Thursday, March 10, 2005
ESCAPE FROM OZ
Welcome to Thursday. Horrendous lateness is due to premature sleep, though it was good sleep. Sleep is great. I learned this in college.
For the random today...I've got to think of something other than the Little Wizard getting the shaft. Back in junior high, and for a couple games in JV ball in high school, we had to use the field at the junior high school, which I use for hitting balls these days. The field's been nowhere near as good as Legion Field (the one with lights), though in the right hands and with a fence, it could someday be a decent field. Right now, though, it's in a better-than-before stage, but still not that great. Why? To all the ballplayers out there, have you ever been on a field where the whole thing looks like a bad hop? One of those fields where even if you were just taking grounders from some friends, you wouldn't think twice about wearing a cup? That's how that field is right now. It's like the grass is growing in bunches, and it's uneven. The only thing I consider worse is if the field is horribly not level.
Two other topics/articles which I thought were half-worthy before I move on here.
I was notified of one by the David Locke show last night regarding a certain coach of Fresno State's women's basketball team. Here's the university's statement as to why she was fired, and here's an article with some incredible details.
The last topic -- it kind of seems like something that's been chapping Pete Prisco's hide, but the topic is intriguing nonetheless. It's on how Parcells and his disciples choke the flow of information to the media, which wouldn't be so bad for Prisco if the fans weren't heavily dependent on the media for information concerning their favorite teams. Worse yet for Prisco, Belichick is using the same philosophies, and it seems to be winning. Prisco likes the media friendliness of Tony Dungy and Brian Billick, but who wouldn't like to be a member of the media at a Brian Billick press conference? I'd have loved to have been at the "instant replay doesn't work" press conference. I guess the most appalling part of the article is that Nick Saban apparently thinks he's God, and he hasn't even coached a game for the Dolphins yet, let alone a game in the NFL.
On TV tonight -- Washington vs. Arizona State (Pac-10 tournament 2/7 game, 6:15p, FSNNW)
MARINERS
Felix got rocked. He later confessed of muscling the ball. In the P-I article, I'd like to know what Mike Hargrove said in place of the replacement word of "futile." I'm hoping it's a curse word, for some reason.
Bret Boone apparently woke up with the sore back that he came out of a game with, and Joel Pineiro will miss one full rotation before getting back out on the mound in game action.
Aaaaaaalso from the P-I article, Shigetoshi Hasegawa elevating his fastball? Great idea! I know I'll feel real confident when he's trying to get Eric Chavez to whiff on an "elevated" fastball coming in at 88-91mph. This idea sounds just as dumb or maybe worse than having Mike Myers throwing three-quarters. Basically, the way I look at it is if this "elevated fastball" thing is going to work, Shig will have to be Moyer, because I don't see how else he's going to deceive anybody into missing that pitch or letting it go.
Tuiasosopo, Matthew P. He caught valley fever last year, which can't be to enjoyable. I love how I've heard from most media that the Mariners' system is stacked at shortstop, and if you go the blogosphere route, you get the impression that most of those guys won't stay at shortstop. As such, I don't think Tuiasosopo should be too afraid about the system being shortstop-heavy. Especially beacuse you can just scratch Michael Garciaparra off the list anyway. He's not competition.
The Weekly Zumsteg focuses on what we might reasonably expect out of Jorge Campillo and Yuniesky Betancourt. I wonder how Castro would react to the news that Cuban baseball might be roughly equivalent to A-ball.
SEAHAWKS
The Seahawks will have a visitor in the form of Philadelphia defensive end Derrick Burgess. The Seahawks may also be interested in New Orleans' Darren Howard, a defensive end, who would fetch a high-round pick. The Seahawks might possibly lose Pork Chop Womack to the Packers.
But the real story here is that Chike Okeafor signed with Arizona because of a "different attitude." Chike says he wasn't surrounded by a lot of people that "love the game like [him]." The sad thing is that he went to ARIZONA and apparently found that. Ruskell?
Okay, I guess the other real story is that Clare Farnsworth does say that Itula Mili re-signed with the Seahawks, though that part of the article seems really tacked onto the end. I'm thinking it must have been a pretty late-breaker, especially if there were conflicting reports. Jeremy encountered such apparently conflicting reports yesterday in his pursuit of the Mili news.
No real other new developments, other than that Chicago running back Anthony Carter left town without signing a contract, much like Andre Dyson.
BASKETBALL
The Miah Davis Update
The Roanoke Dazzle host Florida on Saturday, and Fayetteville the following Saturday and Sunday.
The Marvin Williams Watch
The Tar Heels will get the winner of tonight's ACC tournament 8/9 game (Maryland/Clemson) tomorrow (9a, ESPN2). The winner of that game plays Saturday (1:30p, ESPN).
Huskies
How many Husky articles would you like to read?
Basically, there's one about trying to hold off Ike Diogu, one about the hustle play of Bobby Jones, another which I'll comment on after this, and one hoping the Huskies don't pull a Seahawk and let this loss get to them.
The third article is about the Pac-10 tournament and whether it's working. Attendance has dropped every year since its reinstitution in 2002. Also, teams winning the tournament may suffer from the lack of rest that would come with losing in the earlier rounds. Of course, conference winners from across the country have done the same thing and kicked butt in the NCAAs, so that argument doesn't really hold water with me. But I'll give you the not-so-secret to making this tournament bigger on the national stage. It's called Get the F*%& Off of Fox Sports Net and use ESPN. If there's one thing that Fox Sports Net has had for itself in the years since it switched over from Prime Sports, it's that it had regional programming and the variations of the regional sports report. Where have they failed? Jim Rome, Max Kellerman, and the National Sports Report. It got so bad they threw crap at a wall to see what sticks (put Tom Arnold behind a desk and have him try to talk sports). Basically, if you want better national exposure, stay away from Fox Sports Net at all costs. Unfortunately, Fox has a 40% stake in the Staples Center and co-owns the rights to the Pac-10 tournament. It's a losing battle, and unfortunately we know Lute Olson is never going to shut the hell up about it.
The Huskies face Arizona State in the Pac-10 tournament's 2/7 game tonight (6:15p, FSNNW). The winner goes on to face Stanford or Washington State tomorrow (8:45p, FSNNW).
Bulldogs
Gonzaga is awaiting the results from Selection Sunday.
Sonics
The Sonics' bench? Not doing too well right now. It didn't occur to me that the Houston game was Antonio Daniels' first scoreless game of the year. That and a host of other things would explain the Sonics' deficiency in getting to the free-throw line in the 6-point third quarter game. Still, the bench needs Vladimir Radmanovic needs to be scoring double figures for the bench to be considered anywhere close to top form.
Upcoming...
Tomorrow vs. Chicago (7:30p, not televised)
Sunday at New York (3p, FSNNW)
Tuesday at Chicago (5:30p, FSNNW)
HOCKEY
Seattle beat Tri-City 5-1. This was a beatin'. Seattle scored three times in the first period, chased NHL prospect Carey Price from the net, and the Americans never got closer than 3-1. Aaron Gagnon scored the first and last goals of the game. Ladislav Scurko, Chris Durand, and Bretton Stamler were the other Seattle scorers. Shots were 35-22 for Seattle, and Bryan Bridges stopped 21.
Everett beat Spokane 6-2. Everett also scored three first-period goals. The Chiefs tied the game at 1-1 early, but the Silvertips pulled away. Karel Hromas, Zach Sim, and Randy King scored in the first period. Curtis Billsten scored in the second period. Brady Calla and Torrie Wheat scored in the third period. Shots were 27-24 for Everett, and Mike Wall stopped 22.
Manitoba beat Grand Rapids 4-2. The Moose came back from down 2-1 to win this one in the third period. The teams traded goals in the first two periods, with the Moose never leading in the first 40 minutes. Kent Huskins scored twice, both tying goals, the first coming with 33 seconds left in the period. Josh Green scored the winner on the power play with 1:18 left in regulation. Lee Goren iced the game with an empty-netter with 33 seconds left. Shots were 32-26 for the Griffins, and Alex Auld stopped 30.
Upcoming...
Tomorrow: Seattle at Everett, Spokane at Portland, Vancouver at Prince George, Manitoba at Grand Rapids, Puget Sound at Queen City (Game 1 of Cascade Cup Finals)
Saturday: Portland at Everett, Vancouver at Prince George, Manitoba at Chicago, Puget Sound at Queen City (Game 2 of Cascade Cup Finals)
Sunday: Spokane at Seattle, Everett at Portland, Manitoba at Chicago
Tuesday: Prince George at Vancouver, Manitoba at Milwaukee
Wednesday: Seattle at Everett, Portland at Spokane
---
Have a great rest of the Thursday.
For the random today...I've got to think of something other than the Little Wizard getting the shaft. Back in junior high, and for a couple games in JV ball in high school, we had to use the field at the junior high school, which I use for hitting balls these days. The field's been nowhere near as good as Legion Field (the one with lights), though in the right hands and with a fence, it could someday be a decent field. Right now, though, it's in a better-than-before stage, but still not that great. Why? To all the ballplayers out there, have you ever been on a field where the whole thing looks like a bad hop? One of those fields where even if you were just taking grounders from some friends, you wouldn't think twice about wearing a cup? That's how that field is right now. It's like the grass is growing in bunches, and it's uneven. The only thing I consider worse is if the field is horribly not level.
Two other topics/articles which I thought were half-worthy before I move on here.
I was notified of one by the David Locke show last night regarding a certain coach of Fresno State's women's basketball team. Here's the university's statement as to why she was fired, and here's an article with some incredible details.
The last topic -- it kind of seems like something that's been chapping Pete Prisco's hide, but the topic is intriguing nonetheless. It's on how Parcells and his disciples choke the flow of information to the media, which wouldn't be so bad for Prisco if the fans weren't heavily dependent on the media for information concerning their favorite teams. Worse yet for Prisco, Belichick is using the same philosophies, and it seems to be winning. Prisco likes the media friendliness of Tony Dungy and Brian Billick, but who wouldn't like to be a member of the media at a Brian Billick press conference? I'd have loved to have been at the "instant replay doesn't work" press conference. I guess the most appalling part of the article is that Nick Saban apparently thinks he's God, and he hasn't even coached a game for the Dolphins yet, let alone a game in the NFL.
On TV tonight -- Washington vs. Arizona State (Pac-10 tournament 2/7 game, 6:15p, FSNNW)
MARINERS
Felix got rocked. He later confessed of muscling the ball. In the P-I article, I'd like to know what Mike Hargrove said in place of the replacement word of "futile." I'm hoping it's a curse word, for some reason.
Bret Boone apparently woke up with the sore back that he came out of a game with, and Joel Pineiro will miss one full rotation before getting back out on the mound in game action.
Aaaaaaalso from the P-I article, Shigetoshi Hasegawa elevating his fastball? Great idea! I know I'll feel real confident when he's trying to get Eric Chavez to whiff on an "elevated" fastball coming in at 88-91mph. This idea sounds just as dumb or maybe worse than having Mike Myers throwing three-quarters. Basically, the way I look at it is if this "elevated fastball" thing is going to work, Shig will have to be Moyer, because I don't see how else he's going to deceive anybody into missing that pitch or letting it go.
Tuiasosopo, Matthew P. He caught valley fever last year, which can't be to enjoyable. I love how I've heard from most media that the Mariners' system is stacked at shortstop, and if you go the blogosphere route, you get the impression that most of those guys won't stay at shortstop. As such, I don't think Tuiasosopo should be too afraid about the system being shortstop-heavy. Especially beacuse you can just scratch Michael Garciaparra off the list anyway. He's not competition.
The Weekly Zumsteg focuses on what we might reasonably expect out of Jorge Campillo and Yuniesky Betancourt. I wonder how Castro would react to the news that Cuban baseball might be roughly equivalent to A-ball.
SEAHAWKS
The Seahawks will have a visitor in the form of Philadelphia defensive end Derrick Burgess. The Seahawks may also be interested in New Orleans' Darren Howard, a defensive end, who would fetch a high-round pick. The Seahawks might possibly lose Pork Chop Womack to the Packers.
But the real story here is that Chike Okeafor signed with Arizona because of a "different attitude." Chike says he wasn't surrounded by a lot of people that "love the game like [him]." The sad thing is that he went to ARIZONA and apparently found that. Ruskell?
Okay, I guess the other real story is that Clare Farnsworth does say that Itula Mili re-signed with the Seahawks, though that part of the article seems really tacked onto the end. I'm thinking it must have been a pretty late-breaker, especially if there were conflicting reports. Jeremy encountered such apparently conflicting reports yesterday in his pursuit of the Mili news.
No real other new developments, other than that Chicago running back Anthony Carter left town without signing a contract, much like Andre Dyson.
BASKETBALL
The Miah Davis Update
The Roanoke Dazzle host Florida on Saturday, and Fayetteville the following Saturday and Sunday.
The Marvin Williams Watch
The Tar Heels will get the winner of tonight's ACC tournament 8/9 game (Maryland/Clemson) tomorrow (9a, ESPN2). The winner of that game plays Saturday (1:30p, ESPN).
Huskies
How many Husky articles would you like to read?
Basically, there's one about trying to hold off Ike Diogu, one about the hustle play of Bobby Jones, another which I'll comment on after this, and one hoping the Huskies don't pull a Seahawk and let this loss get to them.
The third article is about the Pac-10 tournament and whether it's working. Attendance has dropped every year since its reinstitution in 2002. Also, teams winning the tournament may suffer from the lack of rest that would come with losing in the earlier rounds. Of course, conference winners from across the country have done the same thing and kicked butt in the NCAAs, so that argument doesn't really hold water with me. But I'll give you the not-so-secret to making this tournament bigger on the national stage. It's called Get the F*%& Off of Fox Sports Net and use ESPN. If there's one thing that Fox Sports Net has had for itself in the years since it switched over from Prime Sports, it's that it had regional programming and the variations of the regional sports report. Where have they failed? Jim Rome, Max Kellerman, and the National Sports Report. It got so bad they threw crap at a wall to see what sticks (put Tom Arnold behind a desk and have him try to talk sports). Basically, if you want better national exposure, stay away from Fox Sports Net at all costs. Unfortunately, Fox has a 40% stake in the Staples Center and co-owns the rights to the Pac-10 tournament. It's a losing battle, and unfortunately we know Lute Olson is never going to shut the hell up about it.
The Huskies face Arizona State in the Pac-10 tournament's 2/7 game tonight (6:15p, FSNNW). The winner goes on to face Stanford or Washington State tomorrow (8:45p, FSNNW).
Bulldogs
Gonzaga is awaiting the results from Selection Sunday.
Sonics
The Sonics' bench? Not doing too well right now. It didn't occur to me that the Houston game was Antonio Daniels' first scoreless game of the year. That and a host of other things would explain the Sonics' deficiency in getting to the free-throw line in the 6-point third quarter game. Still, the bench needs Vladimir Radmanovic needs to be scoring double figures for the bench to be considered anywhere close to top form.
Upcoming...
Tomorrow vs. Chicago (7:30p, not televised)
Sunday at New York (3p, FSNNW)
Tuesday at Chicago (5:30p, FSNNW)
HOCKEY
Seattle beat Tri-City 5-1. This was a beatin'. Seattle scored three times in the first period, chased NHL prospect Carey Price from the net, and the Americans never got closer than 3-1. Aaron Gagnon scored the first and last goals of the game. Ladislav Scurko, Chris Durand, and Bretton Stamler were the other Seattle scorers. Shots were 35-22 for Seattle, and Bryan Bridges stopped 21.
Everett beat Spokane 6-2. Everett also scored three first-period goals. The Chiefs tied the game at 1-1 early, but the Silvertips pulled away. Karel Hromas, Zach Sim, and Randy King scored in the first period. Curtis Billsten scored in the second period. Brady Calla and Torrie Wheat scored in the third period. Shots were 27-24 for Everett, and Mike Wall stopped 22.
Manitoba beat Grand Rapids 4-2. The Moose came back from down 2-1 to win this one in the third period. The teams traded goals in the first two periods, with the Moose never leading in the first 40 minutes. Kent Huskins scored twice, both tying goals, the first coming with 33 seconds left in the period. Josh Green scored the winner on the power play with 1:18 left in regulation. Lee Goren iced the game with an empty-netter with 33 seconds left. Shots were 32-26 for the Griffins, and Alex Auld stopped 30.
Upcoming...
Tomorrow: Seattle at Everett, Spokane at Portland, Vancouver at Prince George, Manitoba at Grand Rapids, Puget Sound at Queen City (Game 1 of Cascade Cup Finals)
Saturday: Portland at Everett, Vancouver at Prince George, Manitoba at Chicago, Puget Sound at Queen City (Game 2 of Cascade Cup Finals)
Sunday: Spokane at Seattle, Everett at Portland, Manitoba at Chicago
Tuesday: Prince George at Vancouver, Manitoba at Milwaukee
Wednesday: Seattle at Everett, Portland at Spokane
---
Have a great rest of the Thursday.
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