Welcome to the Spectrum!
Established in February 2025, the Emerald City Spectrum was created by NFL beat reporter Corbin Smith to provide hard-hitting insight and analysis for every pro and college team in Seattle, promoting real journalistic practices that die hard and casual fans alike crave and deserve.
At the initial launch of the online publication, Smith and a staff featuring analyst Ty Gonzalez and writer Nick Lee initially covered the Seahawks and Mariners, two of the staple professional sports franchises in the region. The Spectrum has continued to add talented reporters and writers to the staff, expanding coverage to include all Washington Huskies sports programs, the Kraken, the Sounders, the Storm, the Seawolves, and the Reign FC, expanding coverage to all major pro and college programs in the region.
Our Writing Staff
Graduating from Manchester College in 2012, Smith began his professional career as a high school Economics teacher in Indianapolis and launched his own NFL website covering the Seahawks as a hobby. After teaching and coaching high school football for five years, he transitioned to a full-time sports reporter in 2017, writing for USA Today's Seahawks Wire while continuing to produce the Legion of 12 podcast.
Prior to launching the Emerald City Spectrum, Smith worked for Sports Illustrated as lead publisher of the Seahawks On SI team site for seven seasons and continues to host the daily Locked On Seahawks podcast. Away from his coverage of the Seahawks and the NFL, he dabbles in standup comedy, is a heavy metal enthusiast and previously performed as lead vocalist for a metal band, and enjoys distance running and weight lifting. A habitual commuter, he resides with his wife Natalia in Colorado and spends extensive time reporting from his second residence in the Pacific Northwest.
Christopher Crawford has covered baseball, college football, and everything in between for the past 17 years. He has written for such publications as ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Vice, and Fox Sports. He currently covers the NFL and MLB for NBC Sports/ Rotoworld, and his YouTube channel My Oh Why while also being regularly featured on KJR 933 Seattle.
Check out all of Christopher’s Mariners/Kraken coverage here.
Hirst is a local reporter born and raised in Seattle. You can hear him every day on Sports Radio 93.3 KJR talking Sounders and other local sports as well. He played soccer in college at Seattle University, before hanging up the cleats to get into the sports media scene. He gives a unique perspective from a ground level on all things Sounders and Reign to give you a pulse for the soccer clubs you love.
Joining the Emerald City Spectrum as one of the most respected voices covering Pacific Northwest baseball, Gonzalez has been host of the Locked On Mariners podcast since midway through the 2021 season, but his coverage of his beloved Seattle Mariners spans a little over half a decade now - doing so from all the way north of the border in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
In addition to his work on the microphone, Gonzalez has produced written content across several media outlets, most notably as a reporter and editor on the Seahawks On SI team site in the early 2020s.
Before joining Emerald City Spectrum, Connor Benintendi covered prep, college and recreational sports in Whatcom County for almost three years as the Sports Editor/Reporter at Cascadia Daily News and the Lynden Tribune, publishing 1,000+ articles in that time. He graduated from Western Washington University in August 2021 with a B.A. in News/Editorial journalism.
Throughout the summer of 2021, Benintendi was a feature reporter intern for WWU athletics, writing long form pieces about former players and news releases on incoming athletes. In addition to covering the Storm, he writes about the Seahawks for Seahawks On SI’s team site.
Born and raised in the Emerald City, Bluechel is graduating from SPU in 2025 with a degree in Linguistics and Classics. Before joining Emerald City Spectrum, Bluechel wrote with the Falcon for two years between 2022 and 2024, covering SPU athletics as well as sports in the greater Seattle area. In addition to covering the Seawolves for Emerald City Spectrum, he also currently writes about Sounders and Reign for Cascadia FC.
Lee grew in San Diego, California and graduated from Brigham Young University-Idaho in 2017. He married a Washington native and moved to the Pacific Northwest after 2014. He began his writing career for Bolt Beat on Fansided in 2015 while also coaching high school football locally in Olympia, Washington.
A husband and father of two, aside from covering multiple teams for the Emerald City Spectrum, he writes for East Village Times covering the San Diego Padres as well as Vanquish the Foe of SB Nation, covering the BYU Cougars. He also co-hosts the Locked on Seahawks podcast.
Born and raised in the Seattle area, Coe returned to sportswriting in 2024 after teaching high school language arts and owning a small business. Coe has covered UW football and basketball, as well as the Seahawks, Mariners, Sonics, minor league baseball and high school sports. He currently serves as sports editor at The Daily Herald newspaper in Everett, Washington.
Author of the novel "High Points," Coe is a member of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Big Climb Leadership Committee. When he's not climbing stairs in preparation for Big Climb Seattle or walking his dogs, Coe spends his spare time with friends and family in search of overpriced beer and pizza.
Contact the Spectrum
Got a question for the Emerald City Spectrum? Send your questions using the form to the right and we will respond within three business days if possible.