And.......We're Back!

After a six-month sabbatical, longer than that if you count the sporadic, few posts the last few months of existence, we are back.

Blogging is hard. Actually, blogging isn't hard but creating a popular, well-commented-on blog is. After some long consideration, I have decided to start up the blog again. But, there will be a difference this time.

This go-around, building a readership is not a priority. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have lots of loyal readers that come here to talk sports. There's nothing better than arguing about something you love. My goal for this blog is to be a place where I can go to vent my thoughts, feelings, and ideas.

It will provide me with a record that will last, a place where I can check back on what I said to either pat myself on the back or cringe when I was way off-base.

So, A Sideline View is back. Be ready for some opinions.

The End is Here

This officially marks the end of A Sideline View. It was a great start to blogging. We learned a lot and will take this experience with us in the future. Blogging is hard. You have to have good content, a solid voice, and get a break or two.

Till next time, so long.

Redskins Hire Jim Zorn As Head Coach

Wow! Just 3 weeks ago he was hired as offensive coordinator, now he is named their head coach. I guess the Redskins are really desperate for a coach since they just hired a former quarterback coach who has no head coaching experience.

Redskins owner Dan Synder is turning the Redskins into a joke of an organization. Hiring both coordianotrs before his head coach, overpaying for free agents, and, now, striking out on finding a head coach so promoting his OC that has been on the job less then 3 weeks.

Jim Zorn is a great QB coach, a great guy, and great football mind. But is he ready to be an NFL head coach? We say no.

Ex-Seattle QB Zorn hired as head coach for Redskins [ESPN]

Bedard Deal: Good Move

The Mariners finally completed the Bedard-for-Jones deal today. A lot of Mariner fans are upset over the deal, especially the boys over at U.S.S. Mariner. We love those guys' work and we read them weekly, but we have to disagree with them on this one.

The M's just acquired the top left-handed starter in the Amiercan League. Match that with Felix Hernandez and the Mariner's have the best lefty-righty combo in the league. Last season the M's starting pitching was bad, now it looks like the strongest part of the team. The bullpen broke down because the starters couldn't pitch deep into games. Gone now are the days of Jeff Weaver, Horacio Ramieriz, and Cha Seung Beak. The guys at U.S.S. Mariner found that in games started by those three (plus Ryan Feierabend) the M's went 32-36. We gotta believe that they will go 40-28 in those games this season. Add into that the fact that the bullpen should be better rested and the offense won't have to score as many runs, based on the improved pitching, and the Mariners are better off.

What's the most important thing in MLB? Starting Pitching! Did the Mariners pay a price to get it? Yes, they paid a hefty price. Adam Jones most likely will be a star in this league, but he isn't a start yet. Bedard is a proven commidity, someone that is a potential Cy Young canidate every season. The fact that the Mariners not only traded Jones but a quality lefty reliever and their top minor league pitcher in 2007 shows the worth of Bedard. They traded a lot but the Mariner's didn't trade away the farm.

Compare the Mariner's 1-2 guys with other teams in the American League. Other than Detriot's Justin Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman, Bedard and Hernandez are tops. It might just be our personally perference, but we love the thought of having a solid 1-2 punch better than the good chance of a quality rightfielder.

M's acquire Erik Bedard from Baltimore [Seattle Times]

Looking For Roommate: Puts Rubbing Alcohol In Contact Lenses

WSU football player Grady Maxwell has a hell of a roommate. Fellow Cougar teammate Xavier Hicks put rubbing alcohol in his contact lenses because he was upset over a bill. That seems like a pretty extreme step for not paying the cable bill.

Luckliy, Maxwell didn't put them in his eyes because he would have been in a lot of pain if he did. Hicks is suspened indefinitely, which along with his credit card fraud charge, is amazing he isn't kicked off the team.

How is this guy ever going to get a roommate again? He might steal your credit card, buy some rubbing alcohol, then put it in your contact lenses. Next time he might just want to steal his roommate's credit card and pay the cable bill with it.

WSU safety Xavier Hicks charged with contact-lens tampering [Seattle Times]

The Giants Beat Who?

Has a team ever gone from the brink of greatness and history to meaningless so fast? All it took was an Eli Manning-to-Plaxico Burress TD pass and the Patriots were no more important than the Jacksonville Jaguars. Nobody remembers second place. Florida beat who to win the NCAA basketball championship last year? Who’d the Chicago Bears beat in Super Bowl XX? Yesterday, the New York Giants made the 18-0 Patriots meaningless. A team that dominated the NFL this season couldn’t close the deal.

Hello 1935 and 1942 Chicago Bears! We’re the 2007 New England Patriots and we’re here to join your exclusive club: Undefeated teams who couldn’t win the Big Game.

Think about this: A team coached by Tom Couglin and quarterbacked by Eli Manning beat a team coached by “mastermind” Bill Bellichick and quarterbacked by the Greatest QB Ever* Tom Brady. The Patriot offense was confused and frustrated all game, except their go-ahead drive in the 4th quarter. The offensive line that is sending 3 players to the Pro Bowl couldn’t stop the Giant’s front four. The Patriots didn't lose the game, the Giants won the game.

Wasn’t it great to watch Peyton Manning cheering on his brother and hating the Patriots? To see Bill Bellichick leave the field with 1 second left? To hear Rodney Harrision say the Giants made more plays than the Patriots and how if he could have taken some more HGH the Patriots would have won?

31 NFL teams, including the Patriots didn’t bring home the Vince Lombardi Trophy this year. We here in Seattle know about being the best during the regular season but not bringing home the championship. Anyone remember the 2001 116-win Seattle Mariners? Unless your from Seattle you remember Luis Gonzalez and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

So take your rightful place in history New England and tell George Halas hello.

Oh yeah, in Super Bowl XX the Bears beat the same team the Giants beat yesterday. Who was that again?

Wulff, Cougs Steal One From Dawgs

Cougars new football coach Paul Wulff got a late start on recruiting, but stated in his opening press conference that he would be talking to players who have already committed to other schools to gage their interest. Well, he found one willing to change his mind.

Cory Mackay is trading his purple-and-gold for crimson-and-gray. Mackay is big, 6'4" 215 lbs., and wants to play TE for the Cougs. With the loss of Jed Collins, Mackay may have a chance to play as a freshman.

Now Wulff needs to get Prosser's Cody Bruns to change his mind and stay on that side of the mountains.

Huskies lose recruit to WSU [Seattle PI]

Bedard Looks Like A Mariner In Next 24 Hours

The Seattle Times is reporting that the Mariners have traded Adam Jones to the Baltimore Orioles for pitcher Erik Bebard. Jones would not be the only Mariner in the trade, possibly George Sherril or Brandon Morrow could also be going to Baltimore.

We are very excited about this trade right now, but we don't know all the details. We could change our mind if the M's traded away the farm. We were never big Jones fans, he never seemed to perform in the majors, albeit in limited action.

Getting Bedard gives the M's a solid 1-2 punch with Felix Hernandez. That lefty-righty combo could help the Mariners compete with the Angels in the West. Right now it looks like the rotation would be Bedard, Hernandez, Batista, Silva, and Washburn.

The trade isn't final, so we'll have to wait and see.

Jones-Bedard trade in works [Seattle Times]

2000 Huskies: Criminal

The Seattle Times ran this story about the 2000 UW football team that went 11-1 and won the Rose Bowl. It uncovered information that wasn't available at the time about the corruption and criminal activity involving Husky players.

We all knew that Jerramy Stevens has had his many run-ins with the law, including the alleged rape mentioned in the article. What we didn't know is that a safety had a warrant out for his arrest, yet he played and a linebacker got special treatment by not being charged till after the season.

These are very disturbing details about how much a group of people can get away with because of what they do. There is no way a normal, everyday 8-5'er would ever be allowed to go to work with an arrest warrant when the police knew where he'd be at. The fact that supposed responsible adults who were in charge of these young men allowed them to run wild is even more disgusting. If your a parent and Rick Neuheisel comes to your home, how can you respect him knowing he doesn't care if your kid beats his wife as long as he picks off passes on Saturday?

UW has been called Probation Nation by many, including PI columnist Jim Moore. It was always taken as a funny jab at the big school on the lake, now it may seem that it has a darker, deeper meaning. One that maybe even Rick Neuheisel may now be ashamed of.

The disturbing story behind the last great UW team - and how its legacy still casts a shadow on the Huskies [Seattle Times]

NBA Draft Net: Weaver, Low Get Drafted

Looking at NBA Draft Net 2008 mock draft, they have both Kyle Weaver and Derrick Low getting drafted. Weaver goes #33 to, guess who?, the Seattle Sonics. Low goes #55 to the Lakers.

We are surprised by this. All season we've heard about how the Cougars are a team of role players, they play well together in the system, but not as individuals. Then we read that out of the Top 60 players, 2 of them are Cougars.

Question: Should UW PF Jon Brockman turn pro? He's averaging a double-double and is the only reason why UW is winning some games. A lot of people are dubbing the Huskies as a team built for 2009, but does Brockman hang around to find out. Right now, he's not on anyone's draft board so we think we stays. What if he goes to some draft camps, grades out well, and realizes that he can't improve anymore in his senior season?

What we do know is he's a hardworker who gives him all every night. The NBA could use some more players like this, in its individual, highlight reel dunk league.

Seahawks May Play in England

The NFL's new tradition of playing one regular season game in England may include the Seahawks in 2008. The two opponents being discussed are the Jets and Patriots, both of which are a Seahawk's home game.

The Seahawks don't want to play in this game. Not only do they lose a home game, which as we know, is very valuable, but they also have to endure more travel. As the team that travels the most every season anyway, a trip across the big pond would tax this team even more. We don't know if a team can deny the NFL's request to play in the game, we assume they cannot, then the Seahawks may be playing a home game against the defending Super Bowl champions 4,800 miles from Qwest Field.

The league will announce the teams Friday, February 1.

Jets Could Possibly Play in England [Jets Central]

Why 16-0 Doesn't Matter

The New England Patriots are 16-0, the first team in NFL history to win 16 regular season games. Tom Brady and Randy Moss are setting individual records faster then the Celtics are winning games (which if you haven’t been paying attention, is at a ridiculous rate). But in order to be remembered as a truly great team, perhaps the greatest team of all-time, the Patriots have to reach another number: 19.

19-0. That is the only way 16-0 matters. Every team’s goal is to win the Super Bowl. Every player would trade their individual statistics for a championship ring. New England’s won 16 games to put themselves in the best position to win #19. While the Patriots have to be the odds-on favorite to win Super Bowl XLII, there are plenty of things standing in their way. Right now, 16-0 is great but not important. What is important?

-The 1934 and 1942 Chicago Bears. Both finished the regular season undefeated, both lost in the championship game. History shows that just because you dominate the regular season it doesn’t necessarily mean you win the championship. New England will forever be grouped with those teams if they don’t bring the Lombardi Trophy back to Foxboro.

-January in Foxboro: The Patriots rely on Brady throwing the ball. If they can’t throw it, their in trouble. The offensive line and running backs have shown nothing, other than the fact that you don’t want to rely on them to win you a game.

-The Indianapolis Colts: The defending Super Bowl champions are quietly waiting in the bushes. They have beaten New England before, Peyton Manning loves beating Belichick, and with all the focus on the Patriots, they have to feel disrespected. Yes, they are a dome team and the Patriots have beaten them in the playoffs before, but after last year that "mystic" may be over.

-19 games: The Patriots have to win 19 games IN A ROW!!!! That is incredible. As only the second team to win 16 games in a season, we know they can stay focused. But now they will be playing back-to-back games against quality opponents, knowing full well that history is on-the-line with every play. Every mistake will be overblown, every great play over celebrated. The desire to go undefeated will drive them, the chance to knock them off will fuel their opponents. Mentally, the Patriots are going to go through possibly the toughest month ever.

Right now, the 2007 New England Patriots and the 1972 Miami Dolphins are in the same category. If the Patriots lose this season, they get acquainted with the ‘34 and ‘42 Bears. If they go 19-0, they stand alone, atop the NFL mountain, the best football team this world has ever seen.