Thursday, November 18, 2004
NO ALIBI
The Sonics win a game that makes you shake your head, and the Seahawks suffer a loss that makes you shake your head in disbelief.
Such are the events covered in the Seattle daily newspapers today.
...And I threw in a little look at the league leaders in some hockey leagues.
MARINERS
Yes, I've been shaking my head over the signings (term-wise) of Omar Vizquel (SF), Cristian Guzman (DC), Vinny Castilla (DC), and Cory Lidle (PHI). Needless to say, player agents are loving the market so far. There's another mention of a possible Sammy Sosa rumor (denied by Bill Bavasi, vehemently denied by Sosa's agent) involving the Mariners, Cubs, and Rockies. Now imagine for a second that it was the Rockies who came out with Sammy in that deal. Could you imagine who the Mariners would get on the back burner (i.e., some hack)? Yeah, it makes me sick as well.
SEAHAWKS
F&#@!! Anthony Simmons is done for the year. It's not just a breaking of the wrist; there's some ligaments that have been shredded and some bones that have been dislocated. Some people before the season said it was a given that the Seahawks for any number of reasons would miss Anthony Simmons or Chad Brown for a prolonged amount of time (that's what happens every year). But this is getting crazy. Simmons' injury rap sheet for the past three years: ankle sprain (9 games/2002), neck strain (3 games/2003), bone spur in left shoulder (2 games/2004), messed-up wrist (9 games/2004).
Isaiah Kacyvenski will get Simmons' playing time. Also, Josh Brown is pleased with his kickoffs, suggesting that people neglect to factor in the wind.
Art Thiel and Steve Kelley tee off on Matt Hasselbeck. Kelley talks about the unfulfilled expectations of Hasselbeck, while Thiel elaborates on a Hasselbeck/Holmgren relationship showing signs of strain. Both of these articles seem to give the vibe that maybe after how hard Holmgren has been on him (as he was with Favre), Hasselbeck just might be turning into a headcase. Not quite Jeff Cirillo proportions, but there may be some degree of headcaseness going on.
BASKETBALL
Before we go Sonic, here's a short article on this year's edition of the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Their schedule before league play is pretty tough. Also, they open the new McCarthey Athletic Center, and up their seating capacity by about 2800 in the process.
For my take on the game, scroll down to the post below or click here.
To the dailies...
Danny O'Neil's first order of business was to bring up Danny Fortson playing with his arms up (no flinging elbows) to keep the refs from calling him for elbow throws. Good thing, too, because Fortson shot 10-of-12 from the free-throw line, points which proved very valuable in this game. His game-long battle with Alonzo Mourning underscored a game in which the Sonics never would have won last year. Also, if Fortson keeps his foul rate up (once every three minutes), he has a chance to break Darryl Dawkins' record from 1982-83 (4:40).
The Sonics have found quite a few ways to win this year. They've done the blowout, the down-to-the-wire win, and the huge run from way back to win. Tonight, we had the ugly win. The 13-11 first quarter was the third-lowest-scoring first quarter in NBA history. Rashard Lewis scored 7 of his 17 points during a 10-0 Sonic run in the third quarter that pretty much sealed the win. But as Percy Allen says, the Sonics have a bunch statistics that make you shake your head, but in the end, it's a W. Throw all the other numbers out -- they got the one that mattered.
With a long winning streak comes inevitable speculation on the status of coach Nate McMillan's contract talks with the team. Also in that notebook article, another factor figuring into the Sonics' grossness last night (other than it being the back end of a bkac-to-back) was the malfunction of the charter plane. The result: a 90-minute bus ride from Philly to the swamp. I bet that was endless fun.
HOCKEY
A couple of notes before moving on with what I originally had planned...
Twenty-five NHL players will tour Europe in a seven-city tour next month. Joe Thornton and Mats Sundin will be involved. The same people behind this tour were behind Wayne Gretzky's 99 All-Stars during the last lockout.
John McCaw has sold a 50% stake of the Vancouver Canucks to Vancouver-area real estate mogul Francesco Aquilini, head of Aquilini Investment Group (not the AIG you've heard of). The one-sided perspective basically says that Aquilini will be half-owner, but will leave the sports end of it to Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment, as has been the case.
Aw hell, I forgot there were two games tonight. Oh well, I'll recap those and give you what I'd planned for what I thought was another off day (turns out that's Thursday night instead).
Spokane shut out Everett, 3-0. The Silvertips reverted back to their terrible ways on the power play, going 0-for-5 and making good on none of their 25 shots. Mike Wall stopped 29 of 31 in the Everett net, while Jim Watt pitched the shutout for the Chiefs.
Manitoba doubled up Saint John's, 4-2. The Moose christened the brand-new MTS Centre in Winnipeg with a win over the Maple Leafs. The crowd was into it after a scuffle involving Kevin Bieska of the Moose and Ben Ondrus, and also after a Jason King goal that was disallowed. The first goal in the new arena was held back a second time in the second period, when Kirill Koltsov had a goal wiped off thanks to Clarke Wilm knocking his own net off its moorings before the puck went through. But the resulting power play got the Moose and the new arena their first goal, a one-timer off the stick of Nolan Baumgartner. Alexandre Burrows scored later in the second period. Just out of the dressing room for the third period, Bieksa scored on his own rebound. Lee Goren scored on a four-on-four to get the Moose's final goal. Wade Flaherty stopped 36 of 38 shots in the Manitoba net. The Moose managed 42 shots.
I've been tracking six hockey teams lately. I'll show where some top scorers of the teams are ranking in their respective leagues.
(league rank, player, team, goals-assists-points)
Western Hockey League
3 Gilbert Brule, Vancouver Giants, 11-19-30
18 Dan Da Silva, Portland Winter Hawks, 9-12-21
25 Aaron Gagnon, Seattle Thunderbirds, 12-7-19
27 Torrie Wheat, Everett Silvertips, 9-10-19
28 Brian Woolger, Portland Winter Hawks, 7-12-19
30 Andrej Meszaros, Vancouver Giants, 6-13-19
35 Adam Courchaine, Vancouver Giants, 8-10-18
36 Garrett Festerling, Portland Winter Hawks, 7-11-18
38 Tyler Metcalfe, Seattle Thunderbirds, 6-12-18
39 Darrell May, Portland Winter Hawks, 6-12-18
American Hockey League
1 Peter Sarno, Manitoba Moose, 5-18-23
4 Jason King, Manitoba Moose, 13-7-20
T-13 Lee Goren, Manitoba Moose, 9-6-15
T-15 Ryan Kesler, Manitoba Moose, 6-8-14
T-15 Nolan Baumgartner, Manitoba Moose, 4-10-14
Northern Pacific Hockey League (Junior B)
1 Mike Truex, Puget Sound Tomahawks, 14-39-53
2 Carl Horten, Puget Sound Tomahawks, 17-20-37
4 Kyle Stombaugh, Puget Sound Tomahawks, 18-11-29
6 Jeff Alexander, Puget Sound Tomahawks, 11-15-26
9 Corey Coxon, Puget Sound Tomahawks, 8-16-24
11 Chase Ambuter, Puget Sound Tomahawks, 14-9-23
17 Whit Garey, Puget Sound Tomahawks, 11-6-17
Upcoming, it's your hockey weekend...
Friday: Portland at Everett, Spokane at Seattle, Prince George at Vancouver, Saint John's at Manitoba, River City at Puget Sound
Saturday: Tri-City at Everett, Portland at Seattle, Kamloops at Vancouver, River City at Puget Sound
---
It's Thursday, and that means Friday is tomorrow. Not only is this good because it'll be the weekend, it's good for me because counting wire (running long lengths through a machine with an odometer-like counter) SUCKS. I like the pay I'm getting for it, but man, it's not as fulfilling as, say, blogging.
See you tomorrow, all.
Such are the events covered in the Seattle daily newspapers today.
...And I threw in a little look at the league leaders in some hockey leagues.
MARINERS
Yes, I've been shaking my head over the signings (term-wise) of Omar Vizquel (SF), Cristian Guzman (DC), Vinny Castilla (DC), and Cory Lidle (PHI). Needless to say, player agents are loving the market so far. There's another mention of a possible Sammy Sosa rumor (denied by Bill Bavasi, vehemently denied by Sosa's agent) involving the Mariners, Cubs, and Rockies. Now imagine for a second that it was the Rockies who came out with Sammy in that deal. Could you imagine who the Mariners would get on the back burner (i.e., some hack)? Yeah, it makes me sick as well.
SEAHAWKS
F&#@!! Anthony Simmons is done for the year. It's not just a breaking of the wrist; there's some ligaments that have been shredded and some bones that have been dislocated. Some people before the season said it was a given that the Seahawks for any number of reasons would miss Anthony Simmons or Chad Brown for a prolonged amount of time (that's what happens every year). But this is getting crazy. Simmons' injury rap sheet for the past three years: ankle sprain (9 games/2002), neck strain (3 games/2003), bone spur in left shoulder (2 games/2004), messed-up wrist (9 games/2004).
Isaiah Kacyvenski will get Simmons' playing time. Also, Josh Brown is pleased with his kickoffs, suggesting that people neglect to factor in the wind.
Art Thiel and Steve Kelley tee off on Matt Hasselbeck. Kelley talks about the unfulfilled expectations of Hasselbeck, while Thiel elaborates on a Hasselbeck/Holmgren relationship showing signs of strain. Both of these articles seem to give the vibe that maybe after how hard Holmgren has been on him (as he was with Favre), Hasselbeck just might be turning into a headcase. Not quite Jeff Cirillo proportions, but there may be some degree of headcaseness going on.
BASKETBALL
Before we go Sonic, here's a short article on this year's edition of the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Their schedule before league play is pretty tough. Also, they open the new McCarthey Athletic Center, and up their seating capacity by about 2800 in the process.
For my take on the game, scroll down to the post below or click here.
To the dailies...
Danny O'Neil's first order of business was to bring up Danny Fortson playing with his arms up (no flinging elbows) to keep the refs from calling him for elbow throws. Good thing, too, because Fortson shot 10-of-12 from the free-throw line, points which proved very valuable in this game. His game-long battle with Alonzo Mourning underscored a game in which the Sonics never would have won last year. Also, if Fortson keeps his foul rate up (once every three minutes), he has a chance to break Darryl Dawkins' record from 1982-83 (4:40).
The Sonics have found quite a few ways to win this year. They've done the blowout, the down-to-the-wire win, and the huge run from way back to win. Tonight, we had the ugly win. The 13-11 first quarter was the third-lowest-scoring first quarter in NBA history. Rashard Lewis scored 7 of his 17 points during a 10-0 Sonic run in the third quarter that pretty much sealed the win. But as Percy Allen says, the Sonics have a bunch statistics that make you shake your head, but in the end, it's a W. Throw all the other numbers out -- they got the one that mattered.
With a long winning streak comes inevitable speculation on the status of coach Nate McMillan's contract talks with the team. Also in that notebook article, another factor figuring into the Sonics' grossness last night (other than it being the back end of a bkac-to-back) was the malfunction of the charter plane. The result: a 90-minute bus ride from Philly to the swamp. I bet that was endless fun.
HOCKEY
A couple of notes before moving on with what I originally had planned...
Twenty-five NHL players will tour Europe in a seven-city tour next month. Joe Thornton and Mats Sundin will be involved. The same people behind this tour were behind Wayne Gretzky's 99 All-Stars during the last lockout.
John McCaw has sold a 50% stake of the Vancouver Canucks to Vancouver-area real estate mogul Francesco Aquilini, head of Aquilini Investment Group (not the AIG you've heard of). The one-sided perspective basically says that Aquilini will be half-owner, but will leave the sports end of it to Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment, as has been the case.
Aw hell, I forgot there were two games tonight. Oh well, I'll recap those and give you what I'd planned for what I thought was another off day (turns out that's Thursday night instead).
Spokane shut out Everett, 3-0. The Silvertips reverted back to their terrible ways on the power play, going 0-for-5 and making good on none of their 25 shots. Mike Wall stopped 29 of 31 in the Everett net, while Jim Watt pitched the shutout for the Chiefs.
Manitoba doubled up Saint John's, 4-2. The Moose christened the brand-new MTS Centre in Winnipeg with a win over the Maple Leafs. The crowd was into it after a scuffle involving Kevin Bieska of the Moose and Ben Ondrus, and also after a Jason King goal that was disallowed. The first goal in the new arena was held back a second time in the second period, when Kirill Koltsov had a goal wiped off thanks to Clarke Wilm knocking his own net off its moorings before the puck went through. But the resulting power play got the Moose and the new arena their first goal, a one-timer off the stick of Nolan Baumgartner. Alexandre Burrows scored later in the second period. Just out of the dressing room for the third period, Bieksa scored on his own rebound. Lee Goren scored on a four-on-four to get the Moose's final goal. Wade Flaherty stopped 36 of 38 shots in the Manitoba net. The Moose managed 42 shots.
I've been tracking six hockey teams lately. I'll show where some top scorers of the teams are ranking in their respective leagues.
(league rank, player, team, goals-assists-points)
Western Hockey League
3 Gilbert Brule, Vancouver Giants, 11-19-30
18 Dan Da Silva, Portland Winter Hawks, 9-12-21
25 Aaron Gagnon, Seattle Thunderbirds, 12-7-19
27 Torrie Wheat, Everett Silvertips, 9-10-19
28 Brian Woolger, Portland Winter Hawks, 7-12-19
30 Andrej Meszaros, Vancouver Giants, 6-13-19
35 Adam Courchaine, Vancouver Giants, 8-10-18
36 Garrett Festerling, Portland Winter Hawks, 7-11-18
38 Tyler Metcalfe, Seattle Thunderbirds, 6-12-18
39 Darrell May, Portland Winter Hawks, 6-12-18
American Hockey League
1 Peter Sarno, Manitoba Moose, 5-18-23
4 Jason King, Manitoba Moose, 13-7-20
T-13 Lee Goren, Manitoba Moose, 9-6-15
T-15 Ryan Kesler, Manitoba Moose, 6-8-14
T-15 Nolan Baumgartner, Manitoba Moose, 4-10-14
Northern Pacific Hockey League (Junior B)
1 Mike Truex, Puget Sound Tomahawks, 14-39-53
2 Carl Horten, Puget Sound Tomahawks, 17-20-37
4 Kyle Stombaugh, Puget Sound Tomahawks, 18-11-29
6 Jeff Alexander, Puget Sound Tomahawks, 11-15-26
9 Corey Coxon, Puget Sound Tomahawks, 8-16-24
11 Chase Ambuter, Puget Sound Tomahawks, 14-9-23
17 Whit Garey, Puget Sound Tomahawks, 11-6-17
Upcoming, it's your hockey weekend...
Friday: Portland at Everett, Spokane at Seattle, Prince George at Vancouver, Saint John's at Manitoba, River City at Puget Sound
Saturday: Tri-City at Everett, Portland at Seattle, Kamloops at Vancouver, River City at Puget Sound
---
It's Thursday, and that means Friday is tomorrow. Not only is this good because it'll be the weekend, it's good for me because counting wire (running long lengths through a machine with an odometer-like counter) SUCKS. I like the pay I'm getting for it, but man, it's not as fulfilling as, say, blogging.
See you tomorrow, all.
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