Saturday, February 05, 2005
GAME 45: SUPERSONICS 113, BOBCATS 99
SuperSonics 113, Bobcats 99
(final content posted ~10:34p)
Here's what I have for tonight. Ray Allen did start.
1st qtr
11:40 Lewis corner three first basket SEA 3-0. 10:32 wide-open Allen three SEA 6-0. 8:27 Ridnour mid-range SEA 8-3. 6:43 Ridnour long jumper SEA 12-6. 4:41 Allen looks good SEA 18-11. 4:13 Lewis form long SEA 20-11. 2:41 Allen high off the glass SEA 24-14. 1:37 Allen three SEA 29-16. 0:00 Lewis three to end quarter SEA 34-22.
After one quarter -- Seattle 34, Charlotte 22
Well, the Sonics looked good offensively, especially Ray Allen (14 pts), and they held the Bobcats to 22 points. Not bad. It seems to me the Bobcats only hit about four open jumpers in the entire quarter. The Sonics seemed to especially be doing a good job on Charlotte's big men down low, but Gerald Wallace was having some luck driving to the basket.
2nd qtr
10:46 Radmanovic three SEA 39-24. 9:36 Brezec fouled, misses shot, Bobcats had hit 5 straight. 6:17 Radmanovic three SEA 49-32. 5:17 Radmanovic three SEA 54-35. 3:56 Lewis three SEA 57-37. 3:12 Allen running righty SEA 59-37. 2:24 Ridnour baseline runner SEA 61-37. 1:16 Radmanovic three SEA 65-41 (18 pts). 0:37.4 Ridnour beats clock with three SEA 68-43.
At half -- Seattle 69, Charlotte 46
Well, simply put, the Sonics shot the crap out of the ball, and the Bobcats aren't that good. The Sonics were able to force some turnovers, which they've been having trouble doing as of late. Ray Allen looks great (it sucks to be Ron Murray), and Vladimir Radmanovic has led the three-point assault, as the Sonics have been going nuts from just about all areas of the floor on the offensive end. Reggie Evans also had his usual bunch of rebounds. Luke Ridnour had a decent showing of midrange jumpers and teardrop layups.
3rd qtr
9:05 Ridnour double-pump in lane SEA 71-48. 8:05 Ridnour midrange SEA 75-52. 6:10 Bobcats 9-2 run. 4:04 Lewis three SEA 80-63. 3:27 Allen bides time, drives lane and slams SEA 82-64. 2:57 Radmanovic three SEA 85-64.
After three quarters -- Seattle 89, Charlotte 72
4th qtr
11:41 Daniels three SEA 92-72. 10:12 Evans offensive rebound (18th rebound) goes back up and scores SEA 94-75. 8:48 Ridnour to Collison driving lane SEA 98-78. 8:07 Ridnour three SEA 101-80. 6:41 Ridnour jam SEA 104-84. 4:26 Murray turnaround jumper SEA 106-90. 4:09 Daniels gets turnover, gets one-hand jam SEA 108-90.
Final -- Seattle 113, Charlotte 99
Reggie Evans just had the first 20-plus rebound game for the Sonics since Shawn Kemp in 1995.
Frankly, the Sonics did exactly what they were supposed to do in the first half. They shot, and shot very well. The Bobcats also weren't shooting very well, but the Sonics were having their way with the Bobcats on anyone trying to post up (especially the usually decent Primoz Brezec). The Bobcats had some points in the paint, though it was usually Gerald Wallace driving into the lane and laying up.
In the second half, the Sonics had a huge lead to begin with and let loose a bit on their stranglehold, which may or may not be a little disheartening, depending on how you look at it. The Sonics were held to 20 points in the third quarter and 24 in the fourth, while the Sonics allowed quarters of 26 and 27. At least they had a huge lead.
Did Ray Allen have a flu or something? Was he even sick? He sure didn't look it. Vladimir Radmanovic was also feeling it tonight. Rashard Lewis had a solid night. Luke Ridnour had some very nice production as well, and moved the ball pretty well.
He must be scoring some big points with the coaching staff, because it appears that Nick Collison has to be stealing away a good deal of Danny Fortson's minutes. Of course, Collison's foul rate probably isn't in the stratosphere like Fortson's. Collison was whistled for two fouls in his 21 minutes of play, whereas Fortson was also whistled for two fouls. In 3 minutes.
Basically, I liked the way the Sonics defended and scored in the first half. The Bobcats didn't get on any real insane runs or anything, and the Sonics were never really in any danger of losing this one.
But tonight was a night for The Collector. Way to go, Reggie.
PEEK AT THE BOXSCORE
starters
Ray Allen 25 pts/4 reb/5 ast (9-14 FG, 2-6 3pt, 5-7 free throws), Rashard Lewis 18 pts/5 reb/2 ast (5-14 FG, 4-6 3pt, 4-4 free throws), Luke Ridnour 17 pts/2 reb/8 ast (7-10 FG, 2-3 3pt), Reggie Evans 7 pts/21 reb (1-4 FG, 5-6 free throws)
bench
Vladimir Radmanovic 23 pts/2 reb/2 ast (8-16 FG, 5-9 3pt, 33 min), Antonio Daniels 11 pts/2 reb/4 ast (2-5 FG, 1-2 3pt, 6-8 free throws, 24 min), Nick Collison 6 pts/5 reb (3-6 FG, 21 min), Ron Murray 6 pts (3-5 FG, 6 min), Danny Fortson 0 pts (2 fouls, 3 min)
Jerome James Watch
0 pts/1 reb/1 stl/1 blk (0-3 FG, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 10 min)
team
shot 38-for-77 (49.4%) from the field, shot 14-for-26 (53.8%) from downtown, shot 23-for-30 (76.7%) from the line, outrebounded Charlotte 42-35, forced 14 turnovers, were beat 48-32 on points in the paint, won the fast break battle 15-4, bench outscored Charlotte's 46-45 (were outrebounded 10-9)
Look at the Sonics' three-point numbers. Yikes. That's crazy.
About the only thing that was kind of off in the Sonics' game was that they missed a few more free throws than I'm used to, but it's a miniscule problem on this night.
Reggie Evans, my goodness. The dude's really been grabbing the boards lately. In 12 games in the month of January, he grabbed double digits in boards 6 times. In two games this month, he grabbed 15 boards against the Kings and 21 against the Bobcats. I just wish Danny Fortson or someone else could get in on this action and start The Collection Agency.
How about that Ray Allen? If he was sick, it looked like he was only sick of not playing. First game back? Twenty-five points. Why not?
I guess what I like about Luke Ridnour's night tonight isn't only the fact that he moved the ball well, but he shot 7-for-10, and I like that. His shooting was really good and I thought his shot selection was pretty good as well. Nothing looked too forced.
I asked Jinkies whether he's paying attention to what Dan Dickau has been doing for the Hornets lately. His reply: "Good question, little girl. I don't know if there is this heaven, but if there is, every bowl of cat food has much tuna juice sprinkled on its top there."
(final content posted ~10:34p)
Here's what I have for tonight. Ray Allen did start.
1st qtr
11:40 Lewis corner three first basket SEA 3-0. 10:32 wide-open Allen three SEA 6-0. 8:27 Ridnour mid-range SEA 8-3. 6:43 Ridnour long jumper SEA 12-6. 4:41 Allen looks good SEA 18-11. 4:13 Lewis form long SEA 20-11. 2:41 Allen high off the glass SEA 24-14. 1:37 Allen three SEA 29-16. 0:00 Lewis three to end quarter SEA 34-22.
After one quarter -- Seattle 34, Charlotte 22
Well, the Sonics looked good offensively, especially Ray Allen (14 pts), and they held the Bobcats to 22 points. Not bad. It seems to me the Bobcats only hit about four open jumpers in the entire quarter. The Sonics seemed to especially be doing a good job on Charlotte's big men down low, but Gerald Wallace was having some luck driving to the basket.
2nd qtr
10:46 Radmanovic three SEA 39-24. 9:36 Brezec fouled, misses shot, Bobcats had hit 5 straight. 6:17 Radmanovic three SEA 49-32. 5:17 Radmanovic three SEA 54-35. 3:56 Lewis three SEA 57-37. 3:12 Allen running righty SEA 59-37. 2:24 Ridnour baseline runner SEA 61-37. 1:16 Radmanovic three SEA 65-41 (18 pts). 0:37.4 Ridnour beats clock with three SEA 68-43.
At half -- Seattle 69, Charlotte 46
Well, simply put, the Sonics shot the crap out of the ball, and the Bobcats aren't that good. The Sonics were able to force some turnovers, which they've been having trouble doing as of late. Ray Allen looks great (it sucks to be Ron Murray), and Vladimir Radmanovic has led the three-point assault, as the Sonics have been going nuts from just about all areas of the floor on the offensive end. Reggie Evans also had his usual bunch of rebounds. Luke Ridnour had a decent showing of midrange jumpers and teardrop layups.
3rd qtr
9:05 Ridnour double-pump in lane SEA 71-48. 8:05 Ridnour midrange SEA 75-52. 6:10 Bobcats 9-2 run. 4:04 Lewis three SEA 80-63. 3:27 Allen bides time, drives lane and slams SEA 82-64. 2:57 Radmanovic three SEA 85-64.
After three quarters -- Seattle 89, Charlotte 72
4th qtr
11:41 Daniels three SEA 92-72. 10:12 Evans offensive rebound (18th rebound) goes back up and scores SEA 94-75. 8:48 Ridnour to Collison driving lane SEA 98-78. 8:07 Ridnour three SEA 101-80. 6:41 Ridnour jam SEA 104-84. 4:26 Murray turnaround jumper SEA 106-90. 4:09 Daniels gets turnover, gets one-hand jam SEA 108-90.
Final -- Seattle 113, Charlotte 99
Reggie Evans just had the first 20-plus rebound game for the Sonics since Shawn Kemp in 1995.
Frankly, the Sonics did exactly what they were supposed to do in the first half. They shot, and shot very well. The Bobcats also weren't shooting very well, but the Sonics were having their way with the Bobcats on anyone trying to post up (especially the usually decent Primoz Brezec). The Bobcats had some points in the paint, though it was usually Gerald Wallace driving into the lane and laying up.
In the second half, the Sonics had a huge lead to begin with and let loose a bit on their stranglehold, which may or may not be a little disheartening, depending on how you look at it. The Sonics were held to 20 points in the third quarter and 24 in the fourth, while the Sonics allowed quarters of 26 and 27. At least they had a huge lead.
Did Ray Allen have a flu or something? Was he even sick? He sure didn't look it. Vladimir Radmanovic was also feeling it tonight. Rashard Lewis had a solid night. Luke Ridnour had some very nice production as well, and moved the ball pretty well.
He must be scoring some big points with the coaching staff, because it appears that Nick Collison has to be stealing away a good deal of Danny Fortson's minutes. Of course, Collison's foul rate probably isn't in the stratosphere like Fortson's. Collison was whistled for two fouls in his 21 minutes of play, whereas Fortson was also whistled for two fouls. In 3 minutes.
Basically, I liked the way the Sonics defended and scored in the first half. The Bobcats didn't get on any real insane runs or anything, and the Sonics were never really in any danger of losing this one.
But tonight was a night for The Collector. Way to go, Reggie.
PEEK AT THE BOXSCORE
starters
Ray Allen 25 pts/4 reb/5 ast (9-14 FG, 2-6 3pt, 5-7 free throws), Rashard Lewis 18 pts/5 reb/2 ast (5-14 FG, 4-6 3pt, 4-4 free throws), Luke Ridnour 17 pts/2 reb/8 ast (7-10 FG, 2-3 3pt), Reggie Evans 7 pts/21 reb (1-4 FG, 5-6 free throws)
bench
Vladimir Radmanovic 23 pts/2 reb/2 ast (8-16 FG, 5-9 3pt, 33 min), Antonio Daniels 11 pts/2 reb/4 ast (2-5 FG, 1-2 3pt, 6-8 free throws, 24 min), Nick Collison 6 pts/5 reb (3-6 FG, 21 min), Ron Murray 6 pts (3-5 FG, 6 min), Danny Fortson 0 pts (2 fouls, 3 min)
Jerome James Watch
0 pts/1 reb/1 stl/1 blk (0-3 FG, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 10 min)
team
shot 38-for-77 (49.4%) from the field, shot 14-for-26 (53.8%) from downtown, shot 23-for-30 (76.7%) from the line, outrebounded Charlotte 42-35, forced 14 turnovers, were beat 48-32 on points in the paint, won the fast break battle 15-4, bench outscored Charlotte's 46-45 (were outrebounded 10-9)
Look at the Sonics' three-point numbers. Yikes. That's crazy.
About the only thing that was kind of off in the Sonics' game was that they missed a few more free throws than I'm used to, but it's a miniscule problem on this night.
Reggie Evans, my goodness. The dude's really been grabbing the boards lately. In 12 games in the month of January, he grabbed double digits in boards 6 times. In two games this month, he grabbed 15 boards against the Kings and 21 against the Bobcats. I just wish Danny Fortson or someone else could get in on this action and start The Collection Agency.
How about that Ray Allen? If he was sick, it looked like he was only sick of not playing. First game back? Twenty-five points. Why not?
I guess what I like about Luke Ridnour's night tonight isn't only the fact that he moved the ball well, but he shot 7-for-10, and I like that. His shooting was really good and I thought his shot selection was pretty good as well. Nothing looked too forced.
I asked Jinkies whether he's paying attention to what Dan Dickau has been doing for the Hornets lately. His reply: "Good question, little girl. I don't know if there is this heaven, but if there is, every bowl of cat food has much tuna juice sprinkled on its top there."
/ Click for main page
SICKMAN
Welcome to Saturday.
You know what sucks? Being sick. (Right here, Mitch Hedberg would say, "dude, you did not give me time to guess!") I was sick really bad one day last year at Central, and I missed a day of class, but absolutely felt horrible. It was definitely not a "I kinda don't feel well. Aw, screw it, I'll take the day off" sick day. This was a pounding headache, total loss of will to live, please-just-let-me-sleep sort of sick day. Where am I at right now? I've got a congested throat. Back in baseball tryouts in 10th grade, I had some sort of phlegmy throat that week, and I wasn't spitting sunflower seeds, I'll tell you that much.
Okay, that was the random note.
Here's the usual...
MARINERS
We're about 11 days from pitchers and catchers reporting. That of course is followed by the short period where we're itching to have the full squad report. That, in turn, will be followed by endless cries of, "is the regular season here yet?"
It can't come soon enough.
SEAHAWKS
Mike Reinfeldt is back and has immediately jumped into the fire. The Seahawks have a ton of work to do, and Reinfeldt has to help get the Seahawks get back on track concerning free agency and establishing contact to several player agents. The task at hand now is to establish priority among the free agents, and I guess divide and conquer. Or just conquer. Reinfeldt does put some stock in getting the ball rolling though, and signing the first guy may start a domino effect. Holmgren certainly likes having Reinfeldt back.
Also, Rob Brzezinski and Tom Lewand have apparently taken their names out of the hat to replace Bob Whitsitt as team president. Mike Holmgren is also apparently in the final stages of finding another special teams coach. Seriously, I still can't believe that the Seahawks' special teams somehow got worse this past year than it was in 2003. That's incredible.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
The Tar Heels travel to Tallahassee to face Florida State tomorrow (11a, FSNNW) and then have that game at Duke on Wednesday (6p, ESPN)
Huskies
The Huskies will try for the umpteenth time to beat UCLA. If they don't Cameron Dollar just may lose his mind. In that Raley column, much ink is spent on former Capital center and present Bruin Michael Fey. No, not that one.
Also, Oregon says that Gary Coleman will not be flown in for Thursday's game as rumored.
The Huskies host UCLA today (2p, FSNNW) and travel into the Pit on Thursday to face Oregon (7:30p, FSNNW)
Bulldogs
The Zags host Santa Clara today (3p, KONG 6/16 Seattle, Q6 NBC Spokane) and travel to Malibu to face Pepperdine on Thursday (8p, ESPN2)
Sonics
Ray Allen practiced yesterday morning. Consensus was that he looked in pretty good shape. My goodness, the Bobcats beat the Jazz in Utah without Emeka Okafor? Yikes.
Yeah, Rashard Lewis is going to get snubbed. Just a feeling.
Upcoming...
Tonight vs. Charlotte (7p, FSNNW)
Tuesday vs. New Orleans (7p, FSNNW)
Thursday vs. Sacramento (7:30p, TNT)
HOCKEY
Portland beat Seattle 7-4. A little more than a month ago, Braydon Coburn got a gold medal for Team Canada at the World Juniors. Last night, he got the golden sombrero for the Portland Winter Hawks. Coburn scored three times on the power play and another time on the empty net to beat the T-Birds for Portland's fifth straight win. The T-Birds actually had this game tied at 1-1 thanks to a Denis Tolpeko goal before Coburn, Brandon Dubinsky, and Darrell May scored for Portland on the power play in the second period. The T-Birds got to within one in the third period on goals by David Linsley and Aaron Gagnon before Brian Woolger and Coburn answered. Chris Durand's goal was also answered by the Coburn empty-netter. Portland peppered Bryan Bridges with 40 shots, and he stopped 34. Blake Grenier stopped 19 of the 23 Seattle shots. Amazingly, Coburn was a minus-1 in this game.
Everett beat Spokane 2-1. Tyler Dietrich scored in the first period, Jonathon Harty scored in the second period, and then the 'Tips had to hold on. The Chiefs got to within one, but no closer. Everett was outshot 23-22, and Mike Wall stopped 22.
Vancouver beat Swift Current 6-2. The Broncos actually had a 2-1 lead in this game in the second period. Paul Albers tied it for the Giants, who followed up by scoring four times in the third period to pull away. Mitch Bartley scored the first and last Vancouver goals, and Gilbert Brule, Adam Courchaine, and JD Watt scored the first three Giant goals in the third period. Vancouver outshot Swift Current 31-21, and Marek Schwarz stopped 19 for the Giants.
San Antonio beat Manitoba 3-2 in a shootout. The Moose lost another shootout. Of course, having Lee Goren score with 1.5 seconds left in regulation with an extra attacker on the ice to send it to overtime in the first place is nice. Jason King scored to get the Moose an early lead, which then changed hands. There were only four combined shots in the overtime, and the Moose didn't score once in four tries in the shootout. The Moose outshot the Rampage 28-27, and Alex Auld stopped 24 in net.
Puget Sound beat Spokane 3-1. Mike Truex's 32nd goal of the season came with 1:05 left in the third period, breaking a tie and holding up for the game-winner. Corey Coxon added an empty-netter to seal it. Zac Gosteli scored his first goal of the year in the first period. Puget Sound outshot Spokane 55-20, and Iggy Slepokourev stopped 19 for the Tomahawks.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Seattle at Everett, Vancouver at Lethbridge, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
Tuesday: Kootenay at Portland, Vancouver at Medicine Hat
Wednesday: Spokane at Seattle, Kelowna at Everett, Vancouver at Calgary
Friday: Tri-City at Everett, Spokane at Portland, Manitoba at Saint John's, Portland at Puget Sound
---
Have a jolly Saturday, everyone.
You know what sucks? Being sick. (Right here, Mitch Hedberg would say, "dude, you did not give me time to guess!") I was sick really bad one day last year at Central, and I missed a day of class, but absolutely felt horrible. It was definitely not a "I kinda don't feel well. Aw, screw it, I'll take the day off" sick day. This was a pounding headache, total loss of will to live, please-just-let-me-sleep sort of sick day. Where am I at right now? I've got a congested throat. Back in baseball tryouts in 10th grade, I had some sort of phlegmy throat that week, and I wasn't spitting sunflower seeds, I'll tell you that much.
Okay, that was the random note.
Here's the usual...
MARINERS
We're about 11 days from pitchers and catchers reporting. That of course is followed by the short period where we're itching to have the full squad report. That, in turn, will be followed by endless cries of, "is the regular season here yet?"
It can't come soon enough.
SEAHAWKS
Mike Reinfeldt is back and has immediately jumped into the fire. The Seahawks have a ton of work to do, and Reinfeldt has to help get the Seahawks get back on track concerning free agency and establishing contact to several player agents. The task at hand now is to establish priority among the free agents, and I guess divide and conquer. Or just conquer. Reinfeldt does put some stock in getting the ball rolling though, and signing the first guy may start a domino effect. Holmgren certainly likes having Reinfeldt back.
Also, Rob Brzezinski and Tom Lewand have apparently taken their names out of the hat to replace Bob Whitsitt as team president. Mike Holmgren is also apparently in the final stages of finding another special teams coach. Seriously, I still can't believe that the Seahawks' special teams somehow got worse this past year than it was in 2003. That's incredible.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
The Tar Heels travel to Tallahassee to face Florida State tomorrow (11a, FSNNW) and then have that game at Duke on Wednesday (6p, ESPN)
Huskies
The Huskies will try for the umpteenth time to beat UCLA. If they don't Cameron Dollar just may lose his mind. In that Raley column, much ink is spent on former Capital center and present Bruin Michael Fey. No, not that one.
Also, Oregon says that Gary Coleman will not be flown in for Thursday's game as rumored.
The Huskies host UCLA today (2p, FSNNW) and travel into the Pit on Thursday to face Oregon (7:30p, FSNNW)
Bulldogs
The Zags host Santa Clara today (3p, KONG 6/16 Seattle, Q6 NBC Spokane) and travel to Malibu to face Pepperdine on Thursday (8p, ESPN2)
Sonics
Ray Allen practiced yesterday morning. Consensus was that he looked in pretty good shape. My goodness, the Bobcats beat the Jazz in Utah without Emeka Okafor? Yikes.
Yeah, Rashard Lewis is going to get snubbed. Just a feeling.
Upcoming...
Tonight vs. Charlotte (7p, FSNNW)
Tuesday vs. New Orleans (7p, FSNNW)
Thursday vs. Sacramento (7:30p, TNT)
HOCKEY
Portland beat Seattle 7-4. A little more than a month ago, Braydon Coburn got a gold medal for Team Canada at the World Juniors. Last night, he got the golden sombrero for the Portland Winter Hawks. Coburn scored three times on the power play and another time on the empty net to beat the T-Birds for Portland's fifth straight win. The T-Birds actually had this game tied at 1-1 thanks to a Denis Tolpeko goal before Coburn, Brandon Dubinsky, and Darrell May scored for Portland on the power play in the second period. The T-Birds got to within one in the third period on goals by David Linsley and Aaron Gagnon before Brian Woolger and Coburn answered. Chris Durand's goal was also answered by the Coburn empty-netter. Portland peppered Bryan Bridges with 40 shots, and he stopped 34. Blake Grenier stopped 19 of the 23 Seattle shots. Amazingly, Coburn was a minus-1 in this game.
Everett beat Spokane 2-1. Tyler Dietrich scored in the first period, Jonathon Harty scored in the second period, and then the 'Tips had to hold on. The Chiefs got to within one, but no closer. Everett was outshot 23-22, and Mike Wall stopped 22.
Vancouver beat Swift Current 6-2. The Broncos actually had a 2-1 lead in this game in the second period. Paul Albers tied it for the Giants, who followed up by scoring four times in the third period to pull away. Mitch Bartley scored the first and last Vancouver goals, and Gilbert Brule, Adam Courchaine, and JD Watt scored the first three Giant goals in the third period. Vancouver outshot Swift Current 31-21, and Marek Schwarz stopped 19 for the Giants.
San Antonio beat Manitoba 3-2 in a shootout. The Moose lost another shootout. Of course, having Lee Goren score with 1.5 seconds left in regulation with an extra attacker on the ice to send it to overtime in the first place is nice. Jason King scored to get the Moose an early lead, which then changed hands. There were only four combined shots in the overtime, and the Moose didn't score once in four tries in the shootout. The Moose outshot the Rampage 28-27, and Alex Auld stopped 24 in net.
Puget Sound beat Spokane 3-1. Mike Truex's 32nd goal of the season came with 1:05 left in the third period, breaking a tie and holding up for the game-winner. Corey Coxon added an empty-netter to seal it. Zac Gosteli scored his first goal of the year in the first period. Puget Sound outshot Spokane 55-20, and Iggy Slepokourev stopped 19 for the Tomahawks.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Seattle at Everett, Vancouver at Lethbridge, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
Tuesday: Kootenay at Portland, Vancouver at Medicine Hat
Wednesday: Spokane at Seattle, Kelowna at Everett, Vancouver at Calgary
Friday: Tri-City at Everett, Spokane at Portland, Manitoba at Saint John's, Portland at Puget Sound
---
Have a jolly Saturday, everyone.
/ Click for main page
Friday, February 04, 2005
AND THE JACKSONVILLE BASHING CONTINUES
Art Thiel hops on the "Bash Jacksonville" wagon...
Bremerton with a stadium
If Bremerton were to host the Super Bowl, they could use the old mothballed Navy ships as hotels. The ships couldn't be any worse than staying at the Howard Johnson out by Highway 3. We wouldn't want any of the good people visiting Bremerton for Super Bowl LIV to have to stay in Gorst or Belfair (shudder).
Beautify Bremerton!
Bremerton with a stadium
If Bremerton were to host the Super Bowl, they could use the old mothballed Navy ships as hotels. The ships couldn't be any worse than staying at the Howard Johnson out by Highway 3. We wouldn't want any of the good people visiting Bremerton for Super Bowl LIV to have to stay in Gorst or Belfair (shudder).
Beautify Bremerton!
/ Click for main page
FRI'D
Welcome to Friday. The end of the work week is on upon us, or for jobless blokes like myself, the TV programming just changes a bit after today.
For the random note today, it's a discussion of cola. I've always maintained that I've noticed a difference between Coca-Cola and Pepsi, and I don't need to take the Pepsi Challenge to notice it. I'll still drink either one with no real preference. The difference to me is that Pepsi is smoother, sweeter, and goes down easier, whereas Coke is a bit stronger, more caffeinated, and leaches into the tongue more. Also, if you pour Coke in a glass or plastic cup and somehow forget about it, you might notice some strands of brown stuff (maybe the caffeine, maybe some caramel syrup polymers bonding with something) that weakly adhere near the high-liquid mark as a sort of residue. I don't think Pepsi really does this that much. I guess my conclusion is that I can get tired of Coke after having too much of it, but I'm not sure I've ever come to the conclusion that I've had too much Pepsi. That might be because from all accounts I've heard, Pepsi isn't as caffeinated as Coke.
So there's your Pepsi vs. Coke debate, two days before Super Bowl Sunday. I hope some of you out there might have gotten something out of it.
To the usual...
MARINERS
Here's the Times chat session with Bob Finnigan, Larry Stone, and some Mariner fans tossing questions around. Yes, the Griffey question was in there, but it was a very short section even though Finnigan was the one that answered it.
But I agree with Stone definitely on one thing, and that's it's unrealistic to expect this team to win the division. Not just because the team basically didn't touch their pitching, but because for any amount of reasons, expecting a team to pick up 22-32 games from one season to the next is a whole lot to ask. Twenty-two wins up from last year would put the Mariners at 85 wins, and I think that'd be nuts to expect from this team unless a whole bunch of things go right and everyone stays healthy. That said, I think I'm going with 77 wins for this team, and I think .500 is a solid season for this team. But if they start 42-19 like a certain team I remember (two years ago), then all bets are off and the expectations change. Or I would just hate to be right when it leveled off.
SEAHAWKS
Mike Holmgren just got a little more comfortable. Though there isn't a president yet, Mike Reinfeldt, Holmgren's cap guy and instrumental contract negotiator until last year, is back in the fold. His title is as yet undetermined, due to the fact that a president is not in place. Until then, he is a consultant, effective immediately. At the very least, as Farnsworth suggests in the article, it gives at least some semblance of results in terms of things actually happening in terms of hirings in the front office. The opposite of things getting done by the front office was speculated a couple days ago by Shaun Alexander. Says Reinfeldt, "I care about this franchise and want to help. This is a labor of love." I'm sure Randy Mueller thinks the same exact thing. I like that Mike Holmgren will be that much less ticked off about the situation, though I hope there's no stepping on toes between him and the cap guy that came in after him, Jay Nienkark.
Also in a weird note, Grant Wistrom and mother Kathy will be on the Jane Pauley Show at 2:30am late tonight (KOMO 4 in the Seattle area), during which I'll probably be busy typing up another one of these posts. This of course raises the interesting question, why does Jane Pauley have her own show?
It also occurred to me that I just called the above Wistrom-related thing weird, but left untouched the fact that Efren Herrera is at the Super Bowl for Univision. It's too bad Sunday is Domingo in the Spanish language, because I wanted to use that Sabado VERY Gigante phrase that I've been itching to use for the longest time. Late-night Univision soap operas are great, but I turn them off so I get these posts done faster.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
Bremerton 2004 graduate Marvin Williams didn't have to fake the funk on that nasty dunk. He had scored in double figures before halftime and ended up with a career-high (okay, it's only been a few months) 20 points in the Tar Heels' 95-71 shellacking of NC State. Marvin shot 5-for-8 from the field, nailed 3 of 4 from beyond the arc, and shot 7-for-8 from the free-throw line. He also chipped in 5 rebounds and a steal in 23 minutes of play off the bench. Not bad for recovering from the flu. Marvin is averaging 11.2 points and 6.8 rebounds a game. Inflate the stats to 40 minutes, and he's averaging 20.6 points and 12.4 rebounds a game. Yes, I know he won't be playing 40 minutes a night on a regular basis this year.
The Tar Heels travel to Tallahassee to face Florida State on Sunday (11a, FSNNW) and then have that game at Duke on Wednesday (6p, ESPN)
Huskies
In short, the Trojans led for the first 8:33 of the game until Jamaal Williams came off the bench, went nuts, and the Huskies pulled away for the 99-69 win. Oh yeah, Tre Simmons had a career-high 29 as well. It's a good thing the two Seattle dailies have devoted three articles to this, because last night's game wasn't televised by FSNNW or by any local outlet. Yes, a Pac-10 game between USC and the local Huskies was not seen by a great majority of people in the area. As Jeremy reminded me last night, a Division III basketball game was televised on the ESPN family of networks last night. In case I need to reiterate that, USC/Washington wasn't televised on a Thursday night, but a Division III basketball game was.
The Huskies host UCLA tomorrow (2p, FSNNW) and travel into the Pit on Thursday to face Oregon (7:30p, FSNNW)
Bulldogs
Both JP Batista and Erroll Knight had off nights, but the Zags were able to give the Gaels some payback with a 68-63 win. Saint Mary's led by 12 at the half, but the Bulldogs held them to two baskets in the final 12 minutes of play. Derek Raivio and Adam Morrison each scored 19, and Ronny Turiaf scored 14 and pulled down 8 rebounds. Those three players accounted for the obvious bulk of Gonzaga's points (52 of 68).
The Zags host Santa Clara tomorrow (3p, KONG 6/16 Seattle, Q6 NBC Spokane) and travel to Malibu to face Pepperdine on Thursday (8p, ESPN2)
Sonics
I'm a day late or so posting this, but site reader better known as SuperSonics.com writer Kevin Pelton has rolled out Part Three of four in his series "The Sonics Play Moneyball." In this installment, one featured item is a little computer program spearheaded by now-Assistant GM Rick Cho called Sonics Explorer, and the stats are usually in per-minute basis, or multiples thereof, rather than per-game.
Your Seattle SuperSonics. Learning to defend again. Okay, maybe just doing some more defensive drills in practice. The Sonics had a mediocre January but began February with a much-needed road win against the Kings.
As for Saturday's game, Coach McMillan isn't expected to be back until the day after, and Ray Allen (sinus infection) will be a game-time decision. Vladimir Radmanovic will be in the three-point contest at the All-Star Game, and Lenny Wilkens apparently will be on the FSN crew.
Of course, I'm expecting Radmanovic to finish dead-last in the three-point shooting contest. Why? I guess it's a long history of seeing my local athletes or teams bite it on the national stage, be it the Sonics against Phoenix this year, the Seahawks against a bunch of teams this year, and even Bret Boone's goose egg during the Derby back in 2001. Of course, you could counter that Desmond Mason won the slam dunk contest as a Sonic.
Upcoming...
Saturday vs. Charlotte (7p, FSNNW)
Tuesday vs. New Orleans (7p, FSNNW)
Thursday vs. Sacramento (7:30p, TNT)
HOCKEY
Not all of the NHL's players went to Europe to keep in playing shape during the lockout. Some stayed in North America. Other than some players who still had AHL ties and were call-ups for their NHL teams (for instance, Ryan Kesler, Jason King, and Alex Auld of the Canucks are playing for Manitoba), some have gone deeper into the reaches of minor-league hockey.
ECHL
Scott Gomez of the Devils (Alaska Aces) -- Gomez unsurprisingly is leading the team in scoring with 7 goals and 44 assists in 36 games.
Curtis Brown of the Blackhawks (San Diego Gulls) -- Brown has 6 goals and 18 assists in 29 games for the Gulls.
Central HL
Brad Lukowich of the Lightning (Fort Worth Brahmas) -- A key cog of the Lightning's Stanley Cup run played nine games with the Brahmas and had 3 goals and 3 assists.
United HL
Chris Chelios, Derian Hatcher, and Kris Draper of the Red Wings (Motor City Mechanics) -- These three just signed.
Barret Jackman and Ryan Johnson of the Blues (Missouri River Otters) -- These two players just signed.
Back to some WHL news...
The T-Birds' defensemen are now looking to get some points. He had a four-point weekend against Everett and Kamloops last weekend.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Portland at Seattle, Everett at Spokane, Vancouver at Swift Current, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
Tomorrow: Seattle at Everett, Vancouver at Lethbridge, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
Tuesday: Kootenay at Portland, Vancouver at Medicine Hat
Wednesday: Spokane at Seattle, Kelowna at Everett, Vancouver at Calgary
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Have a great Friday, everyone, and enjoy your weekend, and be safe on Sunday and stuff.
For the random note today, it's a discussion of cola. I've always maintained that I've noticed a difference between Coca-Cola and Pepsi, and I don't need to take the Pepsi Challenge to notice it. I'll still drink either one with no real preference. The difference to me is that Pepsi is smoother, sweeter, and goes down easier, whereas Coke is a bit stronger, more caffeinated, and leaches into the tongue more. Also, if you pour Coke in a glass or plastic cup and somehow forget about it, you might notice some strands of brown stuff (maybe the caffeine, maybe some caramel syrup polymers bonding with something) that weakly adhere near the high-liquid mark as a sort of residue. I don't think Pepsi really does this that much. I guess my conclusion is that I can get tired of Coke after having too much of it, but I'm not sure I've ever come to the conclusion that I've had too much Pepsi. That might be because from all accounts I've heard, Pepsi isn't as caffeinated as Coke.
So there's your Pepsi vs. Coke debate, two days before Super Bowl Sunday. I hope some of you out there might have gotten something out of it.
To the usual...
MARINERS
Here's the Times chat session with Bob Finnigan, Larry Stone, and some Mariner fans tossing questions around. Yes, the Griffey question was in there, but it was a very short section even though Finnigan was the one that answered it.
But I agree with Stone definitely on one thing, and that's it's unrealistic to expect this team to win the division. Not just because the team basically didn't touch their pitching, but because for any amount of reasons, expecting a team to pick up 22-32 games from one season to the next is a whole lot to ask. Twenty-two wins up from last year would put the Mariners at 85 wins, and I think that'd be nuts to expect from this team unless a whole bunch of things go right and everyone stays healthy. That said, I think I'm going with 77 wins for this team, and I think .500 is a solid season for this team. But if they start 42-19 like a certain team I remember (two years ago), then all bets are off and the expectations change. Or I would just hate to be right when it leveled off.
SEAHAWKS
Mike Holmgren just got a little more comfortable. Though there isn't a president yet, Mike Reinfeldt, Holmgren's cap guy and instrumental contract negotiator until last year, is back in the fold. His title is as yet undetermined, due to the fact that a president is not in place. Until then, he is a consultant, effective immediately. At the very least, as Farnsworth suggests in the article, it gives at least some semblance of results in terms of things actually happening in terms of hirings in the front office. The opposite of things getting done by the front office was speculated a couple days ago by Shaun Alexander. Says Reinfeldt, "I care about this franchise and want to help. This is a labor of love." I'm sure Randy Mueller thinks the same exact thing. I like that Mike Holmgren will be that much less ticked off about the situation, though I hope there's no stepping on toes between him and the cap guy that came in after him, Jay Nienkark.
Also in a weird note, Grant Wistrom and mother Kathy will be on the Jane Pauley Show at 2:30am late tonight (KOMO 4 in the Seattle area), during which I'll probably be busy typing up another one of these posts. This of course raises the interesting question, why does Jane Pauley have her own show?
It also occurred to me that I just called the above Wistrom-related thing weird, but left untouched the fact that Efren Herrera is at the Super Bowl for Univision. It's too bad Sunday is Domingo in the Spanish language, because I wanted to use that Sabado VERY Gigante phrase that I've been itching to use for the longest time. Late-night Univision soap operas are great, but I turn them off so I get these posts done faster.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
Bremerton 2004 graduate Marvin Williams didn't have to fake the funk on that nasty dunk. He had scored in double figures before halftime and ended up with a career-high (okay, it's only been a few months) 20 points in the Tar Heels' 95-71 shellacking of NC State. Marvin shot 5-for-8 from the field, nailed 3 of 4 from beyond the arc, and shot 7-for-8 from the free-throw line. He also chipped in 5 rebounds and a steal in 23 minutes of play off the bench. Not bad for recovering from the flu. Marvin is averaging 11.2 points and 6.8 rebounds a game. Inflate the stats to 40 minutes, and he's averaging 20.6 points and 12.4 rebounds a game. Yes, I know he won't be playing 40 minutes a night on a regular basis this year.
The Tar Heels travel to Tallahassee to face Florida State on Sunday (11a, FSNNW) and then have that game at Duke on Wednesday (6p, ESPN)
Huskies
In short, the Trojans led for the first 8:33 of the game until Jamaal Williams came off the bench, went nuts, and the Huskies pulled away for the 99-69 win. Oh yeah, Tre Simmons had a career-high 29 as well. It's a good thing the two Seattle dailies have devoted three articles to this, because last night's game wasn't televised by FSNNW or by any local outlet. Yes, a Pac-10 game between USC and the local Huskies was not seen by a great majority of people in the area. As Jeremy reminded me last night, a Division III basketball game was televised on the ESPN family of networks last night. In case I need to reiterate that, USC/Washington wasn't televised on a Thursday night, but a Division III basketball game was.
The Huskies host UCLA tomorrow (2p, FSNNW) and travel into the Pit on Thursday to face Oregon (7:30p, FSNNW)
Bulldogs
Both JP Batista and Erroll Knight had off nights, but the Zags were able to give the Gaels some payback with a 68-63 win. Saint Mary's led by 12 at the half, but the Bulldogs held them to two baskets in the final 12 minutes of play. Derek Raivio and Adam Morrison each scored 19, and Ronny Turiaf scored 14 and pulled down 8 rebounds. Those three players accounted for the obvious bulk of Gonzaga's points (52 of 68).
The Zags host Santa Clara tomorrow (3p, KONG 6/16 Seattle, Q6 NBC Spokane) and travel to Malibu to face Pepperdine on Thursday (8p, ESPN2)
Sonics
I'm a day late or so posting this, but site reader better known as SuperSonics.com writer Kevin Pelton has rolled out Part Three of four in his series "The Sonics Play Moneyball." In this installment, one featured item is a little computer program spearheaded by now-Assistant GM Rick Cho called Sonics Explorer, and the stats are usually in per-minute basis, or multiples thereof, rather than per-game.
Your Seattle SuperSonics. Learning to defend again. Okay, maybe just doing some more defensive drills in practice. The Sonics had a mediocre January but began February with a much-needed road win against the Kings.
As for Saturday's game, Coach McMillan isn't expected to be back until the day after, and Ray Allen (sinus infection) will be a game-time decision. Vladimir Radmanovic will be in the three-point contest at the All-Star Game, and Lenny Wilkens apparently will be on the FSN crew.
Of course, I'm expecting Radmanovic to finish dead-last in the three-point shooting contest. Why? I guess it's a long history of seeing my local athletes or teams bite it on the national stage, be it the Sonics against Phoenix this year, the Seahawks against a bunch of teams this year, and even Bret Boone's goose egg during the Derby back in 2001. Of course, you could counter that Desmond Mason won the slam dunk contest as a Sonic.
Upcoming...
Saturday vs. Charlotte (7p, FSNNW)
Tuesday vs. New Orleans (7p, FSNNW)
Thursday vs. Sacramento (7:30p, TNT)
HOCKEY
Not all of the NHL's players went to Europe to keep in playing shape during the lockout. Some stayed in North America. Other than some players who still had AHL ties and were call-ups for their NHL teams (for instance, Ryan Kesler, Jason King, and Alex Auld of the Canucks are playing for Manitoba), some have gone deeper into the reaches of minor-league hockey.
ECHL
Scott Gomez of the Devils (Alaska Aces) -- Gomez unsurprisingly is leading the team in scoring with 7 goals and 44 assists in 36 games.
Curtis Brown of the Blackhawks (San Diego Gulls) -- Brown has 6 goals and 18 assists in 29 games for the Gulls.
Central HL
Brad Lukowich of the Lightning (Fort Worth Brahmas) -- A key cog of the Lightning's Stanley Cup run played nine games with the Brahmas and had 3 goals and 3 assists.
United HL
Chris Chelios, Derian Hatcher, and Kris Draper of the Red Wings (Motor City Mechanics) -- These three just signed.
Barret Jackman and Ryan Johnson of the Blues (Missouri River Otters) -- These two players just signed.
Back to some WHL news...
The T-Birds' defensemen are now looking to get some points. He had a four-point weekend against Everett and Kamloops last weekend.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Portland at Seattle, Everett at Spokane, Vancouver at Swift Current, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
Tomorrow: Seattle at Everett, Vancouver at Lethbridge, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
Tuesday: Kootenay at Portland, Vancouver at Medicine Hat
Wednesday: Spokane at Seattle, Kelowna at Everett, Vancouver at Calgary
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Have a great Friday, everyone, and enjoy your weekend, and be safe on Sunday and stuff.
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Thursday, February 03, 2005
DONE
Since it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that the NHL will not take the ice this season, I'm trying to look for the few reasons, if any, as to how this might actually be a good thing.
For now, I can only think of one reason.
I won't have to see the following two things until at least October or so of this year.
Ugh. Just gross. The first one incorporates red, which isn't even in the Stars' color scheme, and the second...it pretty much looks like some kind of vile excrement.
Some of these teams need to call me before they start making these uniforms in any large quantity. I can be to them what John Kalodner is to Aerosmith.
For now, I can only think of one reason.
I won't have to see the following two things until at least October or so of this year.
Ugh. Just gross. The first one incorporates red, which isn't even in the Stars' color scheme, and the second...it pretty much looks like some kind of vile excrement.
Some of these teams need to call me before they start making these uniforms in any large quantity. I can be to them what John Kalodner is to Aerosmith.
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JEREMY'S TAKE ON SUPER BOWL XXXIX
Let's just get this post out of the way now, because it's very fresh in my mind. Oh, and I also have this little thing called "time" right now. Over the past 3 weeks, I haven't had "time" to do a whole hell of a lot. So there you go.
Super Bowl XXXIX, or for the ignorant readers out there, Super Bowl 39.
Jacksonville, Florida. Not Jacksonville, Arkansas or Jacksonville, Oregon. Did you know that the motto for Jacksonville, Oregon is "Always A Good Time"? Maybe somebody should have told the NFL this before they chose Jacksonville to host Super Bowl XXXIX.
By the way, I've been to Jacksonville, Oregon before, and trust me, it's not even fit for a NWAACC Tournament. Sorry, Jacksonvillians in the Beaver State. Yes, I just said "Jacksonvillians". Somehow, I don't think that term will appear in any Jacksonville-related chamber of commerce promotions, whether it be in Florida, Oregon, or Arkansas.
Enough about Jacksonville, because the NFL isn't going to pack it up and move the game to Tampa at this point of time.
What would my gameplan be for Super Bowl XXXIX between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles?
The Patriots Gameplan
---Pressure Donovan McNabb. Keep him in the pocket as much as possible.
---Be physical with the Eagles' receivers. Terrell Owens isn't fully healthy, Todd Pinkston is still Todd Pinkston, and Freddie Mitchell isn't nearly as great as his hype.
---Get ahead early. Do that, and run Corey Dillon to death.
The Eagles Gameplan
---Force Tom Brady to commit turnovers. The Eagles secondary can make plays.
---Do not fall behind the Patriots. They can't play catch-up with a team like the Patriots, because the Eagles receivers aren't going to get it done. Hell, Jeff Thomason, who was signed by the Eagles to take Chad Lewis' place on the roster, has been working in construction for the entire season up until now.
---Hold onto the football. The Patriots are notorious for forcing turnovers and not allowing teams to get back into the game. The Eagles can ill afford to cough up the football.
So those are my gameplans for both the Patriots and Eagles.
I don't believe that Terrell Owens will play the entire game on Sunday. Sure, it's a valiant effort for him to come back and play. But at the same time, he's not nearly the same player he was before he got hurt. Spare me all of this "an 85 percent T.O. is better than a 100 percent receiver" b.s.
I like Tom Brady's chances at earning a 3rd Super Bowl MVP award. You know what I love about Brady? The man seldomly commits mistakes. He also wins. Oh, how I would love to have Matt Hasselbeck exhibit some of those same qualities.
I've been a believer in the Patriots since October 17, when they beat the Seahawks. Rocky had that eye of the tiger. Tom Petty had that ability to write great rock songs. The Patriots have that fire to win football games.
Who will hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy on Sunday night?
New England 38, Philadelphia 13
Super Bowl MVP: Tom Brady, New England (Yes, it's the safe pick. I know.)
As long as Paul McCartney doesn't take off his shirt on Sunday, I think we'll be fine. Oh, and anybody care to wager on how many Wings songs (or at least parts of) he will perform? Over/under is at 3.
The Super Bowl, America's greatest one-day spectacle. Maybe one day, my team will be playing in the damn game. Next year, hopefully.
Super Bowl XXXIX, or for the ignorant readers out there, Super Bowl 39.
Jacksonville, Florida. Not Jacksonville, Arkansas or Jacksonville, Oregon. Did you know that the motto for Jacksonville, Oregon is "Always A Good Time"? Maybe somebody should have told the NFL this before they chose Jacksonville to host Super Bowl XXXIX.
By the way, I've been to Jacksonville, Oregon before, and trust me, it's not even fit for a NWAACC Tournament. Sorry, Jacksonvillians in the Beaver State. Yes, I just said "Jacksonvillians". Somehow, I don't think that term will appear in any Jacksonville-related chamber of commerce promotions, whether it be in Florida, Oregon, or Arkansas.
Enough about Jacksonville, because the NFL isn't going to pack it up and move the game to Tampa at this point of time.
What would my gameplan be for Super Bowl XXXIX between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles?
The Patriots Gameplan
---Pressure Donovan McNabb. Keep him in the pocket as much as possible.
---Be physical with the Eagles' receivers. Terrell Owens isn't fully healthy, Todd Pinkston is still Todd Pinkston, and Freddie Mitchell isn't nearly as great as his hype.
---Get ahead early. Do that, and run Corey Dillon to death.
The Eagles Gameplan
---Force Tom Brady to commit turnovers. The Eagles secondary can make plays.
---Do not fall behind the Patriots. They can't play catch-up with a team like the Patriots, because the Eagles receivers aren't going to get it done. Hell, Jeff Thomason, who was signed by the Eagles to take Chad Lewis' place on the roster, has been working in construction for the entire season up until now.
---Hold onto the football. The Patriots are notorious for forcing turnovers and not allowing teams to get back into the game. The Eagles can ill afford to cough up the football.
So those are my gameplans for both the Patriots and Eagles.
I don't believe that Terrell Owens will play the entire game on Sunday. Sure, it's a valiant effort for him to come back and play. But at the same time, he's not nearly the same player he was before he got hurt. Spare me all of this "an 85 percent T.O. is better than a 100 percent receiver" b.s.
I like Tom Brady's chances at earning a 3rd Super Bowl MVP award. You know what I love about Brady? The man seldomly commits mistakes. He also wins. Oh, how I would love to have Matt Hasselbeck exhibit some of those same qualities.
I've been a believer in the Patriots since October 17, when they beat the Seahawks. Rocky had that eye of the tiger. Tom Petty had that ability to write great rock songs. The Patriots have that fire to win football games.
Who will hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy on Sunday night?
New England 38, Philadelphia 13
Super Bowl MVP: Tom Brady, New England (Yes, it's the safe pick. I know.)
As long as Paul McCartney doesn't take off his shirt on Sunday, I think we'll be fine. Oh, and anybody care to wager on how many Wings songs (or at least parts of) he will perform? Over/under is at 3.
The Super Bowl, America's greatest one-day spectacle. Maybe one day, my team will be playing in the damn game. Next year, hopefully.
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THE LATE SHOW
I'm late.
For my random note, no, I didn't feel the 3-point earthquake centered near Whidbey Island this morning. Those ones are usually only felt if you're within a few miles of them. We had a cheap 3-pointer that was really close to us here in Bremerton once, but it felt pretty huge, and felt bigger than the 5.0 that was centered in Duvall a few years ago. Of course, nothing will compare to the Nisqually quake, during which I was on the other side of the mountains. Trying to shave your face isn't the most opportune thing to be doing during an earthquake in a brick building, but at least I had an electric razor, or else it could have been worse.
On TV tonight -- NC State at North Carolina (4p, ESPN), Saint Mary's at Gonzaga (5:30p, FSNNW Seattle)
On to business...
MARINERS
Zumsteg tackles the non-roster invitees. He says that Jeff Nelson is more than likely declining and that it'd be a stretch to see him return to vintage form. He says that starting the service clock on Felix Hernandez probably isn't a good thing. But the diamond in the rough might be ground ball specialist Dan Reichert, who in all likelihood would succeed with the infield that the Mariners have managed to assemble. Unlike Derek Lowe, he'd be dirt-cheap too.
SEAHAWKS
I think it's probably a challenge for CEO Tod Leiweke to keep saying that nobody should panic about the fact that the Seahawks still don't have a president as well as other vacancies. The free agency period will be coming soon, and worse yet, the college scouting guy just left with the combine workouts three weeks away.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
The Tar Heels host NC State this afternoon (4p, ESPN) and travel to Tallahassee to face Florida State on Sunday (11a, FSNNW)
Huskies
Jamaal Williams is a scorer, and a great wildcard coming off the bench. He's finally found a home with the Huskies after some less-than-desirable times at New Mexico and Oregon State.
The Huskies host USC tonight (7p, NOT televised) and UCLA on Saturday (2p, FSNNW)
Bulldogs
The Zags host Saint Mary's tonight (5:30p, Seattle FSNNW, Q6 NBC Spokane) and Santa Clara on Saturday (3p, KONG 6/16 Seattle, Q6 NBC Spokane)
Sonics
Three off days between games is a long time. But Ray Allen and Nate McMillan need it, so it's all right. It gives the beat writers a tiny bit of rest too.
Upcoming...
Saturday vs. Charlotte (7p, FSNNW)
Tuesday vs. New Orleans (7p, FSNNW)
HOCKEY
Spokane beat Seattle 3-2. The T-Birds started slow and lacked energy en route ro the loss. The Chiefs scored two early goals and another early in the third to get a 3-1 lead, and the Thunderbirds couldn't come all the way back. Bud Holloway scored to bring the T-Birds within one in the final period. Matt Hansen scored the first Seattle goal. Seattle outshot Spokane 27-21. Gavin McHale stopped 18 for the Thunderbirds.
Red Deer beat Vancouver 4-3. The Giants scored a goal in each period and had a 2-1 lead going into the third period, but the Rebels scored three of the next four goals to get the win. Adam Courchaine scored with under eight minutes left to tie the game at 3-3, but Canadian junior national teamer Dion Phaneuf (called a "tank" by some) scored the game-winner 46 seconds later. Mitch Bartley scored the first two goals for the Giants. Vancouver was outshot 33-28. Marek Schwarz stopped 29 in net for the Giants.
Puget Sound beat Queen City 4-2. Chase Ambuter's 21st goal of the year held up as the game winner. Brett Dreher scored his first goal as a Tomahawk into the empty net to put the game away for the Tomahawks. Carl Horten scored first for the Tomahawks and Mike Truex scored to get the Tomahawks a 2-0 lead. Horten and Ambuter scored on the power play. Puget Sound outshot the Cutthroats 29-21, and Iggy Slepokourev stopped 19 shots for the win.
Upcoming...
Friday: Portland at Seattle, Everett at Spokane, Vancouver at Swift Current, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
Saturday: Seattle at Everett, Vancouver at Lethbridge, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
---
Have a terrific Thursday, everybody.
For my random note, no, I didn't feel the 3-point earthquake centered near Whidbey Island this morning. Those ones are usually only felt if you're within a few miles of them. We had a cheap 3-pointer that was really close to us here in Bremerton once, but it felt pretty huge, and felt bigger than the 5.0 that was centered in Duvall a few years ago. Of course, nothing will compare to the Nisqually quake, during which I was on the other side of the mountains. Trying to shave your face isn't the most opportune thing to be doing during an earthquake in a brick building, but at least I had an electric razor, or else it could have been worse.
On TV tonight -- NC State at North Carolina (4p, ESPN), Saint Mary's at Gonzaga (5:30p, FSNNW Seattle)
On to business...
MARINERS
Zumsteg tackles the non-roster invitees. He says that Jeff Nelson is more than likely declining and that it'd be a stretch to see him return to vintage form. He says that starting the service clock on Felix Hernandez probably isn't a good thing. But the diamond in the rough might be ground ball specialist Dan Reichert, who in all likelihood would succeed with the infield that the Mariners have managed to assemble. Unlike Derek Lowe, he'd be dirt-cheap too.
SEAHAWKS
I think it's probably a challenge for CEO Tod Leiweke to keep saying that nobody should panic about the fact that the Seahawks still don't have a president as well as other vacancies. The free agency period will be coming soon, and worse yet, the college scouting guy just left with the combine workouts three weeks away.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
The Tar Heels host NC State this afternoon (4p, ESPN) and travel to Tallahassee to face Florida State on Sunday (11a, FSNNW)
Huskies
Jamaal Williams is a scorer, and a great wildcard coming off the bench. He's finally found a home with the Huskies after some less-than-desirable times at New Mexico and Oregon State.
The Huskies host USC tonight (7p, NOT televised) and UCLA on Saturday (2p, FSNNW)
Bulldogs
The Zags host Saint Mary's tonight (5:30p, Seattle FSNNW, Q6 NBC Spokane) and Santa Clara on Saturday (3p, KONG 6/16 Seattle, Q6 NBC Spokane)
Sonics
Three off days between games is a long time. But Ray Allen and Nate McMillan need it, so it's all right. It gives the beat writers a tiny bit of rest too.
Upcoming...
Saturday vs. Charlotte (7p, FSNNW)
Tuesday vs. New Orleans (7p, FSNNW)
HOCKEY
Spokane beat Seattle 3-2. The T-Birds started slow and lacked energy en route ro the loss. The Chiefs scored two early goals and another early in the third to get a 3-1 lead, and the Thunderbirds couldn't come all the way back. Bud Holloway scored to bring the T-Birds within one in the final period. Matt Hansen scored the first Seattle goal. Seattle outshot Spokane 27-21. Gavin McHale stopped 18 for the Thunderbirds.
Red Deer beat Vancouver 4-3. The Giants scored a goal in each period and had a 2-1 lead going into the third period, but the Rebels scored three of the next four goals to get the win. Adam Courchaine scored with under eight minutes left to tie the game at 3-3, but Canadian junior national teamer Dion Phaneuf (called a "tank" by some) scored the game-winner 46 seconds later. Mitch Bartley scored the first two goals for the Giants. Vancouver was outshot 33-28. Marek Schwarz stopped 29 in net for the Giants.
Puget Sound beat Queen City 4-2. Chase Ambuter's 21st goal of the year held up as the game winner. Brett Dreher scored his first goal as a Tomahawk into the empty net to put the game away for the Tomahawks. Carl Horten scored first for the Tomahawks and Mike Truex scored to get the Tomahawks a 2-0 lead. Horten and Ambuter scored on the power play. Puget Sound outshot the Cutthroats 29-21, and Iggy Slepokourev stopped 19 shots for the win.
Upcoming...
Friday: Portland at Seattle, Everett at Spokane, Vancouver at Swift Current, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
Saturday: Seattle at Everett, Vancouver at Lethbridge, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
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Have a terrific Thursday, everybody.
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Wednesday, February 02, 2005
LIMBOED
Shaun Alexander is as miffed as most Seahawks fans are about the lack of urgency from the Seahawks concerning the vacancy in the front office.
"I don't want to say [the organization] is dragging its feet, because I really don't know all the inside stuff, everything that is going on," said Alexander after the concluding one of several radio interviews. "But the clock is ticking. As a player, a guy who thinks that we have a team capable of doing some damage if we can hold it together, you would love to see everybody come back again. But with the situation like it is, and with things unsettled as to who is calling the shots, you just don't know."
I would love to be Mr. Brightside here, but I think Alexander is as good as gone. Believe me, I was in the "Shaun Will Stay" camp for a long time. But it just seems like the writing is on the wall. More importantly, I've noticed the body language out of Alexander since the 'Hawks first round playoff exit. He was on the watered down "Best Damn Sports Show Period" on Fox Sports Net last week and it just seemed to me that he doesn't want to stay in Seattle. At this point, I can't blame him. Hopefully I'm wrong about this.
I just don't want my Alexander road replica jersey to be deemed worthless a month from now. It would be as worthless as a Carolina Panthers Patrick Jeffers replica jersey.
"I don't want to say [the organization] is dragging its feet, because I really don't know all the inside stuff, everything that is going on," said Alexander after the concluding one of several radio interviews. "But the clock is ticking. As a player, a guy who thinks that we have a team capable of doing some damage if we can hold it together, you would love to see everybody come back again. But with the situation like it is, and with things unsettled as to who is calling the shots, you just don't know."
I would love to be Mr. Brightside here, but I think Alexander is as good as gone. Believe me, I was in the "Shaun Will Stay" camp for a long time. But it just seems like the writing is on the wall. More importantly, I've noticed the body language out of Alexander since the 'Hawks first round playoff exit. He was on the watered down "Best Damn Sports Show Period" on Fox Sports Net last week and it just seemed to me that he doesn't want to stay in Seattle. At this point, I can't blame him. Hopefully I'm wrong about this.
I just don't want my Alexander road replica jersey to be deemed worthless a month from now. It would be as worthless as a Carolina Panthers Patrick Jeffers replica jersey.
/ Click for main page
SCHED MARKS
I haven't aired out about the Mariners' 2005 schedule yet, but I guess now is as good a time as any...
-- Who decided to spread apart the intra-division games? Opening against a non-AL West team I can understand, then maybe we could see the 17-game stretch of AL West games after that. Great. Three day games in the middle of the second week of April at Kansas City? Not so great. None of the three are televised either.
-- I liked having that feeling after the 17 AL West games that you've definitely been through a tough stretch and you were ready and aching to face some other teams. You knew how you matched up against your division, and if you did crappy, you couldn't wait to get back at the other three teams.
-- Yes, the Angels are listed on the schedule as "LAA." Nothing to say about this.
-- Anyone at FanFest was bombarded with the promotion, and if you're going to be watching any Mariner games over the course of the first month or two, I'm going to warn you about something. Get ready for the onslaught of ads for the three Mariners Memorables Collectible Statue nights. They're all Tuesday nights, which makes it great for Bremerton folks that work (not me, I'm just looking out for the others), but that's beside the point. The three statues commemorate The Double (3 May), Jay Buhner's ALCS homer at Cleveland (31 May), and Junior's walk-off shot while wearing a teal top down the stretch in 1995 (21 Jun). Seriously, I was sick of the ads just at FanFest, so I can imagine how it's gonna burn my hide when the season gets here.
-- The games at Toronto this year start not at 5 or 35 after the hour, but at 7 and 37 minutes after the hour. The games aren't at SkyDome anymore either, though that's what I'll still call it. The corporate name? The Rogers Centre. So I guess I have the choice of calling it SkyDome or the Raj. The place will have FieldTurf installed and mini-JumboTrons built into the fences in the LCF/RCF gaps. Yikes.
-- Ten games against the Yankees this season. One of the games is on a Thursday. The other nine are on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (three each). Hope none of you had plans to get a weekend together with some friends this year and watch the Mariners face the Yankees.
-- Okay, we've had interleague play for this many years, and Ken Griffey Jr. has been gone for quite a while. What the hell are we going to have to do to get the Reds to come to Seattle? Can we at least get this as an exhibition game two days before the season starts? It'd be a sure sellout.
-- Intra-division spread redux: Who likes the idea of road games in Toronto and Detroit the second-to-last week of the season? What was wrong with intra-division play before? Nothing was wrong with the way the AL West did it. Nothing. Four teams, no outside teams for the better part of a month. Good times.
-- I hope 1995 Retro Cap Night goes over a lot better than Turn Ahead the Clock Night. May I never see the Mariners wearing any significant red on any uniform again.
Okay, I guess that's all I have for now. I know I'll probably think of something the next time I take a gander at the schedule myself, but until then, I'm going with what I got.
Seriously, though. Four games in Toronto from Monday the 19th of September to the 22nd (Thursday). I hate everything about this. Especially the fact that the Detroit series after that isn't going to be three easy wins either.
-- Who decided to spread apart the intra-division games? Opening against a non-AL West team I can understand, then maybe we could see the 17-game stretch of AL West games after that. Great. Three day games in the middle of the second week of April at Kansas City? Not so great. None of the three are televised either.
-- I liked having that feeling after the 17 AL West games that you've definitely been through a tough stretch and you were ready and aching to face some other teams. You knew how you matched up against your division, and if you did crappy, you couldn't wait to get back at the other three teams.
-- Yes, the Angels are listed on the schedule as "LAA." Nothing to say about this.
-- Anyone at FanFest was bombarded with the promotion, and if you're going to be watching any Mariner games over the course of the first month or two, I'm going to warn you about something. Get ready for the onslaught of ads for the three Mariners Memorables Collectible Statue nights. They're all Tuesday nights, which makes it great for Bremerton folks that work (not me, I'm just looking out for the others), but that's beside the point. The three statues commemorate The Double (3 May), Jay Buhner's ALCS homer at Cleveland (31 May), and Junior's walk-off shot while wearing a teal top down the stretch in 1995 (21 Jun). Seriously, I was sick of the ads just at FanFest, so I can imagine how it's gonna burn my hide when the season gets here.
-- The games at Toronto this year start not at 5 or 35 after the hour, but at 7 and 37 minutes after the hour. The games aren't at SkyDome anymore either, though that's what I'll still call it. The corporate name? The Rogers Centre. So I guess I have the choice of calling it SkyDome or the Raj. The place will have FieldTurf installed and mini-JumboTrons built into the fences in the LCF/RCF gaps. Yikes.
-- Ten games against the Yankees this season. One of the games is on a Thursday. The other nine are on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (three each). Hope none of you had plans to get a weekend together with some friends this year and watch the Mariners face the Yankees.
-- Okay, we've had interleague play for this many years, and Ken Griffey Jr. has been gone for quite a while. What the hell are we going to have to do to get the Reds to come to Seattle? Can we at least get this as an exhibition game two days before the season starts? It'd be a sure sellout.
-- Intra-division spread redux: Who likes the idea of road games in Toronto and Detroit the second-to-last week of the season? What was wrong with intra-division play before? Nothing was wrong with the way the AL West did it. Nothing. Four teams, no outside teams for the better part of a month. Good times.
-- I hope 1995 Retro Cap Night goes over a lot better than Turn Ahead the Clock Night. May I never see the Mariners wearing any significant red on any uniform again.
Okay, I guess that's all I have for now. I know I'll probably think of something the next time I take a gander at the schedule myself, but until then, I'm going with what I got.
Seriously, though. Four games in Toronto from Monday the 19th of September to the 22nd (Thursday). I hate everything about this. Especially the fact that the Detroit series after that isn't going to be three easy wins either.
/ Click for main page
BLOGOSPHERED
No, we haven't been contacted to join the all-star crew at USS Mariner.
So let's see here, now that Mariner Musings is basically done, what's left of the Mariner blogosphere from last winter?
---Us (Jeremy and David)
---USS Mariner (David Cameron, Derek Zumsteg, Jason Michael Barker, Jeff Shaw, Peter White)
---Lookout Landing (formely Leone For Third; Jeff, Trent and Devin)
---Nice Guys Finish Third (Paul)
---Mariner Optimist (Corey)
I know there are a few blogs I left out, but those are the main ones from the previous winter that are still around.
What does this all mean? It means that despite an awful 2004 season, Sports and Bremertonians is still standing. Thanks to the Seahawks and Sonics, we've been able to keep this place fresh, unlike most blogs in the offseason. Yes folks, there are other sports to watch besides baseball.
However, we know for a fact that we get more action (i.e. hits) during the baseball season. I can't wait for the 2005 season to start. When Adrian Beltre trots out to third base at the Safe on April 4, there may be a tear or two shed from my eye. I don't know what it's like to see a damn good player at the hot corner in Seattle. Russ Davis and David Bell don't count.
So stay tuned, folks. As much as I enjoy writing about the Seahawks on this site, I love talking Mariners baseball. My enthusiasm is back for this team. I guess that's a sign that spring training is right around the corner. Four of the sweetest words in the world of sports are "Pitchers and catchers report".
Here's four more words I want to hear in October:
"World Champion Seattle Mariners"
Realistically, I know that's a stretch. But hey, I'm enthusiastic. Why shouldn't I be?
So let's see here, now that Mariner Musings is basically done, what's left of the Mariner blogosphere from last winter?
---Us (Jeremy and David)
---USS Mariner (David Cameron, Derek Zumsteg, Jason Michael Barker, Jeff Shaw, Peter White)
---Lookout Landing (formely Leone For Third; Jeff, Trent and Devin)
---Nice Guys Finish Third (Paul)
---Mariner Optimist (Corey)
I know there are a few blogs I left out, but those are the main ones from the previous winter that are still around.
What does this all mean? It means that despite an awful 2004 season, Sports and Bremertonians is still standing. Thanks to the Seahawks and Sonics, we've been able to keep this place fresh, unlike most blogs in the offseason. Yes folks, there are other sports to watch besides baseball.
However, we know for a fact that we get more action (i.e. hits) during the baseball season. I can't wait for the 2005 season to start. When Adrian Beltre trots out to third base at the Safe on April 4, there may be a tear or two shed from my eye. I don't know what it's like to see a damn good player at the hot corner in Seattle. Russ Davis and David Bell don't count.
So stay tuned, folks. As much as I enjoy writing about the Seahawks on this site, I love talking Mariners baseball. My enthusiasm is back for this team. I guess that's a sign that spring training is right around the corner. Four of the sweetest words in the world of sports are "Pitchers and catchers report".
Here's four more words I want to hear in October:
"World Champion Seattle Mariners"
Realistically, I know that's a stretch. But hey, I'm enthusiastic. Why shouldn't I be?
/ Click for main page
FLIP OFF
Welcome to Wednesday. Will your Wednesday be wacky? Wonderful? Witty? Weird?
[Add ~7:18a -- Now that I think about it, and now that I look back on this post nearly two hours later, the Sonic game post is more suitable to be called "flip off" than this one, since I don't actually reference Ron Murray in this one. Oh well, I'm leaving it.]
For my random note today, I picked up Season 2 of SeaLab 2021 on DVD yesterday and I guess I ended up watching 12 of the 13 episodes in their entirety. Please note that the episodes top out around 11 minutes in length. The one I didn't watch all the way through was the one where they actually made a serious cartoon where there the only funny was the fact that it was made, and not any of the dialogue in it. The first time I saw that episode, I thought it was the pilot. Nope. They tried to pull an Andy Kaufman, and tons of people hated the creators for making that one episode. Still, it's got the Bizarro episode, the "uh-oh" episode, and the one where the power goes out and it's all dialogue. What I love about this show is that it's incredibly inane, the dialogue is hilarious, and I find myself laughing even if it borders on the annoying.
Aaaaaaaaand back to sports.
MARINERS
Umm...yeah, so FanFest was kinda cold, huh?
SEAHAWKS
Maybe there could be a president of football operations and a president for business operations? That's how it's evidently shaping up. Also, add the name of Tom Lewand of the Detroit Lions to the list that was posted yesterday.
Also, Seahawks' college scouting director Scot McCloughan is fleeing to share GM duties with new 49er coach Mike Nolan.
As of right now, the Seahawks are without a president, a vice president of football operations, and a director of college scouting.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
The Tar Heels host NC State tomorrow (4p, ESPN) and travel to Tallahassee to face Florida State on Sunday (11a, FSNNW)
Huskies
At the halfway point in the Husky season, Bob Condotta has his midseason awards, as well as his conference-wide midseason awards. The Huskies lead the Pac-10 in rebounding differential. Wow. Seriously.
The Huskies host USC tomorrow (7p, NOT televised) and UCLA on Saturday (2p, FSNNW)
Bulldogs
The Zags host Saint Mary's on Thursday (5:30p, Seattle FSNNW, Q6 NBC Spokane) and Santa Clara on Saturday (3p, KONG 6/16 Seattle, Q6 NBC Spokane)
Sonics
For my admittedly shorter take on last night's game, scroll down a post or click here if you're currently seeing only one post on the entire page.
Rashard Lewis had Ray Allen and Nate McMillan on his cell phone right after the San Antonio game, both saying that Rashard needed to step up his game while the caller is absent. His point production was way up from the night before, partly because Matt Barnes was guarding him instead of Peja Stojakovic or Bruce Bowen. To give you even more of David Locke's words from last night, Locke says that at times, Rashard's defense has degraded from okay down to "piss-poor." For the record, Locke did spell that out and get clearance before he actually said that. He's the opposite of one who regularly (near-)curses on the air.
Dwane Casey is now 3-1 as a stand-in head coach of the Sonics. He's not trying to shake things up or anything, but just keep everything afloat until Nate gets back, which should be for practice on Sunday.
Ray Allen wants something close to the maximum deal from the Sonics, this we know, or have heard a lot of indicative rumors. David Locke has news for Allen, that Ray should take the offer that the Sonics have on the table right now. Why? Because Ray is 30 years old. Kirilenko, Gasol, Richardson, and McGrady all got huge deals last year, but they're all under 26 years of age. Locke says that Allen should be getting Steve Nash/Rasheed Wallace money in the range of 5 years and $53-60M. You know what'd be sick about this? If Locke was a puppet for management in this whole thing. It's total conspiracy theory thinking, but I guess it's the Dale Gribble in me.
Upcoming...
Saturday vs. Charlotte (7p, FSNNW)
Tuesday vs. New Orleans (7p, FSNNW)
HOCKEY
Incredibly, one of the WHL's better road teams this year and last had to snap an 11-game winless streak on Sunday. Now, the Everett Silvertips are looking to right the ship a bit before heading into the playoffs. Says Mike Wuchterl, "[m]y dad was a rugged D-man."
Grand Rapids beat Manitoba 5-1. It was a good old-fashioned stomping for the almost-Canucks. Alex Auld allowed the game-winner, which was the second Grand Rapids goal. The problem was that was the second goal he allowed, and those two goals came on five shots. He was pulled, but it was over. Auld was coming off an 18-save shutout against the same team a night before. He stopped 3 of his 5 shots, and Wade Flaherty stopped 9 of the remaining 12. The Moose lost despite very badly outshooting the Griffins 36-17. Incredible.
Puget Sound beat Queen City 2-1. Puget Sound goalie Travis Cottom may have stolen this game. The Tomahawks were up 1-0 after the first period despite usually being trapped in their own end trying to keep the Cutthroats from scoring. Queen City had a glut of chances in that first period, and Cottom made some incredible saves. Mike Truex scored the game-winner on a power play in the second period, but it was Cottom who was truly the game-winner in this one.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Spokane at Seattle, Vancouver at Red Deer, Queen City at Puget Sound
Friday: Portland at Seattle, Everett at Spokane, Vancouver at Swift Current, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
Saturday: Seattle at Everett, Vancouver at Lethbridge, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
---
Have a wonderful Wednesday, everybody.
[Add ~7:18a -- Now that I think about it, and now that I look back on this post nearly two hours later, the Sonic game post is more suitable to be called "flip off" than this one, since I don't actually reference Ron Murray in this one. Oh well, I'm leaving it.]
For my random note today, I picked up Season 2 of SeaLab 2021 on DVD yesterday and I guess I ended up watching 12 of the 13 episodes in their entirety. Please note that the episodes top out around 11 minutes in length. The one I didn't watch all the way through was the one where they actually made a serious cartoon where there the only funny was the fact that it was made, and not any of the dialogue in it. The first time I saw that episode, I thought it was the pilot. Nope. They tried to pull an Andy Kaufman, and tons of people hated the creators for making that one episode. Still, it's got the Bizarro episode, the "uh-oh" episode, and the one where the power goes out and it's all dialogue. What I love about this show is that it's incredibly inane, the dialogue is hilarious, and I find myself laughing even if it borders on the annoying.
Aaaaaaaaand back to sports.
MARINERS
Umm...yeah, so FanFest was kinda cold, huh?
SEAHAWKS
Maybe there could be a president of football operations and a president for business operations? That's how it's evidently shaping up. Also, add the name of Tom Lewand of the Detroit Lions to the list that was posted yesterday.
Also, Seahawks' college scouting director Scot McCloughan is fleeing to share GM duties with new 49er coach Mike Nolan.
As of right now, the Seahawks are without a president, a vice president of football operations, and a director of college scouting.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
The Tar Heels host NC State tomorrow (4p, ESPN) and travel to Tallahassee to face Florida State on Sunday (11a, FSNNW)
Huskies
At the halfway point in the Husky season, Bob Condotta has his midseason awards, as well as his conference-wide midseason awards. The Huskies lead the Pac-10 in rebounding differential. Wow. Seriously.
The Huskies host USC tomorrow (7p, NOT televised) and UCLA on Saturday (2p, FSNNW)
Bulldogs
The Zags host Saint Mary's on Thursday (5:30p, Seattle FSNNW, Q6 NBC Spokane) and Santa Clara on Saturday (3p, KONG 6/16 Seattle, Q6 NBC Spokane)
Sonics
For my admittedly shorter take on last night's game, scroll down a post or click here if you're currently seeing only one post on the entire page.
Rashard Lewis had Ray Allen and Nate McMillan on his cell phone right after the San Antonio game, both saying that Rashard needed to step up his game while the caller is absent. His point production was way up from the night before, partly because Matt Barnes was guarding him instead of Peja Stojakovic or Bruce Bowen. To give you even more of David Locke's words from last night, Locke says that at times, Rashard's defense has degraded from okay down to "piss-poor." For the record, Locke did spell that out and get clearance before he actually said that. He's the opposite of one who regularly (near-)curses on the air.
Dwane Casey is now 3-1 as a stand-in head coach of the Sonics. He's not trying to shake things up or anything, but just keep everything afloat until Nate gets back, which should be for practice on Sunday.
Ray Allen wants something close to the maximum deal from the Sonics, this we know, or have heard a lot of indicative rumors. David Locke has news for Allen, that Ray should take the offer that the Sonics have on the table right now. Why? Because Ray is 30 years old. Kirilenko, Gasol, Richardson, and McGrady all got huge deals last year, but they're all under 26 years of age. Locke says that Allen should be getting Steve Nash/Rasheed Wallace money in the range of 5 years and $53-60M. You know what'd be sick about this? If Locke was a puppet for management in this whole thing. It's total conspiracy theory thinking, but I guess it's the Dale Gribble in me.
Upcoming...
Saturday vs. Charlotte (7p, FSNNW)
Tuesday vs. New Orleans (7p, FSNNW)
HOCKEY
Incredibly, one of the WHL's better road teams this year and last had to snap an 11-game winless streak on Sunday. Now, the Everett Silvertips are looking to right the ship a bit before heading into the playoffs. Says Mike Wuchterl, "[m]y dad was a rugged D-man."
Grand Rapids beat Manitoba 5-1. It was a good old-fashioned stomping for the almost-Canucks. Alex Auld allowed the game-winner, which was the second Grand Rapids goal. The problem was that was the second goal he allowed, and those two goals came on five shots. He was pulled, but it was over. Auld was coming off an 18-save shutout against the same team a night before. He stopped 3 of his 5 shots, and Wade Flaherty stopped 9 of the remaining 12. The Moose lost despite very badly outshooting the Griffins 36-17. Incredible.
Puget Sound beat Queen City 2-1. Puget Sound goalie Travis Cottom may have stolen this game. The Tomahawks were up 1-0 after the first period despite usually being trapped in their own end trying to keep the Cutthroats from scoring. Queen City had a glut of chances in that first period, and Cottom made some incredible saves. Mike Truex scored the game-winner on a power play in the second period, but it was Cottom who was truly the game-winner in this one.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Spokane at Seattle, Vancouver at Red Deer, Queen City at Puget Sound
Friday: Portland at Seattle, Everett at Spokane, Vancouver at Swift Current, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
Saturday: Seattle at Everett, Vancouver at Lethbridge, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
---
Have a wonderful Wednesday, everybody.
/ Click for main page
GAME 44: SUPERSONICS 106, KINGS 101
SuperSonics 106, Kings 101
I didn't see the game. What I'm going off of for this post are the AP wire article, the boxscore, and some of David Locke's postgame material.
I said earlier in the week that maybe the Sonics might get bailed out by injuries to Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic. Sure enough, those two did sit out the game due to injury. Of course, just because those two are out doesn't automatically mean the offense will perform more consistently or have better flow. Tonight they did.
I said last night that Ron Murray was a zoo. For every bit that he was a zoo last night, he was infinitely negative zoo tonight. His production tonight was a lot better, and it's enough to get me to turn the other cheek when it comes to his turning over the ball. Big credit to Dwane Casey for sticking with him after his game against the Spurs. Of course, Casey probably had no choice given that Ray Allen wasn't going to be able to play.
The bench showed up tonight, which is always good. It was the bench's second straight night of decent production, after they collectively took a game off against Golden State.
But what was nice to see other than Ron Murray getting warm is the fact that Danny Fortson was a legitimate factor on the offensive end for the first time in four games (he had 10 and 9 against the Lakers). If you look at Fortson's game log, it's not hard to see the drastic change in the points column after the game against Denver on the 18th of last month.
The Sonics allowed over 100 points again, but from what I heard there weren't any colossal collapses late or any stretches where the Kings scored on ten straight possessions in the second half or anything like that. The Sonics were down 20-9 at one point, but then ended up shooting 50% in the first half, so that took care of that.
Rashard Lewis led the team in scoring tonight, but David Locke ripped his defense, or lack thereof. Locke referred to Bruce Bowen's night against Rashard, with something along the lines of, "Bruce Bowen's only got one shot in his repertoire. GUARD THE FRICKIN' CORNER THREE!!" Rashard (or somebody) was routinely late in rotating out toward Bruce Bowen in the corner on Monday. Locke was also blaming Rick Adelman for a poorly-coached game because if the staff would have been watching game tape, they'd know that Rashard can't pass out of a double-team. The Kings forced two turnovers out of the three times that they doubled Rashard in the game, and Locke wondered why they didn't double him more.
Also on Locke's plate is the fact that the Sonics just aren't forcing turnovers like they used to, and Locke attributed part of this to the Sonics having to lean on Allen and Lewis for 40 minutes a night, and that those two are getting tired and therefore expending a much greater portion of their energy on offense.
PEEK AT THE BOXSCORE
starters
Rashard Lewis 24 pts/4 reb/2 blk (9-21 FG, 2-4 3pt, 4-6 free throws), Ron Murray 23 pts/5 reb/2 ast (8-14 FG, 3-5 3pt, 4-6 free throws), Luke Ridnour 13 pts/2 reb/5 ast (2-9 FG, 1-3 3pt, 8-9 free throws), Reggie Evans 1 pt/15 reb/2 ast
bench
Antonio Daniels 14 pts/2 reb/2 ast (5-10 FG, 4-4 free throws, 28 min), Danny Fortson 13 pts/4 reb (3-4 FG, 7-8 free throws, 20 min), Vlad Radmanovic 12 pts/5 reb (4-7 FG, 2-3 3pt, 27 min), Nick Collison 6 pts/5 reb (20 min)
Jerome James Watch
0 pts/1 reb/1 blk (0-2 FG, 3 fouls, 12 min, ejected 3rd qtr)
team
shot 33-for-71 (46.5%) from the field, shot 8-for-17 (47.1%) from downtown, shot 32-for-39 (82.1%) from the line, outrebounded Sacto 43-42, bench outscored Sacto bench 45-26 (outrebounded them 16-11)
The Sonics were a lot less three-happy, which is somewhat ironic since Sacramento attempted 30 three-balls, which is a season high for them. They did that in this game without Stojakovic.
Hooray for the Sonics' interior defense, or whoever it was that was busy holding Brad Miller to 4 points. Incredible job.
Though I'm disappointed with Luke Ridnour's shooting numbers from the floor, the fact that he was able to get to the free-throw line tonight enabled him to be a positive contributor to the offense.
Overall, thank goodness the Sonics have three days off and then a should-be-easy game against Charlotte on Saturday. Hopefully Ray gets well in time, and the rest of the Sonics can recharge their batteries.
I have to admit, I wasn't too high on this game for the Sonics after the egg they laid against the Spurs and the heavy hearts and adversity they'd been dealt, but somehow they managed to snap their four-game losing streak at Arco Arena on the tail end of a back-to-back set. Way to go, guys.
I asked Jinkies whether the Sonics could parlay this win into something bigger. His reply: "No MEOWING way! Get out of my town."
My, that's a bit discouraging.
I didn't see the game. What I'm going off of for this post are the AP wire article, the boxscore, and some of David Locke's postgame material.
I said earlier in the week that maybe the Sonics might get bailed out by injuries to Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic. Sure enough, those two did sit out the game due to injury. Of course, just because those two are out doesn't automatically mean the offense will perform more consistently or have better flow. Tonight they did.
I said last night that Ron Murray was a zoo. For every bit that he was a zoo last night, he was infinitely negative zoo tonight. His production tonight was a lot better, and it's enough to get me to turn the other cheek when it comes to his turning over the ball. Big credit to Dwane Casey for sticking with him after his game against the Spurs. Of course, Casey probably had no choice given that Ray Allen wasn't going to be able to play.
The bench showed up tonight, which is always good. It was the bench's second straight night of decent production, after they collectively took a game off against Golden State.
But what was nice to see other than Ron Murray getting warm is the fact that Danny Fortson was a legitimate factor on the offensive end for the first time in four games (he had 10 and 9 against the Lakers). If you look at Fortson's game log, it's not hard to see the drastic change in the points column after the game against Denver on the 18th of last month.
The Sonics allowed over 100 points again, but from what I heard there weren't any colossal collapses late or any stretches where the Kings scored on ten straight possessions in the second half or anything like that. The Sonics were down 20-9 at one point, but then ended up shooting 50% in the first half, so that took care of that.
Rashard Lewis led the team in scoring tonight, but David Locke ripped his defense, or lack thereof. Locke referred to Bruce Bowen's night against Rashard, with something along the lines of, "Bruce Bowen's only got one shot in his repertoire. GUARD THE FRICKIN' CORNER THREE!!" Rashard (or somebody) was routinely late in rotating out toward Bruce Bowen in the corner on Monday. Locke was also blaming Rick Adelman for a poorly-coached game because if the staff would have been watching game tape, they'd know that Rashard can't pass out of a double-team. The Kings forced two turnovers out of the three times that they doubled Rashard in the game, and Locke wondered why they didn't double him more.
Also on Locke's plate is the fact that the Sonics just aren't forcing turnovers like they used to, and Locke attributed part of this to the Sonics having to lean on Allen and Lewis for 40 minutes a night, and that those two are getting tired and therefore expending a much greater portion of their energy on offense.
PEEK AT THE BOXSCORE
starters
Rashard Lewis 24 pts/4 reb/2 blk (9-21 FG, 2-4 3pt, 4-6 free throws), Ron Murray 23 pts/5 reb/2 ast (8-14 FG, 3-5 3pt, 4-6 free throws), Luke Ridnour 13 pts/2 reb/5 ast (2-9 FG, 1-3 3pt, 8-9 free throws), Reggie Evans 1 pt/15 reb/2 ast
bench
Antonio Daniels 14 pts/2 reb/2 ast (5-10 FG, 4-4 free throws, 28 min), Danny Fortson 13 pts/4 reb (3-4 FG, 7-8 free throws, 20 min), Vlad Radmanovic 12 pts/5 reb (4-7 FG, 2-3 3pt, 27 min), Nick Collison 6 pts/5 reb (20 min)
Jerome James Watch
0 pts/1 reb/1 blk (0-2 FG, 3 fouls, 12 min, ejected 3rd qtr)
team
shot 33-for-71 (46.5%) from the field, shot 8-for-17 (47.1%) from downtown, shot 32-for-39 (82.1%) from the line, outrebounded Sacto 43-42, bench outscored Sacto bench 45-26 (outrebounded them 16-11)
The Sonics were a lot less three-happy, which is somewhat ironic since Sacramento attempted 30 three-balls, which is a season high for them. They did that in this game without Stojakovic.
Hooray for the Sonics' interior defense, or whoever it was that was busy holding Brad Miller to 4 points. Incredible job.
Though I'm disappointed with Luke Ridnour's shooting numbers from the floor, the fact that he was able to get to the free-throw line tonight enabled him to be a positive contributor to the offense.
Overall, thank goodness the Sonics have three days off and then a should-be-easy game against Charlotte on Saturday. Hopefully Ray gets well in time, and the rest of the Sonics can recharge their batteries.
I have to admit, I wasn't too high on this game for the Sonics after the egg they laid against the Spurs and the heavy hearts and adversity they'd been dealt, but somehow they managed to snap their four-game losing streak at Arco Arena on the tail end of a back-to-back set. Way to go, guys.
I asked Jinkies whether the Sonics could parlay this win into something bigger. His reply: "No MEOWING way! Get out of my town."
My, that's a bit discouraging.
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Tuesday, February 01, 2005
SPORTS GUY AT SUPER BOWL MEDIA DAY
In pictures!
Check out page 6 of Bill Simmons' photos from today's Media Day coverage in Jacksonville.
Touchdown Killin' Corey Dillon! I spent a good 10 minutes listening to him answer questions from people, just to see if he would refer to himself in the third person. Never happened. Once you drink the Belichick Kool-Aid, you never go back. Seemed like a good guy. There are few things I enjoy about Media Day, but one of them is the "Guy trapped on losing teams for his entire career who finally makes the Big Game" scenario. Never gets old.
See Eugene Robinson, 1996 Green Bay Packers.
See Sam Adams and Michael McCrary, 2000 Baltimore Ravens.
Here's another scenario:
"Guy wins Super Bowl with another team, then becomes a Seahawk"
Trent Dilfer. Grant Wistrom. Jerry Rice.
When the Seahawks finally get to their first Super Bowl, I don't know if my liver will be able to take the punishment that it would receive. Of course, this also applies to the Mariners getting to their first World Series. Could my liver survive after seeing both events taking place within the same calendar year? That question can't be answered yet.
I have nothing against the city of Jacksonville, Florida. But it's not a Super Bowl city. Not even close. Now, if the Seahawks were actually playing in the Super Bowl this Sunday, I would feel very differently.
Maybe not.
Check out page 6 of Bill Simmons' photos from today's Media Day coverage in Jacksonville.
Touchdown Killin' Corey Dillon! I spent a good 10 minutes listening to him answer questions from people, just to see if he would refer to himself in the third person. Never happened. Once you drink the Belichick Kool-Aid, you never go back. Seemed like a good guy. There are few things I enjoy about Media Day, but one of them is the "Guy trapped on losing teams for his entire career who finally makes the Big Game" scenario. Never gets old.
See Eugene Robinson, 1996 Green Bay Packers.
See Sam Adams and Michael McCrary, 2000 Baltimore Ravens.
Here's another scenario:
"Guy wins Super Bowl with another team, then becomes a Seahawk"
Trent Dilfer. Grant Wistrom. Jerry Rice.
When the Seahawks finally get to their first Super Bowl, I don't know if my liver will be able to take the punishment that it would receive. Of course, this also applies to the Mariners getting to their first World Series. Could my liver survive after seeing both events taking place within the same calendar year? That question can't be answered yet.
I have nothing against the city of Jacksonville, Florida. But it's not a Super Bowl city. Not even close. Now, if the Seahawks were actually playing in the Super Bowl this Sunday, I would feel very differently.
Maybe not.
/ Click for main page
FREE RAMBLE, START OF FEBTOBER EDITION
You gotta love Febtober, I mean Febturday...
FEBRUARY, DAMMIT!
It's the shortest month of the year. Pitchers and catchers report. And my birthday is in February. I love it.
---I'm rooting for Jeff Nelson to make it up north with the Mariners. The reason? So KJR-AM can bring back "Tuesdays With Nellie". "Tuesdays with Bloomie" just doesn't sound good at all.
---With Nelson and Aaron Sele back in the organization, when will the Mariners give Stan Javier a call? Surely he's tired of saving the rain forest by now. With Javier back in Seattle, he would definitely improve the M's bench.
---David went to Fan Fest over the weekend, but I didn't. I would have gone to Fan Fest, but there's just one little problem:
I'm in Arkansas
---Not that being in Arkansas is a problem, of course. You owe it to yourself to visit the South at least once in your life just to see the Southern girls. Life is good for this West Coast kid.
---I'm proud to say I didn't watch one minute of the Super Bowl XXXIX media day coverage. I just want to thank my mind for being so great.
---POP THAT TOP! POP THAT TOP! POP THAT TOP!
---If I were to make my own Super Bowl commercial, here's what I would do:
Find a random white guy and have him dance to Kenny Loggins "Footloose". In lieu of learning anything today, this is what I was thinking about.
The sponsor?
Sports and Bremertonians (we would get the $2.4 million from Blogger, who were so impressed by our idea that they cranked up Denise Williams "Let's Hear It For The Boy" and danced themselves)
Hey, why not? We want to get our site out to EVERYONE.
---Patriots or Eagles? I should save my prediction until Friday, but let's be honest, I can't see the Patriots losing this game.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
It's February.
Snatch it!
FEBRUARY, DAMMIT!
It's the shortest month of the year. Pitchers and catchers report. And my birthday is in February. I love it.
---I'm rooting for Jeff Nelson to make it up north with the Mariners. The reason? So KJR-AM can bring back "Tuesdays With Nellie". "Tuesdays with Bloomie" just doesn't sound good at all.
---With Nelson and Aaron Sele back in the organization, when will the Mariners give Stan Javier a call? Surely he's tired of saving the rain forest by now. With Javier back in Seattle, he would definitely improve the M's bench.
---David went to Fan Fest over the weekend, but I didn't. I would have gone to Fan Fest, but there's just one little problem:
I'm in Arkansas
---Not that being in Arkansas is a problem, of course. You owe it to yourself to visit the South at least once in your life just to see the Southern girls. Life is good for this West Coast kid.
---I'm proud to say I didn't watch one minute of the Super Bowl XXXIX media day coverage. I just want to thank my mind for being so great.
---POP THAT TOP! POP THAT TOP! POP THAT TOP!
---If I were to make my own Super Bowl commercial, here's what I would do:
Find a random white guy and have him dance to Kenny Loggins "Footloose". In lieu of learning anything today, this is what I was thinking about.
The sponsor?
Sports and Bremertonians (we would get the $2.4 million from Blogger, who were so impressed by our idea that they cranked up Denise Williams "Let's Hear It For The Boy" and danced themselves)
Hey, why not? We want to get our site out to EVERYONE.
---Patriots or Eagles? I should save my prediction until Friday, but let's be honest, I can't see the Patriots losing this game.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
It's February.
Snatch it!
/ Click for main page
THE HALFTIME NASTY
Today is the one-year anniversary of the infamous Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show.
---"Ms. Nasty" Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake.
---Janet's right breast.
---The uproar throughout America, i.e the South
By the way, the New England Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVIII over the Carolina Panthers 32-29. Tom Brady earned his second Super Bowl MVP award in what was undisputedly one of the best Super Bowls of all-time.
If "wardrobe malfunction" isn't a part of the Webster's Dictionary yet, it will be soon enough. Just give it time. Talk amongst yourselves. Of course, keep it clean.
/ Click for main page
FEB UP
Welcome to Tuesday, and welcome to February.
For the random note today, I bring up the extremely lame NBC show of yore called seaQuest DSV, for what I guess isn't so random because it has something to do with sports. On one episode, Jonathan Brandis wore a Florida Marlins jersey that had a World Champions patch on it. The final episode of the show aired in 1995. The show was set in the far future (2032 after it "jumped," apparently). The fact that the Marlins won a World Series at least (and only) two years after the Brandis incident still sickens me to this day.
MARINERS
Jeff Nelson hath returned. For a minor-league deal though. Low-risk, at least. It's too bad Ron Villone couldn't have gotten a deal like that.
Well, the crappy 2004 season has gotten the Mariners the #3 pick in the June draft. Of course, the list of Mariner first-round pitching picks succumbing to injury is listed, so yeccchhh there, until we find out why too many kids in the minors were busting their labri.
SEAHAWKS
More names have surfaced in the Seahawks' president and vice president of football operations sweepstakes. Names now floating in the sea of rumors and sources are Bill Kuharich of the Chiefs, Ted Sundquist of the Broncos (I gave my quick opinion on him in yesterday's post), Rob Brzezinski of the Vikings, and Bryan Wiedmeier of the Dolphins. Randy Mueller and Mike Reinfeldt are still mentioned.
Also, Shaun Alexander will have wrist surgery and will not play in the Pro Bowl.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
The Tar Heels host NC State on Thursday (4p, ESPN) and travel to Tallahassee to face Florida State on Sunday (11a, FSNNW)
Huskies
I'm not sure why a light bulb didn't go on in my head when I read that Terry Johnson gave that Chicago Bears jersey of his to Nate Robinson after the Arizona State game. Anyway, it might be an NCAA violation. There has to be an acronym of ridicule to mock the NCAA. Never Complying Academically...I need something for the last "A."
The Huskies host USC on Thursday (7p, NOT televised) and UCLA on Saturday (2p, FSNNW)
Bulldogs
The Zags host Saint Mary's on Thursday (5:30p, Seattle FSNNW, Q6 NBC Spokane) and Santa Clara on Saturday (3p, KONG 6/16 Seattle, Q6 NBC Spokane)
Sonics
For my take on last night's game, scroll down a post or click here if you're reading the only post on the page.
No Ray Allen, no Coach McMillan. As Danny O'Neil mentions, Bruce Bowen only had to really pay attention to Rashard Lewis, and it was pretty much smooth sailing. Bowen has put Lewis on lockdown in years past, and last night was no exception. Of course, the portion of the game where the Sonics got buried was the end of the first half, where they went scoreless on their last seven possessions and the Spurs blew it open.
Jayda Evans kinda takes a couple shots at Jerome James. Not the 12 points and the 6 boards, but that "he could have had a double-double with all the missed rebounding opportunities and shots he allowed the Spurs inside without lifting an arm to even fake defense." Yowza! Also, I did say one day ago that I was afraid of Manu Ginobili carving up the Sonic defense, and I guess my fears sorta came through. Of course, no Ray Allen made it a lot easier.
Nate McMillan could be out for the rest of this week due to arranging the funeral of his mother, who passed away on Sunday. Stay strong, Coach.
Sonic assistant coach Dwane Casey somehow still isn't the head coach of an NBA team. Could he be the Chris Chambliss of the NBA?
Also, Ibrahim Kutluay was waived by request. I'm not really sure why they signed him in the first place (Richie Frahm was younger and from what I know basically did the same thing), but Kutluay wanted an opportunity elsewhere and the chance to play in Europe in case there's a lockout, something he wouldn't be too keen to do if he were on an NBA roster.
Upcoming...
Tonight at Sacramento (7p, FSNNW)
Saturday vs. Charlotte (7p, FSNNW)
HOCKEY
On the long list of hockey thrills that I haven't had the chance to experience in life -- building a backyard rink.
Manitoba shut out Grand Rapids 2-0. Jason King scored in the first period to wipe away a 14-game scoreless drought and it held up as the game-winner as the Moose defeated the Griffins. Nathan Smith iced the game in the final minute with an empty-netter. Joe DiPenta was plus-2 with an assist. The Moose tallied 27 shots, and Alex Auld stopped all 18 Grand Rapids shots.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Grand Rapids at Manitoba, Queen City at Puget Sound
Tomorrow: Spokane at Seattle, Vancouver at Red Deer, Queen City at Puget Sound
Friday: Portland at Seattle, Everett at Spokane, Vancouver at Swift Current, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
Saturday: Seattle at Everett, Vancouver at Lethbridge, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
---
Have a happy Tuesday, all.
For the random note today, I bring up the extremely lame NBC show of yore called seaQuest DSV, for what I guess isn't so random because it has something to do with sports. On one episode, Jonathan Brandis wore a Florida Marlins jersey that had a World Champions patch on it. The final episode of the show aired in 1995. The show was set in the far future (2032 after it "jumped," apparently). The fact that the Marlins won a World Series at least (and only) two years after the Brandis incident still sickens me to this day.
MARINERS
Jeff Nelson hath returned. For a minor-league deal though. Low-risk, at least. It's too bad Ron Villone couldn't have gotten a deal like that.
Well, the crappy 2004 season has gotten the Mariners the #3 pick in the June draft. Of course, the list of Mariner first-round pitching picks succumbing to injury is listed, so yeccchhh there, until we find out why too many kids in the minors were busting their labri.
SEAHAWKS
More names have surfaced in the Seahawks' president and vice president of football operations sweepstakes. Names now floating in the sea of rumors and sources are Bill Kuharich of the Chiefs, Ted Sundquist of the Broncos (I gave my quick opinion on him in yesterday's post), Rob Brzezinski of the Vikings, and Bryan Wiedmeier of the Dolphins. Randy Mueller and Mike Reinfeldt are still mentioned.
Also, Shaun Alexander will have wrist surgery and will not play in the Pro Bowl.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
The Tar Heels host NC State on Thursday (4p, ESPN) and travel to Tallahassee to face Florida State on Sunday (11a, FSNNW)
Huskies
I'm not sure why a light bulb didn't go on in my head when I read that Terry Johnson gave that Chicago Bears jersey of his to Nate Robinson after the Arizona State game. Anyway, it might be an NCAA violation. There has to be an acronym of ridicule to mock the NCAA. Never Complying Academically...I need something for the last "A."
The Huskies host USC on Thursday (7p, NOT televised) and UCLA on Saturday (2p, FSNNW)
Bulldogs
The Zags host Saint Mary's on Thursday (5:30p, Seattle FSNNW, Q6 NBC Spokane) and Santa Clara on Saturday (3p, KONG 6/16 Seattle, Q6 NBC Spokane)
Sonics
For my take on last night's game, scroll down a post or click here if you're reading the only post on the page.
No Ray Allen, no Coach McMillan. As Danny O'Neil mentions, Bruce Bowen only had to really pay attention to Rashard Lewis, and it was pretty much smooth sailing. Bowen has put Lewis on lockdown in years past, and last night was no exception. Of course, the portion of the game where the Sonics got buried was the end of the first half, where they went scoreless on their last seven possessions and the Spurs blew it open.
Jayda Evans kinda takes a couple shots at Jerome James. Not the 12 points and the 6 boards, but that "he could have had a double-double with all the missed rebounding opportunities and shots he allowed the Spurs inside without lifting an arm to even fake defense." Yowza! Also, I did say one day ago that I was afraid of Manu Ginobili carving up the Sonic defense, and I guess my fears sorta came through. Of course, no Ray Allen made it a lot easier.
Nate McMillan could be out for the rest of this week due to arranging the funeral of his mother, who passed away on Sunday. Stay strong, Coach.
Sonic assistant coach Dwane Casey somehow still isn't the head coach of an NBA team. Could he be the Chris Chambliss of the NBA?
Also, Ibrahim Kutluay was waived by request. I'm not really sure why they signed him in the first place (Richie Frahm was younger and from what I know basically did the same thing), but Kutluay wanted an opportunity elsewhere and the chance to play in Europe in case there's a lockout, something he wouldn't be too keen to do if he were on an NBA roster.
Upcoming...
Tonight at Sacramento (7p, FSNNW)
Saturday vs. Charlotte (7p, FSNNW)
HOCKEY
On the long list of hockey thrills that I haven't had the chance to experience in life -- building a backyard rink.
Manitoba shut out Grand Rapids 2-0. Jason King scored in the first period to wipe away a 14-game scoreless drought and it held up as the game-winner as the Moose defeated the Griffins. Nathan Smith iced the game in the final minute with an empty-netter. Joe DiPenta was plus-2 with an assist. The Moose tallied 27 shots, and Alex Auld stopped all 18 Grand Rapids shots.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Grand Rapids at Manitoba, Queen City at Puget Sound
Tomorrow: Spokane at Seattle, Vancouver at Red Deer, Queen City at Puget Sound
Friday: Portland at Seattle, Everett at Spokane, Vancouver at Swift Current, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
Saturday: Seattle at Everett, Vancouver at Lethbridge, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
---
Have a happy Tuesday, all.
/ Click for main page
Monday, January 31, 2005
GAME 43: SPURS 103, SUPERSONICS 84
Spurs 103, SuperSonics 84
(final content posted ~10:05p)
No Ray Allen tonight. Ron Murray is starting. Nate McMillan will be out the rest of the week (or indefinitely, depending on what source you have) to tend to his family after his mother passed away.
Anyway, here's what I have for tonight's game.
1st qtr
11:34 Lewis beats the shot clock from long range for first basket of game. 8:32 Murray baseline pass Lewis left corner three TIE 7-7. 7:27 Popovich technical. 4:31 nice running James hook SA 16-12 (airball next trip down). 3:17 James offensive rebound, weaves through defenders for easy layup SA 16-14. 2:44 James from midrange TIE 16-16. 1:09 Murray actually does something, drives to rack and gets fouled after 0-for-4 start, hits one SA 20-17. 0:13 Murray three SA 23-22.
After one quarter -- San Antonio 25, Seattle 22
Jerome James warmed up, but so far it's kind of a weird game, and not just because James had 8 in the first quarter. I use he term "flow" a lot, but the Sonics don't have much flow on offense again, though we can cite Ray Allen's absence this time as a cause. Ron Murray missed his first four shots, which is never good. However, they've held Tim Duncan to just one jumper from about 18 feet and that's it. However, Bruce Bowen nailed a couple threes, and the Spurs got a few second-chance points.
2nd qtr
11:00 Murray dribble turnover, 6th for the Sonics. 9:34 Seattle timeout after big San Antonio run and a fourth-chance possession SA 33-24. 8:40 James hits over Duncan in the key SA 34-26. 7:13 James in te key again beating the shot clock SA 34-28. 6:45 Radmanovic deep two SA 36-30. 4:24 Radmanovic moves to the rack SA 38-32. 3:38 Lewis puts back a James miss SA 40-34. 2:11 Spurs pull off another run, Sonics outscored 14-8 on the break SA 44-34.
Af halftime -- San Antonio 48, Seattle 34
The Spurs ended the half on an 8-0 run. Up until that point, the Sonics were pretty much hanging with the Spurs and kept within reach. Now, I'm not so sure.
Jerome James was the only consistent offense in the first half for the Sonics, scoring 12 points and also grabbing 6 boards. Rashard Lewis added 7 points. The rest of the Sonics, however...no one's stepping up offensively. Ridnour and Murray are a combined 2-for-11.
The Sonics have gotten off 34 shots, but the Spurs have shot the ball 49 times. This is partly due to the fact that the Sonics have 15 defensive rebounds and the Spurs have THIRTEEN offensive rebounds. The Spurs are only shooting 42%, but they're leading because they're not missing on their second, third, or fourth chances.
As for the offense, there's absolutely no flow. Nothing's happening, they're forcing up shots, the passes are going into traffic and getting tipped away, etc. Just nothing. The Sonics had 10 first-half turnovers.
This is a really weird game so far, but before the Spurs went on that run to end the half, I was convinced that the way the game was going, it was the exact type of game the Spurs usually win. After the big run, well, I know the Sonics' shooters can get hot, but they have to get something going and keep the Spurs off the offensive glass.
Oh yeah, the Sonics are late rotating too, resulting in a lot of long-range looks for the Spurs.
3rd qtr
11:06 Evans offensive board, layup and foul, hits SA 52-37. 8:45 nice ball movement, Evans layup and foul again, SA 59-43. 6:49 Ridnour hits a shot (wow) SA 63-45, got turnover on other end, pass to Lewis intercepted. 6:00 Murray cuts through lane SA 65-47. 5:27 Fortson finally to the line SA 67-49. 3:33 Radmanovic dunk from Lewis off a fast break SA 67-53 (6-0 run) SA timeout. 3:00 Radmanovic three SA 67-56. 2:29 Daniels lane layup SA 70-58. 1:23 off Lewis block, Daniels blows uncontested layup.
After three quarters -- San Antonio 76, Seattle 59
The Sonics went on a 9-3 run, but that only got them within 12. The Spurs ended the quarter on a 6-1 run and may have just put the game out of reach. Of course, the fact that Vladimir Radmanovic took an elbow near the right eye during that run really sucked away some momentum, as it appeared he might have finally been getting warm.
That said, James and Radmanovic are the only Sonics scoring in double figures.
4th qtr
10:35 Collison found inside for a dunk SA 81-63. 10:06 Collison again down low SA 84-65. 9:31 Murray driving lane SA 84-67. 8:20 Daniels falls away SA 86-69. 7:21 Daniels foul and one SA 86-72. 5:44 Lewis fastbreak dunk off broken play SA 88-74. 2:20 Ginobili fouls, and it's garbage time.
Final -- San Antonio 103, Seattle 84
Where to start...?
Obviously, not having Ray Allen takes out a key cog against a tough team. The offense didn't have any sense of consistency except for the run late in the third quarter.
The defense still can't stop anybody. In the first half the Spurs cleaned up on the offensive glass, but all game long the Sonics were late rotating out to the open shooters on the perimeter, and the Spurs were hitting a lot of those shots.
Ron Murray is a zoo, even taking into account that he was facing the Spurs tonight. His shot was consistently short. He started in place of Ray Allen. Let's just say there was a considerable drop-off. He's not a pass-first guy, as we know, though now it appears he will pass if nothing is available shot-wise. But if he catches the ball and doesn't see a shot right away, he'll try to break his man off the dribble. The usual result was his shot being short or off the side of the rim. I haven't even gotten to the turnovers.
But overall, not enough people stepped up on the offensive end. Jerome James got way more points than we're used to seeing, but other than that, it just wasn't happening tonight. There was no consistency, no giddyap, no pizzazz on the offensive end at all.
So what happens if you can't stop the Spurs from scoring and you can't get anything going in your offense? You get royally trounced, of course! Manhandled, even. That's basically the game tonight.
Thank goodness January is over. What a mediocre month.
Maybe the defense will return after taking a month off. They better start tomorrow night, though, because they have to go to Sacto. Yikes.
PEEK AT THE BOXSCORE
starters
Ron Murray 13 pts/4 reb/3 ast (5-17 FG, 2-4 3pt, 38 min), Rashard Lewis 9 pts/6 reb/3 ast (4-9 FG, 1-3 3pt), Luke Ridnour 6 pts/4 ast (2-11 FG, 0-2 3pt), Reggie Evans 6 pts/6 reb (15 min)
bench
Vlad Radmanovic 13 pts/3 reb/2 ast (5-11 FG, 1-3 3pt), Antonio Daniels 13 pts/4 reb/5 ast (3-6 FG, 7-9 free throws, 26 min), Nick Collison 10 pts/4 reb (4-6 FG, 14 min), Danny Fortson 2 pts/2 reb (7 min)
Jerome James Watch
12 pts/6 reb/4 blk (5-10 FG, 2-2 free throws, 2 fouls, 30 min)
team
shot 30-for-73 (41.1%) from the field, shot 4-for-13 (30.8%) from downtown, shot 20-for-25 (80%) from the line, were outrebounded 42-36, turned the ball over 15 times, bench outscored San Antonio bench 38-28 (outrebounded them 13-10)
The Sonics scored 84 points tonight. I said they didn't have any flow to the offense, which I think is true even though the Sonics scored 25 points each in the third and fourth quarters. Something just seemed like it wasn't there tonight. Obviously, Ray Allen wasn't, but if you saw the Sonics play this season before the calendar turned over to 2005 (removing all the Ray Allen memories from your mind), the team that played tonight was virtually unrecognizable.
You could argue that this game was over at one of two points...
A) when the Spurs reeled off the 8-0 run going into halftime, holding the Sonics to a 12-point quarter in the process. The Sonics scored 25 points each in the third and fourth quarters, but as has been typical of the defense this month, they allowed 28 and 27 points in those quarters.
B) when Brent Barry started going nuts to start the 4th quarter
C) before it started, with Ray Allen not in the lineup
Okay, so maybe I was a little hard on Ron Murray there, even though he did have a crappy night. Still, he scored 13 points (though he needed a billion shots to do it) to tie with Radmanovic and Daniels for the team lead.
Rashard Lewis, however, did not step up whatsoever. When one All-Star goes down, I'd presume that Lewis would step up like the All-Star that this region wants him to be. That definitely didn't happen tonight; he didn't even crack double digits. This team could have used a go-to guy or a hot hand tonight, and it would have nice for it to have been Rashard Lewis. However, Bruce Bowen has given him fits in the past, which just donned on me as I typed that last sentence. Still, he's supposed to be an All-Star, this is the year where we thought he was finally being consistent, and then this.
Luke Ridnour isn't getting away either. He missed 9 of 11 shots from the floor, though he only turned the ball over once.
Oh yeah, I mentioned Ron Murray's turnovers back there. He had five. At least when Tony Parker turns the ball over six times he can score 17, pull down 10 boards, and dish out 6 assists.
Yes, Tony Parker did win the matchup between himself and Luke Ridnour.
But enough about that, I'm sure all you want to know about is Jaleel White's reasoning on why Yao is not the answer in Houston.
I asked Jinkies when the hell the Sonics are going to start playing defense again. His reply: "I am sorry to hear about your problem. I would say to take a short nap, then scratch something expensive or spray your essence on somebody's clothes. This works for myself all the time."
(final content posted ~10:05p)
No Ray Allen tonight. Ron Murray is starting. Nate McMillan will be out the rest of the week (or indefinitely, depending on what source you have) to tend to his family after his mother passed away.
Anyway, here's what I have for tonight's game.
1st qtr
11:34 Lewis beats the shot clock from long range for first basket of game. 8:32 Murray baseline pass Lewis left corner three TIE 7-7. 7:27 Popovich technical. 4:31 nice running James hook SA 16-12 (airball next trip down). 3:17 James offensive rebound, weaves through defenders for easy layup SA 16-14. 2:44 James from midrange TIE 16-16. 1:09 Murray actually does something, drives to rack and gets fouled after 0-for-4 start, hits one SA 20-17. 0:13 Murray three SA 23-22.
After one quarter -- San Antonio 25, Seattle 22
Jerome James warmed up, but so far it's kind of a weird game, and not just because James had 8 in the first quarter. I use he term "flow" a lot, but the Sonics don't have much flow on offense again, though we can cite Ray Allen's absence this time as a cause. Ron Murray missed his first four shots, which is never good. However, they've held Tim Duncan to just one jumper from about 18 feet and that's it. However, Bruce Bowen nailed a couple threes, and the Spurs got a few second-chance points.
2nd qtr
11:00 Murray dribble turnover, 6th for the Sonics. 9:34 Seattle timeout after big San Antonio run and a fourth-chance possession SA 33-24. 8:40 James hits over Duncan in the key SA 34-26. 7:13 James in te key again beating the shot clock SA 34-28. 6:45 Radmanovic deep two SA 36-30. 4:24 Radmanovic moves to the rack SA 38-32. 3:38 Lewis puts back a James miss SA 40-34. 2:11 Spurs pull off another run, Sonics outscored 14-8 on the break SA 44-34.
Af halftime -- San Antonio 48, Seattle 34
The Spurs ended the half on an 8-0 run. Up until that point, the Sonics were pretty much hanging with the Spurs and kept within reach. Now, I'm not so sure.
Jerome James was the only consistent offense in the first half for the Sonics, scoring 12 points and also grabbing 6 boards. Rashard Lewis added 7 points. The rest of the Sonics, however...no one's stepping up offensively. Ridnour and Murray are a combined 2-for-11.
The Sonics have gotten off 34 shots, but the Spurs have shot the ball 49 times. This is partly due to the fact that the Sonics have 15 defensive rebounds and the Spurs have THIRTEEN offensive rebounds. The Spurs are only shooting 42%, but they're leading because they're not missing on their second, third, or fourth chances.
As for the offense, there's absolutely no flow. Nothing's happening, they're forcing up shots, the passes are going into traffic and getting tipped away, etc. Just nothing. The Sonics had 10 first-half turnovers.
This is a really weird game so far, but before the Spurs went on that run to end the half, I was convinced that the way the game was going, it was the exact type of game the Spurs usually win. After the big run, well, I know the Sonics' shooters can get hot, but they have to get something going and keep the Spurs off the offensive glass.
Oh yeah, the Sonics are late rotating too, resulting in a lot of long-range looks for the Spurs.
3rd qtr
11:06 Evans offensive board, layup and foul, hits SA 52-37. 8:45 nice ball movement, Evans layup and foul again, SA 59-43. 6:49 Ridnour hits a shot (wow) SA 63-45, got turnover on other end, pass to Lewis intercepted. 6:00 Murray cuts through lane SA 65-47. 5:27 Fortson finally to the line SA 67-49. 3:33 Radmanovic dunk from Lewis off a fast break SA 67-53 (6-0 run) SA timeout. 3:00 Radmanovic three SA 67-56. 2:29 Daniels lane layup SA 70-58. 1:23 off Lewis block, Daniels blows uncontested layup.
After three quarters -- San Antonio 76, Seattle 59
The Sonics went on a 9-3 run, but that only got them within 12. The Spurs ended the quarter on a 6-1 run and may have just put the game out of reach. Of course, the fact that Vladimir Radmanovic took an elbow near the right eye during that run really sucked away some momentum, as it appeared he might have finally been getting warm.
That said, James and Radmanovic are the only Sonics scoring in double figures.
4th qtr
10:35 Collison found inside for a dunk SA 81-63. 10:06 Collison again down low SA 84-65. 9:31 Murray driving lane SA 84-67. 8:20 Daniels falls away SA 86-69. 7:21 Daniels foul and one SA 86-72. 5:44 Lewis fastbreak dunk off broken play SA 88-74. 2:20 Ginobili fouls, and it's garbage time.
Final -- San Antonio 103, Seattle 84
Where to start...?
Obviously, not having Ray Allen takes out a key cog against a tough team. The offense didn't have any sense of consistency except for the run late in the third quarter.
The defense still can't stop anybody. In the first half the Spurs cleaned up on the offensive glass, but all game long the Sonics were late rotating out to the open shooters on the perimeter, and the Spurs were hitting a lot of those shots.
Ron Murray is a zoo, even taking into account that he was facing the Spurs tonight. His shot was consistently short. He started in place of Ray Allen. Let's just say there was a considerable drop-off. He's not a pass-first guy, as we know, though now it appears he will pass if nothing is available shot-wise. But if he catches the ball and doesn't see a shot right away, he'll try to break his man off the dribble. The usual result was his shot being short or off the side of the rim. I haven't even gotten to the turnovers.
But overall, not enough people stepped up on the offensive end. Jerome James got way more points than we're used to seeing, but other than that, it just wasn't happening tonight. There was no consistency, no giddyap, no pizzazz on the offensive end at all.
So what happens if you can't stop the Spurs from scoring and you can't get anything going in your offense? You get royally trounced, of course! Manhandled, even. That's basically the game tonight.
Thank goodness January is over. What a mediocre month.
Maybe the defense will return after taking a month off. They better start tomorrow night, though, because they have to go to Sacto. Yikes.
PEEK AT THE BOXSCORE
starters
Ron Murray 13 pts/4 reb/3 ast (5-17 FG, 2-4 3pt, 38 min), Rashard Lewis 9 pts/6 reb/3 ast (4-9 FG, 1-3 3pt), Luke Ridnour 6 pts/4 ast (2-11 FG, 0-2 3pt), Reggie Evans 6 pts/6 reb (15 min)
bench
Vlad Radmanovic 13 pts/3 reb/2 ast (5-11 FG, 1-3 3pt), Antonio Daniels 13 pts/4 reb/5 ast (3-6 FG, 7-9 free throws, 26 min), Nick Collison 10 pts/4 reb (4-6 FG, 14 min), Danny Fortson 2 pts/2 reb (7 min)
Jerome James Watch
12 pts/6 reb/4 blk (5-10 FG, 2-2 free throws, 2 fouls, 30 min)
team
shot 30-for-73 (41.1%) from the field, shot 4-for-13 (30.8%) from downtown, shot 20-for-25 (80%) from the line, were outrebounded 42-36, turned the ball over 15 times, bench outscored San Antonio bench 38-28 (outrebounded them 13-10)
The Sonics scored 84 points tonight. I said they didn't have any flow to the offense, which I think is true even though the Sonics scored 25 points each in the third and fourth quarters. Something just seemed like it wasn't there tonight. Obviously, Ray Allen wasn't, but if you saw the Sonics play this season before the calendar turned over to 2005 (removing all the Ray Allen memories from your mind), the team that played tonight was virtually unrecognizable.
You could argue that this game was over at one of two points...
A) when the Spurs reeled off the 8-0 run going into halftime, holding the Sonics to a 12-point quarter in the process. The Sonics scored 25 points each in the third and fourth quarters, but as has been typical of the defense this month, they allowed 28 and 27 points in those quarters.
B) when Brent Barry started going nuts to start the 4th quarter
C) before it started, with Ray Allen not in the lineup
Okay, so maybe I was a little hard on Ron Murray there, even though he did have a crappy night. Still, he scored 13 points (though he needed a billion shots to do it) to tie with Radmanovic and Daniels for the team lead.
Rashard Lewis, however, did not step up whatsoever. When one All-Star goes down, I'd presume that Lewis would step up like the All-Star that this region wants him to be. That definitely didn't happen tonight; he didn't even crack double digits. This team could have used a go-to guy or a hot hand tonight, and it would have nice for it to have been Rashard Lewis. However, Bruce Bowen has given him fits in the past, which just donned on me as I typed that last sentence. Still, he's supposed to be an All-Star, this is the year where we thought he was finally being consistent, and then this.
Luke Ridnour isn't getting away either. He missed 9 of 11 shots from the floor, though he only turned the ball over once.
Oh yeah, I mentioned Ron Murray's turnovers back there. He had five. At least when Tony Parker turns the ball over six times he can score 17, pull down 10 boards, and dish out 6 assists.
Yes, Tony Parker did win the matchup between himself and Luke Ridnour.
But enough about that, I'm sure all you want to know about is Jaleel White's reasoning on why Yao is not the answer in Houston.
I asked Jinkies when the hell the Sonics are going to start playing defense again. His reply: "I am sorry to hear about your problem. I would say to take a short nap, then scratch something expensive or spray your essence on somebody's clothes. This works for myself all the time."
/ Click for main page
MAILBOGGED
It just continues, my oh my!
Would Ron Villone be considered part of the '95 Mariners' magic season? And also, who do you think was the best Mariners third basemen in history and why? -- Jared M., Auburn, Wash.
Should I really answer this question? I'm really feeling mailbogged at this point. What does "mailbogged" mean exactly?
mailbogged - a symptom caused by reading Jim Street's mailbags at seattlemariners.com
Oh, and Jeff Nelson is coming back to the Mariners organization. Three words for the masses:
NELLIE WAS RIGHT!
Would Ron Villone be considered part of the '95 Mariners' magic season? And also, who do you think was the best Mariners third basemen in history and why? -- Jared M., Auburn, Wash.
Should I really answer this question? I'm really feeling mailbogged at this point. What does "mailbogged" mean exactly?
mailbogged - a symptom caused by reading Jim Street's mailbags at seattlemariners.com
Oh, and Jeff Nelson is coming back to the Mariners organization. Three words for the masses:
NELLIE WAS RIGHT!
/ Click for main page
I HAVE A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE...
No, we aren't going to end Sports and Bremertonians anytime soon.
No, we aren't going to call this "Sports and Port Orchardians".
And no, we aren't going to get rid of Blogger and join Wordpress.
The big announcement I'm going to make?
I just want to thank the Bremerton School District for making David and I so great at what we do. Not every Bremertonian (current or former) can have their own site and have thousands of readers visit us every week. And I don't even live in Bremerton anymore.
We're just doing our part to beautify Bremerton. Yes, this is only a small part in that mission. But dammit, we have to keep our composure. KEEP OUR COMPOSURE!
Seriously though, I just want to remind everybody that we're still here. And quite frankly, that's a good thing. And how do I repay our readers with something other than my takes on anything and everything under the sun?
We're still here. Believe it.
No, we aren't going to call this "Sports and Port Orchardians".
And no, we aren't going to get rid of Blogger and join Wordpress.
The big announcement I'm going to make?
I just want to thank the Bremerton School District for making David and I so great at what we do. Not every Bremertonian (current or former) can have their own site and have thousands of readers visit us every week. And I don't even live in Bremerton anymore.
We're just doing our part to beautify Bremerton. Yes, this is only a small part in that mission. But dammit, we have to keep our composure. KEEP OUR COMPOSURE!
Seriously though, I just want to remind everybody that we're still here. And quite frankly, that's a good thing. And how do I repay our readers with something other than my takes on anything and everything under the sun?
We're still here. Believe it.
/ Click for main page
SO LONG, JANUARY
Welcome to Monday^ and the end of January.
[^Originally I said Sunday here. If I ever get mixed up on days, it's because I'm working on these around midnight, when the day changes and stuff.]
Hmm, a random note. Before Gardetto's sold out sometime back when I was in high school, their sour cream and onion flavored stuff was awesome. After they sold out, they changed the packaging and I think they might have phased out the flavor. Enter bold-flavored Chex Mix, formerly known as bold n' zesty Chex Mix. Yes, this was back in my salty-snacks phase. As a child, there was candy and sweets, then the realization that I didn't like sweets as much anymore came at about the same time as the high-sodium epiphany.
But enough about that...
MARINERS
We keep waiting for Bob Finnigan to write his annual piece on rumors to bring Griffey back, but this time we instead get a decent piece on life after baseball for Edgar Martinez. He hasn't even swung a bat since his final game, which I'll guess is easily the longest he's gone in his life without swinging since the first time he picked up a bat. While 42 is old for baseball, he's still got a lot of living left to do and a few kids to raise and be around more often.
As for this year's FanFest (my post below this one) being down from 14155 this year to 15854 last year, some people must still be sour from the 2004 season and still cautious despite the free-agent signings this offseason. Or maybe they just didn't want to freeze. Maybe they thought it'd be a lot cooler if you could take live-arm or at least some soft toss out on the field instead of hitting off tees (just nit-picking by me there). The last FanFest I went to was in 2000, and I'd have to say if there was just one basic thing that the field had over the exhibition center, you had a few more thousand places to sit if you wanted to take a rest. Of course, the one thing that the exhibition center had over the field was room temperature.
Did anyone try those Shishkaberries? Just curious.
SEAHAWKS
The Seahawks have reportedly talked to Denver GM Ted Sundquist. He's done contract negotiations, is a cap guy, and presides over personnel and scouting.
Upon further investigation of Sundquist...
As General Manager, Sundquist has also been instrumental in the acquisition of many notable free agents such as Jake Plummer...
(record player skips)
I don't want him.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
Steve Kelley managed to write yet another non-Husky article the day after a big game for the Huskies, but at least this one has a much more local spin than the tent city of Krzyzewskiville did. Marvin Williams is good. The fact that someone that played for Bremerton even has a chance at the NBA, let alone being a top-10 pick, is beyond incredible. Though UNC totally trounced Virginia on Saturday, Marvin's double-double of 15 and 10 came in only 16 minutes.
There's a reference to scouts riding the ferry over to Bremerton to see Marvin play, and I'm wondering if they actually fell for the extortionist soda pop machines on the boats.
The Tar Heels host NC State on Thursday (4p, ESPN) and travel to Tallahassee to face Florida State on Sunday (11a, FSNNW)
Huskies
Coach Romar got tech'd, Nate Robinson stepped up, and the Huskies contained Ike Diogu (the nation's leader in free throws) en route to a 79-70 win over Arizona State.
The Huskies host USC on Thursday (7p, NOT televised) and UCLA on Saturday (2p, FSNNW)
Bulldogs
The Zags host Saint Mary's on Thursday (5:30p, Seattle FSNNW, Q6 NBC Spokane) and Santa Clara on Saturday (3p, KONG 6/16 Seattle, Q6 NBC Spokane)
Sonics
Yes, Ray Allen is sick for the second time this season, and Coach McMillan has flown to North Carolina to be with his ailing mother. Surely both occurrences might make the game against San Antonio tonight a lot more dicey. Though the Sonics are the only team to beat the Spurs twice this season, those two games occurred when the Sonics still played great defense, which they haven't done since right after the new year. Still, the Sonics will have a ton of fouls to throw at Tim Duncan, and he's a brutal free-throw shooter.
I have a sick feeling that Manu Ginobili is going to just carve up the Sonics' defense, especially in the state it's been the past few weeks. Call it a hunch. I don't want it happen, but I'm just sayin'...
Upcoming...
Tonight vs. San Antonio (7p, FSNNW)
Tomorrow at Sacramento (7p, FSNNW)
Saturday vs. Charlotte (7p, FSNNW)
HOCKEY
Everett shut out Tri-City 2-0. Mike Wall bested Carey Price for his 8th shutout of the season. Everett crawled back into a tie with Portland for second place in the WHL US Division. The game went scoreless until Shaun Heshka finally opened the scoring 1:36 into the final period. The one goal held up for the rest of the third period, and Alex Leavitt iced the game with an empty-netter in the final minute. Everett was outshot 29-23. Wall, needless to say, stopped all 29 shots he faced. Heshka, Kyle Annesley, and Mitch Love were all plus-2.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Grand Rapids at Manitoba
Tomorrow: Grand Rapids at Manitoba, Queen City at Puget Sound
Wednesday: Spokane at Seattle, Vancouver at Red Deer, Queen City at Puget Sound
Friday: Portland at Seattle, Everett at Spokane, Vancouver at Swift Current, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
Saturday: Seattle at Everett, Vancouver at Lethbridge, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
---
Have a jolly start to the work week, good readers of ours.
[^Originally I said Sunday here. If I ever get mixed up on days, it's because I'm working on these around midnight, when the day changes and stuff.]
Hmm, a random note. Before Gardetto's sold out sometime back when I was in high school, their sour cream and onion flavored stuff was awesome. After they sold out, they changed the packaging and I think they might have phased out the flavor. Enter bold-flavored Chex Mix, formerly known as bold n' zesty Chex Mix. Yes, this was back in my salty-snacks phase. As a child, there was candy and sweets, then the realization that I didn't like sweets as much anymore came at about the same time as the high-sodium epiphany.
But enough about that...
MARINERS
We keep waiting for Bob Finnigan to write his annual piece on rumors to bring Griffey back, but this time we instead get a decent piece on life after baseball for Edgar Martinez. He hasn't even swung a bat since his final game, which I'll guess is easily the longest he's gone in his life without swinging since the first time he picked up a bat. While 42 is old for baseball, he's still got a lot of living left to do and a few kids to raise and be around more often.
As for this year's FanFest (my post below this one) being down from 14155 this year to 15854 last year, some people must still be sour from the 2004 season and still cautious despite the free-agent signings this offseason. Or maybe they just didn't want to freeze. Maybe they thought it'd be a lot cooler if you could take live-arm or at least some soft toss out on the field instead of hitting off tees (just nit-picking by me there). The last FanFest I went to was in 2000, and I'd have to say if there was just one basic thing that the field had over the exhibition center, you had a few more thousand places to sit if you wanted to take a rest. Of course, the one thing that the exhibition center had over the field was room temperature.
Did anyone try those Shishkaberries? Just curious.
SEAHAWKS
The Seahawks have reportedly talked to Denver GM Ted Sundquist. He's done contract negotiations, is a cap guy, and presides over personnel and scouting.
Upon further investigation of Sundquist...
As General Manager, Sundquist has also been instrumental in the acquisition of many notable free agents such as Jake Plummer...
(record player skips)
I don't want him.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
Steve Kelley managed to write yet another non-Husky article the day after a big game for the Huskies, but at least this one has a much more local spin than the tent city of Krzyzewskiville did. Marvin Williams is good. The fact that someone that played for Bremerton even has a chance at the NBA, let alone being a top-10 pick, is beyond incredible. Though UNC totally trounced Virginia on Saturday, Marvin's double-double of 15 and 10 came in only 16 minutes.
There's a reference to scouts riding the ferry over to Bremerton to see Marvin play, and I'm wondering if they actually fell for the extortionist soda pop machines on the boats.
The Tar Heels host NC State on Thursday (4p, ESPN) and travel to Tallahassee to face Florida State on Sunday (11a, FSNNW)
Huskies
Coach Romar got tech'd, Nate Robinson stepped up, and the Huskies contained Ike Diogu (the nation's leader in free throws) en route to a 79-70 win over Arizona State.
The Huskies host USC on Thursday (7p, NOT televised) and UCLA on Saturday (2p, FSNNW)
Bulldogs
The Zags host Saint Mary's on Thursday (5:30p, Seattle FSNNW, Q6 NBC Spokane) and Santa Clara on Saturday (3p, KONG 6/16 Seattle, Q6 NBC Spokane)
Sonics
Yes, Ray Allen is sick for the second time this season, and Coach McMillan has flown to North Carolina to be with his ailing mother. Surely both occurrences might make the game against San Antonio tonight a lot more dicey. Though the Sonics are the only team to beat the Spurs twice this season, those two games occurred when the Sonics still played great defense, which they haven't done since right after the new year. Still, the Sonics will have a ton of fouls to throw at Tim Duncan, and he's a brutal free-throw shooter.
I have a sick feeling that Manu Ginobili is going to just carve up the Sonics' defense, especially in the state it's been the past few weeks. Call it a hunch. I don't want it happen, but I'm just sayin'...
Upcoming...
Tonight vs. San Antonio (7p, FSNNW)
Tomorrow at Sacramento (7p, FSNNW)
Saturday vs. Charlotte (7p, FSNNW)
HOCKEY
Everett shut out Tri-City 2-0. Mike Wall bested Carey Price for his 8th shutout of the season. Everett crawled back into a tie with Portland for second place in the WHL US Division. The game went scoreless until Shaun Heshka finally opened the scoring 1:36 into the final period. The one goal held up for the rest of the third period, and Alex Leavitt iced the game with an empty-netter in the final minute. Everett was outshot 29-23. Wall, needless to say, stopped all 29 shots he faced. Heshka, Kyle Annesley, and Mitch Love were all plus-2.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Grand Rapids at Manitoba
Tomorrow: Grand Rapids at Manitoba, Queen City at Puget Sound
Wednesday: Spokane at Seattle, Vancouver at Red Deer, Queen City at Puget Sound
Friday: Portland at Seattle, Everett at Spokane, Vancouver at Swift Current, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
Saturday: Seattle at Everett, Vancouver at Lethbridge, San Antonio at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Spokane
---
Have a jolly start to the work week, good readers of ours.
/ Click for main page
Sunday, January 30, 2005
FANFESTATION
I took the 6:20am boat from Bremerton this morning, and got into the line at Safeco Field, joining the 100-150 or so fans in front of me. My only real mission was to get Richie Sexson's autograph on the #11 Brewers shirt that I've had for about four years, since I really didn't have any energy due to do much else due to lack of sleep and standing in line for hours. By the time the line was moving and the gates opened at 9:30am, the line itself stretched from the Home Plate Gate north along First Avenue South and east on Royal Brougham to the Center Field Gate.
Mike Hargrove walked right behind me as Sexson was signing my shirt. As is usual with me in clutch situations, I could only manage a "hey Mike."
You could ask me things about how the day went and stuff, but I (and espeically the legs) was (were) so freakin' tired that a good deal of my time was spent in the left field seats in both foul and fair territory watching the kids try to catch fly balls off the JUGS machine.
Of course, I know some of you weren't there. I could just post some stuff directly to the page, but it'd be too huge, and I don't want to compromise the quality too badly by shrinking anything.
That said, here are some scans, for which I highly suggest shift-clicking, as I would with all of our non-sidebar links.
Here's the two sides to the Sunday schedule they handed out.
I also got my hands on something I never got a hold of until today -- the schedules with the TV games on them. If you really want to know what the other side of the schedule looks like, here it is.
I reckon it might be naptime over here. Going from waking up near noon and then waking up before 6 this morning was just too much for me. Holding a bag of stuff on a ferry isn't exactly a situation that lends itself easily to sleep for me.
Mike Hargrove walked right behind me as Sexson was signing my shirt. As is usual with me in clutch situations, I could only manage a "hey Mike."
You could ask me things about how the day went and stuff, but I (and espeically the legs) was (were) so freakin' tired that a good deal of my time was spent in the left field seats in both foul and fair territory watching the kids try to catch fly balls off the JUGS machine.
Of course, I know some of you weren't there. I could just post some stuff directly to the page, but it'd be too huge, and I don't want to compromise the quality too badly by shrinking anything.
That said, here are some scans, for which I highly suggest shift-clicking, as I would with all of our non-sidebar links.
Here's the two sides to the Sunday schedule they handed out.
I also got my hands on something I never got a hold of until today -- the schedules with the TV games on them. If you really want to know what the other side of the schedule looks like, here it is.
I reckon it might be naptime over here. Going from waking up near noon and then waking up before 6 this morning was just too much for me. Holding a bag of stuff on a ferry isn't exactly a situation that lends itself easily to sleep for me.
/ Click for main page
QUICKIE
Welcome to Sunday. This one might be a little shorter because I should be going to FanFest in the morning if everything goes as planned.
For your random note today, I pace back and forth while I brush my teeth. I have no idea why this is.
Before I start the rest of the post, I must pass along that the Stanford women's swimming team came away with a 193-103 victory. Bremerton 2002 grad Dana Kirk finished second in the 100 butterfly (55.69) and first in the 200 fly (1:59.64). Both times are NCAA "B" qualifying times.
MARINERS
I guess I can only think of a short rebuttal to Blaine Newnham's wishes to hand Felix Hernandez a spot in the rotation. Baseball is way more mental of a sport than football and basketball, and Newnham made comparisons to the youth of LeBron James and Reggie Bush. It's apples and oranges here.
SEAHAWKS
The Seahawks are still without a president and a vice president of football operations.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
In North Carolina's 110-76 stomping on the road at Virginia (snapping a 5-game losing streak there), Marvin Williams notched a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, along with a token assist. He shot 6-for-8 from the floor and hit on all three of his three-point attempts. All of this in a mere 16 minutes of play off the bench.
The Tar Heels host NC State on Thursday (4p, ESPN).
Huskies
Can the Huskies stop Ike Diogu? Or can they only hope to contain him? Why did I just totally rip off Dan Patrick?
The Huskies play at Arizona State today (12:45p, CBS).
Bulldogs
Gonzaga beat the Portland Pilots 91-79. JP Batista is becoming one hell of a player, and last night he scored 25 and grabbed 12 boards.
The Zags host Saint Mary's on Thursday (FSNNW)
Sonics
Percy Allen's got a point here. How many good young coaches are there in the NBA? Why is it that after an NBA coach is fired, we immediately ask, "maybe (big name guy) will come back to coaching?" It is kind of perplexing, in a way.
Upcoming...
Tomorrow vs. San Antonio (7p, FSNNW)
Tuesday at Sacramento (7p, FSNNW)
Saturday vs. Charlotte (7p, FSNNW)
HOCKEY
Seattle beat Everett 3-2. Aaron Gagnon scored two power-play goals against the best penalty-killing unit in the league. Everett outshot Seeattle 23-20. Leland Irving stopped 17 for the Silvertips, and Bryan Bridges stopped 21 for Seattle. Everett dropped into third place in the US Division behind...
Portland beat Tri-City 2-1. Portland opened the scoring on a Darrell May goal in the first period, which was answered no a 2nd-period power play by Ian McDonald of the Americans. The score held up until Dan DaSilva scored with 11 seconds left to go in the overtime to get the two points in the standings and vault themselves over Everett for second in the US Division. Tri-City outshot Portland 26-21. Blake Grenier stopped 25 in the Portland net.
Kelowna beat Vancouver 2-1. It was a pretty evenly played game for 58 minutes, but a bout of confusion among the Giants in their own zone was enough for the Rockets to take advantage and rob the Giants of what should have at least been a tie. Adam Courchaine scored the only Vancouver goal on a power play in the second period that tied the game at 1-1. The Giants outshot the Rockets 26-24. Marek Schwarz stopped 22 for the Giants.
Utah beat Manitoba 3-2 in a shootout. Both of the Moose's goals came late in their periods and both tied the game. Jimmy Roy got his goal with 15.3 seconds left in the first period to tie the game at 1-1, and Peter Sarno made good on a 5-on-3 in the final minute of play in the third period to net the Moose another single point heading into the shootout. The Moose lost on the sixth skater of the shootout. They outshot Utah 38-36. Wade Flaherty stopped 33 of 35 for Manitoba.
Puget Sound beat Spokane 5-2. It was a much easier win than the night before, as the Tomahawks were able to jump out to a 3-1 lead pretty early, leaving the outcome of the game in little doubt. Also surprising was the total lack of big fights and bad blood spilling over from the night before, possibly tempered by the suspensions of two Tomahawk players and apparently the head coach, who watched from the south end of the rink rather than from the bench.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Everett at Tri-City
Tomorrow: Grand Rapids at Manitoba
Tuesday: Grand Rapids at Manitoba, Queen City at Puget Sound
Wednesday: Spokane at Seattle, Vancouver at Red Deer, Queen City at Puget Sound
---
Have a great Sunday, everyone.
For your random note today, I pace back and forth while I brush my teeth. I have no idea why this is.
Before I start the rest of the post, I must pass along that the Stanford women's swimming team came away with a 193-103 victory. Bremerton 2002 grad Dana Kirk finished second in the 100 butterfly (55.69) and first in the 200 fly (1:59.64). Both times are NCAA "B" qualifying times.
MARINERS
I guess I can only think of a short rebuttal to Blaine Newnham's wishes to hand Felix Hernandez a spot in the rotation. Baseball is way more mental of a sport than football and basketball, and Newnham made comparisons to the youth of LeBron James and Reggie Bush. It's apples and oranges here.
SEAHAWKS
The Seahawks are still without a president and a vice president of football operations.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
In North Carolina's 110-76 stomping on the road at Virginia (snapping a 5-game losing streak there), Marvin Williams notched a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, along with a token assist. He shot 6-for-8 from the floor and hit on all three of his three-point attempts. All of this in a mere 16 minutes of play off the bench.
The Tar Heels host NC State on Thursday (4p, ESPN).
Huskies
Can the Huskies stop Ike Diogu? Or can they only hope to contain him? Why did I just totally rip off Dan Patrick?
The Huskies play at Arizona State today (12:45p, CBS).
Bulldogs
Gonzaga beat the Portland Pilots 91-79. JP Batista is becoming one hell of a player, and last night he scored 25 and grabbed 12 boards.
The Zags host Saint Mary's on Thursday (FSNNW)
Sonics
Percy Allen's got a point here. How many good young coaches are there in the NBA? Why is it that after an NBA coach is fired, we immediately ask, "maybe (big name guy) will come back to coaching?" It is kind of perplexing, in a way.
Upcoming...
Tomorrow vs. San Antonio (7p, FSNNW)
Tuesday at Sacramento (7p, FSNNW)
Saturday vs. Charlotte (7p, FSNNW)
HOCKEY
Seattle beat Everett 3-2. Aaron Gagnon scored two power-play goals against the best penalty-killing unit in the league. Everett outshot Seeattle 23-20. Leland Irving stopped 17 for the Silvertips, and Bryan Bridges stopped 21 for Seattle. Everett dropped into third place in the US Division behind...
Portland beat Tri-City 2-1. Portland opened the scoring on a Darrell May goal in the first period, which was answered no a 2nd-period power play by Ian McDonald of the Americans. The score held up until Dan DaSilva scored with 11 seconds left to go in the overtime to get the two points in the standings and vault themselves over Everett for second in the US Division. Tri-City outshot Portland 26-21. Blake Grenier stopped 25 in the Portland net.
Kelowna beat Vancouver 2-1. It was a pretty evenly played game for 58 minutes, but a bout of confusion among the Giants in their own zone was enough for the Rockets to take advantage and rob the Giants of what should have at least been a tie. Adam Courchaine scored the only Vancouver goal on a power play in the second period that tied the game at 1-1. The Giants outshot the Rockets 26-24. Marek Schwarz stopped 22 for the Giants.
Utah beat Manitoba 3-2 in a shootout. Both of the Moose's goals came late in their periods and both tied the game. Jimmy Roy got his goal with 15.3 seconds left in the first period to tie the game at 1-1, and Peter Sarno made good on a 5-on-3 in the final minute of play in the third period to net the Moose another single point heading into the shootout. The Moose lost on the sixth skater of the shootout. They outshot Utah 38-36. Wade Flaherty stopped 33 of 35 for Manitoba.
Puget Sound beat Spokane 5-2. It was a much easier win than the night before, as the Tomahawks were able to jump out to a 3-1 lead pretty early, leaving the outcome of the game in little doubt. Also surprising was the total lack of big fights and bad blood spilling over from the night before, possibly tempered by the suspensions of two Tomahawk players and apparently the head coach, who watched from the south end of the rink rather than from the bench.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Everett at Tri-City
Tomorrow: Grand Rapids at Manitoba
Tuesday: Grand Rapids at Manitoba, Queen City at Puget Sound
Wednesday: Spokane at Seattle, Vancouver at Red Deer, Queen City at Puget Sound
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Have a great Sunday, everyone.