College Sports News

Colleges are now free to pay their athletes directly following a historic settlement. A judge approved a deal on Friday between the NCAA, its most powerful conferences and lawyers representing all Division I athletes.

The settlement ends three separate federal lawsuits that claimed the NCAA was illegally limiting the earning power of college athletes. The NCAA will have to pay nearly $2.8 billion in back damages over the next 10 years to athletes who competed in college any time since 2016.

Starting July 1, each school will be able to pay its athletes up to a certain limit. ESPN reports the annual cap is expected to start at roughly $20 million per college in the upcoming school year.

Mariners News

The Mariners are in Arizona tonight for the start of their series against the Diamondbacks. It comes after the M’s beat the LA Angels 3-2 yesterday behind a stellar outing from George Kirby to snap their skid. Kirby struck out a career-high 14 batters and didn’t give up a single walk to earn his first win of the season.

Jorge Polanco drove in Randy Arozarena for the tying run, then Mitch Garver scored off a Donovan Solano single to give the M’s the lead. The much-needed win ended a five-game losing streak for Seattle, which had lost 10 of its last 13 entering the game.

Emerson Hancock is on the mound for the Mariners tonight as they look to hand the Diamondbacks their fourth-straight loss. Coverage begins at 5:30 and first pitch is at 6:40 on KPUG.

A Seattle man has been charged with a string of burglaries at the homes of several prominent Seattle athletes. 21-year-old Earl Riley was charged Friday with several counts of residential burglary and first-degree robbery. 

Prosecutors say Riley was the ringleader in a series of burglaries that started in February and involved stealing more than $6,000 in Louis Vuitton bags from Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo’s home. Over nearly $200,000 in high end purses and jewelry was also taken from the home of Julio Rodriguez. And several watches worth more than $100,000 were taken from former Seahawk Richard Sherman’s home.

Prosecutors say there was also an additional attempted burglary at baseball Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez’s home.

Bells News

The Bells played an 18-inning marathon on the way to getting their third-straight series win over the weekend. The Bells dropped their series opener in Edmonton Friday before edging the Riverhawks in an 18-inning game on Saturday that went nearly 6 hours long.

Bellingham went on to win the rubber match yesterday in a dominant 9-2 showing to improve to 6-3 on the season. They’re back at home tomorrow night for the start of their series against the Bend Elks.

Sounders/Reign News

It was a mixed weekend for Seattle soccer clubs. The Sounders fell to the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-0 in the Cascadia Cup yesterday. Teenager Jeevan Badwal scored his first MLS goal to help the Whitecaps extend their unbeaten streak to a franchise-record 11 matches.

Next up for the Sounders, they’ll play Botafogo on Sunday for their opening group-stage match of the FIFA Club World Cup.

Meanwhile, the Reign rose up the league standings with a 2-1 win over the San Diego Pride on Friday. They now sit in a tie for fifth-place, just three points behind San Diego.

Storm News

The Storm beat the Phoenix Mercury 89-77 on Saturday behind a big effort from Skylar Diggins. She scored 22 of her 26 points in the first half to help the Storm take the road win. Gabby Williams added a career-high five 3-pointers.

The Storm are back in Seattle on Wednesday to host the undefeated Minnesota Lynx.

NBA/NHL Finals News

The Stanley Cup Finals are heating up. The Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers are fighting for the series lead during Game 3 in Florida tonight. The defending champion Panthers edged the Oilers 5-4 in double overtime on Friday to even the series at one game apiece.

The NBA Finals are also tied heading into Wednesday’s Game 3 after Oklahoma City beat Indiana last night.