Ichiro Almost Wore Pinstripes

This is an older story by apparently Ichiro was almost a Yankee. He had the teams narrowed down to the Mariners and Yankees, his wife then persuaded him to stay in Seattle.

The thought of Ichiro in pinstripes makes us sick, not as sick as if he was a Red Sox, but we digress. We aren't huge Ichiro fans, but we like him on the team. The Yankees and Red Sox are the worst so if we had to watch him slap singles for them it would have caused us to drink like Richie Sexson on his way to a Blazers game.

If the Mariners can pull off some sort of miracle, like trade for Johan Santana, then they have an opportunity to make a playoff push. Of course the Angels signing Torri Hunter doesn't help Seattle's cause.

If Not For His Wife, Ichiro Might be A Yankee [Enjoy the Enjoyment]
The Angels sign Hunter to a $90 million deal [NY Times]

High School Football - Championship Version

This weekend is Championship Weekend in the state of Washington. The two big classifications, 4A and 3A, play Saturday and Friday night respectively. In the 3A game Skyline plays O'Dea and in 4A Bothell takes on Lewis & Clark from across the mountains.

Skyline is coached by Steve Gervais, maybe the best high school coach is Washington state history. He has won 3 1A titles with Eatonville, took Gig Harbor to the championship game, and won the 3A title in 2000 and the 4A title in 2005, both with Skyline. He has the Spartans in position to win their 3rd title in 8 years. It will be very interesting to see what happens to Skyline when Gervais leaves, something that will most likely happen in 2 years when sophomore QB Jake Heaps graduates.

In the 4A game, Bothell makes it second straight appearance in the championship game. They have been the best team in 4A this season and if a team ever deserved to win they would be it. The Tigers from Lewis & Clark are making their first appearance in the title game. They are a big underdog to Bothell, but they have surprised a lot of teams in the playoffs so we wouldn't be shocked if they somehow pulled out the win.

Both games should be very entertaining and will display the quality of high school football that Washington state offers year-in and year-out.

Photo Courtesy of The Seattle Times

Potential Cougar Football Coaches

Now that the Cougars have to hire a new football coach we though we'd look at the possible hires who would take over at Wazzu.

-Mike Price: The choice everyone and the mom has been talking about. He hasn't done well at UTEP the last two years, 5-7 and 4-8. He would have considerably better talent at WSU and has proven he can recruit and win in Pullman. He is 61 years old, something that could hurt in recruiting.

-Paul Wulff: The head coach at Eastern Washington University. Wulff is a former Coug who is familiar with recruiting in Washington. He would probably keep some of the staff the same. Negative, he's never been a Division 1 coach, something that AD Jim Sterk said was something they were looking for.

-Bob Gregory: He is a former Coug as well, now the D-coordinator at California. He has coached Division 1 football before albeit as an assistant. He could keep Levenseller around to work with the offense and concentrate on the defense.

-Under no circumstance should WSU hire or even interview UW offense coordinator Tim Lappano. That would be a lateral, if not backwards, move. He has never been a HC and frankly we are not to impressed with his offense at UW.

Those seem to be the most logical choices. Washington State needs a Cougar to coach the Cougars. All three of the above guys are Cougars and understand what it takes to play in a town like Pullman.

Cougar News

Lots of Cougar news today.

Football coach Bill Doba was fired. Just two days after winning the Apple Cup he is let go. The Mike-Price-back-to-Washington-State stories are already out, including this one by the El Paso Times. We have been on the Bring Back Mike Price Bandwagon for a long time. We like Doba as a guy, so much so that we feel for him today, but football wise this was the right move. The best part of Price coming back would be he would most likely keep some of the staff. We like that fact that the Cougars are coached by Cougars. Levenseller, Yarno, Broussard, Rypien; those guys care about Washington State.

In other WSU news, the basketball team moved up to #6 in the nation. This is the new highest ranking for the Cougars. They won the inaugural Hispanic College Fund Tournament this past weekend in Spokane. They play at Baylor on Friday then travel to the Kennel for a big game with Gonzaga on December 5th. Unfortunetly, both of those games are televised on ESPNU, a channel that we don't get.

Doba fired as WSU football coach [Tacoma News Tribune]
Washington St., coach part ways; Price could return [El Paso Times]

What's Up With...

Bryce Fisher!!!

The former Seahawks starting DE was traded to the Titans on Sept. 11th this season for an undisclosed draft pick. We haven't read or heard anything about Fisher lately so we wanted to see how he's been performing this season.

Fisher has played in 6 games this season recording 0 sacks and 5 tackles. It doesn't look like Fisher is getting the playing time he needs to be really effective but he wouldn't have got that here in Seattle either.

Fisher was a great off-the-field guy who was mildly entertaining on his weekly-radio spot with Softy on KJR. The Seahawks made the right decision trading him and allowing Darryl Tapp to start. Tapp has been great this season, 6.5 sacks, 1 INT, and 2 FF. Not to mention he recovered the fumble Sunday that allowed the Seahawks to hold off the Bears.

Photo Courtesy of The Seattle Times

Catching Up!

We have had a very busy week so there has been no posting since Thursday, which is not what we want but it had to happen.

It's Apple Cup week and the birds are already chirping. Jordan Reffett, the Husky DT, had a lot to say about the Cougs. We hope the Cougs shove it to the dawgs, but it isn't looking good.

*Update: Locker is going to start for UW, meaning the Cougar defense needs to play its ass off.

The Seahawks beat a mediocre Bears team on Sunday. They have the Rams this week, which should be a win. That would put them at 7-4 with probably still a 1-game division lead.

The state football playoffs semifinal round is this weekend. In the 4A game across the mountain, Bothell visits Ferris with the winner being the favorite to win the whole thing. In the other game, Lewis & Clark plays Edmonds-Woodway at the Tacoma Dome.

In 3A Skyline and Bellevue both play but in opposite sides of the bracket. This could potentially be a huge championship game if they both win.

Dawg has plenty of yap in him [Seattle PI]

What Happened Last Night...

The Huskies are headed to NYC, the Sonics get off the crapper, and Tony Bennett signs a solid class for the Cougs.

UW beat Utah 83-77 to advance to the NIT semifinals in Madison Square Garden. Johnny Brockman had a monster game: 31 points and 18 rebounds and the other cast of characters contributed when needed. Now the dawgs get set to play Texas A&M next week.

Kiss that 0-82 season good-bye because the Sonics winners. They beat the Dwyane Wade-led Heat 104-95, notching the first victory on Kevin Durant's belt. Durant had 18 points on 6 for 16 shooting. Good thing Pat Riley didn't suit up for the game or we may be talking about a different outcome this morning.

Washington State signed five new basketball players yesterday. The class included 3 guards and 2 forwards. The first player listed, Marcus Capers, is the one that Tayler Rochestie gave up his scholarship for. The class received an "honorable mention" from Scout.com, whatever that means. Tony Bennett knows that he must get players that want to be part of a team, can live in a smalltown atmosphere, and are willing to give up things for the benefit of the team and the program.

Brockman has career game against Utah [Seattle Times]
Sonics finally break through [Seattle PI]
Cougars reloading at guard [Seattle Times]

Is Harrington Better Than Vick?

Michael David Smith of Fanhouse thinks so. He compares Harrington to the other QBs he has split time with: Byron Leftwich, Daunte Culpepper, and Jeff Garcia. It looks like Smith handpicked the stats he used in the argument, but the stats don't lie.

As life-long Vick haters we don't have any arguments that someone plays the QB position better than him. The only bad thing about Vick not playing this season is we don't get to watch him humiliate himself every Sunday. The guy is a joke, was always a joke, and will always be a joke.

Is Joey Harrington a better QB than Michael Vick? That is a debatable question. Is Joey Harrington a better person, teammate, and leader than Micheal Vick? That's like asking if Tony Dungy is a better person than Bill Belichick. It's no contest.

Joey Harrington Is Better Than Michael Vick [FanHouse]

Photo from The Onion

What Happened Last Night...

A whole lot of basketball, that's what happened.

0-82 here Seattle comes!!! Not really, but the Sonics did lose again last night. This time to the Orlando Magic and our good friend Rashard Lewis. Lewis went for 22 pts. against his former team while Durant was 4 for 13 with 10 points. The Sonics play the Heat tonight in Miami, getting another chance to pick up that elusive first victory.

The #9 team in the nation, the Washington State Cougars (we love typing that), went on the road into the smurf-court and beat the Boise State Broncos 86-74. Kyle Weaver played a much better game then he did in the opener and Derrick Low brought the Cougs back from a halftime deficit. Also, Daven Harmeling chipped in with 18 points, shooting 8 0f 12 from the field.

We don't know about you but when we think of basketball we think of the New Jersey Institution of Technology. And that's why the Huskies' blowout win last night was so surprising. UW is now one victory away from Madison Square Garden, where they can play the likes of Texas A&M, Syracuse, and Ohio State. Two guys who didn't play last year, Tim Morris and Joel Smith, went for 16 and 12 points respectfully. The rock in the middle, Jon Brockman threw in 12 pts. and grabbed 9 rebounds in the winning effort.

Magic extend Sonics' franchise-worst start to eight games [ESPN]
Cougars catch up, then coast [Seattle Times]
Huskies open season with runaway victory [Seattle PI]

Love the Forward Pass: Watch the Cougs on Saturday

Alex Brink already holds just about every WSU passing and QB record there is. Expect him to pad those numbers against Oregon State Saturday because 3 OSU defensive backs must sit out the 1st half.

Starting CB Brandon Hughes and reserves Bryan Payton and James Dockery were suspended for the 1st half by the NCAA for fighting with Washington players last week. Now, there's nothing wrong with kicking a little Husky ass, but you just might want to do it behind the stadium, not on the field.

With starting tailback Dwight Tardy out for the season expect Brink to be hitting Gibson, Bumpus, and hopefully Jed Collins all 1st half Saturday afternoon. This is a huge opportunity for Wazzu, added with OSU's starting QB not being able to play, for them to setup an important Apple Cup next week. If the Cougs pull off the upset, then a win in the AC means 6 wins and a chance for a bowl game. It's even bigger for Bill Doba because a bowl game is the only way he saves his job.

Cougars catch a break [Seattle PI]

M's Should Sign This Guy

There has been talk of the Mariners pursuing Hiroki Kuroda, a RHP out of Japan. He is a free agent so there is no posting fee and could come at a bargain compared to some other pitchers out there.

The Mariners could have an upperhand in signing Kuroda. He has a 103-89 career record in 11 seasons pitching in Japan. He has a career 3.69 ERA and has thrown 74 complete games. Kuroda has a 90-92 mph fastball, he throws a slider similar to Dice-K's, but he doesn't throw a curveball. His best pitch is a fork-split, which is his strikeout pitch.

Kuroda projects as a #3 starter in MLB and the Mariners have 2 openings in their rotation. Since he will come cheaper then some no-good, garbage free agent pitchers out there we think the Marines have to make a serious offer to him.

A Hernandez, Batista, Kuroda, Washburn, Rowland-Smith rotation doesn't get us jacked up over the roof, it does look better then if it had some of the other free agent pitchers out there in it. We discussed U.S.S. Mariner's offseason plan earlier, where they had the M's adding Bartolo Colon. If Seattle adds Kuroda and Colon, then it shows they are making a serious effort to improve the team, realizing that they cannot just sit on their hands because this team won 88 games last season.

Mariners in hunt for Japanese ace? [Tacoma News Tribune]
The Japanese Scouting Report [Prospect Insider]

What Happened Last Night...

The Seahawks beat a very bad 49ers team and the Cougars B-Ball team wins one game and moves up one spot.

The Seahawks threw it accurately and often in their 24-0 shutout over the 49ers. Hasselbeck threw it 40 times, completing 27 for 2 TD and 1 INT. We wonder what Shaun Alexander was thinking over on the sideline. Did he realize that Holmgren has lost his patience and he may never again get the amount of carries he wants. After losing both games to SF last season the Seahawks took it to them in both games this season.

The Cougars have matched their highest ranking ever, #9 in the AP Poll. Wazzu beat Eastern Washington and Michigan State didn't play so the Cougars moved up. They play tonight against Boise State in Boise. Since Ian Johnson doesn't play basketball and Chris Petersen isn't coaching I like the Cougars in this one.

Win comes to pass [Seattle PI]
AP Top-25 Men's College Basketball Poll [Seattle Times]

Explanation of Lute Olson's Absence

Lute Olson took a personal leave of absence on November 4th for undisclosed reasons. A source who has spoken to Olson has took us that it is because his son is sick. He also told the source that he is not leaving the team permanently and he will return this season.

Olson has two sons, we are not sure which one is sick or with what illness. Clearly this illness is very serious and Olson should be with his family. We wish the Olson family the best and hope that he makes a full recovery.

Lute Olson taking leave of absence from Arizona [Arizona Sports Hub]

Mr. Playoffs - High School Version

The "1st Round" of the state playoffs kicks off tomorrow night and there are going to be some interesting matchups this weekend. Here is a link to the 4A bracket.Defending state champion Oak Harbor has to travel to Olympia on Saturday night, eliminating their unique home field advantage.

#1 ranked Bothell has to be the favorite, with Ferris barely squeaking by last week. Graham-Kapowsin is the only remaining SPSL team and they get a home game against South Kitsap. Other matchups include Woodinville traveling across the mountains to play Lewis & Clark at Joe Albi Stadium and 10-0 Edmonds-Woodway hosting Snohomish.

The best game of the weekend happens in 3A when #2 Skyline hosts #1 Lakes. This game could be a very high-scoring affair, although both teams have decent defenses. The winner of this game 9 out of 10 times goes on to win the 3A state title.

Lakes and Skyline get no favors from draw [Seattle PI]
Photo Courtesy of Crimson Photography

You Don't Want To Be Billy Gillispie Right Now!

We sure hope Billy Gillispie doesn't have a public listing in the Lexington phone book. His Wildcats got whipped by Gardner-Webb at Rupp Arena tonight. Now, they don't get to play in New York against the likes of #3 Memphis, Oklahoma, and Connecticut. Instead they get to stay at home and think about losing to a mid-major program by 14 at home.

The good news: daiper dandies Patrick Patterson and Alex Legion played well. We posted about the upside of Patterson earlier in the week and its good to see him playing well in only his second collegiate game.

There better be some intensity in practice the next few weeks. The schedule gets brutal toward the end of November with games against Liberty, Texas Southern, and Stony Brook. If you want to reach Tubby Smith, he's in Minnesota.

Gardner-Webb rolls to New York with rout at Kentucky [ESPN]
Photo Courtesy of ESPN

Some Love For The Cougs!!!

Andy Katz, who we love reading, wrote this article about the Cougar basketball resurgence. He hit it right on, who would have thought that the Cougars would be a Top 10 team. But they have to prove they are that good.

The senior leaders on this team will not allow this season to be a waste. Weaver is going to have a monster year and Low will be the rock this team needs. The Pac-10 is going to be horribly tough this year, but along with UCLA, the Cougs have to be the favorites.

Remember a few years ago when the university tried to do away with referring to Washington State as Wazzu because it was deemed "inappropriate." So ESPN titles their article with Wazzu, gotta love it.

We look forward to watching a lot of Wazzu Cougar victories this season and a possible trip to the Final Four. Wow, did we really just say the Cougs could be in the Final Four?

Wazzu must prove it is no one-hit wonder [ESPN]

Wishing Seattle's RB Ran Like This

We got the priviledge yesterday to watch the Chargers-Vikings game before Seahawks started. Little did we know that we would be watching history be made right before our eyes. If you missed Adrian Peterson setting the NFL single-game rushing mark, you can see a highlight reel here.

What was even more impressive was his style of running. It's something we haven't seen all season up here in Seattle. Don't you just wish sometimes Alexander would burst through the hole and takeoff down the sideline like that.

Watching Peterson's performance reminded us of 2005 when Alexander and that offense line carved up defenses. Wishful thinking says Shaun will improve when he gets that cast off. If not, Maurice Morris looked pretty good yesterday in limited action. (If you throw out that 4-1 play in OT, which was horrific)

What Happened Last Night...

The "regular season game-of-the-century" was played and the bad guys came out on top, the new BCS rankings came out and we are headed straight for a huge controversy, and the Sonics start the season 0-3 for the first time since 1985-86.

The game wasn't the high scoring affair many thought it would be, but did hold up to the hype in the drama department. How often is it that a losing headline for the Colts starts off with Manning did something to lose the game?

The great BCS has given us its newest rankings. LSU is #2, for now, and Oregon and Kansas are right behind. Here's a question: What happens if Kansas goes undefeated and wins the Big 12 Championship game? Can they jump over two teams if they both win out as well? We've got a feeling the BCS people are going to be big Missouri fans in a couple weeks.

Kevin Durant had another solid game, 24 pts., 8 rebounds, and 5 assists but the Sonics lost again. The Clippers, with their powerful duo of Corey Maggette and Tim Thomas, pulled away in the 4th. That makes it 3 for 3 for the Sonics in the "keep-it-close-till-the-4th-then-fall-apart-and-lose" category.

Manning's late fumble seals deal for undefeated Patriots [ESPN]
LSU takes over second place in BCS [CBS Sportsline]
Durant scores 24, but Sonics fall to 0-3 [Seattle Times]

Seahawks-Browns Notes

Wow, what the hell happened today. The 1st half was going so well, the offense was looking good and the defense was holding Cleveland. This is one of those rare, ultimate-loss weekends that happen about once every two years: where Puyallup, Washington State, and the Seahawks all lose on the same weekend. We have to vent, so here are some notes we took while watching the game, these are in no particular order since we don't want to think right now.

-Why the hell can't Seattle convert 3rd and 4th and short. We've been harping on that for 3 seasons now and it has cost them at least 2 games. Today and the Chicago playoff game last season. It is absolutely embarrassing and frankly, its pissing everyone off.

-Hasselbeck's INT was thrown into double-coverage, he tried to force it.

-The 1st quarter Engram TD pass was on a great design. The play was a different wrinkle then we have seen and we love that.

-Spencer missed bad on the 1st and goal run from the 3 when Alexander lost 2 yards, that one's on him not Shaun.

-The blitzes were very ineffective today. The one play we especially picked out was when Winslow almost scored in the 4th. Russell blitzed from the left-side of the line and didn't get past the line of scrimmage. This had been happening all game, in that situation you gotta drop back, only rush 4 and concentrate on covering the receivers.

-Anderson was killing the defense with those dump-offs to the RBs and FB. Those were going for 5-8 yards a piece.

-Where the hell was Julian Peterson?

-Kellen Winslow is a baby. Every time he didn't catch a pass thrown to him he bitched to the officials about PI.

-The Burleson celebration after his punt return TD - the Lebron James chalk clap - was great.

-Did any else notice that Ben Obomanu was on the field a lot on critical plays?

-You can't blame this loss on Hasselbeck, Engram or Burleson. They were the Seahawks players of the game.

Kentucky Freshman Patterson Off To Good Start

Kentucky's highly-touted freshman forward Patrick Patterson has started the exhibition season strong. He scored 17 pts., going 6 for 6 from the field and 5 for 5 from the free throw line. He also pulled in 7 rebounds, got 4 assists, and blocked 3 shots against Seattle University Saturday night.

The fans of Lexington are really excited for Patterson and new coach Billy Gillispie to take the Cats back to the Final Four. It will be interesting to see how they both handle the pressure of Kentucky basketball and the SEC. Mark Story wrote an article describing how Patterson is embracing being the cornerstone of this team. He seems like a kid who is very grounded and prepared for the rigorous of college basketball. He is the kind of player that Gillispie can recruit around, bringing in players knowing they have a legitimate shot at a Final Four appearance and a National Title shot.

Kentucky opens the regular season in the 2k Sports College Hoops Classic, then they have a light non-conference schedule. Their toughest non-conference games start the month of December with North Carolina at home and a visit to Indiana. This schedule allows Patterson and Gillispie to ease into their new roles as the leaders of the Kentucky program and give them a strong base to launch into the SEC schedule.

Kentucky overpowers SU [Seattle Times]
Patterson embraces hope, hype [Lexington Herald-Leader]

What Happened Last Night...

The dreaded #2 ranking lost again, Oregon showed its king of the West Coast, and Puyallup disappoints again in the postseason.

Who the hell wants to be #2 this season? Boston College had to know this was coming. This is great for college football because BC wasn't the 2nd-best team in the country. Plus this is really going to screw the BCS up and there are going to be a lot of pissed off people either in Eugene or Baton Rouge.

The Ducks proved that they are legitimate National Title Contenders as they beat up on the weasel and his Sun Devils. Dixon's injury isn't expected to be serious, but you never know until the MRI is performed. The most disappointing thing about this is that if they beat Cal they are clearly #2, if not #1, and all those LSU fans have to shut the hell up about deserving to be in the title game.

Another prelimenary round exit, another disappointing season for Puyallup. The Vikings got blitzed and ran out of Silverdale and the playoffs last night. For a team that said they had state championship goals, this was a huge dose of reality. It is very hard to blame 16, 17, and 18 year olds for loses and in this case that isn't appropriate. The disappointment of this season falls squarely on the shoulders of the coaching staff, who did not have the team prepared and failed to adjust during the game when it was clear their plan wasn't working.

FSU upsets Boston College [Fox Sports]
Dixon hurt but lifts #5 Oregon with 4 TD passes [ESPN]
South Kitsap survives on a tough night for locals [Tacoma News Tribune]

Mariners Offseason Plan: Dave Cameron's Version

Dave Cameron, from U.S.S. Mariner came out with his 2007 offseason plan. After reading it, it seems very reasonable. The Mariners have to add pitching if they want to have any chance next year and his plan has them adding an expensive, but necessary starter in Bartolo Colon.

The idea of getting rid of Richie Sexson is a great idea. We have wanted Ibanez moved to 1st base since May of last season. Like Dave states the defense will improve with a younger, quicker OF that will help the pitchers. Adam Jones has to have an opportunity to play everyday or why else do the Mariners still have him? If you aren't going to trade him then let him play, don't waste his talent in Tacoma. We don't know much about Geoff Jenkins so we'll gonna trust him on that one.

The starting pitching market is weak this season, but we don't like the idea of Ryan Rowland-Smith getting the ball every 5th day. We can't give any better suggestions cause we haven't done the research, but we can't imagine that is who is going to be the opening 5th starter.

Dave's Offseason Plan, v.2007 [U.S.S. Mariner]

True Hoop Article on Sonics

Came across this article that interviews Steven Pyeatt, one of the founders of Save Our Sonics. The article contains a lot of good information about the differences between Seattle and Oklahoma City.

While you can't be completely confident until an arena deal is reached, the facts are very encouraging. Clearly the plan has to be to keep this in the court system, cost Bennett tons of money, and get the legislation to develop a reasonabe financial plan. If this stays in the courts and costs Bennett and his group lots of money, hopefully they will become frustrated and sell the team to the local buyer group.

Also, on College GameDay this morning there was a sign being held up in the background that said: Save Our Sonics, along with something else but I couldn't quite read what it said. Any little bit of publicity we can get to show our support for our NBA team is awesome.

*We were checking out Ballhype and found this link. It is from SuperSonicSoul where they suggest everyone write a letter to David Stern, telling him how much we want the team to stay in Seattle. We full-heartly agree with this idea and will be sending one to the commish. It is time to get serious in this fight, the guys at SuperSonicSoul are starting it.

Save Our Sonics: This Game is Far from Over [True Hoop]

A Letter [Supersonicsoul]

What Happened Last Night...

We got our first 5 participates in the state tournament, Mariners decline option on Guillen, and our favorite 3B is out of his mind.

There was only 5 games last night and the SPSL didn't do so hot. Graham-Kapowsin was the only SPSL team to win, knocking off Evergreen of Vancouver 33-28. The other three: Bethel, Kentwood, and Kentridge lost.

The Mariners took the first step toward making Adam Jones a starting OF when they declined their option on OF Jose Guillen. Now Guillen has 5 days to pickup his player option for $5 million or he can go to free agency, the option he will most likely take.

Apparently A-Rod decided he was worth $350 million just to talk to him. I can't believe that this guy is going to get that kind of money. He is a proven loser, someone who can't perform under pressure. Why would you want to pay a guy that ridiculous amount of money who isn't going to help you extend your season past the 1st week of October?

Score-It: November 2 [Seattle Times]
M's refuse option on Guillen [Seattle PI]
A-Rod was seeking $350 million from Yanks [Fox Sports]

Sonics News and Notes

We haven't posted about the Sonics in the last couple days even though their season started. It was because of problems with our internet connections, not that we didn't watch.

If you look at it from a distance it could look like the one of the worst opening weeks in franchise history. The team starts 0-2 and the owner filed for relocation to another city. But everyone knew that this season was going to be a struggle on and off the court.

Kevin Durant scored 27 points in his Seattle debut, following up his 18-point NBA debut at Denver on Halloween night. Chris Wilcox had his first double-double of the season with 23 and 11 last night. It's only 2 games, but Nick Collison has been solid.

The problem this team is going to face the entire season has cost it in its first two games: what happens when their jump shooting goes cold? They have been close through 3 quarters, then they get tired and the shots don't fall in the 4th. With the lack of defense we've seen so far, if the shots aren't falling this team could be blown out of a lot of games this season.

Forget the record, forget the offcourt crap, this season will be a fun one to watch for Sonics fans. Appreciate the fact that we have a front row seat to one of future's biggest stars.

Bennett says he's moving Sonics to Oklahoma [Seattle PI]

Injuries Aplenty in the State of Washington

Thursday was the day to get injured if you are a collegiate athlete in the state of Washington. First, Cougar starting RB Dwight Tardy tore his ACL and is out for the season. This is a huge blow to the team espeically coming off their most impressive victory of the season. With 2nd stringer Chris Ivory out with a concussion, 3rd RB Kevin McCall gets the start in Berkley Saturday night.

The rival Huskies took a blow today, albeit to their basketball team. Starting guard Ryan Appleby broke his thumb in an offcourt incident. The article says that Appleby is the Huskies' best offensive player, I would disagree with that. He is only out six weeks so he won't miss any major part of the season, but his lack of preseason play may hurt him, especially since Appleby is a jump-shooter.


WSU RB Tardy out for season with torn ACL [Seattle Times]
UW's Appleby injured, off the court for 6 weeks [Seattle PI]