great fucking pass with the D in his face. Clearly, I shoulda taken the over in this game.

UPDATE: SACK! After the Safety, my favorite play. But will there also be holding? No, it's DEFENSIVE facemask, Seattle gets a break. Fuck.

UPDATE: thanks for losing that time out. Hope it haunts you come the fourth quarter.

UPDATE: Opportunity Knox many times lately. This kid can play. I yelled "Turn it upfield" and he'd've been done.

OK. Mora challenges. Whatever.

UPDATE: OK, mere seconds into the second half, and the 'Hawks are looking like they mean to win this game. This year Bears Head coach Lovie Smith took over defensive play calling and they've made good adjustments at halftime, but maybe not now—

Until this fumble. Sweet. TJH (no time to spell his whole name) coughs one up. Forte will make him pay (that rhymes for you non-Chicagoans).

UPDATE: WIDE LEFT! It's like the opposite of the Democratic Party in Congress.

UPDATE: OK, the 'Hawks are driving or swooping or whatever it does avifauna do. time for another turnover, but Wallace just threw a great fucking pass with the D in his face. Clearly, I shoulda taken the over in this game.

UPDATE: SACK! After the Safety, my favorite play. But will there also be holding? No, it's DEFENSIVE facemask, Seattle gets a break. Fuck.

UPDATE: thanks for losing that time out. Hope it haunts you come the fourth quarter.

UPDATE: Opportunity Knox many times lately. This kid can play. I yelled "Turn it upfield" and he'd've been done.

OK. Mora challenges. Whatever.

UPDATE: OK, mere seconds into the second half, and the 'Hawks are looking like they mean to win this game. This year Bears Head coach Lovie Smith took over defensive play calling and they've made good adjustments at halftime, but maybe not now—

Until this fumble. Sweet. TJH (no time to spell his whole name) coughs one up. Forte will make him pay (that rhymes for you non-Chicagoans).

Bears 27, Seahawks 10. Will live-slog the game itself. Brad, you out there? My hate-inspiring Slog gig began a few years back when we were gonna do dueling live-slogs of the Bears v. Seahawks. Ah, those were the days.

So, the odds on this Sunday's Bears-Seahawks game have swung slightly more in the Bears' favor. After starting out favoring Seattle by 2.5 or 3 points, Chicago is now giving 1.5 to 2. Since bookies give any team 3 points for being at home, this swing represents almost a touchdown, but Seattle was never really favored. And who knows the NFL better than bettors?

Sportswriters. Well, not really. But the fact that Seattle isn't saying whether Seneca Wallace or Matt Hasselback will be starting suggests desperation on the part of Mora and his coaches, hoping that the Bears will have to split practice time preparing for two very different styles. But Lovie and his minions aren't falling for that: the team is prepping for Wallace with his greater mobility, which changes the pass rush more than anything else. And the strongest part of the Bears D this year has been the pass rush.

Meanwhile, the key soap opera subplot is Seattle wideout T. J. Houshmandzedah wanting to show the Bears they were fools for passing on him when he was a free agent:

'Look, I'm going to be realistic with you guys,'' Houshmandzadeh said. ''I feel like I'm going to get open every play, every time. But those guys get paid now, you know Charles Tillman gets paid well, [Nathan] Vasher gets paid well, Bowman gets paid well, Danieal Manning gets paid well. I feel like I'm going to win regardless, but I just have to be realistic with it. I'm going to win 95 percent of the time, and they can get the other five.''

Tomorrow: predicted final score.

And no, I'm not referring to the current most-commented on Slog posting, where you fool commentators can get distracted from discussing blowjobs by the arcana of punctuation. I mean the Seahawks. The Bears roll into town this weekend, and they're going to make mincemeat out of the Seahawks. Ex-Bear Mike Singletary's 49ers just gave you a taste of what you've got coming. Yeah, we've lost Brian Urlacher for the year with a broken wrist, but his replacement is a genius from Vanderbilt who'll do just fine. And your quarterback has a broken rib. My heart bleeds. We're gonna tear you up like pit bulls all over Critical Mass, like youth pastors on youth flock, like birthers fabricating Obama's paperwork, like blue dog dems gutting real health care reform. More to follow as the week proceeds. Brace yourselves.

From the PI.com:

Further tests on Seattle Seahawks linebacker Leroy Hill revealed a "pretty significant groin injury," coach Jim Mora said Wednesday, and he will be out at least the next six weeks.

This may seem like bad news for Seattle's linebacking corps, but John Morgan over at Fieldgulls believes Hill's injury might be some upside:

Will Herring will take over Hill's snaps. Herring is not Hill's equal as a run defender, open field tackler, or blitzer, but...Herring is a much better pass defender.

Seattle faces five teams between now and the time Hill is expected to return. San Francisco is a traditional offense, beyond traditional, outdated, but Indianapolis and Arizona are pass-first. Chicago is a vertical-style and Jacksonville is a grind `em out, rush-first offense. Herring could be a better matchup against Arizona and Indianapolis.

[I]f Herring is a superior pass defender, it also could be a net improvement to Seattle's defense.

Sunday night, Ichiro Suzuki set another Major League record by getting his 200th hit, giving him nine seasons in a row with 200+ hits, surpassing the former record of eight held by Hall of Fame outfielder Wee Willie Keeler.

A little while back when Ichiro got his 2,000th career hit, there was speculation over whether he'd make it to 3,000 hits in the majors, and whether that, combined with his 1,278 hits back in Japan, would make him the all-time hits leader. Would he lose a step and the infield singles that come with them? Would injuries derail him? Would stats-mongers think his Japanese numbers worthy of inclusion in the total for comparative purposes, or are they the equivalent of minor league stats?

I'd make a more radical suggestion: if Ichiro plays ten more years he can surpass Pete Rose's record of 4,256 without counting his stats from Japan.

Ten more years would get Ichiro to roughly the same age that Rose played till, 45. Rose played 24 major league seasons , and in his last five years got only 107, 72, 35, 107 and 52 hits. Rose just hung on to beat Ty Cobb, and in his final years was in baseball shape only in the sense that he was,like a baseball, round.

Even if Ichiro loses some of his speed, his physical self-discipline and approach to the game makes it entirely possible he will maintain his 200+ hit a season pace. Even if he doesn't get another hit this season, and loses 10 per cent of his annual average of 226 hits/year, he'd still be on a pace for over 4,000 career hits. If he has a few more monster seasons like he had when he surpassed George Sisler for the all-time single season hits record, he could beat Rose as well.

I can't stop watching this clip. Federer adding insult to injury..