The Mariners have never reached a World Series. Fans hope for a drought’s end
The Mariners have never reached a World Series. Fans hope for a drought’s end

Billy Mac remembers being in the broadcast booth in 2019 when Félix Hernández pitched his final game for the Seattle Mariners. Hernández, a Cy Young Award-winner and six-time All-Star who also threw a perfect game, came up in the big leagues with the team in 2005. But over the course of his 15-year career in the Pacific northwest, he was often the lone bright spot for a franchise that at one time had a 21-year playoff drought (a streak that finally fell in 2022). From his first All-Star season in 2009 until his final one in 2015, Hernández boasted a stunning 2.83 ERA, winning 104 games and losing only 65. Yet, he never once made a postseason pitch. But for Mac, a fact like that is all too familiar for the team he’s rooted now for decades – a team that was established in 1977 and remains the only active MLB franchise to never make a World Series.

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EssayJake UittiThe Guardian
“I went down to Guatemala pretty broken and fairly convinced my career was done”
“I went down to Guatemala pretty broken and fairly convinced my career was done”

Thunderpussy lead guitarist Whitney Petty prayed for this. A handful of years ago she was at rock bottom, depressed and creatively lost. 

Her Seattle-born all-woman classic rock-inspired band left the major label it had signed to and her relationship with Molly Sides, the group’s Grace Slick-like lead singer, had frayed. 

But Petty found solace in new surroundings. She moved to Guatemala, met local musicians and indulged in a new spiritual side. The result is the band’s exultant new sophomore album, West.

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ProfilesJake UittiGuitar World
Race, celebrity and greatness: Is Caitlin Clark v Angel Reese really the WNBA’s Magic v Bird?
Race, celebrity and greatness: Is Caitlin Clark v Angel Reese really the WNBA’s Magic v Bird?

In the 1970s, the NBA was sputtering. Playoff games were on tape-delay. Many of the league’s teams were in debt, baseball was still firmly America’s game and lesser-known small market franchises were winning titles. But then an influx of talent changed the entire operation. The 1979-80 NBA season saw rookies Magic Johnson and Larry Bird explode on to the scene with the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, respectively. But even then, the two were known quantities and so, too, was their budding rivalry. It all began in college the year prior. The 1979 NCAA title game featured Johnson’s Michigan State team defeating Bird’s Indiana State in what is still the most-watched basketball game ever in the US. It was a matchup that featured Magic’s flash and charisma against Bird’s quiet genius. Two skilled passers making their teams better. Fast-forward 45 years and history is repeating itself, this time with the WNBA’s Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark. Just ask Magic himself.

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EssayJake UittiThe Guardian
Nathaniel Rateliff Contemplates Time, Healing, and the Future as His Personal Journey Takes Him ‘South of Here’
Nathaniel Rateliff Contemplates Time, Healing, and the Future as His Personal Journey Takes Him ‘South of Here’

Nathaniel Rateliff is still curious after all these years. The singer/songwriter who made his bones in Denver and is now a globally famous artist, is still on the hunt for good songs—even if he is at something of a strange crossroads.

In one way, Rateliff has never been more successful. Ever since 2015 when “S.O.B.,” the single with his band The Night Sweats became a phenomenon, he’s been growing his footprint. He’s played Saturday Night Live, earned praise from Robert Plant and placed songs in major movies and HBO television shows. He’s played late-night TV and toured the world.

But at 45, Rateliff is still evolving. He’s dealing with his relationship to drinking, he’s coping with the realities of death and divorce, and confronting the pressures of stardom. And these are all the subjects of the new Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats LP South of Here, out Friday (June 28).

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ProfilesJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
Co-Writer of the New K-Pop Hit “Supernova,” Parisalexa Says She’s Trusting Her Opportunities and Forging a Path Ahead
Co-Writer of the New K-Pop Hit “Supernova,” Parisalexa Says She’s Trusting Her Opportunities and Forging a Path Ahead

Parisalexa, co-writer of the newest K-Pop hit “Supernova” from the group aespa, doesn’t like to fly. But when the Los Angeles-via-Seattle songwriter/performer was invited on a trip to South Korea to collaborate on music, she took the chance. “A 15-hour flight across the world didn’t seem super exciting to me,” she says, “especially with people I didn’t necessarily know super well.”

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ProfilesJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
NBA draft: The youngest player selected by each team
NBA draft: The youngest player selected by each team

Each year during the June NBA Draft, new players enter the league’s ranks. Decades ago, many were college seniors, coming into the pros in their early 20s after graduation. More recently, though, that trend changed and often new entrants are only in their late teens.

Here below, we wanted to take a look at the youngest players ever to be drafted into the NBA by each of the 30 franchises.

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EssayJake UittiHoops Hype
Wat Misaka: the Japanese American star who broke the NBA’s color barrier
Wat Misaka: the Japanese American star who broke the NBA’s color barrier

On 24 March 1947, Wataru “Wat” Misaka, a Japanese American walk-on with the University of Utah men’s basketball team, held one of the nation’s best players, Kentucky’s Ralph Beard, to a single point during the NIT championship at Madison Square Garden. Thanks to that performance, Misaka’s team won the tournament 49-45, cementing the 5ft 7in guard’s folk hero status, both in his home state and in the Big Apple. But that wasn’t even the most significant basketball accomplishment on Misaka’s lengthy resume that year. Just a few months later on 1 July, after seeing the talent he displayed at the NIT, Misaka was drafted by the New York Knicks into the fledgling NBA, then known as the BAA. In the process, he broke the NBA’s color barrier the same year that Jackie Robinson did so in Major League Baseball – an achievement Misaka had never strived for (there were other pro leagues in the US at the time, including the PBL, which employed players of color, such as William “Dolly” King).

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ProfilesJake UittiThe Guardian
Nili Brosh’s Six-String Superpowers on Display in ‘X-Men ’97’ Theme, Dethklok, and Her Own Band
Nili Brosh’s Six-String Superpowers on Display in ‘X-Men ’97’ Theme, Dethklok, and Her Own Band

For many, the best show on television right now is the new Marvel series X-Men ’97. The cartoon, which just aired its season finale this week on Disney+, was already trending on X in a matter of hours. The original X-Men animated series first aired in the early 1990s and the new offering is a continuation. But while much of the ’97 series has remained the same, some of it has been updated. One of those updates is the show’s theme song, written by the musical group The Newton Brothers.

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ProfilesJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
6 players who could've rivaled Michael Jordan if not for tragic events
6 players who could've rivaled Michael Jordan if not for tragic events

It’s said that the NBA is a league rooted in stars. But even more than that, it’s one that thrives on rivalries. When two of its marquee players are pitted against one another, that’s when the tension is ratcheted up and interest rises to the highest level.

In the 1960s, it was Bill Russell versus Wilt Chamberlain. In the 1980s, it was Magic Johnson versus Larry Bird. More recently, we’ve seen LeBron James and Steph Curry battle over four consecutive NBA Finals. But what about the NBA’s GOAT? Who was Michael Jordan’s biggest rival?

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EssayJake UittiThe Sporting News
Larry Sanders had a $44m contract – and he walked away from the NBA
Larry Sanders had a $44m contract – and he walked away from the NBA

It was Christmas Eve 2014 when Larry Sanders, the budding star center for the Milwaukee Bucks, knew it was over. The night before, his team had lost by seven points at home to a middling Charlotte Hornets squad and the Bucks’ new coach, Jason Kidd, was angry. Milwaukee, who were hovering around .500, were slated to have the holiday off to spend with family but Kidd changed those plans and decided his roster should practice – as punishment. The players had to cancel flights and alert their family of the change – something, of course, they did not want to do. During the Christmas Eve practice, Sanders went full-on. He didn’t lollygag but, peeved, he also didn’t back away from engaging his coach in confrontation. Afterwards, while he was the last one left in the locker room, his body started to break down.

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ProfilesJake UittiThe Guardian
American Songwriter May/June Cover Story: Lenny Kravitz Returns to His Origins on ‘Blue Electric Light’ —“It’s a Celebration, It’s Sensual and Spiritual”
American Songwriter May/June Cover Story: Lenny Kravitz Returns to His Origins on ‘Blue Electric Light’ —“It’s a Celebration, It’s Sensual and Spiritual”

It takes a lot to be yourself. Paradoxically, it’s not something that comes easily to many. You have to find yourself first. We grow up beholden to a life of outside expectations. Inescapable diversions. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, as they say. But there always remains a chance for self-realization. A crack in the mirror through which we can see our true selves on the other side—as we’re meant to be, as we want to be, deep down. 

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ProfilesJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
The world is on fire – and the NBA wants to be part of the solution
The world is on fire – and the NBA wants to be part of the solution

From a climate perspective, the world is in peril. It’s undeniable at this point. Today, though, there are organizations working to find solutions. But when it comes to the universe of pro sports, which has long been a source of pollution like other big businesses, where can answers be found? That’s the question those within leagues like the National Basketball Association are debating now. While the NBA has its own challenges when it comes to air travel and its carbon footprint, the league is also progressing forward with substantive changes, small and large, to assuage the climate crisis. And it’s in a unique position to do just that.

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EssayJake UittiThe Guardian