Gct Bahrain

Last week’s ranking in parentheses

Team

Comment

1

New England (1)

Vince Wilfork will fork over some dough for that low hit on J.P. Losman.

2

Indianapolis (2)

Joseph Addai performed the tumble, but Colts fans really went head over heels after his TD.

3

Pittsburgh (3)

Rossum rhymes with awesome, and he looked that way on his kickoff return for a TD.

4

Dallas (7)

Marion Barber III has scored enough TDs to be known as Marion Barber VI.

5

Green Bay (6)

Here’s hoping Brett Favre gets a perm to honor the QB whose TD record he’s breaking.

6

Seattle (9)

Shaun Alexander once again cracking up after three games. No one in Seattle is laughing, though.

7

San Diego (4)

Is it too early to start saying LaDainian is looking LaDone this season in San Diego?

8

Baltimore (10)

Baseball has its hot-stove league. Ravens had a hot Stover’s leg for win over Arizona.

9

Chicago (5)

How bad do you have to be to make a city openly pine for Brian Griese?

10

Tennessee (14)

Remember the Titans: It’s a movie title and a mantra for playoff discussions.

11

Cincinnati (13)

The Bengals must be on some sort of crazy diet because they’re losing LBs like crazy.

12

Jacksonville (21)

Jags not getting the luxury performance they expected out of their Marcedes.

13

Denver (8)

Give it to Shanahan, he’s got guts on fourth down. Brains? Not so much. But he’s got guts.

14

Houston (15)

Texans currently have a better record than seven of last season’s 12 playoff teams.

15

San Francisco (12)

If today’s game is a test, 49ers are in trouble. They’re not passing so well these days.

16

Carolina (16)

Peppers are supposed to be spicy, but sackless Julius has been a little bland this season.

17

Philadelphia (22)

The Eagles’ uniforms last Sunday were sewed-in feet away from doubling as pajamas.

18

Tampa Bay (24)

Ponce de Leon looked for the fountain of youth in Florida. Jeff Garcia may have found it there.

19

Washington (11)

Give Brandon Ll0yd a zero in his last name to match that bagel beneath his receptions total.

20

Detroit (17)

The Lions don’t stop passing on offense and they can’t stop a pass on defense. Bad combo.

21

Arizona (19)

Nothing instills confidence in a franchise quarterback like yanking him for a 36-year-old.

22

New York Jets (23)

Just call him “Crazy Legs” Pennington after his first rushing TD in three years.

23

Minnesota (20)

Compared to the other QB, Holcomb is great, yeah, yeah, yeah. But he’s still not good, no, no, no.

24

New Orleans (18)

Saints haven’t recorded a sack yet, but their 0-3 start has fans breaking out the bags.

25

New York Giants (26)

Plaxico Burress not playing under duress, but he does have a sprained ankle.

26

Kansas City (31)

Take a Bowe. The Chiefs did in April’s draft, a decision that paid off vs. Minnesota.

27

Miami (25)

Tough guy, that Joey Porter, going and guaranteeing a victory over Oakland.

28

Oakland (30)

Raiders have four QBs now. No wonder they’re having trouble picking a starter.

29

Buffalo (28)

Injuries to the Bills defense have thrown coordinator Fewell into the fire.

30

Cleveland (27)

Romeo Crennel was hired because of defense. He may very well get fired for it, too.

31

St. Louis (29)

Leonard Little’s last name is bigger than his sack total because he doesn’t have one.

32

Atlanta (32)

DeAngelo Hall has to pay after playing flag football last Sunday against Carolina.

DULUTH, Minn. - Quarterback Ted Schlafke threw three touchdown passes, lifting Minnesota Duluth to a 22-14 victory over Western Washington in a North Central Conference game Saturday at Malosky Stadium.

The Vikings suffered their third consecutive loss, falling to 1-3 overall and 0-3 in the NCC.

UMD improved to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in conference play.

Schlafke completed 32 of 44 passes for 316 yards and also had a team-high 67 yards rushing on 16 carries.

Western, which rolled up 470 total yards in a 63-42 loss last week to North Dakota, struggled offensively in the first half Saturday, gaining just 85 yards of offense and six first downs in falling behind 12-0 at halftime. UMD used two short touchdown drives to take the lead, Schlafke hitting Brandon Anson for a 17-yard score to cap a two-play drive after a fumble late in the first quarter, then throwing a 19-yard scoring pass to Bryan Gambuzza to conclude a three-play, 30-yard drive after a short punt midway through the second quarter.

Bad snaps led to both extra points being missed, and the Bulldogs also had another bad snap kill a field-goal attempt at the end of the first half.

Western’s Adam Perry was 14 of 32 for 184 yards and a touchdown. Travis McKee had six catches for 77 yards.

Other games

Pacific Lutheran 37, Puget Sound 8

PUYALLUP - After scoring 30 points and putting up more than 300 yards of total offense in the first half, Pacific Lutheran cruised to a Northwest Conference victory over Puget Sound at Sparks Stadium.

The victory improves the Lutes’ record to 4-0 for the first time since 1997.

Puget Sound, meanwhile, lost for the second straight game and is now 2-2 this season. In addition, the contest was the conference opener for both teams.

Senior wide receiver Chase Reed torched the Loggers’ defense for four touchdowns and 130 total yards, and junior quarterback Michael Byrne performed brilliantly in place of the injured Brett Gordon, completing 11 of his 17 attempts for 271 yards and two touchdowns.

Central Washington 29, St. Cloud State 0

ST. CLOUD, Minn. - Senior running back Johnny Lopez of Kennedy High ran for a career-high 182 yards on 24 carries, and the Central Washington defense forced St. Cloud State (3-2, 0-2) into six turnovers in posting the Wildcats’ second football shutout of the season.

Lopez scored on runs of 59 and 5 yards for the Wildcats (3-1, 2-1).

Garrett Rolsma kicked three field goals for the Wildcats, ranked 25th in this week’s D2football.com poll.

Whitworth 49, Menlo 0

SPOKANE - Adam Anderson ran for two touchdowns and Whitworth returned two interceptions for touchdowns to give the host Pirates (3-1) a win over Menlo College (0-5) in the Northwest Conference football opener for both schools at the Whitworth Pine Bowl.

Anderson finished with 90 yards on nine carries, including an 18-yard touchdown run to cap Whitworth’s first drive and a 51-yard burst for a score that gave the Bucs a 35-0 lead in the third quarter.

MINN. DULUTH 22, W. WASHINGTON 14

Western Washington
0
0
7
7
-
14

Minnesota Duluth
6
6
0
10
-
22

First quarter

UMD - Anson 17 pass from Schlafke (run failed), 0:38.

Second quarter

UMD - Gambuzza 19 pass from Schlafke (run failed), 7:26.

Third quarter

WWU - McKee 9 pass from Perry (Lider kick), 3:46.

Fourth quarter

UMD - FG Bauman 18, 14:53.

UMD - Anson 8 pass from Schlafke (Baumann kick), 8:00.

WWU - Perry 1 run (Lider kick), 5:13.

A - 3,494.

WWU
UMD

First downs

17
26

Rushes-yards

37-88
36-160

Passing

184
316

Comp-Att-Int

14-32-1
32-46-1

Return Yards

3
43

Punts-Avg.

6-36-.3
5-41.2

Fumbles-Lost

1-1
0-0

Penalties-Yards

8-52
8-84

Time of Possession

28:03
31:57

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - WWU, Garner 26-62; Perry 10-31; Roberts 1-(-5). UMD, Schlafke 18-67; Foss 12-59; Radke 1-19; Russell 3-13; Pauley 1-5; Team 1-(-3).

Passing - WWU, Perry 14-32-1-184. UMD, Schlafke 32-44-1-316; Team 0-1-0-0; Jared Beckwith 0-1-0-0.Receiving - WWU, McKee 6-77; Grant 3-51; Dell 2-25; Copsey 2-13; Sandusky 1-18. UMD, Anson 12-105; Gambuzza 8-87; Foss 5-50; Carter 4-38; Doherty 2-22; Pauley 1-14.

C. WASHINGTON 29, SAINT CLOUD ST. 0

Central Washington
7
6
6
10
-
29

Saint Cloud State
0
0
0
0
-
0

First quarter

CWU - Lopez 5 run (Rolsma kick), 11:17.

Second quarter

CWU - FG Rolsma 21, 6:57.

CWU - FG Rolsma 33, 0:02.

Third quarter

CWU - Bronson 23 pass from Reilly (pass failed), 2:45.

Fourth quarter

CWU - Lopez 59 run (Rolsma kick), 14:49.

CWU - FG Rolsma 33, 11:39.

A - 3,908.

CWU
SCSU

First downs

18
15

Rushes-yards

51-243
29-59

Passing

186
242

Comp-Att-Int

15-26-0
19-39-2

Return Yards

133
13

Punts-Avg.

7-32.6
7-37.7

Fumbles-Lost

3-1
7-4

Penalties-Yards

14-107
6-57

Time of Possession

33:46
26:14

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - CWU, Lopez 24-178; Lape 16-52; Reilly 8-11; Moss 3-2. SCSU, Kranz 6-40; Machacek 13-37; Graham 3-8; Luckey 1-1; Patrick 3-0; Quesnel 2-(-6); Team 1-(-21).Passing - CWU, Reilly 14-25-0-181; Miller 1-1-0-5. SCSU, Kranz 15-34-2-195; Quesnel 4-5-0-47.

Receiving - CWU, Rohrbach 5-77; Bronson 4-40; Spevak 2-44; Moss 2-15; Broughton 1-10; Stout 1-0. SCSU, Williams 7-113; Johnson 4-58; Sedin 3-22; Anderson-Norblom 2-29; Niesche 1-10; Stover 1-7; Machacek 1-3.

PACIFIC LUTHERAN 37, PUGET SOUND 8

Puget Sound
8
0
0
0
-
8

Pacific Lutheran
13
17
7
0
-
37

First quarter

PLU - Reed 13 run (Chalmers kick), 7:41.

PLU - Reed 71 pass from Byrne (kick blocked), 5:19.

UPS - Williams 3 run (Paul run), 1:30.

Second quarter

PLU - Reed 14 run (Chalmers kick), 14:46.

PLU - Reed 5 run (Chalmers kick), 11:28.

Plu - FG Chalmers 30, 3:52.

Third quarter

PLU - Ford 49 pass from Byrne (Chalmers kick), 8:38.

A - 3,400.

UPS
PLU

First downs

17
11

Rushes-yards

45-117
32-111

Passing

215
280

Comp-Att-Int

15-29-0
12-18-0

Return Yards

6
12

Punts-Avg.

3-44.3
6-41.0

Fumbles-Lost

6-5
0-0

Penalties-Yards

2-20
8-48

Time of Possession

32:37
27:23

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - UPS, Olcott 11-37, Paul 10-36, Williams 12-32, Blum 3-25, Mensonides 1-1, Anthony 1-0, Johnson 1-0, Crace 2-(-5), Griffith 4-(-9). PLU, Canger 15-76, Reed 6-39, Schonau-Taylor 2-4, Murphy 5-4, Carlson 1-0, Byrne 1-(-5), Carabello 2-(-7).

Passing - UPS, Crace 12-22-0-149, Williams 3-7-0-66. PLU, Byrne 11-17-0-271, Carabello 1-1-0-9.

Receiving - UPS, Lorge 3-32, Eggers 2-37, Behringer 2-35, Griffith 2-14, Anthony 1-36, Stewart 1-25, Olcott 1-25, Fogarty 1-5, Murphy 1-5, Paul 1-1. PLU, Ford 3-125, Reed 3-91, Chiado 3-39, Absher 1-9, Alwert 1-9, Canger 1-7.

WHITWORTH 49, MENLO 0

Menlo
0
0
0
0
-
0

Whitworth
14
14
7
14
-
49

First quarter

WU - Anderson 18 run (Largent kick), 13:08.

WU - Ahsing 5 run (Largent kick), 5:51.

Second quarter

WU - Marshall 26 interception return (Largent kick), 7:31.

WU - Grow 35 interception return (Largent kick), 1:05.

Third quarter

WU - Anderson 51 run (Largent kick), 6:12.

Fourth quarter

WU - Nelson 5 run (Largent kick), 13:48.

WU - Wimberly 22 pass from Luke (Largent kick), 10:49.

A - 1,950.

MC
WU

First downs

7
21

Rushes-yards

26-53
54-240

Passing

104
152

Comp-Att-Int

15-32-4
17-26-0

Return Yards

6
92

Punts-Avg.

10-32.7
7-38.1

Fumbles-Lost

1-1
1-0

Penalties-Yards

3-15
4-29

Time of Possession

24:48
35:12

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - MC, Souza 14-54, Rehn 10-11, Molina 2-(-12). WU, Anderson 9-90, Nelson 13-58, Ahsing 13-31, Quarless 5-28, Mattair 9-22, Kemp 5-11.

Passing - MC, Rehn 10-22-3-82, Molina 5-10-1-22. WU, Kemp 11-17-0-86, Luke 5-7-0-58, Valle 1-2-0-8.

Receiving - MC, Rasmussen 5-35, Arancibia 3-14, Souza 3-4, Mosby 2-22, Truscott 1-22, Long 1-7. WU, Silva 6-43, Koller 4-21, Tully 2-10, Griggs 1-24, Wimberly 1-22, Mattair 1-16, Largent 1-8, Woldseth 1-8.

Chris Cho

Kentridge High golf

Chris Cho, a senior, carded two more under-par rounds at his home Fairwood Golf Course in Renton, giving him three in a row. He finished with a 4-under 31 in leading the Chargers to a victory over Kentridge. Cho followed with a 2-under 33 as Kentridge beat Kentlake High.

Sarah Aylward

Lindbergh High soccer

Sarah Aylward, a junior midfielder, piled up eight goals and three assists as the Eagles from Renton logged three lopsided victories against Renton High, Evergreen High of White Center and Tyee High of SeaTac, to improve to 3-1-1 in Seamount League matches.

Tahoma High boys cross-country team

The Bears ran a near-perfect team race against Jefferson High of Federal Way and Kentridge High. Tahoma runners placed 1-2-3-4-6, with a Kentridge runner breaking up the clean sweep. The Bears from Maple Valley were led by Jono Lafler, followed by Kelton Sears, Phil Lussier, Josh Pflug and Jimmy Creek.

RALEIGH, N.C. -

You know how boys are after a few beers at a summer cookout. They get silly.

So the surprising thing is not that Bryan Duggan, 22, shaved off the beard he’d had since the beginning of college, or even that he left a mustache. It’s that he still has that ’stache more than two months after the party. The three other guys who did the same thing managed to live with the mustaches for only a single night.

“At first it was kind of funny and a joke, but now I like it,” says Duggan, who is studying business at N.C. State and has to be one of the few guys on campus who bears a passing resemblance to Burt Reynolds.

Mustache fashion has had its cyclical turns, ebbing and flowing with the decade. Reynolds personified the mustache’s ride in the ’70s, and Tom Selleck took up its cause in the ’80s. The ’90s were left without a mustache icon.

But the ’stache is back among urban hipsters, at least a little bit, and we’ll count Duggan in that category. After all, the guy works a coffee bar.

The 40-year ’stache

But what about the men who have had hairy lips for decades, no matter the style? Why have they stuck with it?

For that we spoke with guys like Mike Orbach, a cultural anthropologist at Duke University. Orbach, 59, works at the Duke Marine Laboratory in Beaufort and has had a mustache since - are you ready? - 1967.

He grew it for his college girlfriend, the woman who would become his wife.

“I think she thought that I looked too young or too naive or something, and the mustache would change that,” he says.

The story is backed up by Judi, whom he married in 1969.

“I think he looked a little wholesome,” she says, remembering the long-haired hippie days of late ’60s California, where they met and attended college.

That’s not to say that Orbach dropped out. As a member of the National Guard in the ’70s, he kept the mustache, even as his company commanders gave him guff about its length. Orbach took to waxing and turning up the ends, so the mustache would meet military guidelines, regulations he remembers by heart to this day.

“The regulation says only that any portion of the mustache that extends beyond the corner of the mouth cannot drop below a line parallel with the lower lip,” he says with a smile.

Other than a few years where he grew a full beard, the mustache has stood on its own.

“Fashion hasn’t really bothered me a bit,” says Orbach, whose bushy, handlebar mustache rounds out a style heavy on Hawaiian shirts and Panama hats. “I like the look. I like the feel. It’s part of me.”

Oh, the irony

As for the latest styles, Micah Johnson, associate fashion editor at Details magazine, says that in New York the mustache is predominantly worn by a certain brand of hipster. He describes this guy as a bit Victorian, perhaps with long hair. This guy may have had a full beard a few years ago, but has since downsized.

The difference between this dude and Selleck is that this kind of hipster grows a mustache for the sense of irony. Enough time hasn’t passed for the mustache to return to the style mainstream, Johnson says. “When the ’70s really come back, we’ll be ready for it.”

So is it possible, in 2007, for a young man to pull of a nonironic mustache?

“No.”

Duggan understands the sentiment. People have assumed that he grew the mustache as a joke, that his facial hair is nothing but an amusing side note.

But he has come to embrace it. His sisters like it, because it reminds them of their father, who passed away a few years ago. And he does, too.

“I think I’m going to stick with it for a while.”

SEOUL, South Korea - One can spot the North Koreans by their stunted stature, the result of growing up on inadequate diets. They often seem befuddled in banks and restaurants, and they speak Korean with a noticeable accent.

They risked their lives to get here, but even when they’re assimilated they earn half of what their South Korean brethren do - for drudge work. There are 11,000 of them in South Korea, trickling in at the rate of only 2,000 a year, but increasingly they’re the unwanted relatives at the doorstep.

The South Korean government, which fears that any crisis with Pyongyang could unleash a flood of North Korean migrants, seems to be pulling up the welcome mat.

“South Korean people are not interested in North Koreans,” said Kang Won-cheol, a 25-year-old university student who left North Korea in 2000. “They see us as foreigners, as different from them.”

Fears of exodus

Experts say South Korea is seeking to slow the stream of refugees, in order to avert a mass exodus from North Korea and ease tensions with its unpredictable neighbor. That will leave thousands of North Koreans stranded en route in China, Mongolia and Southeast Asia.

“South Korean authorities do everything possible to minimize the arrival of refugees,” said Andrei Lankov, a North Korea expert at Seoul’s Kookmin University.

In principle, Seoul says it will accept any North Korean who wants to resettle. But Lankov said the reality was that immigration officials tried to push the door closed for common people, such as farmers.

Earlier this year, South Korea cut the initial stipend that refugees receive to the equivalent of $6,400, with an additional $13,860 or so for housing, adding payments at the back end if immigrants hold jobs for more than a year.

This month, a 36-year-old North Korean made headlines by leaping from her 10th-floor Seoul apartment in a suicide that spotlighted the travails of newly arrived defectors.

A new world

Finding work is no easy task for North Koreans, who are easily distinguished by their accented speech, their initial unfamiliarity with conveniences such as microwave ovens and remote controls, their bewilderment at how banks function and their sense of entitlement given the hardships they endured in the world’s last Stalinist holdout.

It can take years for them to grow used to the South’s capitalist ethic.

“Learning a market system is like learning a new language,” said Park Syung Je, a defense analyst who said he’d interviewed more than 1,000 refugees in recent years.

“They go into restaurants and don’t understand why prices are different for different things,” Park added.

Refugees can be distinguished even by their short stature, a result of poor nutrition. A 2005 survey of 1,075 defectors found Northern men were 4 inches shorter than Southern men on average. For young women, the difference was 2.5 inches.

Marital prospects

Many refugees arrive with no families, leaving spouses and children behind. About 70 percent of recent refugees are women, some of whom seek to marry South Korean men, viewing it as a route to assimilation. But few find mates they think are suitable.

“They made me feel I am a second-class citizen here,” a refugee who used the pseudonym Kim Kum-suk told the semiofficial Yonhap news agency earlier this year. “Some of them treated me like a Vietnamese and Philippine bride they can buy, while others sounded like they were looking for a housemaid-type wife.”

As more defectors arrive, they become targets for criminals.

A joint survey released early this year by the state-funded Korea Institute of Criminal Justice Policy and Cheongju University showed that fraud, theft and robbery rates against defectors are five times higher than for average South Koreans. Some 21 percent of defectors said they’d been cheated out of financial assets.

South Koreans, for their part, sometimes complain that North Koreans don’t display much will to adapt. They also say that the stipends refugees receive are diverted to human traffickers in China, who’ll bring relatives from the North through Southeast Asia to Seoul for around $3,500.

No one knows for sure how many North Koreans fled after the severe famine in the mid-1990s. The journey can be perilous.

Some 50,000 to 150,000 North Koreans have crossed into China. If China catches them, it usually deports them to their homeland, where they may be thrown into labor camps. Some refugees have married Chinese and settled down. Others long to move on. More than 1,000 refugees are in Mongolia and Southeast Asia, waiting for approval to go to South Korea.

In a bid to win attention from South Korean authorities, some refugees in U.N. detention centers embellish or make up stories about their pasts, saying they were party cadres or witnessed atrocities.

“Some defectors come up with fake stories to be picked,” said Kang Cheol-hwan, a journalist in Seoul and the author of “Aquariums of Pyongyang,” an account of his youth in a labor camp in North Korea. “If a defector says, ‘I was a fisherman’ or a farmer, then people look down on him. So people exaggerate their status.”

North Korea lambasted the South after a mass defection in July 2004, when 468 North Koreans were airlifted from Hanoi to South Korea, the largest such defection ever. Since then, Seoul has been wary of accepting anything but small groups.

Lankov, the scholar, said defectors who learned the mechanics of capitalism and democracy might prove indispensable one day in erecting a post-Kim Jong Il government in North Korea.

“I believe the [refugee] policy is myopic,” Lankov said. “If the North Korean system collapses, who will form the post-North Korea elite? … When change happens, they will be vital for reconstruction.”

Third-base coach Carlos Garcia joked about it being the only runner this season he wasn’t about to wave on home.

Players in the Mariners’ clubhouse couldn’t stop laughing every time they saw a new highlight on television.

About the only person not in stitches after Friday night’s walkoff win by the Mariners was shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt, still feeling somewhat sheepish about his ninth-inning run around the bases.

Betancourt had jumped out of the dugout, thinking teammate Jeff Clement had hit a game-winning, ground-rule double instead of a two-run homer. As Betancourt raced toward second base to congratulate Clement, he saw the game’s hero already heading toward third and had to chase after him.

“I thought he was going to stop, but I said, ‘Hey, what’s he doing?’ ” Garcia said on Saturday, recounting how Betancourt rounded second and raced for third.

Garcia had to put up his hands and yell at Betancourt to stop. “Did you see his face?’ ” Garcia asked reporters.

“He said, ‘It’s a double.’ And I said, ‘No, it’s a home run.’ ”

In the clubhouse afterward, the Mariners wouldn’t let up on Betancourt. Injured relief pitcher Arthur Rhodes had his teammates on the floor laughing as he imitated Betancourt’s jaunt by running around one of the clubhouse television islands, waving his hands in the air.

“He enjoys everybody’s success,” Garcia said. “And that’s why he probably wanted to get out there and celebrate.”

Jimerson on the jump

Clement might never have had a chance to win Friday’s game if not for some eighth-inning work on the basepaths by a fellow Class AAA call-up.

Charlton Jimerson, who has had just two at-bats since being promoted, has seen most of his action as a pinch-runner. He pulled off a crucial steal of second base with two out to position himself to score the tying run on Jose Vidro’s single.

Jimerson said he tries to get as much information as possible on opposing pitchers and catchers beforehand - things like how quickly the pitcher delivers a ball to the plate and how fast the catcher gets rid of the ball.

“It’s me against them after that,” he said. “I try to pick my best spot.”

Jimerson is 2 for 2 on stolen bases with the Mariners. He stole 35 at Class AA and AAA after signing with the organization on May 1.

“That’s what I’m here for,” he said. “It’s exciting just on the simple fact that everyone knows I’m a pinch-runner and I’m over there. I just try to harness it and not make a mistake and get picked off or do something silly.”

Staff talks

Mariners manager John McLaren says he’ll try to let his coaching staff know its status for 2008 as soon as possible. He met with general manager Bill Bavasi on Saturday and planned to have further discussions before talking to his coaches.

“We’d like to let them know their situations so they know exactly what it is,” McLaren said. “I’ve been in their shoes many times - 20 times, to be exact. It’s something that is uncomfortable for everybody. We need to let these guys know.”

Happy Lou

On Saturday, McLaren spoke by telephone with longtime dugout associate Lou Piniella, who managed the Chicago Cubs to the NL Central title on Friday night.

“He was in a very good mood,” McLaren said, adding that Piniella guiding a third franchise into the postseason after Cincinnati and Seattle, could be what gets him into Cooperstown. “He was a Hall of Famer before that for me, and I think this is just another little indicator that he’s the man.”

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com

For the record

M’s W-L

PCT

87-74

.540

Streak: W4

Home: 48-32

Road: 39-42

vs. AL West: 30-26

vs. L.A.: 6-13

vs. Oakland: 14-5

vs. Texas: 10-8

vs. AL East: 25-19

vs. AL Cent.: 23-20

vs. NL: 9-9

vs. LHP: 27-13

vs. RHP: 60-61

Day: 23-23

Night: 64-51

One-run: 27-20

Extra innings: 5-1

Home attendance

Saturday’s crowd: 26,799

Season total: 2,641,755

Biggest crowd: 46,377 (Aug. 5)

Smallest crowd: 16,555 (May 2)

Average (80 dates): 33,022

2006 average (80 dates): 30,663

Myung Jung snaps a stocking onto a bald head and fits the young woman with a long, brunette wig. The woman sits in one of two hairdresser’s chairs at the back of Jung’s shop, Fair Hair Wig Shop in downtown Seattle.

“Can I color it?”

“Oh, yes. It’s real hair.”

“Too dark.”

“Her hair’s coming back blonde anyway,” her husband says, sitting in the other hairdresser’s chair. “It’s the chemotherapy.”

Out comes a long, blonde wig.

A hundred or so mannequin heads wearing all manner of hairstyle in all the colors of the rainbow stare blindly all around them. Their fake eyelashes never blink.

Jung fits the hair onto the woman’s head.

“Maybe you like this?” is all she says. Her hand rests on the woman’s shoulder. She asks no other questions.

Jung teases the bangs a little bit.

“I just want my hair back.”

“She can have that cut and styled?” her husband asks.

“Yes.”

The woman nods slightly. This will do.

Jung gives the new hair a quick trim.

“We’ve been all over the place trying to find a shop that has real hair,” the husband says.

“How do you feel?”

“Better.

“Will this make my hair grow back quicker, too?” This is a serious question. The woman is eager, slightly hopeful.

They rise. He goes to pay. Real-human-hair wig, $300. She looks in the mirror a minute more. Not happy. Not sad. She stands and puts on the stocking cap she wore into the shop.

In bald. Out blonde.

Passing her on the street, you would not know.

She says to nobody on her way out, “Now I look like a girl again.”