Wednesday, December 15, 2004
EARLY MORN
Before we go anywhere here, I'll warn you...the Times has changed their look. It's trippy, and it might make you freak out at first. Though it looks a bit more sleek, I'm a bit dismayed that now only the top three or four articles get snippets under them, but other articles are relegated to "link with headline only" status.
MARINERS
Richie Sexson: still not a Mariner. Hickey reports that Sexson has taken the physical, with results pending. Kevin Millwood and Odalis Perez have their names appear in the article, and frankly, I don't mind either of them, though I think I'd rather have the lefty.
After a good few days' worth of Larry Stone, we're left with a Finnigan article (there's your warning). Technically Bob is only half-right in saying that Seattle would have a chance to win a game or two more, at least not next year. As Jeremy pointed out to me, the Mets show up on the Mariners' 2005 schedule, so Pedro does have the chance to get a sure win. And there it is, the quote that was used repeatedly on FSNNW, the Baltimore Sun saying that the Sexson deal with the Mariners would be 4 years and $48M. It's steep, no doubt about it. But if this has anyone dismayed, perhaps they're less dismayed that Adrian Beltre (according to Finnigan) is becoming more of a possibility than Carlos Delgado. But any optimism of that is probably thwarted by the mere thought of the Mariners offering Edgar Renteria four years and $44M (if I were Sexson's agent and heard of that, I'd ask for a big bump). Warming the seat for Jose Lopez, I can see that, but compared to the money that Sexson would be getting, there's no way I'd throw that kind of coin at Renteria. There's the obligatory figure of how much money the Mariners have left to spend, which apparently is $16M this time. I wonder if there will be an "exploding shoulder" clause in this contract if/when it's all ironed out, but I doubt it, based on what Sexson's agent says.
By the way, if Sexson signs, I'm betting he wears 44, which he wore in Cleveland. He wore 11 (his old basketball number) in Milwaukee because a certain Hank Aaron has his number retired up there. Needless to say, if the Mariners sign Sexson and they turn around the jersey and it says "SEXSON 11," there will probably be an angry mob with pitchforks and flaming bags of poo headed toward Safeco Field.
SEAHAWKS
Shaun Alexander has called him Mister December. Matt Hasselbeck has only thrown for 715 yards and six touchdowns the past two games. His numbers in Decembers since 2002 have been nothing short of sick and wrong -- darn near 310 yards a game. Of course, the surge now compared to the swoon of the past month or so is no doubt due to the healing of ankle sprains for Darrell Jackson, Bobby Engram, and Jerry Rice, as well as the long-awaited healing of the mother of all charley horses. My most surprising part of the article...the Falcons are 21st in pass defense? Wow.
Antonio Cochran has played nearly everywhere. Call him the Mark McLemore of the defensive line. He will be in Grant Wistrom's spot at right end for the rest of the regular season. Cochran is second on the team in sacks, but he got jobbed on the final play in Minnesota, where apparently the final ruling on the play was that it was an incomplete pass. Also, the Sporting News named Wistrom to the All-Overrated Team.
SONICS
For my postgame thoughts on last night's game, scroll down a post or click here if archived.
A funny thing happened in the Bryant/Allen matchup -- Rashard Lewis stole the show. The weird thing was, he was the only guy that wasn't passing the ball a lot (see Allen, Ridnour, Daniels). Good gracious, Jerome James even had 12 points last night. Of course, that can be seen as a combination of James getting great passes or Chris Mihm being a horrible defender (the Lakers are full of those). The Sonics had three players scoring in double figures at the half. The pace of the game was furious at the start, and it seemed like the Kobe/Ray thing was going to go off as planned. Then Rashard stepped in. Kobe on the Sonics' style of play: "unorthodox." Kobe on the Sonics: "explosive."
And the Times has ran an article by another Times, the paper from LA. It's Kobe-centric, this article. The Kobe story started out all roses, then it started getting progressively worse, even before the court case. What does the article tell me? Kobe was whipped. Beyond belief. Bill Simmons once said that no man in the history of mankind was whipped more than Lionel Richie was on the day he wrote "Truly." After reading the second half of that article, I think Richie might have some company.
Also, Rashard Lewis wasn't selected for the Olympic team last summer, so he didn't even have the chance to turn it down at all. What happened last night? He lit up Lamar Odom (Olympian).
Vitaly Potapenko, who did get off the bench last night, is Ukrainian. Needless to say, the events right now in the Ukraine are pretty important to him. The article is pretty interesting, including some tidbits about Soviet life and a peek inside the Soviet basketball machine of old. Some touted Vitaly to be the next Arvydas Sabonis. Ah, injuries.
Upcoming...
Friday vs. Phoenix
Next Wednesday vs. Denver
HOCKEY
The NHL is screwed. I saw a CBC news story last night about some bar owners and merchants who are feeling the pinch. The fans aren't the only ones losing out.
Here's the one junior game from last night...
Seattle beat Brandon, 5-1. The Thunderbirds roared back and pummeled the Warriors after losing their last game to Brandon. They have not lost two straight games this season. The Warriors had an early 1-0 lead in this game, but the T-Birds scored the next five goals unanswered, accounting for the final score. Derek Couture tied the game a little over two minutes after, and the rout was about to commence in the second period. Tyler Metcalfe scored just over three minutes into the second period to get what stood up as the game-winner, putting Seattle up 2-1. Bud Holloway scored Seattle's third goal later in the period. Chris Durand and Yashar Farmanara put the game away with third-period goals that were 53 seconds apart. Seattle goalie Bryan Bridges got his league-leading 18th win. Bridges stopped 14 in the easy win, and Seattle outshot Moose Jaw 49-15.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Seattle at Saskatoon, Portland at Spokane, Tri-City at Everett
Friday: Tri-City at Portland, Seattle at Prince Albert, Everett at Vancouver, Hamilton at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Portland
Saturday: Everett at Portland, Vancouver at Tri-City, Hamilton at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Portland
(no WHL or AHL games from the 19th to the 26th, NorPac is off the weekend of the 24th and 25th as well)
---
Enjoy your Wednesday, everybody. Wednesdays are nice. Wednesdays are good.
MARINERS
Richie Sexson: still not a Mariner. Hickey reports that Sexson has taken the physical, with results pending. Kevin Millwood and Odalis Perez have their names appear in the article, and frankly, I don't mind either of them, though I think I'd rather have the lefty.
After a good few days' worth of Larry Stone, we're left with a Finnigan article (there's your warning). Technically Bob is only half-right in saying that Seattle would have a chance to win a game or two more, at least not next year. As Jeremy pointed out to me, the Mets show up on the Mariners' 2005 schedule, so Pedro does have the chance to get a sure win. And there it is, the quote that was used repeatedly on FSNNW, the Baltimore Sun saying that the Sexson deal with the Mariners would be 4 years and $48M. It's steep, no doubt about it. But if this has anyone dismayed, perhaps they're less dismayed that Adrian Beltre (according to Finnigan) is becoming more of a possibility than Carlos Delgado. But any optimism of that is probably thwarted by the mere thought of the Mariners offering Edgar Renteria four years and $44M (if I were Sexson's agent and heard of that, I'd ask for a big bump). Warming the seat for Jose Lopez, I can see that, but compared to the money that Sexson would be getting, there's no way I'd throw that kind of coin at Renteria. There's the obligatory figure of how much money the Mariners have left to spend, which apparently is $16M this time. I wonder if there will be an "exploding shoulder" clause in this contract if/when it's all ironed out, but I doubt it, based on what Sexson's agent says.
By the way, if Sexson signs, I'm betting he wears 44, which he wore in Cleveland. He wore 11 (his old basketball number) in Milwaukee because a certain Hank Aaron has his number retired up there. Needless to say, if the Mariners sign Sexson and they turn around the jersey and it says "SEXSON 11," there will probably be an angry mob with pitchforks and flaming bags of poo headed toward Safeco Field.
SEAHAWKS
Shaun Alexander has called him Mister December. Matt Hasselbeck has only thrown for 715 yards and six touchdowns the past two games. His numbers in Decembers since 2002 have been nothing short of sick and wrong -- darn near 310 yards a game. Of course, the surge now compared to the swoon of the past month or so is no doubt due to the healing of ankle sprains for Darrell Jackson, Bobby Engram, and Jerry Rice, as well as the long-awaited healing of the mother of all charley horses. My most surprising part of the article...the Falcons are 21st in pass defense? Wow.
Antonio Cochran has played nearly everywhere. Call him the Mark McLemore of the defensive line. He will be in Grant Wistrom's spot at right end for the rest of the regular season. Cochran is second on the team in sacks, but he got jobbed on the final play in Minnesota, where apparently the final ruling on the play was that it was an incomplete pass. Also, the Sporting News named Wistrom to the All-Overrated Team.
SONICS
For my postgame thoughts on last night's game, scroll down a post or click here if archived.
A funny thing happened in the Bryant/Allen matchup -- Rashard Lewis stole the show. The weird thing was, he was the only guy that wasn't passing the ball a lot (see Allen, Ridnour, Daniels). Good gracious, Jerome James even had 12 points last night. Of course, that can be seen as a combination of James getting great passes or Chris Mihm being a horrible defender (the Lakers are full of those). The Sonics had three players scoring in double figures at the half. The pace of the game was furious at the start, and it seemed like the Kobe/Ray thing was going to go off as planned. Then Rashard stepped in. Kobe on the Sonics' style of play: "unorthodox." Kobe on the Sonics: "explosive."
And the Times has ran an article by another Times, the paper from LA. It's Kobe-centric, this article. The Kobe story started out all roses, then it started getting progressively worse, even before the court case. What does the article tell me? Kobe was whipped. Beyond belief. Bill Simmons once said that no man in the history of mankind was whipped more than Lionel Richie was on the day he wrote "Truly." After reading the second half of that article, I think Richie might have some company.
Also, Rashard Lewis wasn't selected for the Olympic team last summer, so he didn't even have the chance to turn it down at all. What happened last night? He lit up Lamar Odom (Olympian).
Vitaly Potapenko, who did get off the bench last night, is Ukrainian. Needless to say, the events right now in the Ukraine are pretty important to him. The article is pretty interesting, including some tidbits about Soviet life and a peek inside the Soviet basketball machine of old. Some touted Vitaly to be the next Arvydas Sabonis. Ah, injuries.
Upcoming...
Friday vs. Phoenix
Next Wednesday vs. Denver
HOCKEY
The NHL is screwed. I saw a CBC news story last night about some bar owners and merchants who are feeling the pinch. The fans aren't the only ones losing out.
Here's the one junior game from last night...
Seattle beat Brandon, 5-1. The Thunderbirds roared back and pummeled the Warriors after losing their last game to Brandon. They have not lost two straight games this season. The Warriors had an early 1-0 lead in this game, but the T-Birds scored the next five goals unanswered, accounting for the final score. Derek Couture tied the game a little over two minutes after, and the rout was about to commence in the second period. Tyler Metcalfe scored just over three minutes into the second period to get what stood up as the game-winner, putting Seattle up 2-1. Bud Holloway scored Seattle's third goal later in the period. Chris Durand and Yashar Farmanara put the game away with third-period goals that were 53 seconds apart. Seattle goalie Bryan Bridges got his league-leading 18th win. Bridges stopped 14 in the easy win, and Seattle outshot Moose Jaw 49-15.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Seattle at Saskatoon, Portland at Spokane, Tri-City at Everett
Friday: Tri-City at Portland, Seattle at Prince Albert, Everett at Vancouver, Hamilton at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Portland
Saturday: Everett at Portland, Vancouver at Tri-City, Hamilton at Manitoba, Puget Sound at Portland
(no WHL or AHL games from the 19th to the 26th, NorPac is off the weekend of the 24th and 25th as well)
---
Enjoy your Wednesday, everybody. Wednesdays are nice. Wednesdays are good.
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