It’s Been A Good Year

Today marks one year of existence for the Good Guys blog.  It’s been a funny year in Seattle sports.  One of the first posts I wrote was about the Mariners resigning Erik Bedard.  I was excited, for good reason, saying that even in the worst case scenario, it was a great signing.  What I didn’t expect was that every worst case scenario (save for Felix and Cliff) would come true for the Mariners.  The future looks brighter now for the Mariners.  I can’t wait to watch Dustin Ackley and Michael Pineda develop, and it’s about time that a guy like Michael Saunders became a productive major leaguer.  Still, 2010 was about the most depressing year I could imagine for a baseball team.

Luckily, we got to cover the Huskies last minute run into the Sweet 16. It took three quarters of the season to get them rolling, but once they got there, it couldn’t have been any better. Quincy Pondexter was dominant, Matthew Bryan-Amaning turned into the guy we all were waiting for, and the Pac-10 tournament brought a championship and an amazing amount of unintentional entertainment. And it introduced the world to Beach Girl 5 and Unbreakable. Ultimately, the season ended a little short, but that tends to be the case for most teams, and this was one team that was worth cheering for.

I didn’t really realize it until just now, but the Husky football season somewhat mirrored the basketball season.  After high expectations to start the year, the team fell a little flat, sitting at 3-6 and needing three straight wins for their first bowl game in years.  They got them in dramatic fashion, on the shoulders of Chris Polk, Mason Foster and Jake Locker. More than a few people predicted a Holiday Bowl appearance when the year started, but no one thought they would slide in with a 6-6 record, and no one gave them a chance in a rematch against Nebraska. They surprised us all, with one of the great performances we’ve seen from the Dawgs in a long time. Jake Locker didn’t have the personal season most expected, but he improbably accomplished his goal of leading his team to a bowl game. He leaves Husky Stadium a legend and someone to be remembered for how he played the game and all he gave to the University of Washington. We’ll miss you, Jake.

The year also brought the World Cup, another successful Sounders season, and a Seahawks playoff run that was improbable, controversial, and earth-shaking, literally. Now we’re a week away from spring training for the Mariners, just past football signing day (Andrew’s favorite holiday). If the Huskies can get rolling on the court again, we’ll be well on our way to a great year.

Aside from using this as an opportunity to shamelessly link all of my favorite posts from this year, I want to thank everyone who read anything we wrote this past year.  We started writing this mostly for ourselves.  Andrew (my brother), Dan (brother-in-law), and I thought it would be easier writing all of our sports thoughts than texting them to each other or waiting until we were together to talk about them, so almost on a whim we started this blog.  Joe joined up a few days later, and we’ve had a blast writing this past year.  While we’d probably be writing this whether anyone reads it or not, we’re still excited and honored that anyone takes the time to stop by.

You never know what a year is going to bring, in sports or in life.  This past year has seen Dan become a father, and I went back to school, where I’m about to start student teaching.  This time next year, hopefully I’ll be teaching high schoolers how to write.  Whatever comes along, I’d have a tough time without sports to follow.  It’s a diversion during bad times, and it can make the good times even better.  Hopefully this year brings a Final Four, a Rose Bowl, and anything good at all for the Mariners.  I won’t be picky on that. 

On behalf of all of us writers here, thanks for reading and sharing in the experience.  We’d love to hear from more of you this year.  Take care, and we hope this next year is a good one for all of you.

-Matthew