In Defense of Booing

Early in Saturday's Seahawks game the Seattle fans started booing the Seahawks offense for its ineptitude. The Seahawks terrible offensive line has cost them several games this year. Probably all five of their losses can directly be blamed on the inability to block for the quarterback and the running back. The 12's, as Seahawks fans are known, were beyond frustrated with the crap sandwich that is the offensive line. They were angry at management's complete and total failure to address the obvious need on the offensive line at any point since the 2016 playoff loss to the Panthers. They decide to vocalize that frustration in a cascades of boos. This was shocking to hear at CenturyLink Field. The 12's are a rabidly loyal group. They will usually defend players and coaches to a fault. So, see the frustration boil over into booing was unexpected, but it was completely warranted. All fans have a right to boo to express their displeasure and frustration with a team's failures.

As a sports fan there are not a lot of options to try and drive change into your favorite team. Players and management hold almost all of the power related to the on field product. The most obvious and impactful action fans can take, no longer buying tickets and ending games, is also the most risky. While refusing to pay money to attend games will send a message to management the resulting outcome may not be the desired one. Seeing empty stands and dropping revenue the team may decide that the market just can't support the team and then decide to move them elsewhere (e.g. The Saint Louis Rams). In this case the fans completely lose because they no longer even have a team to root for.

Another option to try and drive change into the team is using the media (newspapers, blogs, radio, etc) to bring attentions to the failures and the needed changes. This is an important step. Media needs to highlight these failings because they can reach the large fan base and educate them about the problems. However, media alone will not change the problems. It is easy for coaches and players to ignore sports media as just noise. They can write them off as talking heads trying to drive up ratings. It is only if the fans themselves react to these publications that the team has to listen.

Booing is the clearest and most direct way for fans to literally make their displeasure heard. A loud and consistent booing makes it clear to everyone involved with the team that whatever is going on is unacceptable. It is a call for action to fix whatever it is that ails the team. The players, the coaches, the training staff, the front office, and ownership all hear the chorus of anger and frustration from the fans. Those who do press conferences will be forced to address it in the media. The only way to make it stop is to address the issues that lead to the booing.

Now fans should not boo at whatever small transgression or failure occurs. Verbal beratement of a team should be saved for extended periods of failure or calls for major change. Booing because a single event in a single game doesn't go your way is a misuse of the power of the boo. Using the boo too often creates a sort of crying wolf situation; it becomes much simpler to ignore the jeering of the crowd. Players and management will still hear the calls for action, but they will ignore them knowing that they are used so

Sports fans are often captive to the whims of the teams they follow. It is difficult to influence the outcome or directions of teams. Management and players have a much more direct role to play. However, that does not mean that fans are powerless. They have a few tools at their disposal the most effective of which is booing. Fans shouldn't use this power frivolously because it will render the power moot, but they should use it when teams continuously fail in unacceptable fashion.

A Grip about Second Person

You are reading ESPN the Magazine. You like reading that magazine. They generally have interesting and well written articles. The topics are broader then what is available on many of the other conventional media sources and the they dive deeper into issues that are not based solely around the results of the latest game. You enjoy that view of sports.

While you are reading this article you come to the realization that it is written entirely in second person. That is an unconventional perspective for a written report, especially nonfiction. You never really see second person used in other forms of media. Novels, newspapers, sociological nonfiction, and radio do not use second person. It is really only written sports commentary in which it appears. You realize you don't really like second person. It doesn't add anything to the reporting, and the strange phrasing distracts from some of the points.

You wonder why they insist on using this style. Does one of the editors of the Magazine just really love second person? Was the author trying to show off his technical proficiency? You hope you this doesn't become a bigger trend. You could not stand having to read lots of different pieces written this way.

You think to yourself that hopefully it is just this one authors signature style. Something he uses to try and get people to remember him. You hope once ESPN the Magazine realizes how annoying it is to read something written in second person they will have a talking to with the author. They will convince him to go back to first person or switch to third person. You think that if the author insists on writing in second person he should really just quit writing magazine articles and start written screen plays.

You really do not like the use of second person perspective.

Seahawks Conventional Wisdom: Domination in Front of the Nation on Primetime

The final piece of conventional wisdom I set out to look at was the Seahawks supposed domination of opponents during primetime games. These games are either Monday Night Football, Sunday Night Football, or Thursday Night Football (although I personally wish it would go away Thursday Night does still exist and is on during prime time). With Mike Holmgren calling the shots the Seahawks developed a reputation for being a nearly unstoppable force during these games. Since then the media has continued to roll out this repeated commentary whenever the Seahawks are coming up on an evening game. But is it still accurate? Are the Seahawks still dominate during primetime or does the narrative need updated?

When considering the last two pieces of conventional wisdom, the Seahawks home field prowess and their inability to win morning games, we looked at win percentage and point differential for the whole sample set. For the analysis of these narratives the holistic view of the sample set worked because the conventional wisdom only considered their ability to win or lose. So for the idea that the Seahawks are dominate in the evening we need to look at more than just winning percentage and points scored in all evening games. Although the Seahawks do have a great winning percentage at 83% (15/18) win by an average of 12 points per game (ppg) this could all be fueled by poor competition. If the Seahawks are getting to play the dregs of the league every time they play a primetime game they could easily be running up the score, but it doesn't mean they are dominate, just that they are playing bad teams. To try and understand if the Seahawks are dominating their opponents I decided to take a look at their opponents final winning percentage over all 16 games and see how they did against good teams compared to mediocre and bad teams.

Between 2010 and 2015 the Seahawks opponents in evening games have had an average seasonal win percentage of 56%. To say this differently, during the season that their opponents were forced to play the Seahawks on primetime those same opponents won over half of their regular season games. So the Seahawks opponents are on average good, but not great. A 56% win percent is equal to 9 regular season wins.

We can break the Seahawks opponents into two categories: good teams, and mediocre and bad teams. Against teams with less than a 63% win percent the Seahawks are undefeated going 8-0. Against teams with a regular season win percentage of 63% (10 wins) or more the Seahawks have only gone 7-3. The Seahawks are undefeated against the teams they should beat (the mediocre and bad one) and they are consistently beating the ones that should be more evenly matched against (the good ones).

Figure 1

So, the Seahawks are winning lots of games on MNF, SNF, and TNF, but are the winning big? Are they truly dominating the competition? Are they running up the score against bad teams and just barely squeaking by against the good ones? To figure that out final point differential, the difference between the Seahawks and their opponents final scores, is a perfect stat. We can also break point differential down into the same two camps: good teams, and mediocre and bad teams. As mentioned before the Seahawks are outscoring all their opponents by an average of 12 ppg. Against good teams, those with over a 63% regular season win percent, the Seahawks won by an average of 12.1 ppg. Against mediocre and bad teams, those teams with less than a 63% regular season win percent, the Seahawks won by an average of 11.9 ppg. Basically the Seahawks are beating opponents on primetime by almost two touchdowns regardless of the quality of that team. The Seahawks are the definition of domination.

The final piece of conventional wisdom related to the Seahawks that needed to be investigated for the Pete Carroll era was their dominance during evening games. The Seahawks opponents were be broken up into two different groups, good teams, and mediocre and bad teams, based on those opponents regular season win percentage. Then the Seahawks win percentage and final score differential against those groups were examined. During primetime the Seahawks have won 70% of their games against good teams by an average score of 12.1 ppg. The conventional wisdom about these games is still true, the Seahawks are dominating their opponents during evening games. Under Pete Carroll the Seahawks are a dominate force in primetime.

Seahawks Conventional Wisdom: Bad when Playing in the Morning

I recently published a post showing that the Seahawks are still a very dominate home team. They routinely win 60%+ of their home games and do so by an average of at least a TD. The conventional and common media narrative about the Seahawks home field prowess is accurate. So, if the first bit of conventional wisdom about the Seahawks being a dominate home team is still true what about the next most commonly held belief that they cannot win a morning game?

Evaluating this data is a lot harder to do because there is not a consistent sample size across each season. The number of morning games changes every year based on their opponents and the location of the games. Being located in Seattle the Seahawks only play morning games when they are on the east coast. Even than not all of their east coast games are in the morning. Due to their run of good season the Seahawks are frequently featured on nationally broadcast primetime games that kickoff in the evening. All of these factors mean the Seahawks have had as few as two morning games (2010) and as many as five (2013). However, even with the smaller sample sizes we can take a look at the trends under Pete Carroll.

Let's start our analysis by looking at the away game winning percentages in each of the three potential time slots: morning, afternoon, and evening. See Figure 1 for away game winning percentages plotted by season. The only clear trend that jumps out to me is that the season total away game winning percentage has a clear upward slope under Pete Carroll. The Seahawks have won over half of their road games each of the last three seasons. In the first three seasons of Pete Carroll's career with the Seahawks the team won less than half of their away games.  Obviously as the team has improved overall they have also improved on the road.

Figure 1

When it comes to looking for win percentage trends in each of the different time slots the data doesn't paint a clear picture. There is a lot of variance from season to season. For instance after winning 80% of their morning games in 2013 the Seahawks only managed to win 33% in 2014. The trend appears to be them hanging round the 40% mark, but it varies drastically. The afternoon and evening time slots have just as much variance although the afternoon appears to average lower and the evening average a bit higher.

I decided to calculate a four game rolling win percent and a cumulative win percent for the morning games. I started the data after the first for morning games has been played, but included those games in the data, to give us a less drastic swing from game to game. This was to try and clarify the data from the morning games and help us answer the question of are the Seahawks bad in morning games. The cumulative win percent trend line paints a clear picture that shows the Seahawks have been steadily improving since 2011. See Figure 2 for a look at the plot. The Seahawks have brought their morning game win percentage up to about 48% from around the mid 30's. They are definitely trending in the right direction.

Figure 2

In addition to win percentage the point differential in the morning games gives us a another valuable look at whether or not the Seahawks are terrible at 10am PST. If the Seahawks are losing close games it might be more about luck than some sort a core truth about the franchise. While on the other hand if the Seahawks are constantly getting blown out it is much more likely that they have some sort impediment stopping them from winning in the AM.

The point differential per game data for morning games surprised me. I was expecting to see something close to zero. The Seahawks are only winning about half of their morning games under Pete Carroll, yet the average score differential has been positive in all but one season, 2010. Plotting out these average score differentials shows us another positive trend. See Figure 3 for the plot. The Seahawks have been improving every year since 2010 with one outlier in 2014, when they dropped down to an average victory of 5 points per game. (Interestingly the Seahawks average point differential has been improving for all road games, not just the morning ones.) In 2013 and 2015 the Seahawks averaged over 20 points per game more than their opponents in the morning on the road. Clearly the Seahawks are not just squeaking by when they play morning games.

Figure 3

Although the data has a much smaller sample set and doesn't offer any obvious conclusions I am confident in saying that the Seattle Seahawks morning game troubles have come to an end. Throughout Pete Carroll's reign the team has been consistently improving their morning game win percent. Additionally the team has put up impressive per game point differentials, consistently outscoring opponents by 5 or more points. It is time for sports media commentators to update their tired commentary about the Seahawks and stop talking about their struggles in morning games.

Sources: Pro Football Reference

Seahawks Conventional Wisdom: Home Field Dominance

Convention wisdom about the Seattle Seahawks says they are really hard to beat at home in CenturyLink Field, they are really hard to beat on primetime games, and they are really easy to beat when they are playing on the road outside of the Pacific Standard Time zone. I hear these believes echoed over and over again by TV broadcasters. The thing is most of this perception about the team is based on the Mike Holmgren era when the Seahawks became a national noticed team. Back then there were times when those Seahawks teams would lose 6-8 of their roads games. The Seahawks would destroy opponents in Seattle one week only to show up on the east coast the next week and get blasted. The thing is this era is long gone now, but the prevailing notion of the Seahawks hasn't changed. So, I decided to take a look at the Seahawks during Pete Carroll's time at the helm to see if the conventional wisdom needs updating or if it is still valid.

Pete Carroll has been the head coach since 2010, for six full seasons now. During that time his teams have gone 36-12 at home and 24-24 on the road. Over this span the Seahawks are 11-12 in morning games, 34-21 in afternoon games, and 15-3 in evening games. Just looking at these numbers it appears that the old and common belief about the Seahawks appears to be true. Their home record is way better than their away record and they have been mediocre in morning games and excellent in evening games.

Table 1

Stopping our analysis here is simplistic and these numbers do not capture the whole story. During the last six seasons the Seahawks have risen from mediocrity in 2010 and 2011 to elite from 2012 and on. This improvement can be seen in Figure 1 by looking at the teams winning percentage in each of those years. The Seahawks have clearly improved since 2010. The 2015 season was their worst season during this dominate run, yet they still managed to win 10 games good for a 63% win percentage. Seeing as how the team has improved in general over the last several season we should also look at how they have changed on the road, in morning games and in primetime. It is quite possible the early failures skewed the data to hide the present reality.

Figure 1

Let's start by looking at the conventional wisdom that the Seahawks are a dominate home team. I will address the other two topics in subsequent blog posts. Overall I will strive to answer if the Seahawks are still a team that can only win at home and is unstoppable in primetime.

Referring back to Figure 1 we can see a clearly rising trend for the Seahawks away game winning percentage. They have won at least 63% of their away games in each of the last three season. While the road performance has been improving the home game results have actually been dropping. That said they are still stellar. The Seahawks have won at least 63% of their home game in each of their last four seasons and have never won less than 50% with Pete Carroll as the head coach. Additionally the Seahawks home win percentage has been higher than or equal to their overall win percentage every one of those same years.

Another stat we can look at to determine if the Seahawks really are a dominate home team is average point differential, which shows us how close the final score of the Seahawks games are. Final score doesn't always accurately reflect the game player because of garbage tie TD, but in general it shows us how well the Seahawks have been performing in games.

Figure 2

For every season between 2010-2015 the Seahawks have had a positive average point differential at home. Surprisingly though this number has been dropping steadily since a high of 18.5 points in 2012. Even so the Seahawks are still winning by nearly a TD per game when at CenturyLink.

Couple these impressive home field margin of victories with their consistently high winning percentage and it appears that the conventional wisdom about Seahawks being dominate at home is true. Pete Carroll has maintained the level of excellence that was established under Mike Holmgren. His teams have continued to make Seattle one of the hardest places in the NFL for road teams to win.

Sources: Pro Football Reference

NFC Title Fight: The Dallas Cowboys

In addition to the Minnesota Vikings and the Seattle Seahawks the Dallas Cowboys are the another prime contender for the NFC Title. Coming into the season the Cowboys were not pegged for success. They finished the 2015 season with a 4-12 record. They were a turnover prone team with an ineffective offense and a mediocre defense. During the 2016 preseason the Cowboys veteran starting quarterback Tony Romo broke his back leaving rookie Dak Prescott as the starter for at least half the season. But despite those challenges the Cowboys have impressed so far. They are currently 7-1 and leading the NFC. The Cowboys success is based around an excellent run game led by rookie star Ezekiel Elliott and the best offensive line in the league, quality defense, and disciplined play.

The Cowboys top rusher in 2015 was Darren McFadden, who was unable to capitalize on having the most talented offensive line in the NFL blocking for him. With their disappointing 2015 record the Cowboys decided to upgrade their run game and used the fourth pick in the draft to take Ezekiel Elliott. The pick was a bit of a surprise because it spurned the current NFL trend of not drafting running backs early. Many thought it another Jerry Jones ego pick (which it probably was) that was doomed to fail. The doubters have been proved wrong.

Elliott has already rushed for 891 yards in only 8 games, averaging 111 rushing yards per game (ypg). Put another way Elliott leads all NFL players in total rushing yards despite being a rookie and already having sat during the bye week. He has also been able to find the end zone frequently, having scored seven rushing touchdowns (TD) in his first eight NFL games. Zeke is a great player taking advantage of excellent run blocking. As a Seahawks fan stuck watching Christine Michael, I am envious every time I see a highlight of Elliott running the ball.

Led by their sensational rookie running back the Dallas offensive attack has been great. They are averaging 27.9 points per game (ppg), which ranks fourth in the NFL. As would be expected on a team that features Elliott, the offense is based around running the ball. The Cowboys are currently leading the NFL in rushing averaging 165.3 ypg. Running the ball that effectively has led to the Cowboys leading the league in time of possession (TOP) per game. The Cowboys holding the ball on offense for an average of 33 minutes a game (and they haven't even played the Seahawks yet!). The terrifyingly good rushing has also allowed the Cowboys to convert third downs at a high clip. They are ranked fifth in the league converting 46.5% of the time.

The Cowboys offense focuses on the running game, but their passing game is no slouch either. Filling in for the injured Tony Romo rookie Dak Prescott has been a big success. Flanked with good receivers Prescott has producing 246.3 pass ypg for the Cowboys. He currently has 12 passing TD and only 2 interceptions. A TD/INT ratio like that is stellar. It is in the same realm as Tom Brady (12/0), Derek Carr (17/3), and Matt Ryan (23/4). Dak is also completing 66.5% of his passes. Prescott's quality play and has probably cost Tony Romo is starting roll. It will be hard to sit down the skilled rookie for an aging and injury prone Romo.

A great offense like that in Dallas can't consistently win games by itself. A team has to also stop the other team from scoring. Dallas's defense has done exactly that, giving up only 17.5 ppg, which is fourth best in the NFL. They do this by stopping the other teams runs and containing the other teams passes. They only give up 86.8 rushing ypg, which is sixth in the NFL. They conceded 246 pass ypg, which falls squarely in the middle of the pack ranking 15th. The defense is helped by the previously mentioned best offensive TOP in the league. It allows the defenders to stay fresh longer. However, those fresh legs aren't everything. The defenders still have to make plays to stop their opponents offense and they are doing exactly that. Although not great the Dallas defense is solid.

The final factor that is letting the Dallas Cowboys excel in 2016 is their discipline. The offense has only received 51 penalties thus far, seventh fewest in the league. Much like the offense the defense never beats themselves with stupid mistakes. They have been penalized the fewest times in the entire NFL this year with only 44 penalties called against them on defense. Smart disciplined play means the Cowboys never hurt themselves. The other teams have to earn every offensive yard and fight for every defensive stop. The Cowboys are going to gift them anything.

To many the Cowboys have been a surprise success story to start off the 2016 NFL season. Their 7-1 record puts them comfortably in the lead for the number one seed in the NFC. Their teams offensive success has been anchored by tremendous talent running back Ezekiel Elliott and their offensive line. While the defense has done their part keeping opponents from scoring points. Finally the team doesn't give up free yards from bone headed penalties. They are among the least penalized teams in the NFL on both sides of the ball. The Cowboys are a good team built around running the ball, limiting opponents scores, and minimizing self-inflicted wounds from penalties.

CBS Sports, Pro Football Reference

The Seattle Seahawk's Front Office Makes Mistakes

Seattle Times columnist Matt Calkins recently wrote a piece where he argued that the Seahawks offensive line struggles can't be blamed on the front office. In his words, "It’s easy to criticize the five guys out there protecting Wilson. But it’s hard to criticize the brass that put them out there." He thesis is that all of the front office's moves have been right and we, as  fans, wouldn't want to undo them if we could. So, their strategy of investing in the defense to build them into a historically awesome unit and paying key offensive skill players is not to blame. I disagree. The front office does share a large part of the blame for the awful mess that is the Seattle Seahawk's offensive line.

Since coming to Seattle in 2010 Pete Carroll and John Schneider have done a wonderful job of building and maintaining a championship caliber team. The proof is in their four straight playoff appearances, four straight league leading scoring defenses, and two trips to the Super Bowl. It is hard to criticize such a successful pair. However, they do deserve criticism for their terrible handling of the offensive line.

The front office has been unable to draft and cultivate offensive line talent. At times the front office's treatment and strategy around the o-line has felt downright neglectful. The draft is a good example. Since 2010 the Seahawks have drafted 12 offensive linemen and J.R. Sweezy. Take a look to see all these "legendary" men in Table 1. If we throw out the 2016 class because they are so new and still unknown quantities, these draft picks have produced five NFL starters (Glowinski, Britt, Sweezy, Carpenter, and Okung) and none of them are that good. The best of the bunch is probably Russell Okung, Pete Carroll's first ever draft pick, but that isn't saying much. During his time in Seattle Okung struggled to stay healthy and on the playing field. When he was playing he had moments of greatness, but also plenty of moments of bone headedness. The GM and Head Coach thought so little of Okung they didn't bother to resign him and instead let him bounce off to Denver. With Carroll and Schneider in charge the Seahawks have been unable to consistently use the draft to find competent offensive linemen. It has been a weakness for the team.

Table 1

The front office's neglect of the offensive line can also be seen in their decisions of which players to retain. They have let Breno Giacomini, James Carpenter, and Russell Okung walk during free agency rather than pay them. Like Matt Calkins says they used the money to sign their big time defensive play makers to longer term deals. I won't question their strategy here. Keeping Earl Thomas, Bobby Wagner, and Richard Sherman gives the Seahawks three players that are arguably the best in the league at key defensive positions. They also used that money to bring in guys like Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett. Again I don't question those moves. These players are the heart and soul of the defense that has propelled all the success the Seahawks have had. However, making smart decisions to sign star defenders doesn't excuse dumb decisions that were made to try and free up the money to pay those defensive guys.

This may seem like blasphemy to many, but Doug Baldwin is only a good receiver not a great one. He is a good route runner with good hands, but he isn't stellar. While the number two receiver, Jermaine Kearse, is mediocre at best. Fans wouldn't have liked it, but money could have been saved and used on a guard or tackle by letting those two receivers walk during free agency. Take a look at Table 2 for a comparison to Jermaine Kearse to three other comparable wide receivers. All three of these guys are putting up number just as good as Kearse for less money. The front office chose to reward their WR rather than pay a tackle or guard. The front office made a strategic decision here and over the last two seasons it has proved itself to be the wrong one.

Table 2

Another big mistake that Carroll and Schneider made is trading Max Unger to the Saints for Jimmy Graham. At the time the trade was made the Seahawks biggest need was a talented receiver. Getting a frequently Pro Bowl TE seemed like just the perfect fix to many including the GM and Head Coach. To other though the trade looked to be fixing one problem at receiver by creating a bigger one on the offensive line. Based on the evidence of who they started in 2015, the Seahawks coaches appeared to think they could turn any old big guy into an NFL quality center, so giving up Max Unger wouldn't be a big lose. To keep from reliving the results of the trade too much let's just say Jimmy Graham hasn't provided the level of production in the passing game that the Seahawks were hoping for. Instead he spends lots of time blocking or running around not having the ball thrown to him because Russell Wilson is scrambling away from oncoming pass rushers. The Jimmy Graham trade resulted in a fail and the thinking behind it was flawed.

It is often said that the key to success in football starts with winning the battle of the line. Whoever is able to gain the upper hand in the trenches will prevail more often than not. Seattle has done an excellent job identifying and developing defensive line talent. Their defensive tackles and ends have been able to consistently bring pressure on opposing RB and QB and disrupt the opponents offense at the point of attack. The big boys on the defensive side of the ball are so good at their jobs that Seattle brings an extra man on a blitz very infrequently, which enables the pass defense to shut down aerial attacks. Unfortunately the offensive side of the line is just plain terrible. The scouting and coaching genius that feeds the defensive line doesn't work for the offensive line. The offensive line has been a weakness throughout Carroll's tenure with the team, but rather than hold steady as mediocre they have continued to decline every year. Now in 2016 they are probably the worst o-line unit in the NFL. The fault for this horrendous line lines at the feet of the front office and coaching staff.

Sources: Pro Football Reference, Over the Cap

NFC Title Fight: The Minnesota Vikings

One of the keys to the NFL post season is securing one of the top two seeds in your conference. The high seeds guarantee a bye into the divisional round and at least one home game. These are both huge advantages and it is no coincidence high seeds often end up in the Super Bowl. Recently the Seahawks earned themselves a key tie breaker for the NFC's top seed by defeating the Atlanta Falcons 26-24. The Falcons high flying offense makes them one of the best teams in the NFC. The Falcons also play in a weak division and are sure to rack up wins against the Panthers, Saints, and Buccaneers. So, having that tie breaker is huge for Seattle.

The two other teams that most threaten the Seahawks chances at the NFC's top playoff seed are the Minnesota Vikings and the Dallas Cowboys. Both teams are a bit of a surprise. Both of the two team's starting quarterbacks were not slated to start before the season kicked off. In both cases injury to the starter during the preseason, Teddy Bridgewater in Minnesota and Tony Romo in Dallas, forced someone else to take over the quarterback job. This can be a major blow to an NFL team, so many expected these two teams to struggle. However, both have defied expectations and started out strong. Both are going to challenge the Seahawks for NFC dominance. So, let's take a look at the Minnesota Vikings.

There is Something About UW Football

The University of Washington's Football team just obliterated the University of Oregon Ducks (quick side note, the Ducks uniforms had "webfoots" written on the front center. I am not one to make fun of Oregon's constantly changing garb, but that nickname is stupid.) in Eugene at Oregon's home stadium. The final score was 70-21. It was like the UW was playing  a Division 1AA team. This win for the Huskies followed a blowout win the previous week against the nationally ranked Stanford Cardinal. The score was 44-6 in this one. After these two wins the Huskies have catapulted themselves into the College Football Playoff talk. Nationally sports writers and commentators are talking about the UW and their chances at playing for a national title.

Despite these impressive wins and national attention heaping praise of the Dawgs I struggle to view them as a legitimate contender for the National Championship Title. The team has a great defense, probably the best in the Pac-12, and possibly the best in the country. Huskies Quarterback Jake Browning and Runningback Miles Gaskin are both young and super talented, which lets the offense score with ease. There just doesn't seem to be an obvious weak spot on the team. Yet, I still struggle to see them as a national power.

I thought a little more about this and I realized it is because the Huskies wear purple as their primary color. Personally I have nothing against the color purple. My favorite color is blue, but purples are just fine. The thing is purple isn't a color that screams college football power. When you think about the traditional powers in the sport red is the dominate color.   The next closet is blue, but there aren't even half as many historically powerful teams in blue as there are red. Take a look at the color wheel in figure 1. Of all the primary and secondary colors red stands out by far as the most common.

Figure 1: Color Wheel of College Football Power

By wearing the color purple the Huskies are joining by only two other perennially great teams, LSU and TCU. Despite their years of success nobody expects to see TCU playing for a National Title anytime soon, so really there is just one team up there beside the Dawgs, the Louisiana State University Tigers, who aren't a bad team to be compared to. LSU has a couple of National Titles of their credit and they routine sit in the AP Top 25 teams. But that is it. There are no other purple college football powers.

This lack of familiarity with the color pallet the University of Washington has chosen to don has made it hard for me to envision them playing on the biggest stage. My minds I just can't place them lined up against Ohio State or Alabama. Teams wearing purple aren't on Sports Center. They don't get big time praise. It just isn't a thing that is seen.

All that being said I hope the UW continues to roll. An undefeated season, or even one loss, and a Pac-12 Championship would be a great way to demand entrance into the College Football Playoff. We a defense as good as Washington's they would stand a chance against anyone. Fans should get caught up in the hype. They should dream about them playing for their second National Title. Just make sure the Huskies are wearing the blackout uniforms in your dreams.

The Freaking Rams

I hate the Rams. I have since the mid 2000's when the Rams and Seahawks were the power in the NFC West. This was right around when I started seriously following the NFL. The Rams were at the end of their Greatest Show on Turf era and the Seahawks great Hasselbeck and Alexander teams were just coming into their own. The team to beat in the NFC West was the Rams.

The 2004 season was the one that cemented my hatred of the Rams. Prior to this season I would root for them because I remembered how fun the Kurt Warner led Super Bowl team were. The Rams had a high octane offense and I, like most fans, liked scoring. However, in 2004 the Seahawks were a good team with an exciting offense of their own. Yet somehow the stupid freaking Rams beat the Seahawks both regular season matchups that year and then just to make it hurt a little worse the Rams beat the Seahawks in a game at Qwest Field during the Wild Card playoff match. The Seahawks went 0-3 against the Rams in 2004 and kicked them out of the playoffs. It stung.

The rivalry had a long stretch of ups after the low of 2004. The Seahawks beat the Rams 10 straight times between 2005-2010. Throughout the span I didn't stopped relishing every Seahawks win over the Rams, but because of this dominance many fans forgot about the Rams rivalry. They wrote them off as jokes, not worthy of Seattle fandom's attentions. But I never forgot. Every win was a great thing, a chance to stick it to a dangerous rival and remind them who the true boss of the NFC West is. But all great things come to an end and so did this amazing run of dominance.

In During Pete Carroll's time with the Seahawks the team has been really good. They have made the playoffs all but one year (2011) and made two Super Bowls winning one (2013) and losing the other (2014). The team added stars all over the roster. One of the biggest stars is Quarterback Russell Wilson, who claim into the NFL with mild to no fanfare and yet has dominate almost the whole league. Wilson is a legitimate top five QB.

During the Pete Carroll era most fans have focused on the 49er rivalry. The Whiners were a dominate team for a few years during the same time frame. They had a similar playing style and an easily hated coach in Jim Harbaugh. For other fans the main focus of their rivalry ire has been the Carolina Panthers. Like the 49ers the Panthers playing style is very similar to the Seahawks, they are a defense first team, with a run oriented offense. Also like the 49ers the Panthers have a figure head that is easy to hate, but instead of the head coach it is the Panther's QB, Cam Newton.

But it isn't the Panthers or the 49ers that have given the Seahawks the most trouble during the Carroll era. It is the freaking Rams. They have been a thorn in the Seahawks side, frustrating us year after year. The Rams are the one glaring exception to Wilson's brilliance and Carroll's sterling record. After Sunday's loss to the now Los Angeles Rams, the Seahawks have gone 7-6 against them since 2010, when Pete Carroll joined the team. With Russell Wilson starting at QB the Seahawks are 4-5 against the Rams (see Table 1 for a look at the Seahawks and Rams series since 2004). The freaking Rams got the Seattle Seahawks number and refuse to give it up.

Some of the success the Rams keep having against the Seahawks can be explained by simply looking at the matchup between the two teams strengths and weaknesses. The Seahawks are best at pass defense, and running offense. Their weakest unit on the field is their offensive line. The o-line has a penchant for giving up QB pressures and sacks. On the flip side the Rams best unit is their defensive front seven, whose ability to pressure quarterbacks is unmatched in the NFL. The Rams weakness is their offense, specifically their passing game. These perfectly aligned strengths and weaknesses usually result in low scoring slugfests.

Couple the perfect opposed strengths and weaknesses with the Seahawks strong tendency to hurt themselves with stupid penalties and the Rams stay in the games it appears they should lose. In low scoring tightly contested games  the outcome is often determined by special teams, turnovers, and trick play. Unfortunately for the Seattle Seahawks the Rams head coach specializes in exactly this sort of nonsense.

During his time as the Titans Head Coach Jeff Fisher built a reputation as a football risk taker. His team faked kicks, ran weird sweeps, and went for it on fourth down. When Fisher arrived in St. Louis in 2012 he brought this same gamblers mentality with him. The Rams Head Coach isn't afraid to call for an onside kick at a random time, or go for it on fourth and long. These exact type of plays haven't beaten the Seahawks at least a couple times over the last few years. The frustration caused by losing a game because of a fake punt is huge. When it is the freaking Rams that beat you with a fake punt that frustration is multiplied several times over.

Losing to the freaking Rams is never fun. It stings even more because the Rams have been and are a much worse all around team than the Seahawks. The Rams have been mediocre to bad, yet those same Rams keep beating the Seahawks. The rivalry between the Rams and the Seahawks is one of the most annoying because the Seahawks should own the freaking Rams, but they don’t anymore. I hate the freaking Rams.

Sources: Pro-football-reference.com

Table 1: Seahawks vs Rams Results Since 2004

Shootyhoops Basketmakers: A Complete History of Ball Basketing

For those of you that loved the Shootyhoops posts on this blog I have great news. All those post, plus several that aren't available on the blog, are now available in book form. You can carry around the paperback version of your favorite basketball history reference text for a mere $10!

If you dont like basketball or laughing, why do you read this blog? Seriously we talk about basketball a fair amount and frequently try to make the reader laugh. Anyways, for those basketball haters out there I have more good news. You can still buy a book written by one of this blog's top four authors! It is a Sci-fi adventure called Venerable Marcus and it is also for sale.

Seattle Seahawks Season Preview 2016: The Offensive Line Increases the Risk of Failure.

The outcome of the Seattle Seahawks upcoming 2016 season boils down to one position group, the offensive line. There are other changes with the team, but none of them pose as big of a risk to derailing the season as the big boys up front. If the offensive line fails the team won't find success in 2016. If they jell and raise their collective play above their individual talent this team should be looking for their fourth straight NFC Championship game and probably their third Super Bowl appearance in four years.

The line was one of the team's biggest weaknesses in 2015 and the group didn't improve much during the offseason, certainly not enough to inspire confidence. Starters Russell Okung and J.R. Sweezey were allowed to leave in free agency. The team replaced them with a rookie in Germain Ifedi and a career backup from Arizona named Bradley Sowell. Both of these guys could turn into quality players. Like most rookies Ifedi is an unknown quantity. He might make the adjustment to the NFL with ease and turn into a 10 year starter or he might be the next Seattle offensive linemen draft pick bust in what is turning into a long line of them in Seattle. With Sowell, there is a chance that given the opportunity to start he could take advantage of it and shine. Reports from training camp and the preseason seem to indicate he is trending up.  However, it might also turn out there was a good reason why the Cardinals let him leave.

Returning for another year with the Seahawks are Gary Gilliam, Justin Britt and Mark Glowinksi who will be playing beside Ifedi and Sowell. Gary Gilliam still sucks. He is probably only going to earn a starting spot because his competition is hurt. The guy was bad in 2015 and he is probably still going to be bad. That is what happens when you try to convert TE into NFL linemen. Justin Britt is on his third line position in as many years. He has just been unable to stick anywhere. He hasn't been that good of a blocker. Many media sources are claiming he is doing well in his conversion to center. They say it is his best position yet, but that isn't saying much. Britt really only has improvement to make, he can't get worse and stay on an NFL roster. As a rookie Mark Glowinski had some good games last year. He is the offensive lineman I am most optimistic about, but he only has one NFL start so there could be growing pains. Hopefully these three guys play better in 2016 than they did in 2015.

All the questions and potential terrible play from the offensive line puts a lot of risk into the Seahawks season. Quarterback Russell Wilson is an amazing talent and he has an unbelievable ability to avoid rushers. He regularly makes defensive ends look silly in their pursuit of him. However, even with all his skill poor blocking makes it hard to get the most out of your team and it greatly increases the risk of injury to the quarterback. He might be able to avoid most hits, but sometimes defenders still land crushing blows. Every one of these hits is a chance at injury and allowing them to keep landing is playing with fire. If Wilson misses more than two games with an injury the Seahawks season is very probably sunk. Rookie QB Trevone Boykin doesn't have what it takes to carry a team into the playoffs.

Even if they Seahawks avoid the terrible fate of a QB injury, poor line play could still sink the team. Constant pressure makes a QB gun shy. We saw that at the beginning of the season last year. Wilson was unwilling to stay in the pocket and wait for routes to develop. He tucked the ball and ran at the slightest sign of trouble. His stats and the teams results suffered. When the offensive line finally started to play acceptably mediocre at the end of the season Wilson exploded with quality. He was the most dominate QB in the league during the last several regular season games. Commanding play by Wilson is a force that very few NFL teams can withstand. Protecting Wilson and letting him dominate will bring the Seahawks to a lot of wins.

The 2016 season could be another magical run for the Seattle Seahawks. It isn't unreasonable to think about the team making it to the Super Bowl again. However, all of that success is dependent of the lowest paid offensive line in the NFL. If Ifedi, Gilliam, Glowinski, Britt, and Sowell can lay half way decent the team should be fine. If those guys struggle, which is a very likely outcome, it could be a long and disappointing season.

Three Thoughts about Three Wins in a Row

Things have sure changed of late for the Seattle Sounders. They went from looking moribund and inept to knocking on the door of the playoffs. They only had 20 points in the first 20 matches and now they have had 10 in the last 4. If they can beat The seasons apparent turn around deserves comment. So, here are three thoughts on the current team, one for each goal they scored against the Portland Timbers at Century Link Field in Seattle on 8/21/16.

1. Nico Lodeiro is amazing.

Seriously, this guys is really good at soccer. His skill is apparent to anyone watching the game, regardless of their soccer knowledge or fandom. He is constantly involved in the game, making passes and taking shots that are legitimate scoring threats. The teams resurgence has coincided exactly with Lodeiro's arrival and it is not a coincidence. The other teams have to respect skill and mark him or else he will make them pay. By drawing the attention of the others teams defense he is also creating better chances for his Sounders teammates. Dempsey recent surge in goals can be attributed to having such a talented play maker setting him up. Lodeiro's passes and runs allow Dempsey room to work. It is so great to see a transfer window signing make such a big and obviously good splash in Seattle.

2. Jordan Morris can't finish.If you just look at his stats sheet, the rookie, Jordan Morris, is having a great year. He has already scored eight goals, and is tied with Clint Dempsey for the team lead. For a 22 year old in his first professional season this is pretty good, but having watched Morris play this year it is frustrating that he doesn't have more goals. The young forward has failed to connect on plenty of golden scoring opportunities. He is doing great and getting himself into the position and situation to score goals but struggling to finish them off in the net. He should probably have 12 or 13 goals at this point. The good news is Morris is a young player who should continue to improve as he gets more and more playing time. If he can take the next step in his development he could be scary good for the Sounders next season.

3. Christian Roldan is on the rise.Sounders midfielder Christian Roldan was not as highly a touted prospect as forward Jordan Morris, but he was still considered an important and talent signing last year. During his rookie season, 2015, Roldan failed to produce on the stat sheet. He had some good games on the pitch defensively and avoided mistakes on offense, but he never really stood out. Roldan began the 2016 season has a starter and started out similarly, solid defense and general adequate offense. Though as this year's season has progressed Roldan has continued to improve and add to the team. Instead of being just another guy out there Roldan is now a contributor. He has tallied his first three professional goals. He has ripped quality shots and drawn big penalties. Christian Roldan is definitely a player on an upward trajectory.


4. Bonus thought!!!Brad Evans is still bad at center back. The Sounders need to stop playing him there, the sooner the better.

The USMNT's Reliance on Foreign Players

The Copa America Centenario was a blast to watch. I loved rooting for the USA to beat the other countries and prove to the world that the Yanks belong with the elite of the world's soccer teams.  Rooting for a national team is a generally harmless form of patriotism that fans all over the world can enjoy. Additionally, pulling for the Red, White, and Blue to bring home athletic glory is great fun. I was glad to see that the US Men's National (Soccer) Team (USMNT) focused more on supporting he development of young native players like Christian Pulisic.  I think the coaches should continue with this focus on native American talent when deciding who it recruits and allows to play for the team.

(I know it sounds like I am some sort of a nationalist or a xenophobe, but I don’t intend it to be that way. I use the term native American to mean citizens who live and/or work in the United States. I do not mean native born or white. Seeing players that have never lived in the States suit up for the USMNT frustrates me, but it is hard to make an argument about it without seeming like some sort of nativist, nationalist bigot.)

The FIFA rules require a player to have nationality of the country they represent. However, they do not define nationality and let the countries define it. The US requires citizenship, which is fairly rigorous by international standards. They also let the players decide on which country they want to represent, assuming they have eligibility. This has led to many very talented athletes playing for countries that they barely represent in the eyes of the fans. Players who were born in one country but moved shortly after birth often play for the birth country when they aren't good enough to qualify for the home countries team. Players whose grandparents are from another country than their home are join up with their ancestral squads. Usually this is because they aren't good enough to play for their "real" team and want a chance to play internationally.

Obviously some players should and do have legitimate claims to dual nationality. A player born and raised in Canada until age 11, who then moves to Uruguay for his formative years of junior high and high school, should be able to pick whichever country he/she most identifies with. They are clearly someone that could be considered either nationality and the current rules allow for this.

My complaint isn't with these dual national players or even the current FIFA set of rules for defining nationality. They seem fine and well thought out. A players should be able to play for whatever team they want to and have eligibility to play for. In fact I would argue the rules on changing teams should be loosened so that a player like Messi can switch team to Spain from Argentina, if he wants to.

My gripe is the way the current USMNT coaching staff has about searching for international players with American citizenship to add to the roster, instead of focusing on home grown talent. Head coach Jurgen Klinsman has made it a priority to search out foreign players with ties to the US, usually threw the military, and recruit them to the US side. Rather than give spots to US born and raised players he focuses on dual citizens.

Three of the USMNT best and most visible players were born and raised in Germany. Jermaine Jones was raised in Frankfurt to a German mother. Fabian Johnson grew up and lived in Munich. Defender David Brooks is a Berliner through and through. All three players are very talented and they have helped the US win games. I don’t begrudge foreign players for playing for the US. I just wish the head coach hadn't focusing so much on recruiting players like this instead of players with stronger ties to the United States.

I don't have statistical proof to show that the coaches should be focusing on native Americans. Instead I have more philosophical arguments. A primarily foreign/German team suppresses interest in the team and hurts development of the game in the United States. These two things feed on each other.

First let's talk about the development of American players from the United States. Playing for a national team is a huge honor, but it is also a great way to get better as a player. On a nation team a young player is surrounded by the best coaches and staff. This gives them world class instruction. They also get to play with and hang out other amazing world class athletes. They will be able to glean tips and tricks from some of the best. The experience is invaluable.

Bringing young native Americans, such as DeAndre Yedlin, to play for the team helps them grow as a player. It will keep the talent pipeline growing and prepare the team better in the future. It will also add incentive for native American players in the high school and college ranks to continue to fight for a spot on the USMNT roster. Rewarding foreign players with a coveted and rare roster spot sends a message to the native players that they aren't valued or needed. It will hurt the development ranks. I will also push native Americans with dual country eligibility onto the rosters of other countries that offer, which is bad because in international soccer you can't easily switch national teams. Once you  pick a team you are essentially stuck there.

A great way to get native players with multiple national eligibility to pick the USMNT is to build up a fan base and passion for the team. Players will want to play for the team they root for. They will want to play for the team their friends root for. They will want to play for the team featured on TV. To make the team that players want to play for the USMNT it is important to build interest in the team.

Sports fans gravitate towards local heroes and players in their community. Having a national team full of foreigners with no or very loose ties to the States eliminates that personal connection and potential rooting interest. People that aren't soccer fans are more likely to tune in if their neighbor or friend is on the team. Kids are more likely to decide to try soccer over other sports if they have a hero to emulate. A local hero is an even stronger connection. Having a team of mostly native Americans will help interest in the USMNT grow. It will help the native American pool of talent grow, which will improve the team's performance on the pitch.

The current USMNT coaching staff has a history of focusing on foreign players with eligibility to play for the US. While I don’t have proof of the correlation between native and foreign Americans on the roster, I argued that a few foreign players may help the team win in the short term, an overreliance of foreigners to fill the USMNT roster will hurt the team in the long run. American fans will lose out on the connection created by having a local player make good at the international level. Those kids that do decide to play soccer will be prevented from growing their skills from being exposed to the international game. 

The Disappointing Nelson Valdez

Nelson Valdez is a Paraguayan International soccer player and a regular contributor to their Men's National Team. He was pitched to the Seattle Sounders FC supporters as a talented goal soccer who would add to their already dangerous attack. Despite being over 30 he supposedly still had some in the tank. The front office believed in him so much that they made him the second highest paid player on the team. Having seen plenty of older international players arrive in MLS and have success on what was kinda like a retirement tour. Hearing all this the Rave Green fans bought what they were sold. Success was expected. Instead Nelson Valdez has been a complete and total disappointment.

Valdez has yet to record a goal or an assist for the Sounders in an MLS match during the 2016 season. During the 2015 he also disappointed with only 2 goals and no assists in 12 MLS matches. These are even more depressing because Valdez plays forward. Despite it being obvious I will say it anyways, that is really bad for an offensive player. His most consistent skill is being a step or two late to the spot. He has shown his shots are poorly aimed and rarely dangerous. He does seem to have a lot of heart, constantly hustling and tryng to make an impact. He just isn't able to convert effort into quality play.

The other thing that has stood out about Valdez is his inability to stay healthy and on the playing field. He is constantly hurt. He has only played 12 of the 20 MLS games possible. He is averaging 49.8 minutes per game. It is hard to find success at soccer when you are never playing. You can't get in a grove or develop chemistry with your teammates. It is also hard to earn playing time when you aren't producing.

During his time in Seattle Nelson Valdez has been a disaster of a signing. He has provided zero benefit for the team while costing more than anyone but Clint Dempsey. His poor health (or fitness if you want to speak soccer nerd) and poor play has kept him off the field. With the recent coaching change and new transfer window signing the team is in a period of transition. It is a perfect time for the the Sounders dump Valdez by trading him for a bag of balls.

Men's Gymnastics has Gotten a Tough Shake

One of the showcase Olympic sports is gymnastics. Both the men and the women draw in viewers with a combination of athletic prowess, artistic beauty, and dramatic twists. You never want to look away during a routine of a contender because any single trick can wow and a single slip or fall can sink a competitors shot at a medal. The women's side of the sport is the pinnacle of a large and widely participated in amateur world. Girls start participating in gymnastics at a young age and the sport stays popular through high school. Yet for some reason on the men's side gymnastics can't match this. It doesn't managed to hold a place in American culture outside Olympic years. There isn't a large pool of participants practicing the sport. The male athletes aren't celebrated. This is a shame.

In Washington, my home state, there are few, if any, high school men's gymnastics teams. For a young man to compete in the sport he would have to seek out a club team, private coaching, or something similar. Most school based coaching drops off after elementary school and young boys are channeled into team sports, wrestling, or track and field. This makes it hard for young athletes to participate in the sport. It also prevents young men from becoming fans of the sport. None of their friends or brothers are gymnasts and probably their only exposure is a sisters practice. The lack of school sponsored men's teams and the prominence of the girls gymnastics teams, has led to a common belief that gymnastics is a girls sport and feminine. Male gymnasts get grouped with male cheerleaders as wimpy or soft. That is a wrong belief.

Male gymnasts should be sports heroes. The men have some of the most chiseled physiques in the sports world. The guys are ripped from head to toe. They perform athletic feats that very few of us could even dream of doing. The best of them should be plastered over Sports Center, SI, and anywhere fans watch or read about sports. Even if you don’t like gymnastics or understand it you should recognize the top competitors as some of the best athletes in the world like you would a tennis champion or great golfer. Male gymnastics has gotten a tough shake.

The 2016 NBA Draft Shows that Lorenzo Romar's Failure to Adapt

Two more Huskies were just drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft. Forward Marquese Chriss went eighth to the Sacramento Kings. He is a freak athlete with a huge upside. However, after watching him play for a year at the University of Washington (UW) I can say from first hand observation that he is prone to unforced mistakes. It will probably be a few years before he can be a regular contributor to an NBA team. Developing in the D-League probably makes sense. The second Husky drafted was guard Dejounte Murray, who went twenty ninth to the San Antonio Spurs. This son of Seattle has a great ability to cut and get to the basket, but he really needs to work on finishing. He will also need to bulks up so he can bang with the big boys of the NBA. These two talented young players speak to the continued ability of the University of Washington to recruit top rated players and put them into the NBA. However, their stories also speak to the sad fact that head coach Lorenzo Romar is unable to turn rosters with young high potential high school players into winning college teams.

Despite having two first round draft picks on their team the 2015-16 UW Men's Basketball team failed to reach the NCAA tournament. The team started out with a hot record of 11-4 only to crash and burn in finishing the season 18-14. The team didn’t lack talent, but did lack experience.  Most of the roster was first year NCAA Division 1 players. Their lack of experience was obvious as they choked away leads and made mental mistakes that cost them games. This kind of team needs strong coaching to help it flourish. The players just don’t have it in them to win on their own. The failure of the team to improve over the course of the season or at the very least stay consistent falls squarely on the UW coaching staff and specifically Lorenzo Romar.

This isn't a new problem for Romar. In fact this is the second time Romar has had two young talented players get draft in the first round. The first time was in 2012 when sophomore Terrance Ross and Freshman Tony Wroten bounced to the NBA after their Husky team failed to make the NCAA tournament. As a coach Romar has failed to adapted to the changing NCAA Men's Basketball landscape. The best players rarely stay more than two years anymore. Coaches have less time to develop and mold their recruits. To succeed they need to be able to squeeze out talent quickly. In this new world of college basketball Romar's teams haven't made the tourney since 2011.

All of Romar's best teams have featured talented upper classmen that stayed multiple years. His 2005 and 2006 teams had Brandon Roy, Nate Robinson, Jamaal Williams, Bobby Jones, and Will Conroy. The 2009 team had Quincy Pondexter, and Justin Dentmon. The 2010 team had Justin Holliday, Matthew Bryan-Amaning, and Venoy Overton. Romar was able to work with these players for multiple years and develop them into talented and reliable starters. He no longer has that luxury to play the long game and build teams with an eye for future NCAA tournament runs. The players just don’t stay around long enough.

The problem appears to be Romar's ability to coach these players and turn them and their teammates into a successful and winning college basketball team in the short time alloted. The problems isn't a lack of talented players, he keeps attracting those guys to Washington. Highly regarded players arrive, they play, the team loses, and they bolt for the NBA. However, while these players are at UW I don’t see any progression or improvement to their games. Romar hasn't been able to adapt his style to the constraints placed on college basketball. The evidence keeps mounting that Lorenzo Romar is lacking the skills necessary for a head coach of a major division one program in the current era.

Great Teams that Couldn't Get the Job Done

The result of last night's NBA Finals game was a shocker. Like I posted previously I was expecting a Golden State blow out win. They were at home and the holders of the NBA's greatest regular season record ever, at 73-9. The Cavs are a good team, but they aren't a historically good team, or at least they didn't appear that way on paper. But things didn't work out like I expected. Instead of a blowout the game was the closest of the entire series, being decided by only four points, and the victor was the away team. Yes, the Cleveland Lebron Jameses defeated the greatest regular season team ever and won the first major professional sports championship for Cleveland since Lady Bird Johnson was in the White House.

Major congratulations are owed to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the teams fans. I visited the city last year and it was surprisingly fine. The three locals I know are all great people, so I have to assume everyone is like that. The city deserves to enjoy the excitement and joy that comes with a championship. They have had to wait long enough.

On the other side the Golden State Warriors now join an infamous club of regular season powerhouses that were unable to get the job done in the playoffs.  The NFL, MLB, MLS, and now the NBA have now all had their regular season best record holders fail to win the championship, which is pretty weird when you think about it. Of the major professional leagues only the NHL's 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens managed to win the championship during their record breaking regular season. Though, even the NHL has had regular season greatness fail to achieve post season success. The 1995-96 Detroit Redwings have the records for the most regular season wins ever, at 62, but they failed to win the cup.

To help Golden State Warriors fans deal with the emotional pain of coming so close only to lose, here is a rundown of the other three teams that failed to seal the deal.

• The 2001 Seattle Mariners were the most depressing for me personally. The Mariners team feature the league MVP and Rookie of the Year in Japanese import Ichiro Suzuki. They almost had Bret Boone, John Olerud, and Mike Cameron. They were so fun to watch. The team was nver out of any game. You just knew they were going to put something together and get the win. Than they lost in the American League Championship Series to the New York Yankees. While the rest of the country was rooting for the Yankees because of 9/11 I was having my baseball heart broken. Watching a team this talented lose was rough. The team hasn't made the playoffs since.
• The 2007 New England Patriots were the most fun team to watch blow it. Their team was full of smug and arrogant players and their coach, Bill Belechick, is one of the biggest assholes in pro sports. The team was easy to hate. To add to the fun, the Super Bowl had one of the most memorable moments ever when quarterback Eli Manning broke a tackle to avoid a sack and then threw a pass to wide receiver David Tyree who caught the ball on the side of his helmet to keep the Giants alive in the game. Watching the Patriots lose is always fun, but watching them lose on the biggest stage in dramatic fashion is the best.
• I have no firsthand knowledge of the 1998 Los Angeles Galaxy. It was well before I, or for that matter the rest of the country, had discovered my love of soccer. The team recorded 24 wins in a 32 games season, good for 68 points. Which when you convert to the imperial measurement system equates to really good. However, even with this sterling record, LA didn't even make it to the MLS cup. They lost in the conference championship to Chicago.

The 2016 NBA Finals: Not What I Expected

The 2016 NBA Finals have been surprising. Heading into the series it was a widely held belief that this could be one of the greatest and most memorable series ever. Both teams are the number one seed, have rosters loaded with stars, and have plenty of supporting evidence for their stellar regular season records.

The two teams had faced off the year before in the 2015 NBA Finals. The 2016 versions of both teams are super talented and play exciting styles of basketball. The Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors set the all-time regular season win record by recording 73 victories. Their star player, Stephen Curry, is a near unstoppable offensive weapon, who beat his own regular season made three pointer record. The Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers feature Lebron James, the best basketball player since Michael Jordan. The Cavs surrounded King James with his best supporting cast in years. Like I said the teams are loaded.

Coming into the series neither team lacked motivation. Both had plenty of reasons to put forth maximum effort and were pushed by motivators greater than just the regular glory that comes with a championship. Cleveland wants to make up for their loss to the Golden State Warriors in 2015 and gain respect for their team, which is often written off for playing in the Eastern conference. On a personal level Lebron James wants to bring the first professional sports championship to Cleveland since the dinosaurs ruled the Earth. He also wants to erase some of the stain that "The Decision" has left on his career. The other team, the Golden State Warriors, want to validate their historic regular season with an NBA title. Setting a regular season win record is nice, but it means a whole lot less if you don’t finish the deal by bringing home the trophy (you can ask the 2001 Seattle Mariners or 2007 New England Patriots about that dubious achievement).

Even with the highly talented and motivated team the Finals have been a series of blow outs followed by more blow outs, instead of an epic series filled with tightly contested games that leave fans aching for more basketball. The closest score differential has been 14. Most of the games have been essentially decided by halftime. Rather than nail bitters these have been snoozers for anyone without a strong rooting interest.

I don’t know why the games have been so lopsided, but it has sure been weird. It seems like both teams are just giving up once they get down by even a little. They appear to just shut down and worry about trying to win the next one. Hopefully, game seven will be a good one, but I am not going to hold my breath for it.

The Warriors will be playing at home in front of their fans where they went 39-2 during the regular season. The Cavaliers will , obviously, be playing on the road where they only went 24-17 during the regular season. According to Vegas Insider, NBA home teams win 81% of playoff game sevens. On paper it looks to be another blowout. Cleveland will have to overcome a lot to win this game. I bet we don't get a single close game in this Finals. Despite the hype and appearance of an all-time classic NBA Championship series we have ended up with a forgettable snoozer.

Sources: http://www.vegasinsider.com/nba/story.cfm/story/855408