1. The UW softball team won the first NCAA championship in the history of the program this week. Who do you think was the MVP?

Christian: That one pitcher they have. I forget her name. She’s OK, though.

Maks: Jake Locker, for his eternal support from the stands.

Allen: This is going to be really cliché, but really, the whole team deserves MVP honors. Danielle Lawrie pitched through a rough stretch, and the offense really kicked in. It was, in many ways, a full-team effort.

Scott: I’m going to go out on a huge limb here and say Danielle Lawrie.

2. Which player would you rather have on your NBA Finals team, and why: Kobe Bryant or Dwight Howard?

Christian: J.J. Redick.

Maks: I never thought I’d live to see the day that Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu become key cogs in someone’s (potential) championship-winning team. But that’s what once-in-a-decade big men like Howard can do. It should also be stated that he has been playing the best basketball of his career, realizing that yes, he should be making “grown-man moves” in the post. Keep it up, big fella. You’ve got my vote.

Allen: Kobe. He’s a play-maker and is the only one who can compare to LeBron James as the best player this century. But Dwight Howard is pretty good, too.

Scott: Kobe. At the end of a close game, I’d much rather have the ball in his hands.

3. Do you think the Mariners should start making deals now that they’re more than a few games out of first place?

Christian: What kind of deals? Free cheeseburger night? I’d be OK with that.

Maks: I’d hold on a little longer.

Allen: Yes, and the long list of players to go follows: Adrian Beltre, Jarrod Washburn, Erik Bedard, Kenji Johjima, Carlos Silva, Miguel Batista, Yuniesky Betancourt and Jose Lopez.

Scott: Yes. The early season success is proving to be somewhat of a fluke. The trade deadline is pretty far away, but the Mariners need to make sure they get younger and start building a team aimed at winning a World Series a few years down the line.

4. What are your thoughts on Florida State’s 37-6 clobbering of Ohio State in the NCAA baseball tournament regionals Sunday?

Christian: Was Carlos Silva pitching?

Maks: Sounds like the kind of beat-down my intramural softball team suffered at the hands of other squads last season. They should have batted me clean-up.

Allen: Ohio State is really, really bad.

Scott: That score is ridiculous. How in the world does a collegiate playoff team give up that many runs? I’m pretty sure that if I had pitched that game, I could’ve held Florida State to somewhere in the low 30s, making the final score a little more respectable.