Time for a serious talk with your Mariners

Forty-six games into the season, it's going to take more than diet and exercise for this Seattle lineup to change some very troubling signs with regard to its longevity.

The Seattle Mariners remind me of a young man with high cholesterol.

More specifically, they remind me of how I felt at age 29 when my doctor sat me down and put on his most earnest face to explain why my cholesterol levels were concerning. I was embarrassed more than anything. I was overweight, but otherwise healthy. I’d just concluded my second season covering the Seattle Sonics, which meant I had been traveling which meant I had been eating at a lot of restaurants. I swore I’d exercise more regularly, monitor my diet and eat oatmeal. Lots and lots of oatmeal. That worked. Until it didn’t.

What made it hard for me to fully accept the depth of change required was that I didn’t feel that bad. I mean, I could have been in better shape, but I’d also been in worse shape, too. It made it easy to talk myself into the idea that this underlying problem wasn’t all that serious, which — torturous transition alert — brings me to the Mariners.