Sunday, November 28, 2004
ASUNDER
Oh man, I might have to work tomorrow. That might be hard considering my sleep patterns have been quite "adjusted" for the past week and getting up earlier than 7am for me will be quite the stretch. Work from me will probably be along the lines of staggered productivity.
Anyway, it's a Sunday, and that means a bunch of Times headlines. In games, the Seahawks have the Bills at home, the Sonics have the Pacers at home, North Carolina has USC at home, and there'll be a light slate of pucks.
MARINERS
I'm really looking forward to the post Peter is going to put together about the blogosphere authors' highlights of the 2004 season. The post for the last year's blogosphere preseason prognostications was a very amusing one, and fun to look back on as well. I still haven't thought of what my contribution will be yet. I'm going to try not to pick something totally obvious.
SEAHAWKS
Did you know about the Heath Evans/Valerie Alexander intervention that Shaun Alexander went through before training camp? You will now. It's apparently a conversation that has turned Shaun for the better, or in this case, even more for the better. Not just on the field, but toward his teammates and everyone that comes in contact with him. And someone is going to give him one gargantuan contract to play for their team next season.
Somewhat unrelated here, but does anyone out there have a sinking feeling that Bob Whitsitt is going to mess this entire thing next offseason? I've got that sinking feeling. Just a hunch, that's all. He left the TrailBlazers for a reason, you know. I'm fairly sure it was his mess that created and left behind too. Just sayin'.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
Marvin Williams and the Tar Heels face the USC Trojans tonight, and they will be televised (up here, at least) on FSNNW as a part of the ACC Sunday Night Hoops feature.
Huskies/Sonics
The Huskies are good. They beat Alabama, an Elite Eight team last year, and won the Great Alaska Shootout. Steve Kelley has some things to say about it, and I have this to say: this can only get better as subsequent recruiting classes come in. Kids are going to want to play for this team. It's enough to make Todd MacCulloch and Patrick Femerling proud.
The Pacers are ravaged by suspensions, no doubt about it. But they're 3-1 since the ruckus in Auburn Hills, and they're 10-3 overall. Will the Sonics be able to pull yet another game out of the hat? They're undefeated at home, and that helps. They have started slow at times in some games, and that's never a good thing. I won't be surprised either way, though, because the Sonics have managed to win in many different ways so far this season, except for maybe Robert Swift coming off the bench to score 30 and grab 11 boards.
Percy Allen's article on Grant Hill and the good things in the NBA raises a related question in my mind: how much good basketball have ankle injuries stolen from Grant Hill's career? Could he have been this good the whole time? A healthy Hill last year would have made Orlando's season a lot less turbulent.
Upcoming for the Sonics...
Tonight vs. Indiana
Tuesday at Portland
Wednesday vs. Utah
HOCKEY
They made Blaine Newnham write an article on junior hockey. Amazing. In it, the possibility of no NHL entry draft is raised, which isn't good because in Chris Durand's words, "[i]t backs up the system."
But a better article is a transcript of a story that ran on the CBC's Fifth Estate show a few nights ago. Patrick O'Sullivan, a 19-year-old member of the Mississauga Ice Dogs of the Ontario Hockey League, is the league's fifth-leading scorer. He was drafted 56th overall by the Minnesota Wild, but many thought he would be a first-rounder. Why the delay? Don Cherry suggests that the psychological, verbal, and physical abuse piled onto O'Sullivan by his father over the years made NHL general managers leery of taking a chance on him. To what extents was O'Sullivan's dad going to in terms of abuse? Let's just say there was a restraining order involved.
Now to the games for Saturday night...
Seattle beat Medicine Hat, 3-2. Scott Jackson of the T-Birds opened the scoring in the first period on a point shot. Seattle broke a 1-1 tie nine minutes into the second period when Tyler Metcalfe blasted a one-timer past the Tigers' Kevin Nastiuk. Paul Gentile of Med Hat tied the game at 2-2 on a shorthanded goal late in the second period. After successfully warding off a Med Hat clear attempt, Denis Tolpeko fired a shot on the net, which was pad-stopped by Nastiuk. Chris Durand made good on the subsequent rebound for the game-winner. Seattle outshot the Tigers 41-28, and Bryan Bridges stopped 26 shots. This win gives the T-Birds a two-point lead on Everett in the US Division, though Seattle has the games in hand over the 'Tips anyway.
Portland beat Calgary, 3-1. Here's one of the better promotions out there. It was the 7th annual Teddy Bear Toss Night in Portland, where teddy bears were tossed onto the ice after the first Portland goal, with three local children's hospitals being the beneficiaries. The Winter Hawks themselves will be delivering many of the bears to the children themselves on Monday. Darrell May scored the Teddy Bear Goal late in the second period to tie the game at 1-1 and incite the Toss of 7790 bears. The game-winner was scored in the third period when Dan Da Silva intercepted a bad clearing attempt and went on a rush with Cody McLeod, who flipped the bouncing puck past Calgary goalie Daniel Spence. Michael Sauer rifled a shot through traffic and into the net for the insurance goal and his first WHL goal. Dustin Butler stopped 23 of 24 shots.
Manitoba beat Milwaukee, 2-1 in overtime. It was a night of great play by the goalies, Brian Finley of the Admirals, and Alex Auld of the Moose. But this night would turn on a dime thanks to Ryan Kesler. After a good deal of scoring opportunities in the first two periods (and no goals), the Admirals drew first blood when Scottie Upshall scored about halfway through the third period. The Moose waited quite a while to get the tying goal, as Kesler did on a Josh Green rebound with 12 seconds left in regulation. Kesler would be the overtime culprit as well, and with the same procrastination, waiting until only 1.6 seconds remained in the extra period to finally bag the win for the Moose. Auld started in his first game since being sidelined with a concussion (he was out for 4 games) and stopped 40 of 41 shots.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Calgary at Everett, Medicine Hat at Vancouver, Milwaukee at Manitoba
Tuesday: Portland at Tri-City, Calgary at Vancouver, Cincinnati at Manitoba
---
Well, now it's Sunday, and that means the Seahawks have the late game. I know what I'm hoping for, and hell, I hope all of the teams I root for end up winning today. It'd be fun. I'm not expecting it though, because that's never how it goes.
Anyway, it's a Sunday, and that means a bunch of Times headlines. In games, the Seahawks have the Bills at home, the Sonics have the Pacers at home, North Carolina has USC at home, and there'll be a light slate of pucks.
MARINERS
I'm really looking forward to the post Peter is going to put together about the blogosphere authors' highlights of the 2004 season. The post for the last year's blogosphere preseason prognostications was a very amusing one, and fun to look back on as well. I still haven't thought of what my contribution will be yet. I'm going to try not to pick something totally obvious.
SEAHAWKS
Did you know about the Heath Evans/Valerie Alexander intervention that Shaun Alexander went through before training camp? You will now. It's apparently a conversation that has turned Shaun for the better, or in this case, even more for the better. Not just on the field, but toward his teammates and everyone that comes in contact with him. And someone is going to give him one gargantuan contract to play for their team next season.
Somewhat unrelated here, but does anyone out there have a sinking feeling that Bob Whitsitt is going to mess this entire thing next offseason? I've got that sinking feeling. Just a hunch, that's all. He left the TrailBlazers for a reason, you know. I'm fairly sure it was his mess that created and left behind too. Just sayin'.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
Marvin Williams and the Tar Heels face the USC Trojans tonight, and they will be televised (up here, at least) on FSNNW as a part of the ACC Sunday Night Hoops feature.
Huskies/Sonics
The Huskies are good. They beat Alabama, an Elite Eight team last year, and won the Great Alaska Shootout. Steve Kelley has some things to say about it, and I have this to say: this can only get better as subsequent recruiting classes come in. Kids are going to want to play for this team. It's enough to make Todd MacCulloch and Patrick Femerling proud.
The Pacers are ravaged by suspensions, no doubt about it. But they're 3-1 since the ruckus in Auburn Hills, and they're 10-3 overall. Will the Sonics be able to pull yet another game out of the hat? They're undefeated at home, and that helps. They have started slow at times in some games, and that's never a good thing. I won't be surprised either way, though, because the Sonics have managed to win in many different ways so far this season, except for maybe Robert Swift coming off the bench to score 30 and grab 11 boards.
Percy Allen's article on Grant Hill and the good things in the NBA raises a related question in my mind: how much good basketball have ankle injuries stolen from Grant Hill's career? Could he have been this good the whole time? A healthy Hill last year would have made Orlando's season a lot less turbulent.
Upcoming for the Sonics...
Tonight vs. Indiana
Tuesday at Portland
Wednesday vs. Utah
HOCKEY
They made Blaine Newnham write an article on junior hockey. Amazing. In it, the possibility of no NHL entry draft is raised, which isn't good because in Chris Durand's words, "[i]t backs up the system."
But a better article is a transcript of a story that ran on the CBC's Fifth Estate show a few nights ago. Patrick O'Sullivan, a 19-year-old member of the Mississauga Ice Dogs of the Ontario Hockey League, is the league's fifth-leading scorer. He was drafted 56th overall by the Minnesota Wild, but many thought he would be a first-rounder. Why the delay? Don Cherry suggests that the psychological, verbal, and physical abuse piled onto O'Sullivan by his father over the years made NHL general managers leery of taking a chance on him. To what extents was O'Sullivan's dad going to in terms of abuse? Let's just say there was a restraining order involved.
Now to the games for Saturday night...
Seattle beat Medicine Hat, 3-2. Scott Jackson of the T-Birds opened the scoring in the first period on a point shot. Seattle broke a 1-1 tie nine minutes into the second period when Tyler Metcalfe blasted a one-timer past the Tigers' Kevin Nastiuk. Paul Gentile of Med Hat tied the game at 2-2 on a shorthanded goal late in the second period. After successfully warding off a Med Hat clear attempt, Denis Tolpeko fired a shot on the net, which was pad-stopped by Nastiuk. Chris Durand made good on the subsequent rebound for the game-winner. Seattle outshot the Tigers 41-28, and Bryan Bridges stopped 26 shots. This win gives the T-Birds a two-point lead on Everett in the US Division, though Seattle has the games in hand over the 'Tips anyway.
Portland beat Calgary, 3-1. Here's one of the better promotions out there. It was the 7th annual Teddy Bear Toss Night in Portland, where teddy bears were tossed onto the ice after the first Portland goal, with three local children's hospitals being the beneficiaries. The Winter Hawks themselves will be delivering many of the bears to the children themselves on Monday. Darrell May scored the Teddy Bear Goal late in the second period to tie the game at 1-1 and incite the Toss of 7790 bears. The game-winner was scored in the third period when Dan Da Silva intercepted a bad clearing attempt and went on a rush with Cody McLeod, who flipped the bouncing puck past Calgary goalie Daniel Spence. Michael Sauer rifled a shot through traffic and into the net for the insurance goal and his first WHL goal. Dustin Butler stopped 23 of 24 shots.
Manitoba beat Milwaukee, 2-1 in overtime. It was a night of great play by the goalies, Brian Finley of the Admirals, and Alex Auld of the Moose. But this night would turn on a dime thanks to Ryan Kesler. After a good deal of scoring opportunities in the first two periods (and no goals), the Admirals drew first blood when Scottie Upshall scored about halfway through the third period. The Moose waited quite a while to get the tying goal, as Kesler did on a Josh Green rebound with 12 seconds left in regulation. Kesler would be the overtime culprit as well, and with the same procrastination, waiting until only 1.6 seconds remained in the extra period to finally bag the win for the Moose. Auld started in his first game since being sidelined with a concussion (he was out for 4 games) and stopped 40 of 41 shots.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Calgary at Everett, Medicine Hat at Vancouver, Milwaukee at Manitoba
Tuesday: Portland at Tri-City, Calgary at Vancouver, Cincinnati at Manitoba
---
Well, now it's Sunday, and that means the Seahawks have the late game. I know what I'm hoping for, and hell, I hope all of the teams I root for end up winning today. It'd be fun. I'm not expecting it though, because that's never how it goes.
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