Author Archives: Andrew Long

by | March 2, 2011 · 8:42 pm

M’s Acquire Aaron Laffey

To put a cherry on top of one of the most boring off-seasons in recent organizational history, the Mariners traded for left-handed pitcher Aaron Laffey today.

Laffey broke into the majors at the age of 22 and has been extremely mediocre ever since.  Over his 4 year career Laffey has pitched 320.1 innings, has gone 18-21 and posted a 4.41 ERA.  His K/BB ratio is bad, at 1.21 but his ground-ball rate is decent.  His repertoire includes a sinking fastball (the reason for his decent groundball rate), a slider and a change-up.

The folks over at Lookout Landing are not very high on him, comparing him to Horacio Ramirez (all of our favorite Mariner).  Dave Cameron takes a little more of a positive outlook on Laffey .  My thoughts are a little closer to Cameron’s.  I think Laffey can find a spot on the team, and would fit best in the bullpen.  He could fill in part time as a 5th starter, but anymore than part time would be a little too much as of right now.  There are a group of other left-handed, soft throwing pitchers (Nate Robertson, Luke French, Garrett Olson, Royce Ring, and so on) that Laffey will be competing against.  Laffey does have a minor league option left, so he can provide rotation depth right down I-5 in Tacoma.

Unlike the other lefties in the “pile” (a term that Lookout Landing has called all of the mediocre pitchers assembled by the Mariners) Laffey does have postseason experience.  He was good.  4.2 innings of shutout baseball, in the midst of a game where his team was getting blown out.  Yes, this paragraph is a joke.

In return for Aaron Laffey, the M’s gave up Matt Lawson.  Lawson is a 25 year old prospect, who was the 4th piece in the Cliff Lee trade last summer.  His upside is to be a utility infielder, so we’re not losing much. Lawson did post good numbers in AA last season, but I don’t think we’re losing the next Shin-Soo Choo here.

All in all, this trade leaves me with a feeling of indifference.  It seems that most of the blogosphere agrees there.  This isn’t much to get excited about, but it’s also not much to get upset about.  It’s just not much, period.

There is one reason why this trade is exciting.  Try to keep up with me here.  Laffey was traded to the Mariners for Lawson.  Lawson was traded to the Mariners with a few other players for Cliff Lee.  Cliff Lee came to the Mariners via the Phillies and came to the Phillies via the Indians.  In 2008, Lee and Laffey were competing for the 5th spot in the Indians rotation.  Lee won the job and then went on to win 22 games and the Cy Young.  This leads me to believe that whoever beats out Laffey for the 5th spot in the rotation will win the Cy Young.  Everything will come full circle.

Andrew

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by | March 1, 2011 · 5:01 pm

News From the Desert

Sadly, I’m not taking in Spring Training in person.  On this dreary Seattle day, watching baseball under the warm sun, with a Pepsi and hot dog in hand, sounds about perfect.  Instead I’m stuck reading about every bit of Mariner news coming out of Peoria.

Nothing major has happened in Spring Training.  No news is good news at this point, because it means that people aren’t getting injured.  Sooner or later, there will be roster cuts to discuss but for now we’re left talking about these very not-news worthy bullet points:

  • Undefeated!  The Mariners have not lost a game in Spring Training yet.  What does this mean?  Nothing.  But, I suppose you’d rather win than lose.  On Saturday, the Mariners won in the 10th inning because of the late-game heroics by Carlos Peguero and Josh Bard.  On Sunday, our Mariners tied with the Padres.  Then today, they beat the Rangers 5-4.  If these results continue, the Mariners will give us some of the most exciting Spring Training (oxymoron) Seattle has ever seen.
  • Erik Bedard is still healthy.  Pitchers and catchers reported to camp 16 days ago and there has been no news of Bedard falling apart.  We’re still a long ways away from the season starting and to expect Bedard to pitch a full year is a bit unrealistic, but this has been a good start.  He pitched on Saturday against the Padres and had a 1-2-3 inning.  If he is healthy, the Mariners rotation starts to look pretty decent.
  • There have been several stories about Dustin Ackley and Michael Pineda staying in the minors because of the service time issue.  Jeff Sullivan, over at Lookout Landing, gave us the reasons (or excuses that will be given) as to why Ackley and Pineda might start the season in the minors.  Geoff Baker also touched on what those two are working on.  The sensible thing is to start these guys in the minors.  If the organization keeps them in Tacoma for 2 months, then they gain a year in which they’re under contract.  But, there are reasons why they should start with the team too.  If the Mariners don’t improve, Jack Z won’t be around in 2016 when Ackley’s and Pineda’s extra year would be played.  If these two are the best option for the team right now, I can see why the organization would want to put them out there.  It might not be the most sensible thing but it could result in a few extra wins that would save Z’s job.
  • In today’s game Steve Baron and Adam Kennedy both hit a home run.  For those of you that don’t know anything about these players, they aren’t exactly known for their hitting.  Dan wrote a post about making 3 half court shots in a row the other week.  He wondered what the odds were.  I can guarantee the odds of Steve Baron and Adam Kennedy each hitting a home run in the same game are far worse.  Baseball is great because of things like that.
  • Maybe the biggest news out of the Spring thus far doesn’t have to do with the team working out.  The biggest news may be the signing of James Paxton.  He hasn’t officially signed yet, but he’s in Seattle today having a physical.  Paxton was the 4th round pick by the Mariners in last years draft, and was the 37th overall pick in 2009.  He’s left-handed starter who could really bolster the Mariners minor league pitching depth.  Once he enters the organization, Paxton will most likely be in the organizations top-10 prospects and one of the best pitching prospects the Mariners have.  He has barely pitched over the last year and a half, but if he shakes off the rust good things could be in his (and the Mariners) future.  Lookout Landing has a piece on him.Prospect Insider, which has the best insight on the Mariners farm system in my opinion, says they’d place Paxton as the number 9 prospect on the organization.  That’s assuming he can get back to the pitcher he was before the long lay off.

That’s about all the news that I’ve found interesting.  Of course, it’s hard to follow this team without think of the man missing in the broadcast booth.  The loss of Dave will be felt throughout the season, and it has already began.

Thanks for reading!

Andrew

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by | February 25, 2011 · 4:28 pm

Would You Rather?

Last week, Dan put up a post with his pre-season all-AL West team.  Matthew, in the comments, alluded to the lack of star power in the division.  When you look at the list Dan has assembled (which I think is pretty accurate, especially the first team) the amount of stars on the team are a bit underwhelming.

With that in mind, I thought I’d compare Dan’s list to the best players in the AL East (which is the strongest division in my opinion).  These are all my opinions and I’ve based them on prior season stats, sabermetrics, and potential.  I choose to just assemble a first team for both divisions because the topic is star power, not depth.

1st Base
AL West:  Kendry Morales, LAA
AL East:  Adrian Gonzalez, BOS
The Winner:  Gonzalez (AL East)

Overview: I’m pretty high on Morales, I think he is vastly underrated, but Adrian Gonzalez is one of the top players in the game.  Gonzalez edges out Teixeira for the 1st baseman in his division.  Teixeira would be a first teamer in the AL West.

2nd Base
AL West:  Ian Kinsler, TEX
AL East:  Robinson Cano,  NYY
The Winner:  Cano (AL East)

Overview: This one’s a fairly obvious choice also.  Kinsler is a good player, and is an all-star when completely healthy, but Cano is the best 2nd baseman in the league (edging out Utley).  Cano posted a 6.4 WAR in 2010 (he hit .319 with 29 homers while playing decent defense).  Kinsler can post similar offensive numbers when healthy but he’s only played over 130 games once in his career.  Cano has played 159 or more the last 4 seasons.  Maybe in a couple years we’ll be seeing how Ackley stacks up against Cano.  Here’s to hoping.  A healthy Pedroia enters into this conversation, also.

Short-Stop
AL West:  Elvis Andrus, TEX
AL East:  Yunel Escobar, TOR
The Winner:  Andrus (AL West)

Overview: I might take some heat for putting Escobar over Jeter but I put him there because Jeter is one of the worst defensive short-stops in the league, while Escobar is pretty sharp.  The AL East is pretty weak at short-stop and Andrus wins this one easily, based on potential alone.  Both Escobar and Jeter put up WAR’s in the 2’s last year and Andrus put up a WAR of 1.5.  But, if I had to choose one of those 3 players to be on my team this year, I’d take Andrus without question.  His bat will continue to get better, while his defense is superb (unless he has a Yuniesky-type flop).  J.J. Hardy could also sneak into the picture for the East.

3rd Base
AL West:  Adrian Beltre, TEX
AL East:  Evan Longoria, TB
The Winner:  Longoria (AL East)

Overview: The East shows their dominance in this position.  They have Longoria (a top-5 player in the league), A-Rod (a future hall-of-famer, who’s put up at least 30 HR’s and 100 RBI’s each of the last 7 seasons), and Kevin Youkilis (who’s more annoying than A-Rod, but just as effective) who each have a strong case to be picked over Beltre.  I love Adrian, he’s one of my favorite players in baseball, but Longoria wins this one easily.

The rest of the positions after the jump.  Continue reading →

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by | February 17, 2011 · 12:14 am

What’s the Difference?

The Huskies basketball team is heading into their most important week of the season.  They were everyone’s favorite to win the Pac-10 in the pre-season and through the beginning of conference play.  Then, they stumbled in 3 straight games against teams that aren’t in the top 3 in the conference.  That leaves this week’s games, against ASU and Arizona, as must-wins if the Dawgs want an outright conference title.

Over the course of the Huskies 3 game losing streak, there was something completely off about the Huskies.  They didn’t look the Washington basketball team that we’d all grown used to.  Then, in their home games last week, it all came together again.  That leaves us to ask the question, what was the difference?

The two obvious things you can point to are team defense and home-court advantage.  Those clearly were huge reasons for the turn around.  But, the team I saw dismantle Cal last week was completely different than the team that lost at Oregon State.  So, are there more reasons why the Huskies were a different team last week?  Of course.  Here’s my stab at a few of them:

  • Venoy Overton – Throughout this season, Venoy hasn’t been the same player he was last year.  There were too many turnovers, not enough assists, and his defense wasn’t where it used to be.  Part of it was the refs calling him closer due to his reputation, but the intensity just didn’t seem to be there.  Last year, the first time V.O. came off the bench and into a ballgame it seemed as if a wave of an energy had washed over the building.  This year we haven’t felt that.  Losing Abdul Gaddy also didn’t help Overton, as more pressure was put on his back as a point guard.  Last week, Venoy was close to getting back to his old self.  He was driving, scoring, dishing, and, most of all, harassing opponents on defense.  When he’s like that, this team is at another level.  He pushes the pace and frustrates opponents.  This will come up as a key this week, specifically against Arizona.  The Wildcats point guards, although they’ve improved, are prone to turnovers and that could change the game around.  I could make an argument for Overton being the Huskies most important player going forward.  We know more or less what we have with I.T., MBA, and Justin.  We know some other guys will knock down shots.  But, if Overton is the player he was last season this team takes a step forward.
  • The Role Players – Many people would count Overton as a role player, but I think he’s a little more of a key to success than the role players.  The role players I have in mind here are Scott Suggs, C.J. Wilcox, and Darnell Gant.  When all these guys play well, I think the Huskies are as good as anyone in the country.  Scott Suggs and C.J. Wilcox are straight shooters.  If they make their shots, then they’re doing their job.  Percy Allen wonders if Scott Suggs is taking a step forward, and it sure seems like he has in recent weeks.  I still count anything he does other than shooting well as extra.  The same goes with C.J. Wilcox.  Last week, we saw Wilcox at his best.  He was scoring quickly and scoring in bunches.  If he is shooting like that, he needs to be on the court about 20 minutes a game.  The other role player, Gant, serves a different purpose in my opinion.  Gant is there for rebounding and for his defense.  If Gant grabs 5 rebounds a game, or more, than he is doing his job.  Also, we all forget that Darnell is an underrated defender.  For his size, he has great agility which gives him an advantage against other guys his size.  Lately, Gant may be shooting a little too much, but it’s good to see him with confidence.
  • Big Plays – I don’t think there are too many “big play” basketball teams, but this is one of them.  This team builds off of them.  Think back to the 3 game losing streak.  How many alley-oops were there?  How many fast-break dunks? How many great passes that led to made 3-pointers?  Not many.  Last week came and there were more highlights than you could count.  The home crowd does play a part in this one, but still a big play on the road can really change the momentum.  I think hustle plays lead to big plays, and maybe the Huskies were lacking their usual hustle on their 3 game skid.
  • Help Defense – In my opinion, defense was the biggest cause of the losing streak and the wins last week.  I think Romar would agree and just about anyone else who covers the Huskies.  But, one small aspect that was remarkably better the last 2 games was the Huskies help defense.  Yes, the on ball pressure was much better but the help defense made it that way.  I’d like to see the amount of charges the Huskies took in their 3 game losing streak compared to their 2 game winning streak.  Charges weren’t the only stat that proved that.  The Huskies also had an amazing amount of blocked shots over the last 2 games that proved their help defense.  If the Huskies are going to win, they can’t allow all the open lanes that we saw during their 3 game losing streak.

There are surely more points to be made on this (and feel free to put them in the comments).  But, these are a few hidden keys in order for the Huskies to be successful.  Go Dawgs!

Andrew

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by | February 9, 2011 · 3:53 pm

A Look Ahead… Way Ahead

A couple of days ago, Bob Condotta posted the Washington Huskies scholarship players, by class (here’s the link).  To summarize, the Huskies are a team that are primarily made up of underclassmen.  Only 31 of the current 87 players (yes, this is 2 over the scholarship limit but those things will sort themselves out) are juniors and seniors, the rest are sophomores and true/red-shirt freshmen.

Looking at these numbers, I couldn’t help but think that the Huskies may be able to get to the point where they “reload” instead of “rebuild.”  Yes, they have to become a better team overall to get to that point, but there doesn’t appear to be a class that will set them back a long ways, through graduation.

With this in mind, here are my projections of what the depth chart will look like over the next 4 years.  This shows what the Huskies have done in building toward the future, while improving tremendously over the last 2 years.  Yes, there will be recruits who come in over the next couple years who will start 4 years from now, but these are my projections based on who’s on the roster now.  Also, the depth chart for next year is completely subjective, this is just my general feeling of who will start in the coming years.  (Most of these will be 2 deeps, but some will just list starters).

2011: (starters in bold)

Offense:

QB:  Keith Price (RS SO.)/Nick Montana (RS FR.)/Derrick Brown (Fr.)
RB:  Chris Polk (RS JR.)/Jesse Callier (SO.)/Deontae Cooper (RS FR.)/ Johri Fogerson (SR./RS JR.)
FB:  Zach Fogerson (SO.)/Kimo Makaula (SO.)/Dezden Petty (FR.)
WR: Jermaine Kearse (SR.)/Devin Aguilar (SR.)/James Johnson(JR.)/Kasen Williams (FR.)/Cody Bruns (SR.)/Jordan Polk (SR.)/Kevin Smith (SO.)
TE: ASJ (FR.)/Michael Hartvigson (RS FR.)/ Marion Barnett (SO.)
LT:  Senio Kelemete (SR.)/Erik Kohler (SO.)
LG: Micah Hatchie (RS FR.)/Daniel Kanczugowski (JR.)
C: Drew Schaefer (JR.)/ Mykenna Ikehara (JR.)
RG: Colin Porter (SO.)/Ikehara (JR.)
RT: Erik Kohler(SO.)/Skylar Fancher (SR.)

Comments on the offense: If this holds true, the Huskies would only lose 3 seniors that our starters (Jermaine Kearse, Devin Aguilar, and Senio Kelemete) and only 6 from their 2 deeps (add Jordan Polk, Cody Bruns, and Skyler Fancher).  With that being said, Chris Polk is almost surely headed to the NFL, so that leaves a hole at running back.  Johri Fogerson is applying for a red-shirt and seems likely to get it, so we’ll call him a RS JR.  The Huskies will lose two stars at receiver next year but have the depth to make up for it.  It won’t be a huge drop off after this year.  Although, the skill positions will need to step up.

I listed both Price and Montana as the starter because no one has any idea who will start.  Also, Hatchie and Kancugowski will be an interesting battle for the final guard position (assuming Kohler moves to right-tackle).

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by | February 3, 2011 · 5:11 pm

Reviewing Signing Day

In case you were in a coma yesterday, National Letter of Intent Day was going on throughout college football.  I had a thread going on during the morning and early afternoon, but now that all the dust has cleared, I thought it’d be a good time to go back over what exactly happened yesterday.  In the next few weeks we’ll take a look at some of the players the Huskies signed, but for now I’ll just give you a quick rundown of what happened yesterday.

What We Lost (heading into the week there were 3 players who were committed to the Huskies that signed with someone else.  Here’s who they were and where they went):

  • Pauley Asiata – Asiata was the number one ranked prospect in Hawaii and was an interior lineman.  He was considered, by most, the best offensive lineman the Huskies were going to sign until he changed his mind.  Asiata ended up signing with Colorado yesterday.  Out of the 3 players the Huskies lost, this one probably hurt the most.
  • Stephan Nembot – Nembot spurned the Cougars to verbally commit to the Huskies a few weeks ago and then spurned the Huskies to sign with Colorado.  He’s a linemen that may play on either side of the ball (probably defense).  Nembot, originally from Cameroon, could develop into a beast of a player but is looked as more of a project right now.  Stephan seemed completely overwhelmed by the recruiting process and I actually felt somewhat bad for him, seeing how this could seem quite foreign to him.
  • Kameron Jackson – Jackson had long been committed to the Huskies but instead switched to Cal early yesterday morning.  He’s from Cal Poly High School, who has a good pipeline to the Golden Bears.  He’s a cornerback, who earned a 3-star rating from Scout.

What We Gained (Signing Day did bring us one surprise):

  • Antavius Sims – Antavius Sims seemed to come out of nowhere on signing day.  He was more of a backup plan, but his athleticism makes him an exciting prospect.  Sims put up some good stats playing quarterback at JC, but he will most likely be a corner for the Huskies.  He’s 6’2″ 205 lbs. and reportedly runs a 4.3 40.  You can generally find a spot for a person like that on your football team.

Overview:

Many people have lost excitement about this class because of the 3 players the team lost yesterday.  What those people are neglecting is the stars that signed yesterday.  The Huskies locked up the best players in the state and added some quality players from out of it.  In light of the De’Anthony Thomas drama that went down yesterday, Dawg fans should be happy with the stars we signed.  It was a good day to be a Husky fan, and yesterday went a long ways toward helping our future.

Andrew

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by | February 2, 2011 · 7:40 am

National Signing Day Thread

NEMBOT TO COLORADO — The last piece the Huskies could have potentially added was Stephan Nembot, but he picked Colorado instead.  That leaves this class at 23 guys.

NICE RECAP — This is a nice little round-up of every player that has signed so far, via gohuskies.com.

PAUL WULFF — Here’s a Paul Wulff chat with some Cougar fans earlier today.  I know it’s hard to reflect excitement through typing, but he sure doesn’t try.  This seems like the opposite of Sark.

SURPRISE! — While I was away, taking a test, the Huskies announced that they signed a JC player named Antavius Sims.  I know nothing about him other than he will either play quarterback or safety.  He will be a junior.  Here’s his bio.  As far as names go, this is about as good as it gets.  I’ve always wanted to cheer on a player named Antavius.

I’ll have more notes after I watch Sark’s press conference. (12:40)

SLOWING DOWN — The news has stopped for a while and so I’m going to slow down on the blog for a while.  Sark’s press conference is at noon, and I’ll be back with some thoughts from that this afternoon along with any news that comes out.  Go Dawgs!

NUMBERS BY POSITION UPDATE —

QB – 1
RB – 1
FB – 1
WR – 4
TE – 1
OL – 2
DL – 3
LB – 6
CB – 1
S – 2

Just a few observations on those numbers:  Obviously, the thing that jumps out at you is the number of linemen.  There’s only 5 linemen so far.  That’s a small number but this was considered a very weak class of lineman on the west coast.  Last year was far better, and the Dawgs signed 5 offensive linemen last year.  Next year is also supposed to be better.  Hopefully, Nembot commits but I wouldn’t worry too much about the numbers there.

The coaches did a good job of loading up at linebacker, where the Huskies lost the most last year.

The Huskies only lost one cornerback from last year, so only signing one there isn’t a problem.

Also, the running back position is pretty loaded, so only signing one isn’t a surprise at all.  Dezden Petty isn’t necessarily just a fullback either.  Some people envision him as a Lendale White type of guy (the USC version).

VAN ACKEREN GONE — Bellevue high senior, Kendrick Van Ackeren,  has signed with Hawaii.  I thought he’d be offered late by the Huskies with Jackson ending up at Cal but it might have been too late if that happened.

IS THIS IT? — The Huskies have received 21 LOI today (22 if you count Tutogi) and everyone who was expected to sign has.  Now, we’re waiting on Stephan Nembot and Pauley Asiata to officially announce.  The Dawgs seem to have a much better chance with Nembot than Asiata.  Anyone else who signs with the Huskies would be a surprise. (9:27)

ANNOUNCEMENT TIMES — Stephan Nembot, an offensive lineman, is set to announce whether he’s going to Colorado or UW at 2:00 today.  Because of the lack of lineman in this class, this is a pretty important player to pick up.  Jacoby Brisset, who is a long shot to pick UW, is set to pick his school on Friday.  (9:21)

BIO’S — I haven’t been linking many bio’s lately because I’m usually posting before they update.  They are on this page, just scroll down a little bit.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…. —- In baseball news, Chris Jakubauskas has signed with the Orioles.  Bummer.  (This is a joke)

WOODWARD ON KJR — Scott Woodward, UW’s athletic director, will be on KJR in just a couple of minutes.

5 TIMES’ BLUE CHIPPERS IN — All 5 of the Seattle Times’ Washington state blue chip recruits have now signed with Washington.  Condotta reported that this is the first time that’s ever happened.  Those 5 players are ASJ, Kasen Williams, Danny Shelton, Bishop Sankey, and Taniela Tupou. (9:09)

DANNY SHELTON IN — Another highly rated guy from Washington is in and that is Danny Shelton.  The Huskies won the battle for Shelton’s services with Oregon.  He’s a defensive lineman.  (9:05)

JAMES SAMPLE IN — S James Sample is in.  He’s a highly rated S out of California.  He’s expected to compete with Taz Stevenson and Sean Parker in future years at the SS position.  That area has really become a strength of the team.  (9:00)

UP TO TWENTY — I think that puts this class at 20.  Things will probably slow down now.  There haven’t been any surprises so far, aside from Jackson to California.  Condotta is doing an interview on KJR right now.  He has pretty good insight into some things.

MARCUS PETERS IN — The first cornerback of the class has now signed, Marcus Peters.  He’s also from California.  (8:55)

FEENEY AND TUFUNGA IN — Travis Feeney who is either a safety or linebacker has just signed.  Also, Siosifa Tufunga, an OL from California, is now in.  He’s just the second offensive lineman to sign as of right now.  (8:52)

LINKS — Here’s a link to the live chat they have going on at gohuskies.com.  Here’s another link to Bob Condotta’s Husky blog.  Everyone’s reporting pretty much the same thing, but they’re probably doing a little bit better job of it than me.

LYON’S IN — Matthew Lyon’s, a linebacker out of California, has now signed with Washington.  ROAR!  (8:47)

SANKEY IN — G00d news, as Bishop Sankey has signed his LOI now.  He’s the only, true running back in this class and is one of the highest rated backs on the west coast. (8:39) Here’s his bio

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by | February 1, 2011 · 4:58 pm

Catching Up

The Good Guys’ are a little busy lately, and you may have noticed by the lack of posting.  Last week was the busiest week of my life.  Matthew is in school, observing school, about to teach school, and working all at once.  Joe is keeping up his busy life.  And Dan trumps us all by being a new father.  That should explain the lack of fresh material.  So, here’s the short end of what we missed this last week (going by teams):

Seattle Mariners: We didn’t miss much… They signed Jamey Wright, which is fine and fits in with all the other minor pieces that add depth to the roster.  They had FanFest, which is pretty cool.  Chone Figgins was about to be traded, and then he wasn’t.  Maybe the most exciting bit of news that’s coming out lately is all of the prospect lists that include Mariner prospects.  Most of the “Top 100 Prospects”  lists include 3 Mariners, and those are Dustin Ackley (second baseman), Michael Pineda (starting pitcher), and Nick Franklin (shortstop).  There are still some pretty significant lists to come out, but all of them are sure to include these 3 players.  Ackley has generally been in the top 5-20 prospects.  Pineda is usually somewhere in the top 10-30 prospects and Franklin generally comes in around 35-50.  This is something to be excited about if you’re a Mariners fan.  The depth in the organization is in a better place than it has been in years and is further proof that I think Jack Z is one of the best GM’s in the game despite the lack of results the big-league club has shown.

Spring Training starts in a couple of weeks and that will give us more meaningless news to talk about.  Yes, you read that right.

Husky Basketball: A week after a very strong showing against the Arizona Wildcats, the Huskies played their worst game of the season in losing to Wazzu on Sunday night.  It was not fun to watch, which is something we don’t say about this team very often.  They played extremely sloppy and couldn’t make a shot to save their lives in the 2nd half.  Lots of people are pretty worried about the way the team looked, I’m not.  That was the most hostile environment the Huskies will play in all year (don’t get me started on their fans), and the Cougars played the best I’ve seen them play.  Frankly, I think the dawgs just had an off-night.  I also think it’s pretty telling that the Huskies played their worst game of the year, the Cougars played one of their best and it was still only a 7-point loss.  We’ll get them back at Hec. Ed.

Husky Football: Here’s what we really missed.  Every year in college football, recruiting gets more hectic, and that has never been more telling than the last 2 weeks.  I won’t go into detail about recruits who will be signing tomorrow (because I plan to be having a live thread throughout the morning and afternoon that will be about the recruits) but there seems to be a new rumor every hour.  Today’s special rumor includes De’Anthony Thomas (who some services have as the number 1 recruit in the nation) coming to UW along with about half his team.  I’d be willing to bet a lot of money that this won’t happen, but it’s nice that the Huskies are in the center of all these rumors and shows that the program is becoming relevant again.  I have a feeling that tomorrow could yield some special surprises.  And if not, this class is still great!

By the way, tomorrow should be a national holiday.  I plan to make it a holiday for myself.  I will be running a live thread throughout the day (aside from going to one class for a test and having to stop by work for 15 minutes).  If you have any questions on recruits or anything Seattle sports related, stop by and put something in the comments.  If all goes as planned, I should be starting around 7 or 7:30 in the morning, so stop by!

Thanks for reading!

Andrew

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