Thursday, December 23, 2004
SEMI-EVEL
It's Christmas Eve Eve. I don't think there's much chance for a white Christmas in Puget Sound, but get this, apparently Jeremy has a really good chance at a white Christmas in Arkansas. I'll be damned.
All told, here is the stuff...
MARINERS
Derek Zumsteg of the USS Mariner is now officially Off the Wall at the P-I. Congrats to Derek -- the maiden voyage touches on the signings of Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson, as well as a little bit of the myth of the no-superstar 2001 Mariners. It's all good news anyway, because the USS Mariner will get more pub, then the Mariner blogosphere will get pub, and somewhere along the way, we might even get a tiny spike in incoming activity (perish the thought) out of this. Yay for a weekly column out of someone in the blogosphere, huh? The only logical next move is to get Peter White to write columns for the Times.
SEAHAWKS
As Jeremy posted, the Seahawks are sending at least three players to the Pro Bowl. Three cheers for the best left side in football and the guy who runs through their holes.
Something of slight note is that Shaun Alexander and Isaiah Kacyvenski had a little tension yesterday. More of note is that Matt Hasselbeck didn't throw in practice. Also, Niko Koutouvides may have his first NFL start on Sunday. Curtis Randall is the third linebacker to be lost for the season, along with DD Lewis and Anthony Simmons. Tracy White aggravated his hamstring injury.
Lastly, Koren Robinson is back from serving the suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy, and quickly delivers some unintentionally hilarious quotes. I'm glad that Greg Bishop clarified that Koren missed being in the huddle and with his teammates, because without that clarification after the sentence, "[t]hat's what he missed the most these last five weeks," the thought of Koren being with his teammates might not be the first thing that comes to mind (trust me, read the article). I'm just hoping Koren doesn't take a sledgehammer to this offense did like Joey Galloway did after coming back from his contract holdout during the 1999 season. You might remember that one...Jon Kitna was involved, the team started 8-2, backed into the playoffs with a 9-7 record, and got beat by the Dolphins in the first round (who in turn got blasted by the Jags 62-7 in the second round). One thing hasn't changed when you compare the two teams...those 1999 Seahawks dropped a lot of passes too, specifically Sean Dawkins.
BASKETBALL
Huskies
Brandon Roy sat this one out, but like I suspected, it didn't matter as the Huskies took Sacred Heart out to the woodshed with a 114-53 beating. Eight Huskies in double figures? Yikes, I say. Bob Sherwin rubs it in by documenting the ill-fated dunk attempt of Sacred Heart forward and Kentridge grad Joey Henley. In Dan Raley's words, Sacred Heart entered, Broken Heart left. The game was apparently scheduled to give Henley and Brice Brooks of Central Kitsap a chance to play in front of friends and family. I'll let you know if Brooks gets a huge write-up in the Sun tomorrow, but I probably won't link it since the Sun has gone the route of registration and wants mailing addresses. [Edit ~1:49p -- Brooks got one-third of the front page in today's Sun sports section.]
Also, Blaine Newnham says the Huskies' future looks bright, and that Lorenzo Romar has to be prepared for any possible defections when it comes to the lineup, and he's got to keep the recruiting at a high-calibre level just in case.
Sonics
For my take on the game last night, scroll down one post or click here if archived.
It's kind of amazing in a way that Ray Allen can be "two steps slower than everybody else" and still put up 20 points. Granted, he did miss 13 of his 20 shots, but I can't say I've ever scored 20 points while battling an upper respiratory infection. The peak of playing sick for me was trying out for the baseball team my sophomore year in high school and having an incredibly phlegmy throat that week. I did see Kenyon Martin's putback slam on NBA Fastbreak and I was finally able to put a picture to what Kevin Calabro described, saying that it seemed Martin was in the air forever before he got the ball with one hand, got the second hand on it, and then packed it. The Ron Murray play that's making it into some of the highlight reels has him seeing a small gap and then driving through it to the basket, and the layup to me looked very Payton-esque. The Sonics have yet to lose consecutive games this season. Also, Ron Murray was largely filling in for Antonio Daniels (acute tonsillitis), so I don't think we can make any judgments regarding Nate McMillan's goal to get Ray Allen down to 38 minutes a game to keep him fresh for the later months in the season. Murray played 27 minutes last night, and Allen played 41.
The notebook is largely a look at Daniels' tonsillitis situation and Ray Allen's situation and not having his legs under him, as a couple of his shots fell short. Also, Ibrahim Kutluay made his NBA debut in garbage time last night. The Turk is wearing number 11. Detlef Schrempf could not be reached for comment.
Danny O'Neil talks about the game that included a sick Ray Allen, no Carmelo Anthony, and apparently not much of a game if the fans' reaction was any indication. O'Neil spends the last few lines talking about the runs in the game.
Upcoming...
Monday at Utah
Tuesday vs. Philadelphia
Thursday at Atlanta
HOCKEY
The WHL is off until Tuesday, but Thunderbirds coach Rob Sumner still emailed every one of his players saying that they've still got some work to do, and especially so on the power play, which is 18th in the 20-team WHL. Even so, the T-Birds are leading the league in fewest goals against by 14. They also have been voted second-best team in the Canadian Hockey League by writers. The number one team is the London Knights of Ontario, who set a record by starting the season with a record 31-game unbeaten streak. The Knights are now 30-1-2-0, but the T-Birds can be proud of their own sparkling 23-8-0-1 record.
If the NHL had no work stoppage and the season went on as scheduled, the Canucks would be at GM Place tonight hosting the Phoenix Coyotes. It would be the 34th game of the season for Vancouver. The Canucks' 34th game last year was a 4-4 tie at home against the Los Angeles Kings. Their record after 34 games last year was 18-8-6-2.
Upcoming...
Monday: Lethbridge at Seattle, Manitoba at Cleveland
Tuesday: Lethbridge at Vancouver, Spokane at Everett, Portland at Prince George, Manitoba at Cleveland
Wednesday: Everett at Seattle, Portland at Prince George
New Year's Eve: Seattle at Portland, Chicago at Manitoba, Tri-City at Puget Sound
New Year's Day: Spokane at Vancouver, Seattle at Everett, Portland at Tri-City, Tri-City at Puget Sound
---
Have a joyous Thursday, and if you're shopping, be careful when driving in parking lots. Remember, a collision at 10mph is still a collision.
All told, here is the stuff...
MARINERS
Derek Zumsteg of the USS Mariner is now officially Off the Wall at the P-I. Congrats to Derek -- the maiden voyage touches on the signings of Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson, as well as a little bit of the myth of the no-superstar 2001 Mariners. It's all good news anyway, because the USS Mariner will get more pub, then the Mariner blogosphere will get pub, and somewhere along the way, we might even get a tiny spike in incoming activity (perish the thought) out of this. Yay for a weekly column out of someone in the blogosphere, huh? The only logical next move is to get Peter White to write columns for the Times.
SEAHAWKS
As Jeremy posted, the Seahawks are sending at least three players to the Pro Bowl. Three cheers for the best left side in football and the guy who runs through their holes.
Something of slight note is that Shaun Alexander and Isaiah Kacyvenski had a little tension yesterday. More of note is that Matt Hasselbeck didn't throw in practice. Also, Niko Koutouvides may have his first NFL start on Sunday. Curtis Randall is the third linebacker to be lost for the season, along with DD Lewis and Anthony Simmons. Tracy White aggravated his hamstring injury.
Lastly, Koren Robinson is back from serving the suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy, and quickly delivers some unintentionally hilarious quotes. I'm glad that Greg Bishop clarified that Koren missed being in the huddle and with his teammates, because without that clarification after the sentence, "[t]hat's what he missed the most these last five weeks," the thought of Koren being with his teammates might not be the first thing that comes to mind (trust me, read the article). I'm just hoping Koren doesn't take a sledgehammer to this offense did like Joey Galloway did after coming back from his contract holdout during the 1999 season. You might remember that one...Jon Kitna was involved, the team started 8-2, backed into the playoffs with a 9-7 record, and got beat by the Dolphins in the first round (who in turn got blasted by the Jags 62-7 in the second round). One thing hasn't changed when you compare the two teams...those 1999 Seahawks dropped a lot of passes too, specifically Sean Dawkins.
BASKETBALL
Huskies
Brandon Roy sat this one out, but like I suspected, it didn't matter as the Huskies took Sacred Heart out to the woodshed with a 114-53 beating. Eight Huskies in double figures? Yikes, I say. Bob Sherwin rubs it in by documenting the ill-fated dunk attempt of Sacred Heart forward and Kentridge grad Joey Henley. In Dan Raley's words, Sacred Heart entered, Broken Heart left. The game was apparently scheduled to give Henley and Brice Brooks of Central Kitsap a chance to play in front of friends and family. I'll let you know if Brooks gets a huge write-up in the Sun tomorrow, but I probably won't link it since the Sun has gone the route of registration and wants mailing addresses. [Edit ~1:49p -- Brooks got one-third of the front page in today's Sun sports section.]
Also, Blaine Newnham says the Huskies' future looks bright, and that Lorenzo Romar has to be prepared for any possible defections when it comes to the lineup, and he's got to keep the recruiting at a high-calibre level just in case.
Sonics
For my take on the game last night, scroll down one post or click here if archived.
It's kind of amazing in a way that Ray Allen can be "two steps slower than everybody else" and still put up 20 points. Granted, he did miss 13 of his 20 shots, but I can't say I've ever scored 20 points while battling an upper respiratory infection. The peak of playing sick for me was trying out for the baseball team my sophomore year in high school and having an incredibly phlegmy throat that week. I did see Kenyon Martin's putback slam on NBA Fastbreak and I was finally able to put a picture to what Kevin Calabro described, saying that it seemed Martin was in the air forever before he got the ball with one hand, got the second hand on it, and then packed it. The Ron Murray play that's making it into some of the highlight reels has him seeing a small gap and then driving through it to the basket, and the layup to me looked very Payton-esque. The Sonics have yet to lose consecutive games this season. Also, Ron Murray was largely filling in for Antonio Daniels (acute tonsillitis), so I don't think we can make any judgments regarding Nate McMillan's goal to get Ray Allen down to 38 minutes a game to keep him fresh for the later months in the season. Murray played 27 minutes last night, and Allen played 41.
The notebook is largely a look at Daniels' tonsillitis situation and Ray Allen's situation and not having his legs under him, as a couple of his shots fell short. Also, Ibrahim Kutluay made his NBA debut in garbage time last night. The Turk is wearing number 11. Detlef Schrempf could not be reached for comment.
Danny O'Neil talks about the game that included a sick Ray Allen, no Carmelo Anthony, and apparently not much of a game if the fans' reaction was any indication. O'Neil spends the last few lines talking about the runs in the game.
Upcoming...
Monday at Utah
Tuesday vs. Philadelphia
Thursday at Atlanta
HOCKEY
The WHL is off until Tuesday, but Thunderbirds coach Rob Sumner still emailed every one of his players saying that they've still got some work to do, and especially so on the power play, which is 18th in the 20-team WHL. Even so, the T-Birds are leading the league in fewest goals against by 14. They also have been voted second-best team in the Canadian Hockey League by writers. The number one team is the London Knights of Ontario, who set a record by starting the season with a record 31-game unbeaten streak. The Knights are now 30-1-2-0, but the T-Birds can be proud of their own sparkling 23-8-0-1 record.
If the NHL had no work stoppage and the season went on as scheduled, the Canucks would be at GM Place tonight hosting the Phoenix Coyotes. It would be the 34th game of the season for Vancouver. The Canucks' 34th game last year was a 4-4 tie at home against the Los Angeles Kings. Their record after 34 games last year was 18-8-6-2.
Upcoming...
Monday: Lethbridge at Seattle, Manitoba at Cleveland
Tuesday: Lethbridge at Vancouver, Spokane at Everett, Portland at Prince George, Manitoba at Cleveland
Wednesday: Everett at Seattle, Portland at Prince George
New Year's Eve: Seattle at Portland, Chicago at Manitoba, Tri-City at Puget Sound
New Year's Day: Spokane at Vancouver, Seattle at Everett, Portland at Tri-City, Tri-City at Puget Sound
---
Have a joyous Thursday, and if you're shopping, be careful when driving in parking lots. Remember, a collision at 10mph is still a collision.
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