710 Classic Picks: Brandon Gustafson on Wilson vs. Mahomes and an M’s highlight

Apr 13, 2020, 1:21 AM | Updated: Apr 15, 2020, 9:48 am

710 classic picks, Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes...

The Seahawks won the first time Russell Wilson and Patrick Mahomes squared off. (Getty)

(Getty)

Seattle Sports

With the sports world at a standstill, we’re checking in with the cast of characters from 710 ESPN Seattle and 710Sports.com to find out what they’ve been watching or reading to get their sports fix, or what sports memories they have that other fans in the Seattle area (and beyond) might connect with.

Schedule: Classic Mariners games air at 7 every night on 710

Here’s what 710Sports.com writer Brandon Gustafson has picked out.

I miss sports. Here’s some good sports to watch.

1. Seahawks vs. Chiefs – 2018, Week 16

There have been so many fun Seahawks games since Pete Carroll took over in 2010 that it was hard to choose one.

I didn’t want to use a playoff game or the “Fail Mary,” and the next game that came to mind was in 2018 against the Chiefs.

It was a showdown between Russell Wilson and Patrick Mahomes, the two best quarterbacks in the NFL, in my opinion.

It was the first full season for Kansas City with Mahomes at the helm, and he would win MVP. Wilson had his own amazing year with Brian Schottenheimer calling plays.

Wilson and Mahomes combined for six passing touchdowns and over 540 yards, and Wilson added about 60 more with his legs.

It was a fun matchup that saw Wilson throw beautiful deep balls to Tyler Lockett and Doug Baldwin and throw touchdown passes to Nick Vannett and Ed Dickson of all people.

Both teams’ running backs also performed exceptionally well. Chris Carson scored twice and had 116 yards for Seattle and Kansas City’s Damien Williams had 103 yards on just 13 carries.

If you love good quarterback play and some great “off platform” throws, give this a watch.

2. Ken Griffey Jr. number retirement game – Aug. 6, 2016

This was such a fun and weird day for me.

I got the keys to my new apartment early that morning so I could get my bed and some boxes in before going down to Safeco with my dad and sister. They were giving away the replicas of Ken Griffey Jr.’s Hall of Fame plaque that night, and my dad was worried we wouldn’t get one. So we got to the home field gate a little after 10 a.m. and sat and waited until the gates opened around 4.

We finally got inside and soon after, the festivities kicked off. Griffey got the treatment he deserved for being the best player in franchise history and he was rightfully the first player to have his number retired, joined later by Edgar Martinez.

The game was a wild one. The Angels had a 6-2 lead after 4. The M’s fought back, with Franklin Gutierrez hitting a two-run blast in the 5th to make it 6-4.

The seventh inning was when the stadium exploded.

It was a sellout crowd, of course, and the fans were deflated after the Angles jumped out early. We were waiting for a reason to go nuts.

Leonys Martin hit a sac fly to make it a one-run game and with two on, utility man Shawn O’Malley, who was born and raised in the Tri-Cities, hit a three-run blast to deep right and the place went absolutely insane (1:50 mark below). Seattle had an 8-6 lead they would hold the rest of the game.

As if the home run wasn’t enough, O’Malley comes out in the top of the eighth and, on the first play, made a diving play and threw the runner out at first. Safeco erupted with “Shawn O’Malley” chants.

Great day, great game and a great atmosphere. Shout out to the local guy for coming up clutch.

3. Football: UW vs. Arizona – 2009 (Mason Foster’s insane pick-six)

I’m a UW grad and my dad is an alum, so naturally I’ve spent my whole life watching Husky football.

And while the 2009 team finished 5-7 and didn’t get to play in a bowl game, it was an important turning point for the program.

As most remember, the 2008 Huskies went 0-12 and Tyrone Willingham, thankfully, was fired. In came Steve Sarkisian, who had been Pete Carroll’s offensive coordinator at USC.

Sark would get the upper hand on his old boss in a big upset over the third-ranked Trojans, but it was the Oct. 10 game against Arizona that earns my nod here.

The Huskies had dropped two straight games against Stanford and Notre Dame (Golden Freaking Tate!) and needed a win badly.

The game was back and forth and down to the wire. Arizona had future Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles at quarterback and with less than 3 minutes left, UA had the ball with a 33-28 lead and was looking to seal the deal.

Foles looked for a short screen, got pressured and tried throwing to another receiver who fell down. The ball bounced off the receiver’s feet and landed in the arms of linebacker Mason Foster (watch here), who ran it back for the score and gave UW a 36-33 lead. UW would win the game by that score.

Fun game with a crazy play made by one of my favorite UW players ever to win it. Go Dawgs.

3. Four Days in October – ESPN “30 for 30”

Let’s change it up with something non-Seattle. This is an awesome look at one of the craziest sports series of all-time.

Bascially, the big, bad Yankees hurried out to a 3-0 series lead against the wild card Red Sox and nearly all hope was lost. No team in MLB history had ever come back from a 3-0 series lead.

Before Game 4, Red Sox first baseman Kevin Millar told Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe, “Don’t let us win today.” They had Pedro Martinez ready to go for Game 5 and Curt Schilling for Game 6. And then, in Game 7, “anything can happen.”

Game 4 went 12 innings. Game 5 went 14. Both were ended by David Ortiz walkoffs.

Game 6 was the “Bloody Sock Game” and required RIOT squad members after Alex Rodriguez swatted the ball out of Bronson Arroyo’s glove, scoring two. The call was reversed, and Yankees fans responded by throwing anything they could grab onto the field.

And, strangely enough, Game 7 was a blowout. The Sox would win, advance to the World Series against the Cardinals and record a four-game sweep, breaking the 86-year “Curse of the Bambino.”

The documentary provides great insight into the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry as well as looking at the cast of characters. Highly recommend it.

Quick hits

Seahawks’ 2014 playoffs win over Carolina: Kam Chancellor is my favorite member of the Legion of Boom and he took that game over. Fitting that his pick-six in the fourth quarter sealed it.

Hisashi Iwakuma’s no-hitter (Aug. 12, 2015) and the Mariners’ combined no-hitter (June 8, 2012): Kuma was great for the Mariners and if anyone not named Félix Hernández deserved a no-no in a Mariners uniform in the 2010s, it was him. As for the combined no-hitter, it was just weird. Kevin Millwood, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League and Tom Wilhelmsen somehow got it done. Like Felix’s perfect game, the M’s won 1-0. Man, their offense stunk.

Bull Durham: My favorite baseball movie. All of Crash’s mound visits with Nuke, especially after he tipped off hitters of what pitch was coming, crack me up. But my favorite one is the team meeting on the mound where they talk about cursed gloves, Nuke’s dad and wedding gifts. Remember, “Candlesticks always make a nice gift.”

Follow 710Sports.com’s Brandon Gustafson on Twitter.