The Legend of Qwest Field

As if the home of the Seattle Seahawks was not already the most widely feared stadium to poor offensive lineman who get caught with false starts, but now the legend grows as a seismometer near the stadium is now also on the list of things that jump due to the fans.

Yes, as Marshawn Lynch ran for his electric touchdown to put the nail in the Saints coffin there was such a ruckus that it registered as a type 1 or 2 earthquake on the meter. The quake actually had three different bursts in that match up with the times of when he broke through the line, stiff armed Tracy Porter and plunged into the endzone.

http://www.pnsn.org/req2/hawks.html

The design of the stadium has already been talked about with its goal to direct crowd noise on the field, but I don’t think that can affect the outcome of shaking the earth. Some may point out that it must be the size of the fans…yeah…maybe. I believe if your crazy enough to have been beaten down by the dreadfulness that had been Seattle sports for so long and still be a fan, you’re going to go absolutely insane when an event like that happens at that perfect moment in the game.

Now as for the legend, in thirty years when it no longer exists we will be grandfathers telling tales of Qwest Field, the arena that opposing teams feared more than the Seahawks themselves because every time it erupted Mt. Ranier would spew out lava and chase the foes out of town! Pesky foes, what were they thinking entering the great Qwest Field.

But seriously the fact of the matter is, fans created an earthquake. This equals awesome and should be talked about for years to come. Go Seahawks!!!

He Saved My Fantasy Team

The man, the myth, the legend, Peyton Hillis, who was traded for now third string quarterback Brady Quinn, is now dominating every team he plays. The man, if you can call him a man, is a beast.

Not only in fantasyville either. Because of his rushing ability he has brought a poor Browns team who have used three different QBs this year from the basement of the league to being a contender and a real scary team to play coming down the stretch.

For those who were to late to pick up this guy in their fantasy leagues, here’s a thing you might not know about his game. He isn’t a one dimensional guy. Some teams have slowed him down running the ball this year only to find that he has fifty plus receiving yards and a receiving touchdown.

Although however he gets the ball, once he has it he is looking to do one thing, score. The main way he does this is by running over and through anyone who gets in his way. The guy is a force, and the only reason my fantasy team has a shot this year.

 

Blake Griffin

Has anyone taken the time to watch the highlight reel that is Blake Griffin? I know this guy plays for the Clippers but come on! He is ridiculous! If I lived in L.A. I would want to go to every game to see what he’s going to do next!

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5843639

This guy is scary good. It’s not only his dunks either, he handles the ball, loves to rebound, runs like a gazelle, shoots well, and can post up and bang when needed. If he can stay healthy look for big things to come from the other team in L.A.. Maybe not this year, but if I’m at all right they will climb the ladder soon.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5834368

King Felix

King Felix finally gets his first Cy Young Award. Even though he only has 13 wins as opposed the 21 of C.C. Sabathia and 19 of David Price, he still was the better pitcher this year.

His team could only get him thirteen wins even though in his last fourteen starts he left seven of them in the seventh inning or later without giving up a single run!

Quoting from Jason Stark of ESPN his team had a “historically bad offense”. Which is true! The Seattle Mariners scored fewer runs in a full season than any other team in the DH era has ever scored. That is abysmal. Most people get more runs after eating at Taco Time than the M’s scored this season!

 I am so glad that stats have gotten so much deeper than wins and losses. It really helps us see who is actually doing the best for their team even though their team isn’t helping them out. You can even see now how many runs certain teams had while that pitcher was pitching.

The M’s scored just 3.06 runs per Felix start while C.C. got almost 6 runs per outing. Felix gave up only 62 runs the entire year while C.C. gave up 84. I am not saying C.C. is not a good pitcher, he is. I am just glad the voters got it right even though the win totals did not show it. Felix Hernandez Deserved the Cy Young this year.

My Heart Goes Out to Oden

When I heard that Greg Oden was going to be out for yet another season, my first reaction was disappointment. But not just disappointment for my team who is desperate need for their big man back, or disappointment for the fact that our number one overall pick is still not able to play, no, I felt disappointment for Greg himself.

There have been numerous reports of how hard this player has worked to get back into playing health and shape. He has been training for years now with no real benefit due to his injuries. To work hard for something and not be able to see the payment has got to be extremely hard. But not even that is why I feel for this guy.

Greg Oden has expressed multiple times that he feels the weight of the first pick on his shoulders. He feels responsible to the city and the fans to play well and live up to that draft pick status that he was given. The sad thing is, is that his body is not even giving him the chance to prove he his worth it.

 Everyone keeps saying the word bust in reference to Greg, but I do not think that is fair at all. Scott Van Pelt is right when he says that word is rightfully given to guys who just aren’t very good, who just don’t work hard, or who fail drug tests, not for guys who work their butts off and never get the chance to show what they can do. 

So Greg Oden, my heart goes out to you. Keep working hard, get healthy, and I hope you get your chance.

My first Game Recap for Channel 20 CCM.

NFL Season Extension Talks

So here’s the deal, the NFL, money grubbing as they are, are trying to make the season an 18 game season. Are you kidding? The riggors of this sport are already crazy and injuries happen more often than a hobo eats a ham sandwhich.

The players have shown some agressiveness against the longer season, but in my opinion not enough. Now they have issued some demands of their own if there is an 18 game season. Here are some of the main points.

• Voluntary offseason workouts would be reduced from the current 14 weeks to five weeks or 20 days (four days a week, four-hour maximum per day).

• Significantly reduced contact between players during training camp with four practices a week consisting of helmetless and padless periods.

• Two in-season bye weeks.

• Expanded rosters from the current 53 to 56 or 57, in addition to practice squads.

• Increased pro-rated salaries for players under contract.

• Reduction of the amount of games players need to become vested to qualify for post-career health care and pension benefits.

Now, most of these are great, more byes, more players and more money. Yeah ok we get it but, the reduction of off season workouts and less contact practices?! Do you want to get hurt the minute you step on the field?! Do you want the product you put on the field to get worse cause you’re not prepared?! The league, besides Ray Lewis and a few others, already is dismal at tackling and you want less contact practices? Ugh.

The little time put into contact in practice has shown in the last few years with the increase in poor tackling. Sometimes it just seems like tacklers are lost and flailing at the offensive players. Seriously, less contact in practice will lead to more injuries on the field and, I know it’s hard to believe, but even worse tackling.

Thank You Dave Niehaus

I know many people have probably already written touching words, recorded tear jerking segments, and filmed near religeous shots about the great announcer who touched so many with his voice. All I have left to say is thank you Dave. Thank you for all the memories of good times brought to life by the sound of your love for the game and for our Seattle Mariners. Thank you Dave, you will be greatly missed.

M’s offseason

It is free agency time in the MLB and we’ll see if the Mariners will go with their usual choices. Will it be the washed up old stud, injury prone or the one season wonder?  The M’s do have another favorite, which is giving up on draft picks.

I must admit last year wasn’t too bad, but that was only because Cliff Lee is a stud. They were right to trade him away, but Justin Smoak? Seriously? I don’t see it.

But how many times have we seen it in the past where the M’s have gone out and made “the big sign” and it’s been “the big bust”.  (COUGH Sexson COUGH).

The M’s are not too far away from being a good team.  They have the best young pitcher maybe behind Lincecum only (who by the way the M’s passed on and took Morrow instead, and then stunted Morrow’s growth and promptly gave up on him).

They have some good young pieces but their off season’s tend to screw it up by bringing in the wrong pieces.

So here’s to the Mariners ruining another off season, cheers.

Oregon… ugh

My hate for the Oregon Ducks runs deep in my bones and is pulsated through my veins with every beat of my heart, but they are the best team to watch this year in college football, and maybe the best team in the country.

I absolutely hate myself for writing this, but they are so good that you watch teams bring their best effort week in and week out to hang around for a half and then it all slips away into a blow out.

USC thought they had a chance. They led, they even led late and then they blinked, and all of a sudden the game was well out of reach.

The only hope I have as a Beaver fan is that OU goes undefeated into the Civil War game and then choke so the Beavs can knock them out of the National Championship game. I know that is not likely though.

The Beavers have much to look forward to when their QB gets some experience, but this year it would take a break down for them to beat the Ducks. The stage would be set though, as it is in Corvallis this year, so I’ll be hoping and praying.

The only thing that comforts me about that game is that I am also a huge PAC 10 fan and I really want a PAC 10 team to win and shut up the east coasters who continually down play our league.