Sunday, January 02, 2005
DISSOLUTION
I smell gameday. The scent of gameday beforehand is always a good one, filled with anticipation. Of course, it's the scent of gameday afterward that we really remember. Eau de gameday.
Now that I've officially lost my mind once again...
MARINERS
Does anyone else out there think the Mariners should remove the netting at Safeco Field that's above the bullpens in front of the staircases? I do. What could match the thrill of catching a home run ball on the staircases? Was it really that hard to enforce pedestrians to keep moving along the staircases during play (I believe this was a rule back in 2000) so that crowds didn't form on the stairs? I just think it's more fan-friendly, that's all. Anyway, the addition of the screens for me ranked right up there with when Jeremy and I first found out that the centerfield gate wasn't going to open three hours before gametime (i.e., see more batting practice, have more chances to catch BP baseballs) because of the California power crisis. When we got into the Safe that day, all the TV monitors EVERYWHERE were playing a loop of a graphic saying "WELCOME TO MARINERS BASEBALL." THAT's energy conservation right there. Oops, I bought tickets to go into Safeco Field in the middle of summer, but I didn't think it was going to be Mariners baseball!! This sucks!! I wanna go home!! When does the next ferry leave? I mean, good gracious. It's one thing to use the monitors to show highlight reels and concurrent games, but man, a looping graphic in the middle of a supposed power crisis was something I'd never get over. They can't open the gate three hours early, but they can roll TV monitors looping the same graphic. Infuriating.
SEAHAWKS
The Seahawks' playoff scenarios are discussed in this article (more Mora quotes here), as well as what both coaches have told the media and their players. The thing that kicks off both articles is basically the question of what happens in if the players find out before the game that the division title is already locked up.
But even if the Rams lose and it renders the outcome of the game meaningless, the Seahawks have to go full throttle. Not just because winning the division with a .500 record would suck, but because if this team looks really good tomorrow (though I know in the back of my mind that it's never easy with these Seahawks), then momentum could be this team's best friend. Folks, Terrell Owens might not play until the Super Bowl, if the Eagles even get that far, and these Falcons have looked very beatable at times during the season. So with the two NFC first-round bye teams looking vulnerable, it levels the playing field a bit for everyone that has to play next weekend. Anybody can win the NFC this year.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
North Carolina hosts the College of William and Mary today, and is off until the following Saturday when ACC play kicks off; they'll be hosting Maryland.
Huskies
The Huskies host Stanford today in a game which conveniently will run concurrently with the Seahawk game. The Huskies travel to USC on Thursday.
Bulldogs
Gonzaga is off until they travel to Santa Clara to open West Coast Conference play on Thursday. They'll be at Saint Mary's the following Saturday.
Sonics
You know what? The Sonics are a better story than the Suns. How can you not be good when you go out in the offseason and sign Steve Nash, and still have Amare Stoudemire up front? The Sonics merely worked Mark Cuban for Danny Fortson and got Nick Collison back from shoulder surgeries and called it good. This is an incredible turnaround involving a ton of guys that were still here last year. Frank Hughes has blurbs on seven of the Sonics. Of note, Luke Ridnour is 5th in the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio, while Antonio Daniels leads the NBA in the same category.
This one's not about the Sonics, it's about Alonzo Mourning. Most in the media are willing to let Zo have free reign since he came back from a kidney ailment and still plays. They're willing to look the other way when Zo refuses to report to the Raptors after being traded there. They put him on the injured list, where he supposedly is recovering from knee tendinitis. The Raptors are attempting to buy out his contract. Basically, Percy Allen calls BS on this whole thing and takes Mourning to task. Percy Allen is absolutely right here.
Upcoming...
Monday at Miami
Wednesday at Orlando
Thursday at Washington
HOCKEY
Everett beat Seattle, 4-2. The Silvertips rallied from a 2-0 deficit to score the final four goals and avenge their loss from the night before. The Silvertips are the type of team that can win despite being outshot 31-22 as they were last night. Mitch Love (1 G, 1 A, plus-1), Alex Leavitt (1 G, 1 A, plus-3), and Shaun Heshka (2 A, plus-1) had the multi-point nights for the Silvertips. Mike Wall stopped 29 for Everett, and Bryan Bridges stopped 17 for Seattle.
Tri-City beat Portland, 5-3. After Brandon Dubinsky tied the game at 1-1, the closest the Winter Hawks were able to get to the Americans was when they drew to within one at 3-2 on a 2-man advantage (another Dubinsky goal, both assisted by Dan Da Silva). Portland killed off a triple-minor (Mike Funk for hooking and a double minor for spearing) during the latter half of the second period. Spokane has taken 5 of 6 games in the season series. Tri-City outshot Portland 31-28. Dustin Butler stopped 26; he has started in net for each of the Winter Hawks' last 21 games.
Vancouver beat Spokane, 5-2. The Giants used a breakaway goal from Adam Courchaine and the first career hat trick for Mitch Bartley to beat the Chiefs. Luke Egener scored the final Vancouver goal in the third period. Shaun Vey and Gilbert Brule had two assists each. Vey and Conlan Seder were both plus-2. Spokane outshot Vancouver 34-24. Adam Jennings stopped 32 for the Giants. Regular Giants' goalie Marek Schwarz is still busy doing things in the World Junior Championships for the Czechs.
Manitoba shut out Chicago, 6-0. The Moose scored two goals in the first period, one in the middle frame, and really put it away with three more in the third period. Wade Flaherty stopped all 25 shots he saw. But if you really want to see something, check out the third period in that boxscore. I'll just tell you it's really long, and it's not just because Manitoba scored three times. Kevin Bieksa and Jason King scored two goals each, and Peter Sarno tallied three assists. Manitoba outshot the Wolves 32-25.
Puget Sound beat Tri-City, 5-4. The Titans actually had the early 2-0 lead thanks to screened shots that Iggy Slepokourev didn't have a chance on in the Tomahawks' net, and also thanks to what I thought was a pretty strong first 30 minutes of hockey on the road by Tri-City, especially in their own end as they were able to tie up sticks and break up most potential rushes by the Tomahawks. The Tomahawks weren't able to get a lot of sustained time in the offensive zone in the first half of the game. After those first 30 minutes, though, the roof seemingly fell in on the Titans in the latter half of the second period. Jackson Wiegers got the ball rolling as he opened the scoring for Puget Sound. Mike Truex had one of the other goals in the period, and the Tomahawks ended up with four goals in the second period. The Titans were eventually able to tie it at 4-4 in the third period, but Erik Casebeer got the winner for Puget Sound late in the third period. The Tomahawks had to kill off a late penalty, but did get a power play at the end, which increased their chances of not letting in a tying goal. The Tomahawks are now 24-3-1 and (assuming Portland won last night, which is probably the case) hold an ever-so-tenuous one-point lead over the Portland Pioneers, who would have beaten River City twice this weekend and still have a game in hand.
Next week in hockey...
Sunday: Vancouver at Portland
Tuesday: Everett at Kamloops, Moose Jaw at Vancouver, Cleveland at Manitoba
Wednesday: Seattle at Spokane, Vancouver at Prince George, Cleveland at Manitoba
Friday: Kelowna at Seattle, Spokane at Everett, Portland at Saskatoon, Vancouver at Prince George, Puget Sound at River City
Saturday: Tri-City at Seattle, Kamloops at Everett, Portland at Prince Albert, Vancouver at Kelowna, Puget Sound at River City, Edmonton at Manitoba
Sunday (9 Jan): Edmonton at Manitoba
On to the World Junior Championships. Chris Bourque is now out of the tournament for Team USA with a knee injury he suffered in the game against Belarus.
United States beat Sweden, 8-2. This is a pleasant surprise because I usually associate the Swedes in international play with having a ton of offense, but it was the USA who scored a bunch of goals in this one. Also the trend of the Swedes lately, seemingly carrying over from the play of their pros in the World Cup, is the ground they seem to be losing in terms of solid goalies. I didn't see this game, but when any team scores eight against them, it warrants mentioning. All told, the USA remains in the hunt to defend their WJC gold medal from last year. Sweden had the early lead in the first period, a lead which lasted nearly eight minutes before Kevin Porter notched his second goal of the tournament. The USA also scored the next two goals early in the second period and jumped out to a 3-1 lead on Phil Kessel's second goal of the tournament. Sweden answered Kessel with a second-period goal of their own. Then the USA exploded for five goals in the third period, the first two of which accounted for Kessel's hat trick. Team USA outshot the Swedes 41-31. Al Montoya stopped 29 for Team USA, and a David Raitio Berguv stopped 33 for Sweden.
Switzerland shut out Germany, 5-0. Switzerland is now one win from cementing a spot in the tournament in 2006 (7th and 8th place get automatic berths while the final two spots are determined via a qualifying tournament...there's always something to play for at the World Juniors). Youri Ziffzer turned away 41 shots by the Swiss, but five other shots went into the net. Three different Swiss players scored in the second period. Rafael Diaz opened the scoring, and while I can't question his Swiss citizenship or anything, usually I don't see a surname like Diaz and think "yeah, he's definitely Swiss." Victor Stancescu scored twice in the third period for the Swiss, who outshot the Germans 46-19. Michael Tobler stopped all 19 German shots.
Czech Republic shut out Finland, 3-0. Another surprise for me here. Using carryover thoughts from when I saw the countries' professionals in World Cup play is something I probably shouldn't do, but in doing so I thought the Finns would be one of the better teams in the tournament. As the Swedes have perceivably fallen off in terms of production of goaltenders, the Finns have seemingly picked up in net and were made out to basically be a goalie factory in the World Cup (the most famous of which is Miikka Kiprusoff from last year's run with the Flames). Of course, the score was 3-0 in this game and not 8-0, so it's definitely not all on the goalie. Also something I associate with the Finns is an adherence to a certain style of play which isn't quite a choking defensive style, though if memory serves me right, it does feature tight checking. The style was brilliantly executed by Finland's professionals in the World Cup, where they got to the final game. But what I can read from the boxscore itself is that the Czechs took advantage of the Finns on special teams twice, late in the second period and early in the third. Petr Vrana scored on the power play with just over 3 minutes left in the second period, and Rostislav Olesz got his 6th goal of the tournament with the Czechs down a man early in the third. Roman Cervenka scored with just over two minutes left in the game. The Czechs outshot the Finns 33-21. Tuukka Rask stopped 30 for the Finns and Marek Schwarz of the Vancouver Giants, a goalie that I've been familiar with thanks to doing all these WHL recaps, stopped all 21 in net for the Czechs. He only faced 21 shots because his defensemen were blocking a ton of shots themselves, so the shots-on-net total is 21, but shots off net were a lot higher (it's moot, those don't count).
For the remainder of the tournament...
Today: Slovakia vs. Belarus (relegation), Canada vs. Czech Republic (semifinal), Russia vs. United States (semifinal)
Tomorrow: Belarus vs. Germany (relegation), Slovakia vs. Switzerland (relegation), Finland vs. Sweden (relegation)
Tuesday: semifinal losers in bronze medal game, semifinal winners in gold medal game
---
Everyone out there have a great Sunday, and have a great work week.
[Edit ~9:42a -- Somehow I'd forgotten the Moose score, and I think I'd left that off of previous "upcoming" sections. Sorry in the extremely unlikely case that anyone's plans were messed up.]
Now that I've officially lost my mind once again...
MARINERS
Does anyone else out there think the Mariners should remove the netting at Safeco Field that's above the bullpens in front of the staircases? I do. What could match the thrill of catching a home run ball on the staircases? Was it really that hard to enforce pedestrians to keep moving along the staircases during play (I believe this was a rule back in 2000) so that crowds didn't form on the stairs? I just think it's more fan-friendly, that's all. Anyway, the addition of the screens for me ranked right up there with when Jeremy and I first found out that the centerfield gate wasn't going to open three hours before gametime (i.e., see more batting practice, have more chances to catch BP baseballs) because of the California power crisis. When we got into the Safe that day, all the TV monitors EVERYWHERE were playing a loop of a graphic saying "WELCOME TO MARINERS BASEBALL." THAT's energy conservation right there. Oops, I bought tickets to go into Safeco Field in the middle of summer, but I didn't think it was going to be Mariners baseball!! This sucks!! I wanna go home!! When does the next ferry leave? I mean, good gracious. It's one thing to use the monitors to show highlight reels and concurrent games, but man, a looping graphic in the middle of a supposed power crisis was something I'd never get over. They can't open the gate three hours early, but they can roll TV monitors looping the same graphic. Infuriating.
SEAHAWKS
The Seahawks' playoff scenarios are discussed in this article (more Mora quotes here), as well as what both coaches have told the media and their players. The thing that kicks off both articles is basically the question of what happens in if the players find out before the game that the division title is already locked up.
But even if the Rams lose and it renders the outcome of the game meaningless, the Seahawks have to go full throttle. Not just because winning the division with a .500 record would suck, but because if this team looks really good tomorrow (though I know in the back of my mind that it's never easy with these Seahawks), then momentum could be this team's best friend. Folks, Terrell Owens might not play until the Super Bowl, if the Eagles even get that far, and these Falcons have looked very beatable at times during the season. So with the two NFC first-round bye teams looking vulnerable, it levels the playing field a bit for everyone that has to play next weekend. Anybody can win the NFC this year.
BASKETBALL
The Marvin Williams Watch
North Carolina hosts the College of William and Mary today, and is off until the following Saturday when ACC play kicks off; they'll be hosting Maryland.
Huskies
The Huskies host Stanford today in a game which conveniently will run concurrently with the Seahawk game. The Huskies travel to USC on Thursday.
Bulldogs
Gonzaga is off until they travel to Santa Clara to open West Coast Conference play on Thursday. They'll be at Saint Mary's the following Saturday.
Sonics
You know what? The Sonics are a better story than the Suns. How can you not be good when you go out in the offseason and sign Steve Nash, and still have Amare Stoudemire up front? The Sonics merely worked Mark Cuban for Danny Fortson and got Nick Collison back from shoulder surgeries and called it good. This is an incredible turnaround involving a ton of guys that were still here last year. Frank Hughes has blurbs on seven of the Sonics. Of note, Luke Ridnour is 5th in the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio, while Antonio Daniels leads the NBA in the same category.
This one's not about the Sonics, it's about Alonzo Mourning. Most in the media are willing to let Zo have free reign since he came back from a kidney ailment and still plays. They're willing to look the other way when Zo refuses to report to the Raptors after being traded there. They put him on the injured list, where he supposedly is recovering from knee tendinitis. The Raptors are attempting to buy out his contract. Basically, Percy Allen calls BS on this whole thing and takes Mourning to task. Percy Allen is absolutely right here.
Upcoming...
Monday at Miami
Wednesday at Orlando
Thursday at Washington
HOCKEY
Everett beat Seattle, 4-2. The Silvertips rallied from a 2-0 deficit to score the final four goals and avenge their loss from the night before. The Silvertips are the type of team that can win despite being outshot 31-22 as they were last night. Mitch Love (1 G, 1 A, plus-1), Alex Leavitt (1 G, 1 A, plus-3), and Shaun Heshka (2 A, plus-1) had the multi-point nights for the Silvertips. Mike Wall stopped 29 for Everett, and Bryan Bridges stopped 17 for Seattle.
Tri-City beat Portland, 5-3. After Brandon Dubinsky tied the game at 1-1, the closest the Winter Hawks were able to get to the Americans was when they drew to within one at 3-2 on a 2-man advantage (another Dubinsky goal, both assisted by Dan Da Silva). Portland killed off a triple-minor (Mike Funk for hooking and a double minor for spearing) during the latter half of the second period. Spokane has taken 5 of 6 games in the season series. Tri-City outshot Portland 31-28. Dustin Butler stopped 26; he has started in net for each of the Winter Hawks' last 21 games.
Vancouver beat Spokane, 5-2. The Giants used a breakaway goal from Adam Courchaine and the first career hat trick for Mitch Bartley to beat the Chiefs. Luke Egener scored the final Vancouver goal in the third period. Shaun Vey and Gilbert Brule had two assists each. Vey and Conlan Seder were both plus-2. Spokane outshot Vancouver 34-24. Adam Jennings stopped 32 for the Giants. Regular Giants' goalie Marek Schwarz is still busy doing things in the World Junior Championships for the Czechs.
Manitoba shut out Chicago, 6-0. The Moose scored two goals in the first period, one in the middle frame, and really put it away with three more in the third period. Wade Flaherty stopped all 25 shots he saw. But if you really want to see something, check out the third period in that boxscore. I'll just tell you it's really long, and it's not just because Manitoba scored three times. Kevin Bieksa and Jason King scored two goals each, and Peter Sarno tallied three assists. Manitoba outshot the Wolves 32-25.
Puget Sound beat Tri-City, 5-4. The Titans actually had the early 2-0 lead thanks to screened shots that Iggy Slepokourev didn't have a chance on in the Tomahawks' net, and also thanks to what I thought was a pretty strong first 30 minutes of hockey on the road by Tri-City, especially in their own end as they were able to tie up sticks and break up most potential rushes by the Tomahawks. The Tomahawks weren't able to get a lot of sustained time in the offensive zone in the first half of the game. After those first 30 minutes, though, the roof seemingly fell in on the Titans in the latter half of the second period. Jackson Wiegers got the ball rolling as he opened the scoring for Puget Sound. Mike Truex had one of the other goals in the period, and the Tomahawks ended up with four goals in the second period. The Titans were eventually able to tie it at 4-4 in the third period, but Erik Casebeer got the winner for Puget Sound late in the third period. The Tomahawks had to kill off a late penalty, but did get a power play at the end, which increased their chances of not letting in a tying goal. The Tomahawks are now 24-3-1 and (assuming Portland won last night, which is probably the case) hold an ever-so-tenuous one-point lead over the Portland Pioneers, who would have beaten River City twice this weekend and still have a game in hand.
Next week in hockey...
Sunday: Vancouver at Portland
Tuesday: Everett at Kamloops, Moose Jaw at Vancouver, Cleveland at Manitoba
Wednesday: Seattle at Spokane, Vancouver at Prince George, Cleveland at Manitoba
Friday: Kelowna at Seattle, Spokane at Everett, Portland at Saskatoon, Vancouver at Prince George, Puget Sound at River City
Saturday: Tri-City at Seattle, Kamloops at Everett, Portland at Prince Albert, Vancouver at Kelowna, Puget Sound at River City, Edmonton at Manitoba
Sunday (9 Jan): Edmonton at Manitoba
On to the World Junior Championships. Chris Bourque is now out of the tournament for Team USA with a knee injury he suffered in the game against Belarus.
United States beat Sweden, 8-2. This is a pleasant surprise because I usually associate the Swedes in international play with having a ton of offense, but it was the USA who scored a bunch of goals in this one. Also the trend of the Swedes lately, seemingly carrying over from the play of their pros in the World Cup, is the ground they seem to be losing in terms of solid goalies. I didn't see this game, but when any team scores eight against them, it warrants mentioning. All told, the USA remains in the hunt to defend their WJC gold medal from last year. Sweden had the early lead in the first period, a lead which lasted nearly eight minutes before Kevin Porter notched his second goal of the tournament. The USA also scored the next two goals early in the second period and jumped out to a 3-1 lead on Phil Kessel's second goal of the tournament. Sweden answered Kessel with a second-period goal of their own. Then the USA exploded for five goals in the third period, the first two of which accounted for Kessel's hat trick. Team USA outshot the Swedes 41-31. Al Montoya stopped 29 for Team USA, and a David Raitio Berguv stopped 33 for Sweden.
Switzerland shut out Germany, 5-0. Switzerland is now one win from cementing a spot in the tournament in 2006 (7th and 8th place get automatic berths while the final two spots are determined via a qualifying tournament...there's always something to play for at the World Juniors). Youri Ziffzer turned away 41 shots by the Swiss, but five other shots went into the net. Three different Swiss players scored in the second period. Rafael Diaz opened the scoring, and while I can't question his Swiss citizenship or anything, usually I don't see a surname like Diaz and think "yeah, he's definitely Swiss." Victor Stancescu scored twice in the third period for the Swiss, who outshot the Germans 46-19. Michael Tobler stopped all 19 German shots.
Czech Republic shut out Finland, 3-0. Another surprise for me here. Using carryover thoughts from when I saw the countries' professionals in World Cup play is something I probably shouldn't do, but in doing so I thought the Finns would be one of the better teams in the tournament. As the Swedes have perceivably fallen off in terms of production of goaltenders, the Finns have seemingly picked up in net and were made out to basically be a goalie factory in the World Cup (the most famous of which is Miikka Kiprusoff from last year's run with the Flames). Of course, the score was 3-0 in this game and not 8-0, so it's definitely not all on the goalie. Also something I associate with the Finns is an adherence to a certain style of play which isn't quite a choking defensive style, though if memory serves me right, it does feature tight checking. The style was brilliantly executed by Finland's professionals in the World Cup, where they got to the final game. But what I can read from the boxscore itself is that the Czechs took advantage of the Finns on special teams twice, late in the second period and early in the third. Petr Vrana scored on the power play with just over 3 minutes left in the second period, and Rostislav Olesz got his 6th goal of the tournament with the Czechs down a man early in the third. Roman Cervenka scored with just over two minutes left in the game. The Czechs outshot the Finns 33-21. Tuukka Rask stopped 30 for the Finns and Marek Schwarz of the Vancouver Giants, a goalie that I've been familiar with thanks to doing all these WHL recaps, stopped all 21 in net for the Czechs. He only faced 21 shots because his defensemen were blocking a ton of shots themselves, so the shots-on-net total is 21, but shots off net were a lot higher (it's moot, those don't count).
For the remainder of the tournament...
Today: Slovakia vs. Belarus (relegation), Canada vs. Czech Republic (semifinal), Russia vs. United States (semifinal)
Tomorrow: Belarus vs. Germany (relegation), Slovakia vs. Switzerland (relegation), Finland vs. Sweden (relegation)
Tuesday: semifinal losers in bronze medal game, semifinal winners in gold medal game
---
Everyone out there have a great Sunday, and have a great work week.
[Edit ~9:42a -- Somehow I'd forgotten the Moose score, and I think I'd left that off of previous "upcoming" sections. Sorry in the extremely unlikely case that anyone's plans were messed up.]
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