Sunday, December 12, 2004
THE GRINCH STOLE SUNDAYS
Thanks to the Seahawks, I can't even look forward to sports on a Sunday anymore, let alone watch ESPN NFL Primetime. I may be a punk, but I can't watch that show or NBA Fastbreak if the Seahawks or Sonics don't win earlier that day. I just can't. The Mariners are different, but that's partly because they play a lot less games.
The way to prepare for the aftermath of a Seahawk loss is not to have the aftermath of a Sonic loss in your midst. Thanks, Sonics. In other news, the winter meetings are going on, and the Husky football team appears to finally have a coach.
Sunday...
MARINERS
Les Carpenter got the Howard Lincoln interview. It's a peek into the mind of Lincoln, how he answers to some of the perceptions, the adaptions of running Nintendo to running the Mariners, etc. What did I like most about the article (which is a good read, by the way)? The Piniella quotes. I've said it before, and it needs to be said again: THE LOU PINIELLA TELL-ALL AUTOBIOGRAPHY NEEDS TO HAPPEN. It absolutely has to. If I ever get rich, I'll pony up $5M to get him to air it all out. Mariner fans from 1999-2003 need to know.
In the winter meetings front, Larry Stone says Corey Koskie is nearing a deal with Toronto, which would cause the Mariners to put more into the Adrian Beltre sweepstakes, but it seems like backward thinking to me (why even go to Koskie if Beltre's there?). Carl Pavano is well on his way to becoming a Yankee (whew), which wasn't really a surprise, and it looks like Jaret Wright will be in pinstripes as well, pending a second physical. Both the Orioles and Mariners are said to be confident in the Richie Sexson pursuit. My hangup in the article? Sexson's agent says that they aren't willing to put shoulder clauses into the contract. Can they have him work out first? Where's my baseball free-agent combine workouts?! Also, a team that might be Boston is in on the Delgado pursuit. One report had the Mariners giving him four years and $44M.
My approach, as I've said...I'll believe any signing when I see it in a Mariner uniform at a press conference.
Dave Andriesen also comments on the Carl Pavano snub, as well as the other travails at the meetings. He also reports that the Mariners have shown interest in a Scott Boras client (Lowe/Millwood/Milton). He says the Mariners offered Adrian Beltre six years on Thursday, while the Dodgers have put up seven.
FOOTBALL
Huskies
Apparently, the new coach will be Tyrone Willingham. With Willingham's emphasis on classroom performance and discipline, the Huskies might have their number of Jerramy Stevens-type moments decrease.
Seahawks
Matt Hasselbeck can singlehandedly save the season. Of course, he'd have to take his performance against the Cowboys and multiply it by four. Wait...I guess he'd have to clone his performance by four. By strict mutliplication, he'd have to multiply it by five (I think that's the identity property of multiplication, if memory serves me right). Anyway, if the breakout game could have come earlier, that was have been nice as well.
SONICS
For my quick postgame reaction, scroll to the post below this one or click here if this post is archived.
Luke Ridnour had no answer for the post-up game of Gary Payton. As they said during the FSNNW broadcast, Payton would back Ridnour down and move his head in one direction while moving his body in the other direction. Multiple times Ridnour would have one forearm and his feet set on Payton, but the Glove would just do a spin move and blow right past him. Luckily not all opposing point guards have the veteran savvy or the moves that Payton does, but they might have more speed. But as advertised, Doc Rivers knew that his team could match up small against the Sonics, and it worked. Tony Allen appears to be their X-factor, as he had two highlight-reel plays in their game at Portland, and had the tip-jam that just about sealed the game last night. But how disheartening is it that Ray Allen made his first four shots last night and went 1-for-19 the rest of the way? Or that Paul Pierce was in foul trouble in the third quarter, went to the bench, and the Celtics reeled off a 10-3 run? Sickening. The Sonics have only trailed twice going into the fourth quarter this year, which is an amazing stat, and one of those times they went nuts and beat Memphis.
Upcoming...
Tuesday vs. Lakers
Friday vs. Phoenix
HOCKEY
Seattle beat Regina, 5-2. Seattle drew first blood on a Ryan Gibbons wraparound goal in the first period. Regina tied the game at 1-1, but the Thunderbirds scored the next three goals and had a 4-1 lead after two periods, all but sealing their 20th win of the season. Ladislav Scurko scored the team's second goal in the first period, and Tyler Metcalfe and Derek Couture added goals in the second period. Scurko slammed the door shut with another goal just over seven minutes in front of the final horn. Bryan Bridges stopped 15, and the T-Birds outshot the Pats 32-17. Bretton Stamler was a plus-3, and Aaron Gagnon had two assists and a plus-2.
Everett and Spokane skated to a 3-3 overtime tie. The WHL boxscore is jacked because the last two Everett goals have incorrect times on them, and Alex Leavitt didn't instantaneously score on a faceoff at center ice right off the opening faceoff of the period, which is what a goal time of 0:00 would indicate. Instead, the little Times blip says that the Silvertips scored twice in the final three minutes of play to erase a two-goal deficit, force a tie, and eventually get a point from Spokane that they probably had no business getting (Spokane even scored an empty-net goal late). Well, maybe they did -- they're in first place in the US Division, after all. Brady Calla got the 'Tips up 1-0 early, but their scoring didn't pick back up again until they were down 3-1. That's when Alex Leavitt and Torrie Wheat (the latter with 36 seconds left in regulation) brought Everett all the way back. Everett uncharacteristically blew up the shot chart, outshooting Spokane 37-25. Leland Irving stopped 25 for the 'Tips. Tyler Dietrich had one assist and was a plus-3 for Everett. Calla and Zach Hamill were plus-2 players for Everett as well.
Vancouver beat Kamloops, 3-1. The Giants swept the home-and-home, getting two goals by Triston Grant on the back end to give themselves a 13-point lead in the standings over the Blazers. Grant missed a wide open net late for a hat trick. Adam Courchaine had two assists, and even saved a puck in the crease that got past goalie Adam Jennings. Gilbert Brule scored the Giants' second goal (the game-winner) 67 seconds after Roman Tesliuk tied the game early in the second period. Vancouver outshot Kamloops 28-17, and Jennings made 16 stops.
Kelowna beat Portland, 4-3. Vancouver also gave up three third-period goals at Kelowna on Wednesday night. This time, Portland carried a 2-1 lead into the third period and watched Kelowna score the next three goals to give the Rockets a 4-2 lead with 8:44 to go. The Winter Hawks could only draw within one goal, by Darrell May just inside two and a half minutes. Portland took their 2-1 lead early in the second period on two goals that were 20 seconds apart, both scored by Brian Woolger. Portland was badly outshot 37-16. Dustin Butler, making his 13th straight start, stopped 33. Michael Funk was a plus-3 for Portland, and May and Brandon Dubinsky were plus-2.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Seattle at Brandon, Portland at Kamloops, Manitoba at Edmonton
---
Crikey! The game's in just over two hours. It's time for a nap.
The way to prepare for the aftermath of a Seahawk loss is not to have the aftermath of a Sonic loss in your midst. Thanks, Sonics. In other news, the winter meetings are going on, and the Husky football team appears to finally have a coach.
Sunday...
MARINERS
Les Carpenter got the Howard Lincoln interview. It's a peek into the mind of Lincoln, how he answers to some of the perceptions, the adaptions of running Nintendo to running the Mariners, etc. What did I like most about the article (which is a good read, by the way)? The Piniella quotes. I've said it before, and it needs to be said again: THE LOU PINIELLA TELL-ALL AUTOBIOGRAPHY NEEDS TO HAPPEN. It absolutely has to. If I ever get rich, I'll pony up $5M to get him to air it all out. Mariner fans from 1999-2003 need to know.
In the winter meetings front, Larry Stone says Corey Koskie is nearing a deal with Toronto, which would cause the Mariners to put more into the Adrian Beltre sweepstakes, but it seems like backward thinking to me (why even go to Koskie if Beltre's there?). Carl Pavano is well on his way to becoming a Yankee (whew), which wasn't really a surprise, and it looks like Jaret Wright will be in pinstripes as well, pending a second physical. Both the Orioles and Mariners are said to be confident in the Richie Sexson pursuit. My hangup in the article? Sexson's agent says that they aren't willing to put shoulder clauses into the contract. Can they have him work out first? Where's my baseball free-agent combine workouts?! Also, a team that might be Boston is in on the Delgado pursuit. One report had the Mariners giving him four years and $44M.
My approach, as I've said...I'll believe any signing when I see it in a Mariner uniform at a press conference.
Dave Andriesen also comments on the Carl Pavano snub, as well as the other travails at the meetings. He also reports that the Mariners have shown interest in a Scott Boras client (Lowe/Millwood/Milton). He says the Mariners offered Adrian Beltre six years on Thursday, while the Dodgers have put up seven.
FOOTBALL
Huskies
Apparently, the new coach will be Tyrone Willingham. With Willingham's emphasis on classroom performance and discipline, the Huskies might have their number of Jerramy Stevens-type moments decrease.
Seahawks
Matt Hasselbeck can singlehandedly save the season. Of course, he'd have to take his performance against the Cowboys and multiply it by four. Wait...I guess he'd have to clone his performance by four. By strict mutliplication, he'd have to multiply it by five (I think that's the identity property of multiplication, if memory serves me right). Anyway, if the breakout game could have come earlier, that was have been nice as well.
SONICS
For my quick postgame reaction, scroll to the post below this one or click here if this post is archived.
Luke Ridnour had no answer for the post-up game of Gary Payton. As they said during the FSNNW broadcast, Payton would back Ridnour down and move his head in one direction while moving his body in the other direction. Multiple times Ridnour would have one forearm and his feet set on Payton, but the Glove would just do a spin move and blow right past him. Luckily not all opposing point guards have the veteran savvy or the moves that Payton does, but they might have more speed. But as advertised, Doc Rivers knew that his team could match up small against the Sonics, and it worked. Tony Allen appears to be their X-factor, as he had two highlight-reel plays in their game at Portland, and had the tip-jam that just about sealed the game last night. But how disheartening is it that Ray Allen made his first four shots last night and went 1-for-19 the rest of the way? Or that Paul Pierce was in foul trouble in the third quarter, went to the bench, and the Celtics reeled off a 10-3 run? Sickening. The Sonics have only trailed twice going into the fourth quarter this year, which is an amazing stat, and one of those times they went nuts and beat Memphis.
Upcoming...
Tuesday vs. Lakers
Friday vs. Phoenix
HOCKEY
Seattle beat Regina, 5-2. Seattle drew first blood on a Ryan Gibbons wraparound goal in the first period. Regina tied the game at 1-1, but the Thunderbirds scored the next three goals and had a 4-1 lead after two periods, all but sealing their 20th win of the season. Ladislav Scurko scored the team's second goal in the first period, and Tyler Metcalfe and Derek Couture added goals in the second period. Scurko slammed the door shut with another goal just over seven minutes in front of the final horn. Bryan Bridges stopped 15, and the T-Birds outshot the Pats 32-17. Bretton Stamler was a plus-3, and Aaron Gagnon had two assists and a plus-2.
Everett and Spokane skated to a 3-3 overtime tie. The WHL boxscore is jacked because the last two Everett goals have incorrect times on them, and Alex Leavitt didn't instantaneously score on a faceoff at center ice right off the opening faceoff of the period, which is what a goal time of 0:00 would indicate. Instead, the little Times blip says that the Silvertips scored twice in the final three minutes of play to erase a two-goal deficit, force a tie, and eventually get a point from Spokane that they probably had no business getting (Spokane even scored an empty-net goal late). Well, maybe they did -- they're in first place in the US Division, after all. Brady Calla got the 'Tips up 1-0 early, but their scoring didn't pick back up again until they were down 3-1. That's when Alex Leavitt and Torrie Wheat (the latter with 36 seconds left in regulation) brought Everett all the way back. Everett uncharacteristically blew up the shot chart, outshooting Spokane 37-25. Leland Irving stopped 25 for the 'Tips. Tyler Dietrich had one assist and was a plus-3 for Everett. Calla and Zach Hamill were plus-2 players for Everett as well.
Vancouver beat Kamloops, 3-1. The Giants swept the home-and-home, getting two goals by Triston Grant on the back end to give themselves a 13-point lead in the standings over the Blazers. Grant missed a wide open net late for a hat trick. Adam Courchaine had two assists, and even saved a puck in the crease that got past goalie Adam Jennings. Gilbert Brule scored the Giants' second goal (the game-winner) 67 seconds after Roman Tesliuk tied the game early in the second period. Vancouver outshot Kamloops 28-17, and Jennings made 16 stops.
Kelowna beat Portland, 4-3. Vancouver also gave up three third-period goals at Kelowna on Wednesday night. This time, Portland carried a 2-1 lead into the third period and watched Kelowna score the next three goals to give the Rockets a 4-2 lead with 8:44 to go. The Winter Hawks could only draw within one goal, by Darrell May just inside two and a half minutes. Portland took their 2-1 lead early in the second period on two goals that were 20 seconds apart, both scored by Brian Woolger. Portland was badly outshot 37-16. Dustin Butler, making his 13th straight start, stopped 33. Michael Funk was a plus-3 for Portland, and May and Brandon Dubinsky were plus-2.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Seattle at Brandon, Portland at Kamloops, Manitoba at Edmonton
---
Crikey! The game's in just over two hours. It's time for a nap.
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