Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh celebrates with teammates after hitting a house run through the sixth inning of a baseball sport towards the New York Mets, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Picture/Liv Lyons)
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SEATTLE — When longtime CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz was requested if he would introduce Fred {Couples}, his shut good friend and school roommate on the ninetieth annual Seattle Sports activities Star of the Yr Awards, it took him this lengthy to resolve:
“A nanosecond,” Nantz stated.
{Couples}, the Seattle native and a World Golf Corridor of Famer, was given the Royal Brougham Lifetime Achievement Award on Thursday evening on the Seattle Conference Middle, one of many highlights of the occasion celebrating the realm’s prime athletes.
“I’m very shy, so Jim Nantz said he would come and sit with me,” stated {Couples}, the 1992 Masters winner, earlier than the ceremony. “Speeches are not my forte, and there’s going be 1,200 people here, and that’s a lot to try and impress. … It’s a huge honor, and I’m really excited for tonight. And for Jim Nantz to come out and sit with me — he’s been a friend forever — means a lot.”
Nantz, who performed golf with {Couples} on the College of Houston, stated it was “never going to be anything other than I will be there.”
“This means a lot to him,” stated Nantz, who additionally launched {Couples} when he entered the World Golf Corridor of Fame in 2013. “He was so proud to be a Beacon Hill kid raised right in the shadows of downtown, and to be coming back home here and be recognized like this means a lot.”
The Sports activities Star of the Yr for males’s sports activities was Mariners star catcher Cal Raleigh; the Sports activities Star of the Yr for ladies’s sports activities was U.S. gold medal gymnast Jordan Chiles from Vancouver.
The Sports activities Story of the Yr was Kraken assistant coach Jessica Campbell, the primary feminine to teach within the NHL.
Former Seahawks operating again Marshawn Lynch was awarded the Paul G. Allen Award for philanthropic contribution, former ESPN broadcaster Kenny Mayne obtained the Keith Jackson Award for media excellence, and 8-year-old Harper Wilson, who loves lacrosse and is battling leukemia, was given the Wayne Gittinger Inspirational Youth Award.
Fred {Couples} hits out of a bunker on the second gap through the second spherical of the Masters golf event on Friday, April 9, 2021, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Picture/David J. Phillip)
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Seahawks president Chuck Arnold obtained the Sports activities Chief of the Yr Award and the Sports activities Fairness & Inclusion Award was given to Skate Like a Woman group.
Raleigh took a break from spring coaching to obtain his award, saying he could be again in Arizona on Friday to rejoin the Mariners.
“I just want to thank my teammates, without them this would not be possible, and obviously my coaches and my great organization as well,” Raleigh stated. “I’m very proud to be a Mariner and really looking forward to this year. … Lastly, I want to thank the fans. Without the fans, we have nothing to play for. It’s important to look forward, to bring the World Series to the city soon.”
Chiles, who spoke to the gang through a livestream, received a gold medal as a part of the profitable U.S. group in Paris final 12 months and a bronze medal within the ground train.
“To be named Sports Star of the Year for women’s sports in a city that has meant so much to me is beyond special,” Chiles stated. “This past year has had some of the most challenging and rewarding moments of my career, from representing my country on the world stages to pushing myself further than I ever thought possible. I’ve learned that success isn’t just about medals or podiums, it’s about resilience, passion and the people you lived with along the way.”
A number of the evening’s greatest cheers have been for Lynch, who co-founded the Fam 1st Household Basis, has partnered with United Method of King County to offer cell phones to the homeless and has helped construct homes in Haiti. Lynch additionally joined the Kraken possession group to assist the group’s humanitarian and youth-focused initiatives.
Lynch was requested what folks might do to assist him.
“Make sure you strive to be the best you that you could be,” he stated. “I don’t do what I do for an individual to give me something — I’m not good at accepting that; that’s kind of hard, to be honest — so it’s being the best individual that you could be, that’s what would help.”
Campbell stated her award “is not about me.”
“I think it’s all about progress,” she stated. “It’s about what happens when we stop asking if change is possible and we prove that it is. I may be the first woman behind an NHL bench, but I’m surely not the last, because when one door gets opened, it never really closes.”
The applause for Wilson rivaled that given to Lynch.
“Now my body is getting stronger, and I will play again,” Wilson stated of lacrosse. “Thank you so much for this award and thank you to everyone for helping me get better so I can get back to playing.”
After Nantz launched {Couples}, he proceeded to do what he stated could be exhausting: Impress the large crowd throughout a several-minute sit-down interview with Nantz.
“Seattle is always on my mind,” stated {Couples}, who has not lived within the metropolis since he left for school. “I’m a Seattle kid at heart. I think every one of my friends on the PGA Tour know that.”
Earlier than the occasion, 5 have been inducted into the Pacific Northwest Soccer League of Fame: former Washington State and Seahawks operating again Steve Broussard, former Seahawks sturdy security Kam Chancellor, former UW and NFL operating again Corey Dillon, Dr. Kimberly Harmon from UW and Howard Mudd, a longtime Seahawks offensive line coach who died in 2020.