Thursday, August 03, 2006
'HAWK TALK, NOT A LOT OF ACTION
In the last 100 posts of Sports And Bremertonians, only five of them are mine.
That's what happens when you have a life. The days of posting multiple times in a day are long gone. And that's a good thing. But I have time to at least give you my thoughts on the 2006 Seahawks as training camp has opened in my former home of a year, Cheney.
---Darryl Tapp is this year's Lofa Tatupu. Now, don't expect him to be a starter like Lofa was in his first season, but Tapp will make an impact on the Seahawks' defensive line. He comes from a very fine defensive school in Virginia Tech and knows what it takes to win. Point being, he's a Tim Ruskell guy. As for guys who aren't Ruskell guys...
---Anthony Simmons has officially retired. He had been signed by the New Orleans Saints during the spring, but had not reported to their camp in Mississippi. Potential can be a very dirty word sometimes and when it comes to Simmons, it's unfortunate that he never fully realized his potential in the NFL. Sure, when he was healthy Simmons was a solid player. But that's the problem, he wasn't healthy enough to be what he should have been when the Seahawks selected him in the first round in 1998. In addition, Simmons was part of the mediocre culture that existed in Seahawks land before Ruskell came aboard. There is no such thing as "mediocre culture" anymore in Kirkland. And thank God for that.
---Darrell Jackson will not play for the Seahawks until their third exhibition game in San Diego Aug. 26 as he is recovering from knee surgery performed during the offseason. It was Jackson's second surgery since last October, when he injured his right knee against the Redskins in Week 4. D.J Hackett will miss 2-3 weeks with a strained right hamstring which occurred on Wednesday. The injury bug with the receivers doesn't stop with D-Jack and Big Play D.J. as Jerramy Stevens isn't expected to play for a few more weeks since he is still recovering from his own knee surgery, but on his left knee.
If the Seahawks want to contend once again in the NFC, they will need these three guys. Of course, it is important to note that when Jackson missed 10 games in 2005, the Seahawks were 9-1. Nevertheless, as we saw during the playoffs last year, this team is better with Jackson in the lineup.
---NFL officials visited Cheney today. Led by head official Ed Hochuli, the officials were in camp for a visit to explain the new rules changes and to answer players' and coaches' questions. (Yes, Super Bowl XL is still a sore spot. But with the new season rapidly approaching, it's best to not bring up that game too much. Jerome Bettis is still from Detroit, however.)
By the way, I will never look at Hochuli in the same away again after my friend did a spot-on impression of him last season. When Hochuli makes a holding call, it's almost like he's flexing to the crowd. "HOLDING!" (flexes arm). Hysterical.
---Madden NFL 2007 comes out Aug. 22. Shaun Alexander is on the cover. I did a post on the "Madden Jinx" two years ago. If there's one guy that will shut everybody up about the "Madden Jinx", it's Shaun. Of course, I'm biased. But still...
---I'm waiting for the announcement that ESPN is going to change their name to ESTO. As in E-S-Terrell-Owens. The Cowboys are not going to make the playoffs this year. But the 'Boys will still get more coverage because they're "America's Team". If there's one thing to like about being a Seattle sports fan, it's that America isn't going to all of a sudden fall in love with your teams. Except the 1995 Mariners, but even then, it wasn't too much, because the Internet was still in its infancy. Remember ESPN SportsZone? Yeah. Oh, and AOL Baseball Chats. Jesus, now I'm going way back. Enough.
---The 2005 NFC Championship DVD is finally out. I have my copy already. NFL Films has never been this good to the Seahawks. By all means, get it. Once David gets his copy, I'll do a review on the DVD here at Sports And B's. That's if David gets it by the middle of the month. After August 15, well, I'm a busy man again. Such is life.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Since I'm not as active here as I used to be, I'll give a belated welcome to Field Gulls, the newest Seahawks blog in the blogosphere. Field Gulls is a part of the SB Nation. Full disclosure: David and I had seriously considered to move the Seahawks portion of our site over to the SB Nation, but decided against it, because of jobs/school. But nevertheless, welcome Field Gulls. The more Seahawks blogs, the better.
Oh, and there's one more thing I have to bring up before this post is published:
I'm going to St. Louis Oct. 15 to see the Seahawks take on the Rams! It's been long overdue, but this year was the best year for me to go up there. It's now or never, really. So there you go, one-half of Sports And B's will be in the Edward Jones Dome on Oct. 15.
That's all for now. I'll have at least 2-3 more posts until school starts once again. I can promise our loyal readers that much.
That's what happens when you have a life. The days of posting multiple times in a day are long gone. And that's a good thing. But I have time to at least give you my thoughts on the 2006 Seahawks as training camp has opened in my former home of a year, Cheney.
---Darryl Tapp is this year's Lofa Tatupu. Now, don't expect him to be a starter like Lofa was in his first season, but Tapp will make an impact on the Seahawks' defensive line. He comes from a very fine defensive school in Virginia Tech and knows what it takes to win. Point being, he's a Tim Ruskell guy. As for guys who aren't Ruskell guys...
---Anthony Simmons has officially retired. He had been signed by the New Orleans Saints during the spring, but had not reported to their camp in Mississippi. Potential can be a very dirty word sometimes and when it comes to Simmons, it's unfortunate that he never fully realized his potential in the NFL. Sure, when he was healthy Simmons was a solid player. But that's the problem, he wasn't healthy enough to be what he should have been when the Seahawks selected him in the first round in 1998. In addition, Simmons was part of the mediocre culture that existed in Seahawks land before Ruskell came aboard. There is no such thing as "mediocre culture" anymore in Kirkland. And thank God for that.
---Darrell Jackson will not play for the Seahawks until their third exhibition game in San Diego Aug. 26 as he is recovering from knee surgery performed during the offseason. It was Jackson's second surgery since last October, when he injured his right knee against the Redskins in Week 4. D.J Hackett will miss 2-3 weeks with a strained right hamstring which occurred on Wednesday. The injury bug with the receivers doesn't stop with D-Jack and Big Play D.J. as Jerramy Stevens isn't expected to play for a few more weeks since he is still recovering from his own knee surgery, but on his left knee.
If the Seahawks want to contend once again in the NFC, they will need these three guys. Of course, it is important to note that when Jackson missed 10 games in 2005, the Seahawks were 9-1. Nevertheless, as we saw during the playoffs last year, this team is better with Jackson in the lineup.
---NFL officials visited Cheney today. Led by head official Ed Hochuli, the officials were in camp for a visit to explain the new rules changes and to answer players' and coaches' questions. (Yes, Super Bowl XL is still a sore spot. But with the new season rapidly approaching, it's best to not bring up that game too much. Jerome Bettis is still from Detroit, however.)
By the way, I will never look at Hochuli in the same away again after my friend did a spot-on impression of him last season. When Hochuli makes a holding call, it's almost like he's flexing to the crowd. "HOLDING!" (flexes arm). Hysterical.
---Madden NFL 2007 comes out Aug. 22. Shaun Alexander is on the cover. I did a post on the "Madden Jinx" two years ago. If there's one guy that will shut everybody up about the "Madden Jinx", it's Shaun. Of course, I'm biased. But still...
---I'm waiting for the announcement that ESPN is going to change their name to ESTO. As in E-S-Terrell-Owens. The Cowboys are not going to make the playoffs this year. But the 'Boys will still get more coverage because they're "America's Team". If there's one thing to like about being a Seattle sports fan, it's that America isn't going to all of a sudden fall in love with your teams. Except the 1995 Mariners, but even then, it wasn't too much, because the Internet was still in its infancy. Remember ESPN SportsZone? Yeah. Oh, and AOL Baseball Chats. Jesus, now I'm going way back. Enough.
---The 2005 NFC Championship DVD is finally out. I have my copy already. NFL Films has never been this good to the Seahawks. By all means, get it. Once David gets his copy, I'll do a review on the DVD here at Sports And B's. That's if David gets it by the middle of the month. After August 15, well, I'm a busy man again. Such is life.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Since I'm not as active here as I used to be, I'll give a belated welcome to Field Gulls, the newest Seahawks blog in the blogosphere. Field Gulls is a part of the SB Nation. Full disclosure: David and I had seriously considered to move the Seahawks portion of our site over to the SB Nation, but decided against it, because of jobs/school. But nevertheless, welcome Field Gulls. The more Seahawks blogs, the better.
Oh, and there's one more thing I have to bring up before this post is published:
I'm going to St. Louis Oct. 15 to see the Seahawks take on the Rams! It's been long overdue, but this year was the best year for me to go up there. It's now or never, really. So there you go, one-half of Sports And B's will be in the Edward Jones Dome on Oct. 15.
That's all for now. I'll have at least 2-3 more posts until school starts once again. I can promise our loyal readers that much.
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