Karl Benson, the commissioner of the Western Athletic Conference, met with several members of the Seattle media Thursday to introduce Seattle U's new conference home to Puget Sound sports fans.
Benson's day started at The Seattle Times, where he participated in a live chat that featured over 800 live readers at some point during the hour-long conversation. During the chat, Benson revealed that he grew up in Washington and was a batting practice pitcher for the Seattle Mariners for 40-60 games per year from 1978 to 1984.
After speaking at the 101 Club luncheon at the Washington Athletic Club, Benson called into the Bob and Groz show on 710 ESPN Seattle. This was the commissioner's first conversation with the Voice of the Redhawks, Dave Grosby, as he and his co-host welcomed Benson to Seattle and talked about Seattle U's inclusion in the conference.
Benson then sat down with Jen Mueller of ROOT Sports to further talk about the Western Athletic Conference. Fans can tune in to future pre- and post-game shows of ROOT Sports' coverage of the Seattle Mariners to find out what Benson told Mueller, possibly beginning Friday, Aug. 5.
The commissioner's media tour concluded with a visit to the studios of KING 5 to tape a segment for Northwest Sports Tonight with Paul Silvi. It is believed that Silvi's interview with Benson will appear on Thursday night's edition of the daily sports show that airs on Northwest Cable News and KONG 6/16.
Seattle University will begin its participation in the Western Athletic Conference July 1, 2012.