That clip we found on YouTube shows the crazy scene – what another YouTuber described as a “euphoric storming of the field” — after the University of Idaho Vandals’ one-point win over Bowling Green in the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise on Wednesday. This is notable for West Seattle, as pointed out in this note Allison sent this afternoon:
Former West Seattle High School standout, Aaron Grymes who now plays college football at University of Idaho, has won his first bowl game with the Vandals in the Humanitarian Bowl. They defeated Bowling Green St. 43-42.
Allison thought Westside supporters would want to hear this, if they hadn’t already. According to these game stats, he had two tackles in the game. (It was a year ago this month that Grymes changed his mind about college and decided to go to Idaho instead of UW.)
As reported here last night, the west end of the West Seattle Bridge was shut down for a while late New Year’s Eve because of a multi-car crash. SPDBlotter has published a short update today, saying the driver, first reported “driving erratically” on The Bridge, is suspected of DUI:
(The car) subsequently struck two other vehicles as well as the jersey barrier forcing the shutdown of the westbound lanes for 90 minutes. In addition, the eastbound lanes were shut down for 15 minutes while the jersey barriers were moved back into place. There were no serious injuries and the suspect driver was processed for DUI.
At right, that’s newborn Grace Weber, welcomed this morning by West Seattle residents Courtney and Dave Weber, according to Swedish Medical Center, which sent the photo with news that Grace is the first Swedish baby of 2010, born at 6:41 am today at the hospital’s First Hill Campus. Stats, according to the Swedish news release: 6 pounds, 15.6 ounces, 18.5 inches. Swedish quotes the proud parents as saying it was an unexpected blessing to have their first baby born so early in the new year, which is the centennial year for Swedish, where more than 200,000 babies have been born in that century since Dr. Nils Johanson founded the system. Since Grace is the first baby of the year, she and her family get a gift basket from the Swedish Auxiliary, a Swaddle Designs receiving blanket, and a ButterLondon manicure/pedicure set. (We’re checking on whether Grace was the 1st Seattle baby this year – so far we’ve heard of a 12:01 am baby in Bellevue.)
(WSB video and photos by Christopher Boffoli)
WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli reports about 50 people hit the beach, and then the water – as you see in his video above – for West Seattle’s 2010 New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim. First, of course, before the dash into the Sound, it’s off with the clothes:
The water temperature, by the way, was on par with the air temperature – 49-degree water, and (at 10 am) 50-degree air. Immediately afterward, time to warm up again:
The post-swim warmup included free chowder donated by Duke’s, which is right across the street from the swim site:
Missed it? Or – want to do it again? This year, you have a second chance to run into Elliott Bay with dozens, maybe even hundreds, of kindred souls – Special Olympics of Washington is presenting the Polar Plunge on Alki, 11 am January 24. It’s a SOWA fundraiser so you need to register, individual or team – you can start the process here.
More restaurants are open New Year’s than Christmas, so we don’t have a full open/closed list for them, but a few notes: Some popular weekend brunch spots are offering brunch today too, like WSB sponsor Skylark Cafe, open at 9 am. And Redline Music and Sports in The Triangle is offering freebies at a “customer appreciation night” starting at 9 pm, including free pizza/pool/jukebox. Places keeping regular hours include Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 11:30 am-2 am as always.
At right, that’s newborn Grace Weber, welcomed this morning by West Seattle residents Courtney and Dave Weber, according to 
Ready for a new year even better than the old one? Here are a few notes for the holiday that’s kicking it all off:
| 3 COMMENTS