Do Not Celebrate!

On Thursday night, in the inaugural game of the Pinstripe Bowl, Kansas State battled Syracuse in an exciting game. The game featured big play after big play. One of the most exciting plays of the game happened in the fourth quarter. With 1:13 left to play Kansas State running back Adrian Hilburn scored on a 30 yard TD run to pull within 2 points of Syracuse. After scoring such a potential game changing TD Hilburn celebrated in the end zone by saluting the fans. This seemingly harmless TD celebration irked or offended the officiating crew so much they threw a penalty flag and issued Kansas State a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.  This meant Kansas State had to try the 2 point conversion from the 17 yard line, an extremely harder feat to pull off. After missing the 2 point conversion and failing to recover the onside kick Kansas State ended up losing the game 36-34. Although the penalty wasn't the only reason for the lose, Kansas State fans have a legitimate gripe with the officials. Their overly aggressive enforcement of the excessive celebration rule made the 2 point conversion astronomically harder to convert.

The intent of the excessive celebration rule is a good thing. It was put in place to prevent players from mocking or disrespecting the opposing team and from setting a poor example of sportsmanship. For such a visible and influential organization it is good that they are trying to set a positive example. Unfortunately, this eagerness to penalize players for celebrating after scoring important plays is all to common in college football. Players are routinely penalized for minor things such as an inadvertent spike in the wrong direction or a to exuberant fist pump. As in the Pinstripe Bowl or the BYU vs UW game in 2008, these penalties can have an impact on games.

NCAA college football officials need to change their current way of determining when to call excessive celebration penalties. If a player gets in the face of an opposing player or blatantly disrespects the fans they should be penalized.  When a player is just celebrating an exciting result without obviously offending anyone, let it go. In such an adrenaline driven sports players need a way to let off a little when something goes their way. There is no reason that the outcome of a game should be put into question because a player decided to celebrate a touchdown with a salute.

Sources: Seattle Times, Yahoo Sports

What to do at the QB Position; or the Matt Hasselbeck Conundurm

Over the first 10 games of the season Matt Hasselbeck was one of the Seahawks best players. He was also one of the reasons fans felt like that wins could keep coming. Despite limited offense weapons and a patchwork offensive line he was playing well. He only had 7 INT and 2 fumbles over the 10 game span and the Seahawks were 5-5. However, after week 11 something changed. In the three games against the Chiefs, Panthers and 49ers, Hasselbeck had 10 turnovers. Then last Sunday with the Seahawks battling the NFC's best team Hasselbeck threw two more interceptions and lost another fumble (his worst of the year as it was recovered for a defensive TD). The performance was bad enough to get Hasselbeck pulled from the game in the third quarter and replaced with Charlie Whitehurst. With last week's three turnovers included, Hasselbeck now has a total of 13 in the last four games. His inability to keep possession of the ball cost Seattle three of those four games.

Witnessing these four poor performances in a row caused a commotion in the Seattle sports fan base. Everyone started talking about the QB position. The conversations have mostly been centered around what to do next year. Hasselbeck will be a free agent then and probably want to be a starter somewhere. Most fans can be split into three separate groups. The first thinks that the problem lies somewhere else then Hasselbeck. They point to the terrible offensive line, the mediocre receiving corps, and/or the lack of a running threat as a reason for Hasselbeck's poor play. They argue that given the right tools around him he could still be a good QB. They want to re-sign him. The second group thinks the problem rests squarely on Hasselbeck's shoulders. Much like Shaun Alexander in 2007, Hasselbeck has lost it. For whatever reason, he cant play the QB position effectively anymore. He needs to be benched, the faster the better and on top of that the Seahawks need to cut all ties with him this off season. The third group tends to sit in the middle, unable to make up their minds. They remember how great Hasselbeck once was, while at the same time admitting to his bad play now. This cautious fans tends to want to take the wait and see approach. They dont want to risk throw away the chance at a established QB for the unknown, but they also dont want to be stuck watching a fading star drag the team down.

I remember a very similar discussion last year. Over the final games of the season last year Hasselbeck struggled mightily. Take a look at the graph labeled QB rating compare. It shows Hasselbecks rating game by game for both the 2009 and 2010 seasons. The slope of the trend line for 2009 is -2.43. The slop of the trend line for 2010 is -2.29. These are strikingly similar results. They cause me to believe that age is the primary reason for Hasselbeck's struggles. He is 35 years old now and he can longer take the wear and tear of a 16 week long NFL season. Especially one where there aren't many other offensive weapons to protect him. His body and mind seem to only be able to withstand about nine or ten weeks of NFL beatings before he simply breaks down.

This offseason the Seahawks have to find an heir to Matt Hasselbeck's QB throne this offseason. I think this is the best approach the Seahawks can take would be to sign Hasselbeck to a 1 year deal and draft a QB in the second or third round. They have weakness in too many other parts of the team to spend their first pick on a QB. Hasselbeck can still pass as a serviceable QB for at least part of a season. This means the Seahawks don’t need to find a new QB that can step right into the fray in week 1. Whoever they draft/sign can sit for a few weeks and learn under the tutelage of a three time pro bowler. Around midseason the coaching staff can re-evaluate the situation. If the Seahawks are still in the hunt and Hasselbeck is playing well, great! The rookie QB can keep sitting on the bench and learning. If things are going well but Hasselbeck is struggling, you have a young and fresh QB who can step in and try his hand at running the offense. Finally, if the team is struggling yet again they can put in the rookie and let him gain valuable in game experience against the best football players in the world.

The Little Engine That Fielded: David Eckstein

"Yay! We're going to Chuck E. Cheese!"

With the recent signing of Orlando "O-Dawg" Hudson and the trade for Jason Bartlett, the San Diego Padres have effectively ended the David Eckstein era in San Diego.  It is certainly a sad day, as the Eckstein era, all two years of it, was grittier than grit.  Many (me, just now) have said that David Eckstein is so gritty, they have expected True Grit to be about him.  It was not, much to the disappointment of the masses (again, me).

However, no matter how bleak the outlook is for Eckstein, no mere man can stop him from hitting .260 and being passable in the field.  No, Eckstein will certainly get a job, and he will most certainly display effective baseball skills in the body of an 8-year old child.

Sure, Eckstein may not hit another walkoff homerun like he did this season, but he will remain gritty to the extent that gravel seems clean.  What is most surprising about all this is that David Eckstein has forged this mighty career despite being 5-7, 170 (how anyone can in good conscience list him at 170 pounds is beyond me.  Shame on you, Yahoo! Sports).  For comparison's sake, here is a list of people bigger than the Ecks Man:

• Martha Stewart
• Fozzy Bear
• Rihanna
• Antman (both in human and ant form)
• At least two of the original Oompa Loompas
• Napoleon Bonaparte
• A life-size bust of Napoleon Bonaparte's head only
• Most double amputees
• Carlton Banks

This has been a brief list of people bigger than David Eckstein.  Excuse me, as it is past 8 p.m. and that means it is David's bedtime, he's got a lot to do tomorrow, like (presumably) hustle his way through a mountain.

The Beginning of the Joe Webb Era

Tonight during the MNF game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears, DE Corey Wootton put this hit on QB Brett Favre. The hit put a hurt on the already injured Favre and knocked him out of the game. During the week leading up to the game former backup Tavaris Jackson was put on IR because he came down with a wicked case of turf toe (probably the wimpiest sounding injury ever) last weekend after his start against the NY Giants. With no one else to turn to, the Vikings turned to Joe Webb. When he lined up under center in the second quarter it ushered in a new era for the proud Minnesota franchise, one in which some guy named Joe Webb plays QB. I for one look forward to years of domination from this somebody.

Washington Basketball: Get Taller!

"No! I said box out!"

Eons ago, the city of Seattle had a professional basketball team.  Yes, a surprise, I know, but it was indeed real.  Strangely enough, the heyday of these "SuperSonics" (who curiosly employed Vin Baker, who no one would describe as moving at sonic speeds) fell in times without Seattle-based players around.  Way back in the late 70s, when denim jackets were cool and people were just starting to hate ABBA, the Sonics were playing for championships.  Guys like "Downtown" Fred Brown and "No Town" Wally Walker were pushing the Sonics into the NBA's elite with staunch defense and a sound strategy of Let-Jack-Sikma-Do-Stuff.

The best Washington-born NBA player of the era? A tie between Steve Hawes and James Edwards, both sound players with long, anonymous careers.  Strange, but perhaps the basketball roots of Seattle were planted here, and the players would be coming soon, right?

A Few Tidbits from Around the Web

What an exciting time in the sports world. The regular season of college football is coming to an end and it looks like Western Washington University will finish with their second consecutive perfect season. The NFL regular season is in the heat the playoff races. Someone in the NFC West will go to the playoffs. The NHL is nearing their mid season. Basketball, both college and pro, is in full swing. The Seattle area team, the UW Huskies, looks to dominate the Pac-10. Even baseball has stuff happening. The winter meetings just finished up down in Orlando Florida.

With all this stuff going on in the wide wide world of sports, the internet has been plenty busy churning out sports related content. Here are a few note worthy links to check out.

• On the Big League Stew, the Baltimore Orioles player Luke Scott exposes his birther side.
• During the winter baseball meetings, Mike Salk from the 710 radio show Brock and Salk interviewed Jack Z. Red Mike's summary of their discussion here.
• David Aldridge wrote a very interesting piece for NBA.com about the state of NBA basketball in Seattle.
• After another big loss last Sunday, The Seattle Times sports columnist Jerry Brewer wrote this great review of the Seahawks season.

Evil Empire: The Adrian Gonzalez Trade

Cue "Baby Come Back" by Player

Years ago, the Red Sox brass created the nickname we all know today for the Yankees: the "Evil Empire."  It was an understandable name that sprung from everyone's frustration; the Yankees, with their financial wherewithal, were able to buy any player they wanted and cover up their mistakes thanks to their ridiculous budget.  Teams the like the Twins, who were forced to let players go in their prime because of budget restrictions, were unable to keep up with the way the Yankees ran their franchise.

However, the tables have, to some extent, turned nowadays.  Certainly, the Yankees still spend money like nobody's business, buying up free agents practically on a whim, but continue to use homemade players as their cornerstone (see Robinson Cano, Brett Gardner, etc.).  The Red Sox, for all their complaining, have become just as bad if not worse.  The Red Sox have continually displayed the same attitude to free agency as the Yankees of years past, throwing piles of money at guys like Daisuke Matsuzaka (total cost upwards of $100 million for a career 4.18 ERA) and J.D. Drew ($14 million a year for a .255 avg).

Huskies Game 6 and 7: Hooray!

Nothing wakes up the Huskies like losing to the best.  After those close losses in Maui, the Huskies didn't miss a beat back at home, destroying Long Beach State just as they should of.  Once again, this game was total domination with really no down points, outside of Thomas continuing his questionable shot selection.  Otherwise, not much noteworthy in this game, though the excellent team play of the Huskies was a plus (7 players in double figures.) Furthermore, CJ Wilcox has a beautiful shot and, unlike Terrence Ross, knows exactly when to use it.  My goodness, he is everything I could have imagined.

Now, the Huskies have and always should destroy teams like Long Beach State.  It's games against Texas Tech that matter, and boy did the Huskies show up.  Another 100 plus points in this game, which actually made this the highest scoring team in Husky history (no other team had scored 100 points in 4 games before). 

Cortland Finnegan vs Andre Johnson

By now most of you have probably already seen the Cortland Finnegan vs Andre Johnson fight (if you haven't check it out here). After being provoked all game by the Titan CB, Andre Johnson flipped in the fourth quarter. During the fight managed he to rip Finnegan's helmet off and get a couple of good shots at his head. The NFL's reaction to this fight was $25,000 fines for both players involved but withhold suspensions. My reaction was that this seemed like a fair enough penalty to Johnson's outburst but that it was about time someone whooped Cortland's ass!

Including his latest, Finnegan has already accumulated 4 fines this year, from the NFL, for his in game actions. According to the Tennessean, it brings his total up to $45,000. Some people have tried to defend Cortland by saying that the illegal hits and personal fouls are just unfortunate side effects that come along with someone playing that hard. This many fines does not happen to guys that are just playing hard. You do not accidentally continue to rake up the personnel fouls week after week. While on the field, Finnegan is one of the biggest bastards in the NFL. He ranks right up there with the Pittsburgh Steelers terrible twosome of Jerome Harrison and Hines Ward.

Finnegan's controversial style of play isn't a new thing. The Titans fifth year CB has been pestering opposing players with his dirty play ever since he came into the league in 2006.  This was at least his third incident against the Texans. In 2008 he was fined $25,000 for two vicious hits on QB Matt Schaub; and last season Finnegan managed to piss off the Texan's WR corps so much that one on play Andre Johnson threw him to the ground by the facemask and later Jacoby Jones threw a punch on the sidelines. The Titan's defensive back doesn't just reserve his dirty play for the Houston team. In 2008 he was involved in a fight with Reche Caldwell then of the Rams. In that same year he had an altercation with his own teammate. During a game against the Ravens, Finnegan screamed at the then defensive team captain Keith Bulluck. His notorious reputation dates back even further. After the 2007 season, in an ESPN story, respected WR Brandon Stokley also singled out Cortland Finnegan as a player with bad intentions.

When, like Cortland Finnegan, you constantly talk trash, shove guys in the face, tackle them late and resort to numerous other kinds of dirty play you are basically being a bully. Most players are going to shrug it off. They dont want to succumb to it. This is the right thing to do. The NFL is going to fine the offenders. The monetary penalties are designed to discourage these perpetrators.

However, money does not talk to all players. Take Cortland Finnegan (or James Harrison who has been fined $125,000 already this year). When the punishment for a dirty play does not discourage a player, that punishment is failing. Sometimes, someone just has to stand up and give that cheap player a taste of their own medicine. This is exactly what Andre Johnson did. He took matter into his own fists and tried to teach that little punk Cortland Finnegan a lesson.

Sources: The Tennessean, Yahoo Sports, ESPN

New Page!

Dear Loyal Reader,

Unique Sports Theme Name has added an exciting new page to our humble blog. This page will contain results from all of the old poll questions. Ever wonder who was voted the readers favorite outspoken NFL receiver? You will now be able to look this up and all of the other interesting questions, witty answers and exciting results. To view this new page simply click on the link located on the RHS. Enjoy!

Sincerely,

Unique Sports Theme Name

Huskies Game 3 and 4: Damn

Well, for all the hope I had about some karmic justice, about the exact opposite happened.  Not only did the Huskies lose to Kentucky, but it was largely due to Terrence "Expletive" Jones AND forced us to play a far superior team in the concelation game (Michigan State) than in the final (Connecticut).

Luckily, we looked pretty good still in both these games.  The biggest problem seemed to be shot selection and, more specifically, Isaiah Thomas' shot selection.  For all his improvement (he has become an excellent defender for his size and can pass the ball pretty well nowadays), he still hasn't learned when to STOP shooting.  The Huskies are filled with offense options both on the wing, inside, and everywhere inbetween.  Oh, and Darnell Gant.

Unfortunately, Thomas is a scorer and when he isn't scoring, especially in the Kentucky game, he doesn't know how to play any other way.  To be truly successful this season, the Huskies need to teach Thomas to limit his shots on bad nights or, at the very least, only take good shots, instead of pull-up guarded 3s in the last 10 seconds of a game or double-teamed reverse layups.  Even so, hope abounds, as there really aren't any games left this season in which the Huskies shouldn't be heavily favored.  More Sherrer!

Huskies Game 3: Devoured

Never in my long life of 5 years of watching the Huskies have I seen a game quite like the dismantling Virginia just took.  Nor have I ever expected to.  Now don't get me wrong, the Huskies are and have always been a very fast, very offensive (good at offense, though Overton is a little offensive) team.  Their problems have always laid in their somewhat poor defense (varying degrees of poor depending on the year), their free throw shooting woes (remember Artem Wallace?), and their deep shooting (Ryan Appleby exempted).

With that in mind, no single game has ever convinced me of a great season to come than this one did.  To come out, shoot 58% from the field AND 65% from beyond the arc, and to play that kind of defense?  It was a game unlike what the Huskies have done in years.  I expected this season to be a lot of incredible defensive effort from Overton and Holliday and dumb shots from all our 6-6 guys, but apparently I'm an idiot.

The Worst

While completing the NHL season preview I looked at the worst 5 teams in both the Eastern and Western Conferences in the NHL over the last 5 seasons. My hope was this data would help me spot teams that consistently rank in the bottom of the league. What I found was that the NHL has what seemed like a lot of volatility in the teams that finished in the bottom. In addition to helping me with the season preview it also sparked my interest in other leagues bottom dwellers. I started thinking more about the volatility of the different leagues. Maybe the NHL's turnover at the bottom wasn't really that uncommon? I decided to do some more digging.

I took a look at the bottom 5 teams in each of the conferences or league in the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB in each of the last five years. Using this data I put together lists for each league of the frequency teams showed up on the worst record list. This approach let me see if a league had a wide variety of teams finishing in the bottom or if the same team failed to win year after year. I was able to determine the fluctuation in each leagues loser’s. Here is an overview of what I found about each league.

ESPN College Basketball Marathon: The Highlights

Though it isn't the true tipoff of the college basketball season, nothing serves as a better season opener than ESPN's 24 hour college basketball marathon. In it's third year, the marathon gives some lower division schools a chance at national television and really helps paint a picture of the season to come for anyone who watches even one or two of the games by highlighting some early season stars and up and comers. While I was not able to see all of the games or all of every game, here's some of my completely worthless thoughts from those games I could catch:

Rebounding: The Huskies Opener

Simply put, that may have been the most ridiculously perfect display of Husky basketball ever.

Let me clarify this: it was not perfect basketball. Aziz N'Diaye went an unbelievably ridiculous 3-15 at the stripe, leading to the Huskies' age-old free throw problem, as the team only shot 47% from the line.

Of course, that's really the only complaint from last night. Romar's Husky teams are built on crazy good rebounding on both ends of the floor and turnover creation, and boy did that ever work against McNeese State. The team made Jon Brockman proud, pulling in more offensive rebounds (28) than McNeese's small ball team (26). Aziz N'Diaye filled his role more perfect than anyone could have imagined, going for 13 points, 12 boards, 2 steals, and 2 blocks while giving Bryan-Amaning all the room he could ever want to operate in the paint.

Isaiah Thomas played more efficiently than in years past, putting up 17 points on 8 shots, while backcourtmate Abdul Gaddy didn't play amazingly but began to show why people used to think he was talented, scoring a bit (10) and passing a bit (5 assists). Terrence Ross and Justin Holiday didn't exactly shoot amazingly well (a combined 6-19 from the field), but Ross showed glimpses of his talent and Holiday continued to challenge Venoy Overton for the title of defensive player of the year for both the Huskies and, probably, the Pac-10.

Most importantly of all, Brendan Sherrer put together the greatest game of all time, with a 3 trillion (3 minutes played, zero stats). Go Huskies.

A Few Tidbits from Around the Web

It's back! And here you thought it was a one time thing and you wouldn't have to look at another post of just links to other peoples stuff. You were wrong. Now for this edition of A Few Tidbits from Around the Web.

• Local Sports Broadcaster Brock and Salk's Campaign to rid Seattle of Jose Lopez. Vote Yes on Initiative E-5 and Vote Yes on Proposition 643.
• Recently, Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter won his fifth Gold Glove. Fans and journalists all over the country responded in different levels of horror. Read the Big League Stew take on this.
• It might be old but everyone should watch Vince Carter dunk on some French guy.
• Morehead State Head Coach Tom Hodges tries to one up Don Cherry.
  

Dave Niehaus

It's a sad day for sports fans and really the entire city of Seattle today, as Dave Niehaus has passed away at the age of 75. Niehaus had been the voice of the Seattle Mariners since the first game of their existence, providing youthful exuberance and an almost comically complete knowledge of baseball to their TV broadcasts.

No man could answer a trivia question quite like Niehaus, who would ramble on for innings, going on ridiculous tangents just to tell us that Ken Griffey is 34th among active players in OBP. Even with those kind of crazy answers, Niehaus was a Seattle icon.

As a man who grew up listening to Niehaus' signature "My oh my!" homerun calls and had to endure his slow descent into not-being-able-to-tell-a-popup-from-a-homerun, hearing that he was passed away is especially impactful. Niehaus always knew how to keep the audience in a game and when to back off and just let the players do the talking. Even with some of his homerism, I find myself often longing for his gravely game calls over the hilariously inept Dave Sims.

No one will ever be able to match Dave Niehaus in Seattle. Niehaus was a Hall of Famer and an alltime great who refused to let anybody put him on a pedestal. Hopefully Seattle will put up a statue or a large mural or something honoring Niehaus, who will never be replaced but always remembered.

Update: Just about every person in the Seattle are has expressed their sadness over this horrible heart attack. Jay Buhner and Ken Griffey, Jr. have both likened it to losing a father, while Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln both struggled to put into words their feelings. Nothing would have been quite as amazing as getting to hear Dave Niehaus' absurdly energetic reaction to a Mariners World Series win. God willing, the city will win him one some day.

Huskies Basketball: It's Not Just Skinny Guys Anymore!

Lo, it has come upon us that it is once again college basketball season. With the season really kicking off next Tuesday with a glorious 24-hr marathon of basketball on ESPN, it is time to start looking ahead to what could be in the Pacific Northwest.

Sorry Ducks, Beavers, and Cougars fans, but you guys kind of suck. The Northwest is once again the domain of the Huskies, who have built themselves up so well under Lorenzo Romar that people are getting annoyed about ONLY making it to the Sweet Sixteen. My opinions aside, this is going to be another strong year for the Huskies as they stand as really the only legitimate team with a chance at the Pac-10 title.

While the loss of a player like Quincy Pondexter is enough to kill many teams (see Kyle Weaver at WSU or Darren Collison at UCLA), the Huskies seem to have just reloaded. Isaiah Thomas looks primed to continue to be the exact same player he has been the last two years, while Matthew Bryan-Amaning's strong run to end last season (9 or more points in 12 of his last 14 games) seems to point to the Huskies having a legitimate post threat once again.

Losing out on Terrence Jones and Enes Kanter has made the offseason look a lot worse than it really is for the Huskies, who still brought in some good players. Terrence Ross was seen as Jones' equal as recently as a year and a half ago, and actually has a bit of a coincience, unlike his Portland teammate. Aziz N'Diaye brings a gigantic, bruising body (7'0", 260) to the paint that should take a little pressure of MBA, as long as he doesn't foul out quickly. C.J. Wilcox comes off a redshirt and has been forgotten a fair amount despite reports showing him to be the best shooter on the team.

With a bit of luck and some more excellent coaching by Romar, this is a Huskies team that should run away with the Pac-10 (watch out for Oregon, who has at least one player capable of making the U.W. roster) and make a bit more noise in the NCAA tournament. Let's hope for another Sweet Sixteen to cement Romar as the greatest coach in the history of the University of Washington.

Historic Pat Burrell

Heading into Game 3 of the 2010 World Series, Pat Burrell had not exactly distinguished himself. Pat the Former Bat was an outstanding 0-5 with 4 strikeouts and one run scored, not exactly earning his place.

However, this all changed after Game 3. Burrell went 0-4 with 4 strikeouts. That's right; on the series Pat is 0-9 with 8 strikeouts. This is indeed the worst performance in the history of the World Series for a batter. Indeed, Pat Burrell has moved from simply amazing to what he shall now be know as: "Historic".

Yes, Historic Pat Burrell has been born out of his relatively unimpressive state as nothing more than Pat the Bat. From henceforth, he is, and forever shall be, one of History's best.

Wait, no, that's not the word. What is it? Oh right, worst. Congratulations, Historic Pat Burrell.

A Few Tidbits from Around the Web

Along with my interest in watching, talking and writing about sports I also enjoy reading about them. As such I often stumble across content on the web that I feel needs to be seen by others. For a lot of this content I dont want to write a full blog post or even a short one. But, this stuff still needs to be shared! You, my faithful reader need an opportunity to watch, read or hear it.

So, I present to you a new series here on Unique Sports Theme Name, I call it "A Few Tidbits from Around the Web". In this series we will provide you a collection of links to sports related content. Stuff we think you will all find interesting. This series will be scheduled to appear randomly and without warning. Basically whenever I think I have enough links to provide you. So, without much further ado, I present to you the first ever installment of "A Few Tidbits from Around the Web."

• Seattle Mariner's fan site, Lookout Landing's take on the Mariners being only 2 of 30 active franchises to never ppear in the World Series. Click Here
• The Atlantic writer Hamopton Stevens discusses which team to root for in the World Series. Click Here. Thanks to reader Tyler for this link.
• A picture of the Los Angles Lakers 2009-2010 Championship ring. Click Here
• The Onion's take on helmet to helmet hits. Click Here. Thanks again to Tyler.

Beast Mode

Unfortunately for those who read the title, this post isn't about Beast Wars. If you want to leave, I understand.

Luckily, you've come to the team at a good time. The team is on a winning streak and filled with good vibes. Mike Williams is making everyone smile with his reclaimation, which overshadows similar (though not as drastic) comebacks by Chris Clemons, Marcus Trufant, and Stacy Andrews.

As much as the Seahawks underperformed last season, that's how much they've overperformed this season. Every player is playing to the best of their ability with the possible exception of Earl Thomas and Aaron Curry, who have been quite good but have so much talent as to still have room to improve.

Honestly, there is very little in the way of a talent difference between this season and last. Sure, there is more promise as the roster's gotten much younger, but the on-field product right now is pretty similar. The real difference here is attitude: Pete Carroll has the Seahawks playing hard and beastly at all times and having a good time doing it, a stark contrast to Jim Mora's epically retarded coaching style.

The future is bright for the Seahawks thanks to Earl Thomas (and some others, but holy crap he's good), so look forward to it. But enjoy a possible playoff berth and first round loss this season as well.

The NBA's Best

So you already read the report on our prediction of the NBA's worst teams and you probably find yourself wondering, who are the best? Well dear reader here is your answer counting down from 5 to 1.

5. (censor)2009-2010 record 50-32
The (censor)have what every professional sports team dreams about, a young, talented team built around a uber-skilled yet down to earth superstar.

The (censor)are built around their core of (censor), (censor)and (censor). All three of these players are super talented and well rounded. If you rank of all of the players from last season individually by PTS, AST, REB, STL and BLK and then average each players ranks to get a composite score, (censor), (censor)and (censor)are all in the top 25. That is amazing. Additionally, all three appear to have their heads on straight. Something that is exceedingly difficult to find in the modern NBA.

Both (censor)and (censor)played for the USA nation team in this summers FIBA world championship. This allowed them to gain valuable experience playing against some of the world’s best. (censor)was even named the tournaments MVP. He averaged 22.8 PPG and shot 63.1% form the field.

The (censor)roster is completed with a collection of young players with lots of potential and a few solid veterans. The young players include collegiate standouts, (censor), (censor)and (censor). Any of them could have a breakout year. The veterans on the team aren’t old unlike many other teams. Only one player, (censor), is over 30.

Although the (censor)might not be the best team this year they are definitely deserving of a stop in the top five. Their team is young and talented with plenty of room to grow. If they can keep this core together they have built what is likely to be a team challenging for NBA championships for years to come.

4.Boston Celtics 2009-2010 record 50-32It bodes well for a team when it has four future hall of famer on it. With Shaq, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce all on the roster the Celtics have just that. They also have a good chance to win a lot of games.

The Boston Celtics greatest strength is their veterans and their most important veteran is lifelong Celtic Paul Pierce. He has built his career around getting to the basket and scoring points (22.5 career PPG). At the beginning of his career he was a volume scorer requiring 18-20 attempts a game to put up his numbers. However, in the last several years he has drastically improved his shooting efficiency. He brought his FG% up to 47.2% and his 3PT% up to 41.4% last year, both career highs. By increasing his shooting percentage, Pierce has been able to continue to put up big numbers while still allowing other players touches.

Boston’s biggest weakness is also relying so heavily on those four players. All of them are over 33, with Shaq leading the way at 38. It is well known that as players pass 30 their skills decline and they become more susceptible to injury. The Celtics should be able to withstand a bad year or an injury of one or even two of their veterans. But, if the unforgiving hands of father time touch too many of their players expect this team to fall fast.

With their experienced star veterans leading the way not many teams will be able to best them. If this team stays healthy they should challenge for a trip to their fourth straight Eastern Conference Finals.

3. Orlando Magic 2009-2010 record 59-23After losing in the NBA finals two years ago and in the Eastern Conference finals last year, the Orlando magic are back to push for another shot at the title.

The best and most dominating center in the NBA is Dwight Howard. Dwight Howard has led the NBA in REB three straight years and BLK two. Dwight Howard is an imposing force who can single handedly take over a game. Dwight Howard plays for the Orlando Magic. This is a good thing for them.

Besides their center the Magic have a lot of other good things going for them. The majority of the players from last year are back. On the offensive end, they were 6th in the league in PPG last year, registering at 102.8. They also excelled on the defensive side. The Magic held opponents to only 95.3 PPG, good enough for 4th in the league. The main departure from the team was Matt Barnes, who bolted to the Lakers. To replace him they added two veterans, Chris Duhon and Quentin Richardson. 28 year old PG Chris Duhon is a reliable back up incase Jameer Nelson gets hurt again. 30 year old SG Quentin Richardson has shown the ability to score. Both should be an upgrade over Barnes.

This year, the key parts of a great 2009-2010 team, that made the Eastern Conference finals last year, return. Those returning players, along with the upgrades to their bench, make the Magic a title contender for sure.

2. Miami Heat 2009-2010 record 47-35Lebron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the same team, need I say more?

1. Los Angeles Lakers 2009-2010 record 57-25The Lakers are the two time defending NBA champs and have the best chance at winning it all again this year. Their team is staked with talent on offense and defense.

The most obvious talent is Kobe Bryant. Kobe is easily one of the 3 best players in the league. Although he is now 32 years old he hasn’t shown signs of slowing down. Kobe has averaged 29.82 ppg, 5.04 apg and 5.58 rpg over the last 5 seasons. To compliment his stellar offensive numbers Kobe is also a great defender. He has made the NBA All-Defensive first team five straight seasons.

In addition to Kobe, the Lakers have a great team. They have lights out range shooters (Steve Blake), dominating post players (Pau Gasol), match-up nightmares (Lamar Odom), tenacious defenders (Ron Artest), and seasoned veterans (Derek Fischer). Once everyone is healthy, the team features projected starters: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Ron Artest, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom. There isn’t a better starting five in the league.

Unless they completely and totally under perform expectations, the Lakers will have the best team in the league yet again. This will put Coach Phil Jackson will be looking to add to his already record 11 NBA Championships.


Sources: Yahoo Sports, ESPN, FIBA

Brian Scalabrine Diaries: The NBA's Worst

As all us fans currently living in states where the NBA is the big thing or, for our Washington fans, is evil incarnate, the basketball season is set to start again soon. This leads us to the most exciting of blog posts: previewing the worst teams in the league!

Minnesota Timberwolves

MVP: Kevin "Chubs" Love (11 RPG, 4.9 Win Shares, 14 PPG)

Mohammed Sene Award: Darko Milicic (8 PPG, .6 WS, new 3-yr, $21 million dollar deal)

The Season Ahead: David "Wrath of" Kahn continues to impress everyone, compiling a roster of people who at one point or another were considered to have basketball skill. Corey Brewer is a solid defensive player, though is more or less worthless at offense (-.5 WS, .431 shooting percentage). Furthermore, Kahn has decided to just draft mediocre players from Syracuse, following up Jonny Flynn's OK rookie year (.417 FG%, 3 TOs per game) by bringing in 23 yr old rookie Wesley Johnson to be a backup small forward. Furthermore, Darko Milicic and Nikola Pekovic are the only centers on the roster. Think about that and tell me this team will win games ever.

Vlade Divac Says: The future says is lottery teams for definite!

Detroit Pistons

MVP: Tayshaun Prince (13 PPG, 5 RPG, 3 APG, 1.4 Abe Lincoln Beards)

Mohammed Sene Award: Rip Hamilton ($10 million dollar contract, .437 effective FG%, 2.5 TOs per game)

The Season Ahead: It just started looking a whole lot worth thanks to the loss of Jonas Jerebko, the only real bright spot from last season. Joe Dumars' reputation as a good GM has disintegrated entirely, with overpaid bench players Ben Gordon and Charlie Villaneuva shooting every shot this side of Antoine Walker (.321 and .351 3pt FG%, respectively). Furthermore, past-their-prime guys Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, and Ben Wallace are barely average nowadays but get to keep on raking in cash thanks to their past contributions, though at least Wallace can still play defense (1.2 steals, 1.2 blocks per game). Finally, Rodney Stuckey's and Jason Maxiell's ceilings were vastly different than what they seemed, with both appearing to be nothing better than bench players (Stuckey shot .228% from 3, Maxiell turns it over almost as much as he rebounds it).

Vlade Divac Says: The Pistons are of the Detroit economics: terriblest!

Sacramento Kings

MVP: Tyreke Evans (Worst jump shot ever, 20 PPG, 5.4 WS, 11 combined APG/RPG)

Mohammed Sene Award: Francisco Garcia ($6 million price tag, 1 WS)

The Season Ahead: Last season, nothing was more infuriating than watching the Kings. Paul Westphal may indeed be the worst coach in all of basketball, yelling at his players and using the worst rotations imaginable. Yes, I only watched for the Husky alums (thank god they're out of Sac-town), but Westphal would throw out 4 forward lineups, no forward lineups, even Kenny Thomas lineups. This team doesn't have that much talent beyond Evans, average-ish Jason Thompson (12 PPG, 8 RPG, 4 WS), and newcomer DeMarcus Cousins, who looks to have put aside his affinity for eating to focus on basketball. However, no amount of talent can overcome Paul Westphal, and as such expect the Kings to be ungodly bad.

Vlade Divac Says: In Sacramento, coach fight you!

Washington Wizards

MVP: ...Kirk... Kirk Hinrich? (11 PPG, 4.5 APG)

Mohammed Sene Award: Gilbert Arenas ($80 million owed, insane, 32% usage despite 1.8 WS)

The Season Ahead: Well it certainly doesn't look good. The highlight of this team is half-season wonder Andray Blatche (2.6 defensive WS, 14 PPG and 6 RPG) and rookie John Wall, who is continually hyped as amazing. Unfortunately, John Wall honestly wasn't that amazing in college and now has to rely on Gilbert Arenas as his mentor. Let's see how that goes. Furthermore, all of this team's talent is in it's point guards, meaning to get their best players on the floor they will play three plays under 6'3". When JaVale McGee is your center, that won't work out. At all.

Vlade Divac Says: Is still have Pervis Ellison? No? Last place are of you.

Toronto Raptors

MVP: Jarrett Jack (5 APG off the bench, 5 WS)

Mohammed Sene Award: Jose Calderon (zero defensive WS, $8 million, seriously ZERO defensive WS)

The Season Ahead: How can any team play this bad of defense? Seriously, Amir Johnson is the only roster play with a defensive WS above 1 from last season. That is unfathomably bad. The Warriors pull random D-Leaguers into their lineup and still play better defense! Anyways, with Chris Bosh gone this team becomes Andrea Bargnani's, and that's not worrisome at all. The man with 1 ROY vote back in the day grabbed 10% of the rebounds available, explaining how a 7-foot center can average only 6 RPG. Beyond Bargnani, you can enjoy the stylings of Linas Kleiza's return to the NBA and rookie Ed Davis' absolute failure that seems sure to come. This team has no chance at anything and would certainly be the worst in the NBA if not for playing in an equally-terrible division.

Vlade Divac Says: Why no take charges? Take charges and to win!

Bad Week for Favre

This is a funny Brett Favre video. Thanks to Tyler for finding it.

Another Record for Favre

In Monday night's loss to the New York Jets, Brett Favre set yet another NFL record. His second quarter fumble was his 161st of all time. This ties him with another NFL great Warren Moon. Favre wasn't satisfied with that though. So, in the third quarter Favre coughed it up again, firmly securing his place as the leader. He already had the career interception record (which he decided to add to in the fourth quarter), but this new record cements Favre's legacy as the most generous quarterback in NFL history. He has been gracious enough to give the other team a chance to have the ball more then any other player, ever.

The Greatest Award of All: Baseball

We here at Unique Sports Theme Name like to recognize top performers in sports, much like any other organization. As such, with the close of the Major League Baseball regular season, it is time to recognize those that outperform all others at the toughest of all statistics: sucking really bad.

Yes, only so many players can be so bad as to even qualify for this award. Cesar Izturis? Sure, his -31.2 batting rating is tempting to add him to the list, but this is a man with a positive UZR! He has value somewhere, and as such cannot be considered. Yuniesky Betancourt even relinquished his two year stranglehold on this award, hitting well enough to not be completely worthless (with Yuni, you take what you can get).

Indeed, there is really only one MLB player that can possibly being given the title of worst of the year. And without further ado, we salute you, Melky Cabrera, for being so incredibly terrible.

The numbers speak for themselves really: negative 1.2 Wins Above Replacement. That's right, Melky Cabrera is not only worse, but significantly worse than a random minor leaguer called up to play every day. Furthermore, Cabrera had a negative 16 UZR. Playing the corner outfielder. What is arguably the easiest spot on the entire diamond to field was too hard for Melky. For comparisons sake, Franklin Gutierrez's 31 UZR last year was historically good; Brett Gardner led all of baseball this year with a 22 UZR. Melky Cabrera was so bad at defense that his UZR was only bested (worsted?) by two players; the unbelievable Carlos Lee (-17.4) and the incredibly lazy centerfielder Matt Kemp (a mindboggling -24.3).

Ok, you say. Maybe Melky could hit well enough to make up for it, you say. Melky Cabrera batted .254, which would be ok if he had some power (4 HRs in 500 ABs, .354 SLG). He drove in 42 runners. The only positve stat Melky had was 11 IBBs, which is kind of ridiculous to think that anyone would want to walk him. Considering he has the hitting ability of a backup middle infielder (Josh Wilson, anyone?), it's sad he plays the corner outfielder every day.

Regardless of his excuses, Melky Cabrera is the worst player in baseball this season. Enjoy the playoffs, Melky, for you are already a winner in our minds.

NHL Season Preview: Five Worst

When I proposed to Matt that we do an NHL preview for this blog I figured it would be easy. I figured I had pretty good understanding of the NHL. I had played in several fantasy hockey leagues during highschool, check the standings in the league every once and a while during the last several seasons, and watched a couple games a year. I listened to Matt talk about hockey all the time and I read about it in ESPN the Magazine and on Yahoo Sports. Probably most importantly, I had played lots of NHL 2003 on PS2, and I mean lots. Plus I would be doing the easier of the 2 write ups. I was in charge of predicting the worst 5 teams (See Matt’s post for the 5 best). Predicting bad teams is easy. Bad teams don’t change that quickly. Think about baseball and the Pirates, Orioles, and Nationals or football and the Lions, Bills and Raiders, these teams have been bad for a very long time.

Well as it turns out I under estimated how hard it would be to pick bad teams in the NHL. First off The Mag’s NHL preview was only 34 pages out of the 128 in the October issue. Of those 34 pages only 5 are advertisements, 5 cover Patrick Kane, and 6 talk about Zambonies. I already knew Patrick Kane was good at hockey and Zambonies were cool. That leaves me only 18 pages of new useful information, most of which focuses on the good teams. On top of that NHL teams fluctuate more year to year then other sports. Sure the Red Wings are good every year, but I had to write a post about bad teams. Take a look at this list that shows each team that ranked in the bottom 5 of the NHL at least once over the last five seasons. There are 16 teams on that list. Of those 16 teams at least 6 are legitimately good now.

All that means I had my work cut out for me. So I scoured NHL previews from ESPN the Magazine and Yahoo Sports. I put together information in excel and learned more about hockey then I had since the Olympics. After all that work I determine that these are the 5 worst in the league (Ranked from bad to Worst).

5. The Atlanta Thrasher 09-10 record 35-34-13

To start with, 2 of the 3 Atlanta point leaders from last season, Maxim Afinogenov and Ilya Kovalchuk, are gone. Afinogenov, who ranked second on the team in pts with 61, bolted to the KHL. The franchise’s best player ever, Ilya Kovalchuk (58 pts in only 49 games), got traded to the Devils and then signed with them. These losses are going to be hard to overcome. Although the team is hopeful that Nic Antropov and the young Evander Kane can pick up the slack.

In an attempt to try and help the team and provide veteran leadership the Thrashers signed four players from the Championship Blackhawks: Ben Eager 16pts, Andrew Ladd 38pts, Brent Sopel 8pts, Dustin Byfuglien 34pts. If you are someone that believes in that sort of intangible these signings are a good thing. Personally I don’t think it matters.

The Atlanta Thrashers finished last season with 83 pts last year good enough for second in their division, but bad enough to miss the playoffs. I expect them to be worse this year. They went 0-5-1 in the preseason and they lost more in players then they gained.


4. The Florida Panthers 09-10 record 32-37-13

Some things never change. This team was bad when I played NHL 2003 and they are bad now. They are like the Pittsburgh Pirates of Hockey.

The best player on the team is goalkeeper Tomas Vokoun. He was third in the league last year with a 0.925 SV% while facing the 5th most shots. In 08-09 he was second in the league with a 0.923 SV%. Any shot this team has at being good relies on Vokoun playing stellar. Although he doesn’t appear to be slowing down, Vokoun is 34 now.

To put even more pressure on Vokoun, this team really, really struggled to score last season. I don’t expect them to be much better this year. They had 0 players score 30 goals and 3 players score 20. One of those guys, Nathan Horton, is now with the Boston Bruins. The Panthers are relying on forward David Booth to come back from injury, pick up where he left off in 08-09 and score 30+ goals this season.

Much like their loser baseball brethren in Pittsburgh I see the Florida Panthers continuing their streak of bad seasons. I can’t see their quality goaltending offsetting their lack of offense.

3. The New York Islanders 09-10 record 34-37-11

Remember that list from earlier in the post? The Islanders are listed in first with 3 appearances in the bottom 5 over the last 5 years. On top of that, the Islanders have finished in the bottom 5 in the Eastern Conference 4 times in the last 5 years. They also finished the NHL preseason with only 2 pts. All that is no coincidence.

The Islanders are bad. Thanks to the fact that they have been bad for a long time they have some really promising young talent. The best of that bunch is John Tavares. He scored 24 goals last year, his first year in the league. Unfortunately for the Islanders he was one of only 2 players to score over 20 (The other is Matt Moulson who scored 30). If all those young promising player pan out that should change this year, that is a big if though.

Like a lot of bad teams that Islanders are also weak at the Goalie position. They do have their starter signed for another 10 years but based on how often he is hurt that will only be about 2 years of ice time for Rick DiPietro. Assuming DiPietro gets hurt again, which he will, the Islanders are stuck with Dwayne Roloson and his 0.910 SV%.

If everything goes in their favor the Islanders have the potential to be good this year. Of course that can be said for almost any team in the preseason.


2. The Columbus Blue Jackets 09-10 record 32-35-15

Gamblers really don’t like the Blue Jackets odds this year. According to Yahoo they set them at 100/1. The only other team that bad is the New York Islanders and that is just east coast bias, they always have to lead everything.

The majority of the negativity surrounding the 10-11 season for the Blue Jackets focuses on the fact that they finished with the fourth worst record in the NHL (tied with NYI by the way) and didn’t add any players of note this offseason. The roster only has one new player, Ethan Moreau, who played for Edmonton last year. It isn’t good when your only new player is form the team that finished dead last in the league the year before.

On top of a weak roster, Columbus has the unfortunate disadvantage of playing in the same division as both Chicago and Detroit. Being forced to play each of these teams 6 times is bad news for anyone. It is even worse news when you are a bad team with a bad defense. Expect stars like Patrick Kane (thanks ESPN Magazine for those 5 pages!) and Henrik Zetterberg to tear apart the Blue jackets weak D.

Columbus has finished among the bottom 5 teams in the Western Conference 4 of the last 5 years. Unless, their players all get a lot better and fast expect to make it 5 of 6. In better news for the fans Rick Nash still plays here for now.

1. The Edmonton Oilers 09-10 record 27-47-8

This team is young. They have an average age of only 26.11 compared to a league average of 28.02. A lot of the players are in their first of second seasons. After finishing dead last in the league last year with only 62 points, it is a lot to expect all these young kids to do well so soon.

Not making life any easier on those young kids are the goalies in Edmonton. ESPN the Mag rates their goaltending as a 3 out of 10. Looking at the goalies on the roster it is easy to see why. The best save percentage on the team belonged to Nikolai Khabibulin at a measly 0.910%. The main starter was Jeff Deslauriers who came in at 0.900 %. The good news for Deslauriers is there is room for improvement, right? With bad goaltending like this the Oilers are going to be playing from behind frequently.

The really young unproven team and awful goalies all adds up to the worst team in the NHL. The goal for this team should be to finish better then last year, try for 63 pts.

Sources: Yahoo Sports, ESPN, NHL

The NHL's Best: A Novel

It is the dawn of yet another NHL season, and we here at Unique Sports Theme Name are moderately excited. Sure, the Northwest isn't exactly a huge hockey neighborhood, but that doesn't mean I can't try and convince you otherwise. As such, and in tandem with Kevin's preview, I present to you the five best NHL teams this year, as judged by a man with relatively little hockey knowledge.

Vancouver Canucks

Top Performers: The Flying Sedin Brothers, Ryan Kesler, Roberto Luongo

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish: Michael Grabner, Willie Mitchell, Kyle "The Cookie Monster" Wellwood

Come Stay Awhile: Dan Hamhuis, Keith Ballard, Manny Malhotra

Season Outlook: The Canucks may very well be the deepest team in the NHL, with strong defensive forwards like Raffi "Beluga" Torres and two-time Selke Award finalist Ryan Kesler filling out the lower lines. Scoring depth flows from everywhere as well, with Henrik and Daniel both averaging over 1.3 points a game last year and guys like Mason Raymond (53 points) and Mikael Samuelsson (strangely, also 53 points) providing secondary scoring and grit. Furthermore, the defense is just as deep, with proven NHL players Kevin Bieksa and Ryan Parent filling out the third pairing and strong-if-not-flashy D-men like Keith Ballard, Alex Edler, and Dan Hamhuis shutting down opponents. Unfortunately, without a change in the playoffs, where everyone has played too emotionally and world-class goalie Roberto Luongo has forgotten how to play, this team may not go anywhere. Here's betting that changes.

Fighter Grade (By Bear Type): Rick Rypien, Kodiak Bear.

San Jose Sharks

Top Performers: Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Dany Heatley
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish: Evgeni Nabokov, Manny Malhotra
Come Stay Awhile: Annti Niemi, Antero Nittymaki, Andy Nieieni, Alexander Niteietetii
Outlook: The Sharks have been good long enough that people are starting to overlook them, but they may still be the best team in the NHL. The Sharks have the best line in the NHL by far with Thornton, Marleau, and Heatley all combining to score a bunch and somehow disappoint everyone. The lower lines are filled with energetic youngsters, with Logan Couture, Torrey Mitchell, and Ryane Clowe possibly engerizing the Sharks in a way they never have been. The defensive core isn't too exciting, but Douglas Murray and "Pickles" Vlasic lead a bunch of solid, capable defensemen. In goal, the Sharks have had a big change, losing franchise centerpiece Evgeni Nabokov after about 35 years and replacing him with world champ Annti Niemi and relatively-passable champ Antero Nittymaki. The Sharks probably have as much of a chance at the Cup this year as they ever have had.
Fighter Grade (By Bear Type): Jamal Meyers, Sun Bear.
Philadelphia Flyers

Top Performers: Mike Richards, Jeff Green, Chris "Douche" Pronger, Matt Carle
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish: Simon Gagne, Arron Asham, Lucas Krajicek
Come Stay Awhile: Andrej Meszaros, Nikolai Zherdev (really!?), Jody Shelley
Outlook: This is basically the same team as last year, though it should perform much better in the regular season. Upper echelon players like Mike Richards and Jeff Carter underperformed for much of the season, but look for Carter to be closer to 2009's 46 goals than last year's 33. Furthermore, this team is the most violent, gritty hockey team ever, replacing former goon Arron Asham with the creature from the black lagoon; Jody Shelley. The whole defensive core is strong and features all-stars Chris Pronger, he of three Stanley Cup finals in the last five years, and Matt Carle, he of an extra E on his last name. Braydon Coburn continues to develop into a top talent, and Sean O'Donnell still plays hockey apparently. Unfortunately, NHL teams have to field a goalie, and Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher don't exactly inspire confidence, even after a strong playoff run.
Fighter Grade (By Bear Type): Jody Shelley, Prehistoric bulldog bear.
Washington Capitals

Top Performers: Alexander "Seman" Semin, Mike Green, that other forward.... oh ya! Jason Chimera.
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish: Joe Corvo, Shaone Morrison
Come Stay Awhile: ...Lawrence Nycholat?
Outlook: Again, the Capitals enter the season as an offensive juggernaut with defensive question marks. Everyone seems to be labeling Ovechkin as a choke artist after the Caps shocking playoff loss, but people seem to overlook that Sidney Crosby got knocked out by the same team one round later. As great as Ovechkin is at scoring, Nicklas Backstrom seems to be equally as good at passing, dishing out 135 assists in the past two seasons. Guys like Alexander Semin and Brook Laich have been on the receiving end of many of these passes, helping to elevate them from pretty average to looking great. Unfortunately, the offense is the only strength of these team, as the defense lags far behind with questionable players like John Erskine and Tom Poti expected to actually be useable. For all his offensive value, Mike Green isn't really actually any good at defense, and John Carlson remains an unknown as a rookie despite a very positive outlook for him. Semyon Varlamov has proven himself a strong goaltender in the playoffs, but regular season success is still a bit out of reach for him it seems. Even so, the Caps have an excellent chance at the Cup.
Fighter Grade (By Bear Type): DJ King, Black Bear.
Chicago Blackhawks

Top Performers: Jonathan Toews, Patrick "20 Cent" Kane, Duncan Keith

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish: Dustin Byflugien, Andrew Ladd, Antti Niemi, Ben Eager, Brent Sopel, Colin Fraser, Kris Versteeg, the house, everything except for Brian Campbell unfortunately.

Come Stay Awhile: Viktor Stalberg, Marty Turco (hahahahaha).

Outlook: After a Stanley Cup season, the Blackhawks lost basically every player on the roster thanks to salary problems. Unfortunate yes, but kind of hilarious that a team that has so many bandwagon fans can't turn a profit. Even so, the Blackhawks still have a strong foundation and managed to bring in a lot of fairly promising young players in trades. Toews remains an elite two-way forward, Kane still has offensive upside despite being an incredible douche, and Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook may be the greatest D pairing in hockey. Unfortunately, there isn't really any depth beyond Dave Bolland and Patrick Sharp, along with Marian Hossa's slowly aging skills. The defensive is strong throughout, even if Jordan Hendry is forced to play. Marty Turco was an absolute mess in Dallas the past two seasons and looked worthless; how anyone thinks he will suddenly be an outstanding goalie again is beyond me. Chicago looks like a solid playoff team once again, but definitely not a Cup contender.

Fighter Grade (By Bear Type): Troy Brouwer, Panda Bear.

The MLB Playoffs: They're Fan-tastic!

As I'm sure the reader can tell, this blog heavily favors the Mariners. On a personal level, this is not a very gratifying team to root for, as they have been mostly worthless throughout their history, save right around the turn of the century. Well it most certainly could be worse (see: Cubs, Chicago), the Mariners aren't about to be making the playoffs anytime soon and as such, one needs to examine the other teams still in it to waste their time rooting for.

While I am already decided on rooting for the San Diego Padres, which I decided roughly twelve years ago, not all of the Seattle fan base is so lucky as to have another favorite team with equally little historical success. And so, that brings us to this years contenders.

New York Yankees

Pluses: Very good chance of winning, rich and colorful history, very in-tune with the needs of fans.

Minuses: Kind of dicks, Evil Empire, boring uniforms.

But Seriously, the Baseball Side: Nobody can really hold a candle to some of the bats that the Yankees can trot out every night, with guys like Robinson Cano (.376 OBP, 106 RBI), A-Rod (.343, 121), and Mark Teixeira (.368, 107) capable of a winning games on their own. The bench is filled with high-energy young guys like Francisco Cervelli and Ramiro Pena, and a strong starting staff rounds out the team. Unfortunately, the pitching has been struggling mightily lately, with guys like Phil Hughes (4.85 ERA in September) and A.J. Burnett (5.33 ERA, +1.0 WAR) really blowing it. If Andy Pettitte really is completely healthy, they've got a pretty good chance.

Tampa Bay Rays

Pluses: Not many other fans to get in the way, plenty of tickets, likeable players/coaching staff, fish tank at ballpark.

Minuses: Operates on a budget similar to my middle school allowance, defense is boring, absolutely no fans in the state of Florida.

But Seriously, the Baseball Side: The Rays have a small group of excellent hitters (Carl Crawford, Evan Longaria) and a much larger handful of guys that know their place, like Carlos Pena and his power (30 percent of his hits are home runs). This team understands the limitations their budget has placed on them, and as such have grown powerful by building with some great defensive players, specifically Carl Crawford and his 22 UZR, though Ben Zobrist (9.7 UZR/150 in the outfield) and Reid Brignac (9.3 UZR/150 and, we can only hope, future winery owner) aren't too shabby themselves. Strong pitchers abound on this roster too, though most of the young starters have struggled quite a bit lately, especially Jeff Niemann and his 10 ERA since August. Don't count them out, as they are as David Eckstein-y as possible without actually having Eckstein.

Minnesota Twins

Pluses: Adorable, won't care how much you eat as you will never be larger than their current fans, definitely won't ever fire you, very friendly.

Minuses: Almost too friendly, never actually show up in the postseason, employed Eddie Guardado.

But Seriously, the Baseball Side: Nobody seems to be as consistent as the Twins these days, who just win every year. This year, they've won with offense thanks to a team of strong hitters, though not exactly overly powerful (2nd in MLB in average, 19th in homers). Even without the power, the Twins always drive guys in and pitch admirably if not exactly well. Unfortunately, they're a bit beat up, as Justin Morneau looks to be out perhaps the whole playoffs and Joe Mauer is nursing his own injuries. Just like always, however, the Twins have other guys picking up the slack, with Delmon Young (.299/19/108) and Matt Capps (2.16 ERA, 20 Ks in 25 IP) filling in more than adequately. As always, it'd be great to see the Twins do well, but they probably won't.

Texas Rangers

Pluses: Not the Angels (even if Vlad tells you otherwise), have roughly as much money as you, hit quite well, which I'm told is enjoyable to watch.

Minuses: Still not the Mariners, make me feel bad, Ian Kinsler isn't really actually that good.

But Seriously, the Baseball Side: Being the Texas Rangers, they can hit well. Surprising, isn't it? Josh Hamilton has been a beast in almost every sense of the word (94 runs, 97 RBIs, crazy arm tatoos, .449 wOBA) and guys like Nelson Cruz, Vlad, and Michael Young have provided some crazy power. Additionally, Elvis Andrus is amazing and has some kind of crazy afro thing. However, this year's Rangers are in strange territory for them, having an excellent bullpen. As someone used to the Rangers of the 90's, it's still weird to see guys like Neftali Feliz, Frank Francisco, and the inpenetratable Darren Oliver strike out everybody and their mother. The starters have been the innings-eaters that Nolan Ryan longs for, though haven't been exactly "great". Even so, the Rangers seem to have a strong team and are getting hot at an excellent time.

Cincinnati Reds

Pluses: Scott Rolen seems like a nice guy, red is a nice enough color, generally nice enough in most categories, Aroldis Chapman throws faster than jet planes (which cannot throw anything).

Minuses: I... I guess Francisco Cordero's a bit overweight, he could cut back a bit?

But Seriously, the Baseball Side: They really aren't that exciting here either. The Reds have an exceptionally relief core, highlighted by both the young (Aroldis Chapman) and the old (Arthur Rhodes, the first dead body to pitch in a major league game). Furthermore, I can think of nothing more confusing for a team than having to face Chapman's 100 MPH fastball followed by Daniel Ray Herrera's 3 MPH curve. Pretty disconcerting. The starters have been up and down, though they've had enough dominating performances to help even everything out. On the offensive side, Joey Votto's been unbelievable while the rest of the lineup has been average to good, thanks especially to Scott Rolen's resurgence (84 RBI in 130 games) and Brandon Phillips' attempted all-around game (98 RBI, 15 SB, 12 CS). Something about these guys just doesn't feel that great (terrible justification, I know) and I wouldn't expect a whole lot.

San Francisco Giants

Pluses: Barry Bonds is gone, pitching is fun, they give you an excuse to kayak AND watch baseball, Kung Fu Panda.

Minuses: Kung Fu Panda isn't an ACTUAL panda, their success means the Padres' failure, their lineup is entirely throw-away waiver guys that nobody likes.

But Seriously, the Baseball Side: The Giants pitch really well, we get it. They pitch like the Padres but worse, up until recently. Matt Cain has been crazy good (almost 3 K's to every walk) and Madison Bumgarner looks to be living up to his ridiculous, ridiculous name. The relief staff has been good too, though how Ramon Ramirez is stranding 93% of all baserunners is beyond me. With as good of pitching as this, you'd think they'd be unstoppable. Of course, that is before looking at their offense. Three everyday starters have been picked up on waivers in the last year (Cody 'Strikes Out 30% of the Time" Ross, Pat Burrell and his knee-less legs, and Jose Guillen), and the rest of the lineup may as well have been. The only impressive hitter seems to be Buster Posey, who is unstoppable and has put up stats comparable to Jason Heyward in about half the games. If Posey keeps hitting like this, they could go far.

San Diego Padres

Pluses: I'll like you more, David Eckstein is the most adorable stuffed animal ever to play in the major leagues, they're scrappy, the Hairstons make you feel like you and your brother could play in the majors.

Minuses: I'll like you more, you'll have to learn a lot of names of random utility players.

But Seriously, the Baseball Side: I understand that the Padres may not even make it. In fact, it's looking more and more like the Braves will take their spot. However, being a Padres fan, I'm going to hold on to the hope they make it and preview them. Besides, I actually know stuff about them. Anyways, the Padres can't really hit much at all, employing guys like Chris Denorfia on a daily basis. Tony Gwynn won't ever be mistaken for his dad hitting-wise, but boy can he roam the outfield (35 UZR/150). Plus young guys like Aaron Cunningham and Luis Durango perform relatively well and learn to maximize their talents from guys like David Eckstein (3000 Scrappiness/150) and Yorvit Torrealba (7 SBs. No, really. Look it up). However, the pitching has carried them all year, thanks to career years from former journeymen like Jon Garland (career 4.34 ERA, 3.58 this year) and Tim Stauffer (career 4.13 ERA, 1.89 this year) while developing plenty of young talent in Mat Latos, Wade LeBlanc, Clayton Richard, and really the entire rest of their staff. Unfortunately, their whole season took a downward spin when Gwynn went down, and it looks like it'll end very quickly in the playoffs, if they even make it.

Philadelphia Phillies



Pluses: You won't get vomitted on, there are no sportsmanship standards for fans, Raul Ibanez and Jamie Moyer can tell you stories about growing up in the Depression.

Minuses: Literally everything else about the Phillies.

But Seriously, the Baseball Side: For all the hype some of their players get, they aren't actually that great of a hitting team. Jimmy Rollins is painfully overrated (.246 batting average, 7 HRs), and all their power numbers are inflated by such a ridiculous home park. That being said, Placido Polanco remains the epitomy of consistent hitting, batting over .285 for the 11th consecutive year. Ryan Howard remains a home run threat in every at bat, despite striking out as much as Greg Halman (28% of the time, which only can mean that Greg Halman is equally talented, right?), and Chase Utley and Jayson Werth continue being quite excellent. Their pitching has been quite good as well, with imports Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt living up to their reputations and Cole Hamels being quite serviceable to say the least after last year's disaster. Brad Lidge has been surprisingly good as well (3.09 ERA) but hey, it's not the postseason yet. They've got the makings of a championship team and the experience, but we'll wait and see.

The Subtle Mind of Ichiro

Oh, hello there.

I see you've caught me doing what I enjoy least: exerting myself. it is alright, I shall commence gliding for the rest of the season, lest the grass of these so-called baseball "fields" scuff my shoes. Do not worry though, for my hitting will distract you. How do I hit so good? Do not worry. This is not for you to know. This is for me to know and exploit, for there is not enough of this ointment to go around.

What is that you say? Yes, I do enjoy playing for the Seattle Mariners baseball club team. No, I do not worry about our continued ineptitude. Every team loses occasionally. It happens, this is not of my concern, for I am here to hit the baseball. Would you like to know my secret?

I do not know the rules of baseball. There, now it is out in the open. When I came to the America, I was told that I could hit the baseball. You see, this is all I know in life. My family raised me to hit a baseball, and after years of training at a remote monastery in the Himalayas, I became good enough to reach the America.

I have been told that there are other parts of baseball. The one called Rool Ibanyes once told me that sometimes people like to hit the ball very far and win games. Ha! This is ridiculous. Needless to say, I laughed quite hardily at him. How can it be that people wish to do this? I had to explain to him that no team would employ people like Yuniesky Betancourt and Carl Everett and Brad Wilkerson if this were true. No, it must have been a cruel joke from the mind of Rool.

What is this you say? Baseball IS for winning? No. Do not distract me. I must single for the good of mankind.

The Perils of Expectation

Sports Illustrated is prone to some odd predictions. Be it choosing the Steelers to win the Super Bowl this year or the Red Sox to win the World Series every season since 1952, Sports Illustrated seems to frequently throw common knowledge to the wind in an attempt to win over readers. Unfortunately, this hurts those teams greatly.

Nothing creates expectations for a team like national news media saying they'll be great. At the end of last season, most of the fans I knew hoped the Mariners would make some smart moves and have a good chance at making a run for the playoffs this season. All of a sudden, SI chose the Mariners to run away with the West, cover stories started popping up all over and, before you know it, the fans were thinking about a World Series run.

Obviously, this is ridiculous. If you look back at the team, there was no chance they'd make a deep playoff run and, honestly, a division title was pushing the boundaries of sanity. There was absolutely no offense to be seen anywhere on the roster, and far too many players with serious question marks (Bradley's health/sanity, Bedard's health, Lopez's defense, Griffey's everything) to believe this team could roll the dice and win on everyone.

If the national media had recognized this, maybe this season wouldn't have quite as humongous of a negative feel. Yes, nobody likes this year, the Mariners are terrible. My point is that expectations run rampant and can ruin a season and, for guys like Don Wakamatsu, careers.

This brings us to the Seahawks and Huskies. Many saw the Seahawks as strong contenders for the division title, able to make a huge bounce back with Pete Carroll at the helm and a strong draft class incoming. Somehow, no one seems to have managed to look at the actual roster before making this pick. Matt Hasselbeck is about a hundred years old and has more aches and pains than my grandfather. Deion Branch and Mike "Out of Football for Two Years" Williams are our top receivers. Kelly Jennings is playing regularly. This is a team that should be setting its sites on a couples years from now, and the brain trust running the team understands this. However, fans don't seem to.

Similarly, people were amazed when the Huskies didn't blow out BYU in Utah. The Huskies haven't made a bowl in longer than I care to remember and still boast a defense consisting of one or two strong contributors and a bunch of young guys who can't do much of anything. There are problem spots all around. Yet everyone is already disappointed in this season, as if it is a failure because Jake Locker won't win the Heisman (another bit of ridiculous hype there) and the Huskies won't be going to the Rose Bowl.

Honestly, temper expectations. Regardless of what the national media thinks or what hope you may let sink in, don't ever try and assume any team will be contenders for a title. If you make the only positive outcome a title, than every season will be a failure, with the exception being 1979.

The Huskies best hope is to make a terrible bowl as a 6-6 team. The Seahawks may make 9-7 in a bad division. Husky hoops will probably finish 2nd or so in the Pac-10 and maybe push to the second round, barring some amazing play. The Washington sports scene is slowly rebuilding. Don't push too hard, no matter how long we've had to wait.

More NFL Salary Stuff

Pop quiz time, who is the highest paid player on the Seattle Seahawks? If you guessed Matt Hasselbeck you are right. The star QB is going to make $6,256,240 this year. That shouldn't come as to much of a surprise to most people. Matt has been the face of the franchise for about 7 years. He holds almost all of the Seahawks all time passing records (one of the only things he doesn't have is career TD passes, that honor is Dave Krieg's).

Next question, who is the second highest paid Seattle Seahawks? No not Julius Jones. No it isn't Lofa Tatupu. Give up? It is Stacy Andrews who makes $5,620,000 per year. What you have never heard of Stacy Andrews? Didn't you see the game last week, he had that one big run... oh wait that was someone else. Well what about when he... no still someone else. It turns out he is a 29 yr old offensive lineman. You are probably thinking something like, "Aren't offensive linemen important though? When they do their job right they keep Matt Hasselbeck healthy, which is important." Not this o-lineman, he doesn't even start.

Stacy's Salary. Did the Seahawks front office not get the memo about paying good players, not bad players, lots of money? I decided to looked at a few other teams and see if they followed suit. I tried to pick a random sample of team talent. Here are the highest and second highest paid players on five other teams:

Detroit Lions:
1. Corey Williams, DT, $7,800,000
2. Dominic Raiola, C, $7,500,000

New England Patriots:
1. Tom Brady, QB, $8,007,280
2. Randy Moss, WR, $6,507,280
(weird the Pat's front office likes giving out an extra $7,280)

Cincinnati Bengals:
1. Carson Palmer, QB, $9,500,000
2. Keith Rivers, LB, $9,185,000

Atlanta Falcons:
1. Roddy White, WR, $12,007,280
2. Dunta Robinson, CB, $9,957,000

Kansas City Chiefs:
1. Matt Cassel, QB, $15,005,200
2. Glenn Dorsey, DE, $13,070,000

So the highest paid players on the other teams are all really good or pretty young with an upside. Stacy Andrews is neither of these. So the mystery still remains, why is Stacy Andrews paid so much money?

Sources: Yahoo Sports,

USSM Fan Night

Last weekend on Saturday September 4th both Matt and I went to a Mariner’s fan night hosted by USS Mariner and Lookout Landing (for those of you that don’t know these are two great Mariners blogs). The event was awesome. It started with a Q&A with four authors from the blogs. After about 20 minutes of that, GM Jack Z showed up with Amateur Scouting director Tom McNamara and Special Assistant to the GM Tony Blengino. As GMZ fielded questions about the M’s we were treated to getting to watch the mariners batting practice. After all that everyone headed to a mixer where we got t-shirts and a chance to hang out and talk baseball with like minded fans.

There were several highlights through out the night. For me the best part had to be getting to have a small group question and answer session with Tony Blengino. To my surprise both Tony and Mac headed to the mixer along with the fans. Neither made it inside the gated area though as the Mariner’s faithful surrounded each of them to ask some burning questions. About ten of us huddled around Tony and fired off Mariners related questions which he was very happy to answer. It was really cool to get to hear someone with so much insider information talk about the Mariners, something he is obviously passionate about.

With all that said here is a list of some of the interesting things we heard and saw during our time at the event.
• When asked about this season GM Z described it like flipping heads on a coin 25 times in a row. Basically every single player on the team has underperformed this year (Felix excluded). He is still confident in the direction the team is headed.
• Tacoma Rainier’s Outfielder Greg Halman is a very unique player. The Mariner’s front office thinks he has all the tools to be successful but as a young player has not developed them enough yet. Halman’s two most striking skill sets are his power and ability to strikeout. The power is something the Mariners could use dearly. Halman hit 33 dingers in AAA this year. However, he is currently striking out 39.9% of his at-bats. This is a staggering high rate. When asked about it Tony B said with a laugh, “at least he isn’t making two outs.”
• During our time with Tony B, someone asked a question about the Yankees and other teams that tend to out spend everyone. Tony’s response was reassuring. He stressed to the crowd that the teams that win do it with home grown talent and only use free agents to supplement a few weak positions. He highlighted teams like the Phillies (Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels) and the Red Sox (Kevin Youkillis, Dustin Pedoria, Jacoby Ellsbury). The Mariner’s plans are to focus on developing a strong farm system that will allow them to succeed for years to come.
• When asked about the draft, Tom McNamara mentioned that he prefers hitter to pitchers, but will also take the best available player regardless of position.
• All three team exec’s gushed over Felix Hernandez. Basically the Mariners know how absolutely blessed they are to have a pitcher of his caliber on their team for so long. When describing Felix Tony B said, “he is the man” and “the guy has four plus pitches.” On top of that they are all impressed with Felix’s character. That is really good. Hopefully he spends his whole career here.
• When asked if the team had any bright spots this year other then Felix, Tony B talked about Josh Wilson and Michael Saunders. It sounds like with Josh Wilson the current regime envision a player something like Mark Mclemore or Willie Bloomquist, a super sub. The team is really high on Saunders, specifically his progress at the plate this year.
• Everything you read about Ichiro’s hidden power is true. During batting practice he launched 4 or 5 consecutive homers, none of them cheap shots.
• The conversation with Tony B didn’t stay on baseball the whole time. Some how he got talking about Brett Favre. Apparently baseball front office types are sickened by the whole drama surrounding number 4 as well. He told a funny story about his shock at the level of Brett Favre love in Wisconsin. Before he worked for the Brewer’s Tony lived in Philly. As many people know the fans there are famous for being terrible. Tony described them as, “eating their young.” When Tony first got to Milwaukee it was still at the height of Brett’s Packers career. Every weekend, during football season, all of the Wisconsin media would run 10-12 hours of Brett Favre worship. This was straight Brett Favre talk to, nothing focused on the Packers, just Favre. This came as a huge shock to someone used to Philadelphia media.
• Tony’s B thinks Mariner’s have a shot at making the playoffs soon, even as early as next year. He explained his rationale. Every team in the division has weak spots. Even this year’s current leaders, the Texas Rangers, don’t have a clearly strong team next year. The Mariners have a lot of high variability players. On top of that since the AL West is the only division with 4 teams they all have a better shot at making the playoffs every year. Those things added together mean if the coin flips go the other way next year the Mariners could have a chance. Of course this is a big if.
• Tom McNamara is really impressed with Nick Franklin. Currently a shortstop in AA, Franklin set a team record for homeruns this year. He is still really young and a few years away, but McNamara sees the tools for him to put it all together at the major league level.
• Tony B said something about Yuniesky Betancourt being one of the best 700 baseball players in the world. The list is still being calculated but we have gone through 664 players so far and he isn’t on there.