Sports Illustrated recently published their list of 25 Toughest Athletes.

As with most such lists, most of the attention is on who earned spot #1. I’d like to instead talk about the #2 guy.

Lance Mackey won both the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod dogsled races. He was the first to have won both in the same year – and he repeated the results for a second year.

Both races are run by a driver, a team of 12-16 dogs, a single sled, and only the essential, required supplies required for the trip: an arctic parka, a heavy sleeping bag, an ax, snowshoes, musher food, dog food and boots for each dog’s feet to protect against sharp ice on the trail. Not only is the driver responsible for arctic survival for him/herself and the team, the driver is also required to take exemplary care of his dogs throughout the race and often runs a good part of the route when he/she wants to reduce the load or compensate for the terrain.

The Yukon Quest, held in February, is a 1,000 mile race from Fairbanks, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. There are 10 checkpoints and four mandatory longer rest periods spaced throughout the race, including a halfway 36-hour stop, where facilities and veterinary inspections are provided. Temperatures on the trail can range from -50°F to +25°F. The dogs typically run in a 4-6h on/4-6h off pattern around the clock, with the team and driver resting on the trail during their down time. Mackey’s 2008 winning time was 10d:12h:14m – the red lantern (last place) finisher’s time was 14:04:17.

The Iditarod, run in early March, is approximately 1,150 miles, from Anchorage, Alaska to Nome, Alaska. The route alternates yearly between a northern and a southern trail, and is often warmer and can be more hazardous than the Yukon Quest. There are 22 checkpoints and three mandatory stops on the race, one of them 24 hours. Mackey’s 2008 winning time for this race was 9:11:46, and the red lantern finisher completed the race in 14:19:51.

Oh, yeah – one more thing about Mackey. He’s a cancer survivor. After the 2001 Iditarod he was diagnosed with throat cancer, and spent the year undergoing surgery and chemotherapy. He started the 2002 Iditarod but scratched, took a year off, and has been running cancer-free ever since.

This is a tough athlete.

#1 on the Sports Illustrated list was Tiger Woods. Certainly, Woods plays golf like a genius, and his physical conditioning and mental toughness in a mentally challenging sport are legendary. Could he finish a 1,000 mile arctic dogsled race? After chemotherapy? I don’t think so.

On the other hand, Mackey could probably finish 4 x 18 hole rounds of golf – not necessarily with any kind of great score, but it’s do-able. My bet is he wouldn’t want to, though. No dogs are allowed on the golf course.

Last night Bryan and I went to a Mariners baseball game, the 2nd of the season. It was a sunny, clear, spring day in Seattle, but cool and breezy when the sun went down.

Safeco field is awesome. I’m sure there are other wonderful ballparks, but this one is cooler than any other I know. It has a retractable roof in case of bad weather, seats 41,755, and has more widely varied concessions (sushi, barbecue, Cajun, and chocolate-dipped strawberries) than any other ballpark I know.

Last night was military appreciation night. Mariners officials brought out representatives from each local branch of service before the game, filling the baseline – then sent the baseball players out to thank them and stand among them for the national anthem. The most affecting group was a local chapter of the Paralyzed American Veterans, pushed onfield in standard and motorized wheelchairs.

Immediately following the vets’ entrance, the announcer offered a moment of silence for the servicemen and women we’ve lost, and an Army musician played taps on trumpet. There weren’t many dry eyes left in the house after that.

Active duty personnel threw out the first pitch(es) – four of them. The balls for the first pitch had each circled the globe in the last six months, visiting bases, carriers, aircraft and detachments overseas, all documented in photos.

Just prior to the start of the game, we had a flyby of Chinook CH47 helicopters – fun, because they can fly low and the sound shakes the stadium!

Oh, there was a baseball game too.

It was lively. We played the Texas Rangers, and my favorite pitcher (Felix Hernandez) started for the Mariners. Unfortunately, we gave it away in the 8th & 9th innings, losing 5 - 4.

Bryan, Smug Puppies sports correspondent, adds: I wondered why the Mariners weren’t picked to finish first in their division, and now I think I know why. They may be somewhat better, but they still have some of the same consistency problems they had last year. For example, this game was lost because their normally awesome closing pitcher, J. J. Putz, coughed up a home run to lose the team’s hard-fought for lead. Felix Hernandez, while overall pitching well, gave up an unearned run on his own error, but otherwise played the field in his own defense really well. So, even though the starting pitching is better, it seems the bull pen might be worse, and they’ll end up losing when they can’t hold the leads. The game was overall fun, even though cold, and I’ll second everything Jeri said about the military appreciation night, it was very classy and moving.

Jeri again: We’ll probably be back again in late April for Ichiro bobble-head night. We don’t collect ‘em, but I know a couple of nephews that would love to have the toys.

Note: photos (except the aerial view) are from my new Blackberry Curve phone camera - not bad for that type of device.

Today, I yelled and screamed and carried on like an idiot… but I was in good company!

I went to the Seahawks’ NFC wild card playoff game with Bryan. He has a pair of season tickets, fabulous seats about 20 rows above the field on the 10 yard line, right above the Seahawks’ grand entry tunnel. He usually takes his dad or a friend – but today I got to go. It was a total blast, and the Seahawks won handily.

Did anybody see “Fever Pitch”, where Jimmy Fallon says his baseball seatmates are like family? Well, it’s not quite like that, but the season ticket holders around him do get very friendly, know everyone’s name and ask where he’s been if he misses a game.

Qwest Field is notorious for being one of the noisiest stadiums in the NFL. The rumor periodically circulates that the team pumps additional noise in to make it more deafening – but investigations have shown they do not. It’s just 70,000 crazed, rowdy, well-lubricated fans yelling their heads off. The noise level really makes the opposing teams frustrated – they can’t hear the plays in the huddle, nor the signals from the quarterback on the line. Delay-of-game and false start calls are frequent.

Today was one of those awesome games where everything went our way, even the rain stopped for the duration of the game, and nobody in the stadium even sat down for more than a minute or two. (I don’t know why we all spend so much money on seats.) After each big play and improbable score, perfect strangers were hugging each other in the aisles, high-fiving each other across the rows and the generations.

I haven’t gone to many of the Seahawks games, maybe only two a season. I usually defer, because I’m not much of a football fan compared to the men in my family. (OK, my son Zach is even worse, he finds the sport “boring” as only a supercilious teen can.) But you know what? Every time I go I have a great time – and I surprise myself with how much I know about the game and the players. Sometimes I even notice one I’ve never paid attention to before – like Patrick Kerney, above.)

I think I’m going to go to a whole lot more games in the future.

4 – 4. Crap.

So at the season halfway point, after a chance to really get a jump on the other members of their division, the Seahawks blew a 21-6 lead and lost to the Cleveland Browns, 33-30 in overtime. Mired now at 4-4, I would guess the whole team and staff are really questioning themselves, as they should.

It was an odd game, to me. Even with the big lead I never felt comfortable. We never got a rush on the QB on defense, and Julian Peterson, as he does on occasion, just seemingly disappeared. Cleveland has got something on offense, there’s no doubt, but in a sense I think the Hawks’ D just never really put the heat on as they have other times.

And then there is the Seahawk Offense. Man, how can you be so good at some things, and so frickin’ terrible at others. It boils down to this…the offensive line can’t block strong enough…more than once…to get a 1 yard gain for a first down on a run play. It isn’t Shaun either, not this time, as he was on the bench a lot of the time after a knee problem. Maurice Morris, his backup, did better, but we have GOT TO come up with a way to make a 3rd or 4th and short play that will work at least some of the time. Instead, the line gets pushed back ½ to a full yard, and our back runs right into them, not over the top, not around the end…for no gain or a loss.

This one feels worse than a road loss to a relatively equally matched opponent should. Mostly because Seattle let it slip away through sheer inability to impose its will to win on an opponent that they were beating.

Silver linings: Bobby Engram is the man. In spite of being relatively undersized, going through the terrible thyroid problem that sapped him for most of last season, all the guy goes is keep going across the middle and catching balls in traffic for about 7 – 15 yards over and over. Also, in spite of a ton of hype going in, Marcus Trufant kept Braylon Edwards, the Brown’s wideout, well under control. Amazing considering the lack of rush…but the Browns went to Kellen Winslow instead, and he ate us up.

Footnote: the Pats did win their game, but it was close and they had to come back to do it. I think they’ve got the best shot I’ve seen since the ’85 Bears to break the Dolphins’ undefeated season record. Those Bears lost to…the Dolphins. Since this years’ Dolphins haven’t won yet, I don’t see that one happening.

So, there was no Seahawks game this weekend, thus eliminating my usual blog topic. So what do I do instead? Random musings, sports and otherwise:

1. I watched some of the Patriots game this weekend (52-7 over the Redskins. It wasn’t that close). Barring injury, the rest of the league is playing for second place and below. New England is that good. I declare this, knowing full well the Pats are playing the Colts this weekend, and both are undefeated, and that game is this season’s “Game of the Millennium”. The Colts are good. The Pats are better. I admit am saying this in the hopes that my endorsement is as good as putting the entire Patriots squad on the covers of both Sports Illustrated AND the Madden NFL video games. That’s extreme bad luck to all you non-sporty types.

2. Why is Jerry Seinfeld making an animated movie about bees being treated as the second coming? Seriously, I have nothing against the guy, or animated movies, or even bees, but come on!

3. If Al Gore is on top of the world, ask yourself: why isn’t he running for President? Then look at Hillary, and ask who will be her Secretary of State, if she wins. You heard it here first – at least a high cabinet position for staying out of the race.

4. So the Red Sox win the Series in 4. Combined with the Patriots, this will make Boston sports fans insufferable. (I would mention the Boston Celtics looking pretty good as well, but I have banned myself from thinking or talking about the NBA – and not because of the Sonics. I was a Blazers fan. I think the NBA is a wasteland now).

5. Heroes needs to step it up this season. Battlestar Galactica and Lost need to get back on the air, already. When The Next Iron Chef is the most compelling TV I am watching, something is oddly wrong. However, I must say Alton Brown joins his long lost cousin Seahawk kicker Josh Brown in the pantheon of the gods.

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6. Lost and Mission Impossible III’s J. J. Abrams’ upcoming Star Trek movie reboot fascinates me (pun fully intended, Spock fans). Weird casting. Rumors of a Spock-centered, alternate universe theme. Paramount praying that between this and Indiana Jones and the Lost Bottle of Geritol (ok, ok, I can’t resist the age joke, but will cop to hoping that Indy movie is good), they can be a mighty studio again. My prediction for now is that the failure to get a true big name A-lister to be in the movie dooms it to mediocre box office, something I’ve harped on Paramount about for a long time…they refuse to spend bucks on acting in the ST movie series and then are pissed the films don’t do better money- and critic- wise. The biggest name in this movie is Eric Bana; that’s better, but not great. Also, why the hell is Leonard Nimoy in this movie, and Shatner, in the midst of the most unlikely career renaissance ever, not in it? I know, Kirk is dead. Yeah, right, so was Spock.