Tuesday, February 22, 2005
DODGE
Welcome to Tuesday. I hope all of you had a wondrous extended weekend. Of course, if you didn't get Monday off, then...hey, you got through Monday!
For the random note today...I'm a milk chocolate over dark chocolate guy. Whenever I ran across those bags of Hershey's miniatures, I dreaded Special Dark. However, the plain Hershey's minis were okay, the Mr. Goodbars were serviceable, but most of all, I was a Krackel guy. However, in another candy-related note, I couldn't stand Necco wafers or Smarties. This usually made Halloweens only 90% enjoyable for the few times I went out trick-or-treating.
To the post!
MARINERS
Hickey goes over who might start in the field and on the mound for this team on Opening Day. I wish Bucky Jacobsen's knee was 100%, but he's having trouble stopping and starting. Mike Hargrove is also saying that two of the rotation spots are up for grabs, though he's not naming any names.
Also, Adrian Beltre is in camp, and that is a good thing. He's got the locker next to Edgar's. Beltre also says he wanted to come to Seattle because of the tradition. Oh, if only more people believed that the four-year tradition could wipe away the other 20 years or so. As for the possibility that Beltre will need "a couple of days" to adjust to American League pitching, that sounds good to me. I like leaning toward the "a couple of days" spectrum rather than the "Jeff Cirillo" end of the spectrum.
You know, Mike Hargrove the other day said about Felix Hernandez, "[t]he world has a chance to be his oyster." Yesterday, he talked about switching teams like Beltre is doing, and said, "[l]eaving Texas was like a breech birth." Oyster? Breech birth? Is Hargrove going to be this outlandishly quotable all year?
SEAHAWKS
Whew. Sources close to negotiations indicate that the Seahawks reached an agreement with Matt Hasselbeck on a long-term contract. This of course enables the Seahawks to use the franchise tag on Shaun Alexander, which seemed like the likely case after Walter Jones was locked up to the long-term deal. If this holds up, the Seahawks have the top three free-agents out of the way (unless Alexander forces a trade or something), and they can focus on defense, and/or the receiving corps. Derrick Mason as a wide receiver is probably a pipe dream, of course, but I hope the Seahawks are getting one mother of a draft board together and get their fill at the combine.
Art Thiel brings to our attention an apparent Seahawk front office candidate, Tim Ruskell, current Atlanta assistant GM and former Tampa Bay scout, college scouting director, then director of player personnel. He was certainly there for those crazy Tampa Bay defenses of the past few years. Thiel suggests that Ruskell would be in line for the VP of football operations post, vacated by Ted Thompson, who fled for Green Bay's GM spot.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
The Tar Heels travel to face NC State tonight (5p, local only) and Maryland on Sunday (2:30p, FSNNW)
Huskies
The Huskies host Arizona State on Thursday (7:30p, FSNNW) and Arizona on Saturday (1p, FSNNW)
Bulldogs
The Zags go to Portland on Thursday (8p, ESPN2) and host Northern Colorado the following Monday (FSNNW Seattle, Q6 NBC Spokane) before starting WCC Tournament play.
Sonics
The second half is underway. Rashard Lewis took some extra jumpers after everyone else left the gym in Houston. The Sonics will be trying to snap red-hot Houston's eight-game winning streak. Percy Allen also attempts to answer ten questions pertaining to the Sonics' immediate future. They've got seven back-to-back sets the rest of the way, and if I'm not mistaken, they have 21 games in the next 37 days.
No matter how the season ends up, the players will still have their rides. I didn't know there was a league-wide ban on motorcycle use by players after the Jay Williams incident. In any event, Jerome James can't ride his motorbike. Man, that picture with Robert Swift and his stereo system...yikes.
As for Jayda Evans taking out an estimate to pimp her ride, well, my ride is way more ghetto than hers. Sure, it's paid for, but it's a grannymobile, the same one I've driven since high school. Of course, it gets great gas mileage and the only hiccup I've ever had with it was when the A/C went kaput. I only felt the bad effects of that when I lived in Ellensburg for the summer of 2003. I didn't take the car out until dusk, if ever, and the campus itself is very flat and fairly bike-friendly, of which I took advantage.
Upcoming...
Tonight at Houston (5:30p, FSNNW)
Tomorrow at New Orleans (5p, FSNNW)
HOCKEY
Steve Kelley writes about another group getting screwed by the lack of NHL activity -- draft-eligible junior hockey players. The Thunderbirds have Chris Durand, Scott Jackson, and Bretton Stamler waiting for the draft that hopefully comes, though it'll be next year at the earliest. Of course, outside of Seattle, it's also the Sidney Crosbys and the Gilbert Brules of the world that are getting the shaft here too.
Upcoming...
Tomorrow: Everett at Kamloops, Kelowna at Portland
Wednesday: Seattle at Kelowna, Tri-City at Vancouver, Manitoba at Wilkes-Barre Scranton
Thursday: Manitoba at Syracuse
Friday: Seattle at Kamloops, Everett at Tri-City, Portland at Spokane, Kelowna at Vancouver, Tri-City at Puget Sound (Cascade Cup semifinal -- Game 1 of best-of-5)
Saturday: Portland at Seattle, Vancouver at Everett, Manitoba at Hamilton, Tri-City at Puget Sound (Cascade Cup semifinal -- Game 2 of best-of-5)
Sunday: Spokane at Seattle, Tri-City at Everett
---
Have a great Tuesday and a great start to your hopefully shortened work week.
For the random note today...I'm a milk chocolate over dark chocolate guy. Whenever I ran across those bags of Hershey's miniatures, I dreaded Special Dark. However, the plain Hershey's minis were okay, the Mr. Goodbars were serviceable, but most of all, I was a Krackel guy. However, in another candy-related note, I couldn't stand Necco wafers or Smarties. This usually made Halloweens only 90% enjoyable for the few times I went out trick-or-treating.
To the post!
MARINERS
Hickey goes over who might start in the field and on the mound for this team on Opening Day. I wish Bucky Jacobsen's knee was 100%, but he's having trouble stopping and starting. Mike Hargrove is also saying that two of the rotation spots are up for grabs, though he's not naming any names.
Also, Adrian Beltre is in camp, and that is a good thing. He's got the locker next to Edgar's. Beltre also says he wanted to come to Seattle because of the tradition. Oh, if only more people believed that the four-year tradition could wipe away the other 20 years or so. As for the possibility that Beltre will need "a couple of days" to adjust to American League pitching, that sounds good to me. I like leaning toward the "a couple of days" spectrum rather than the "Jeff Cirillo" end of the spectrum.
You know, Mike Hargrove the other day said about Felix Hernandez, "[t]he world has a chance to be his oyster." Yesterday, he talked about switching teams like Beltre is doing, and said, "[l]eaving Texas was like a breech birth." Oyster? Breech birth? Is Hargrove going to be this outlandishly quotable all year?
SEAHAWKS
Whew. Sources close to negotiations indicate that the Seahawks reached an agreement with Matt Hasselbeck on a long-term contract. This of course enables the Seahawks to use the franchise tag on Shaun Alexander, which seemed like the likely case after Walter Jones was locked up to the long-term deal. If this holds up, the Seahawks have the top three free-agents out of the way (unless Alexander forces a trade or something), and they can focus on defense, and/or the receiving corps. Derrick Mason as a wide receiver is probably a pipe dream, of course, but I hope the Seahawks are getting one mother of a draft board together and get their fill at the combine.
Art Thiel brings to our attention an apparent Seahawk front office candidate, Tim Ruskell, current Atlanta assistant GM and former Tampa Bay scout, college scouting director, then director of player personnel. He was certainly there for those crazy Tampa Bay defenses of the past few years. Thiel suggests that Ruskell would be in line for the VP of football operations post, vacated by Ted Thompson, who fled for Green Bay's GM spot.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
The Tar Heels travel to face NC State tonight (5p, local only) and Maryland on Sunday (2:30p, FSNNW)
Huskies
The Huskies host Arizona State on Thursday (7:30p, FSNNW) and Arizona on Saturday (1p, FSNNW)
Bulldogs
The Zags go to Portland on Thursday (8p, ESPN2) and host Northern Colorado the following Monday (FSNNW Seattle, Q6 NBC Spokane) before starting WCC Tournament play.
Sonics
The second half is underway. Rashard Lewis took some extra jumpers after everyone else left the gym in Houston. The Sonics will be trying to snap red-hot Houston's eight-game winning streak. Percy Allen also attempts to answer ten questions pertaining to the Sonics' immediate future. They've got seven back-to-back sets the rest of the way, and if I'm not mistaken, they have 21 games in the next 37 days.
No matter how the season ends up, the players will still have their rides. I didn't know there was a league-wide ban on motorcycle use by players after the Jay Williams incident. In any event, Jerome James can't ride his motorbike. Man, that picture with Robert Swift and his stereo system...yikes.
As for Jayda Evans taking out an estimate to pimp her ride, well, my ride is way more ghetto than hers. Sure, it's paid for, but it's a grannymobile, the same one I've driven since high school. Of course, it gets great gas mileage and the only hiccup I've ever had with it was when the A/C went kaput. I only felt the bad effects of that when I lived in Ellensburg for the summer of 2003. I didn't take the car out until dusk, if ever, and the campus itself is very flat and fairly bike-friendly, of which I took advantage.
Upcoming...
Tonight at Houston (5:30p, FSNNW)
Tomorrow at New Orleans (5p, FSNNW)
HOCKEY
Steve Kelley writes about another group getting screwed by the lack of NHL activity -- draft-eligible junior hockey players. The Thunderbirds have Chris Durand, Scott Jackson, and Bretton Stamler waiting for the draft that hopefully comes, though it'll be next year at the earliest. Of course, outside of Seattle, it's also the Sidney Crosbys and the Gilbert Brules of the world that are getting the shaft here too.
Upcoming...
Tomorrow: Everett at Kamloops, Kelowna at Portland
Wednesday: Seattle at Kelowna, Tri-City at Vancouver, Manitoba at Wilkes-Barre Scranton
Thursday: Manitoba at Syracuse
Friday: Seattle at Kamloops, Everett at Tri-City, Portland at Spokane, Kelowna at Vancouver, Tri-City at Puget Sound (Cascade Cup semifinal -- Game 1 of best-of-5)
Saturday: Portland at Seattle, Vancouver at Everett, Manitoba at Hamilton, Tri-City at Puget Sound (Cascade Cup semifinal -- Game 2 of best-of-5)
Sunday: Spokane at Seattle, Tri-City at Everett
---
Have a great Tuesday and a great start to your hopefully shortened work week.