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Hard! Hard! Haaarrd!!!

You know what sounds nice for when I get home from work tonight?  Watching some curling.  You would think that if FSN isn’t going to show the Husky game tonight, they could at least put on some occasional curling instead of the steady stream of shows no one cares about that is their regular programming. 

Take it to the house!!

-Matthew

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Husky/Cougar Prediction Thread

I thought we should try this again.  With the Huskies and the Cougars in action tonight, post your prediction for each game in the comments.  Joe did a great preview of the Husky-*uck game earlier this week and predicted a narrow UW victory.  I’m thinking along the same lines.  I’ll take the Huskies 80-73 over the Ducks.  I think Quincy will have a good last weekend and IT might be getting hot.  (Bold predictions I know, the grass might be green and the sun might be bright.)

As for the Cougars, I think they win.  For some reason I have this thought that WSU is better than they really are and so I pick them to win a lot.  I’ll take the Cougars by 5.  Lets say 66-61 WSU.  Casto and MBA continue to be the best big men in the pac! 

Post your predictions in the comments, I imagine yours will be closer than mine!

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I hope this is a jinx but…Canada will win Gold

Sorry to be the pessimist, but as excited as I am for tomorrow’s gold medal hockey matchup between USA and Canada, I have fully prepared myself for a loss. I’ve sensed this re-match coming ever since last Sunday. Of course I want the Americans to duplicate their success against Canada, and I suppose luck could stay on their side one more time, but I just don’t see it. I don’t have compelling stats or great logic even to back it up, but I do have an unbroken formula for games like this which I will share later.

I realize the Americans have yet to trail for 1 minute of this tournament, but I’ve watched enough sports to know how championship games like this typically play out. It’s the same feeling I have watching UW play UCONN in the NCAA tournament, or the Mariners versus the Yankees in an ALCS, the Seahawks versus the Steelers in the Super Bowl, or on a more personal level, seeing my Bothell Cougars play for a state title. It’s a scene I am all too familiar with. Call it the Seattle sports fan syndrome. Now, you’re probably saying, wait, the Americans DID do it already, and just a week ago at that, so why not again? Yes, they did beat Canada 5-3, but was it for a championship? Nope. This past year I watched my underdog Bothell Cougars beat top ranked Skyline in a fantastic game, but a re-match loomed ahead. The second time around, Skyline was not surprised and they won when it counted most. I see Sunday’s contest following this script.

I know how fickle sports, and particularly hockey, can be. It’s like baseball in a lot of ways, in that on any given night, a goalie (or a pitcher in baseball) can almost single handedly win a game. I suppose Ryan Miller could just stop everything tomorrow, and he is certainly capable. But again, I go back to the pattern that sports has shown me for my 24 years of existence. And for this, I have a formula, which I have yet to see broken: MT+UD+CG=L

my team + underdog + championship game = LOSS

I have countless examples of this formula and it’s accuracy. ’95, ’00-Mariners; ’96-Sonics; ’02-USA hockey; ’05-Seahawks; ’06, ’09-Bothell. Each time my team was an underdog, (although the favored ’01 Mariners and ’07 Bothell teams also lost), each time they were playing for a conference championship or title game, and each time the result was a big L. I have seen some of my teams win conference championships (’96 Sonics, ’05 Seahawks, ’00 Husky football, and ’08 Husky basketball), but in each case my team was favored, so it was somewhat expected.

Canada is playing on home ice, with their confidence restored, a new goalie in net, and everything on the line, including sweet revenge over the Americans. They will win that game. If you disagree, at this point you might be yelling “Dan, what about 1980 at Lake Placid? What about the Mariners in 1995 ALDS? What about George Mason making the Final 4, or the Jets, Giants, or Saints beating all odds to win the Super Bowl?!!!!!” Sports are littered with Cinderella stories, and monumental upsets. I have personally witnessed some, such as Weber State over North Carolina at Key Arena, or more recently UW beating USC last year. But none of these under dogs fit the exact mold of my formula, other than the 1980 USA team, but I wasn’t born yet! So in closing, Go USA!!!!!…but be prepared and happy for a silver medal.

-Dan

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USA v Finland – Quick Thoughts

First off, I really love to watch high level hockey, so these Olympics have been exciting to watch. I mean, I watched Sweden v. Slovakia and Finland v. Czech last night via the computer just because I love the sport. Do I have a life? Yes, it’s just that sometimes you gotta do your homework to know what the heck you are talking about.

The US will face Finland tomorrow at high noon in Vancouver for the right to play for the gold Sunday afternoon, and most likely face home-country favs Canada. I like Team USA here. Finland has two stud goalies in Kiprusoff and Backstrom, and some solid forwards (Selanne, Jokinen and the Koivus), but the Americans bring the toughness to the ice, and I think they can get a lead and sit on it. In last nights game with Czech, Finland looked very sluggish offensively. There was no explosion to the net, and their one legit goal was a fluky one in which one of the Czech defenders lost his helmet, (according to Olympic rules requires him to immediately go fetch it) thus he vacated his post covering his goalies blind right side. Finland threw something on net and it went in. I was actually not impressed with Finland all that much. Kiprusoff was solid, as usual. He is one of the better goalies in the world, so I expect him to carry Finland. If they have any shot at beating the Americans, he will have to be a wall.

For the Americans, they must stay aggressive in the offensive zone. They literally controlled the entire game verses Switzerland. The Swiss really had no shot once Team USA scored. Bobby Ryan and David Backes have been solid on defense, while Parise and Rafalski continue to provide pressure on offense. I was impressed with the Americans ability to change tactics throughout the game verses the Swiss. Switzerland was really locking this down on defense, so the Americans had to adjust their strategy, and it worked. They wore Switzerland down. A one goal lead was all they needed.

In the end, I see Team USA winning this game. They know what is on the line. They have grinded and fought to get where they are today, so I expect them to bring their A-game and defeat the Fins. The game will be close because Kiprusoff will keep it that way, but I think the Americans strike first, and then apply pressure the rest of the game, forcing the Fins to make mistakes along the way.

I am sensing an historic USA vs Canada match-up Sunday for the gold…

Joe

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Interesting Chip Kelly Interview

This has been linked at several blogs and websites but I thought this was interesting.  Chip Kelly sounds very defensive and angry.  Enjoy!

http://www.955thegame.com/95-5-Game-Special—Kelly-Vs–Canzano/6428097

Andrew

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Another Duck Down

Wide receiver Jamere Holland has been kicked off the Oregon Ducks because of a regretful facebook post.  http://deadspin.com/5476701/oregon-pretty-much-imploding-before-our-very-eyes.  How dumb can you be?  I really don’t know what to say anymore.  Really, I’ve sat here for like 10 minutes trying to think of my next sentence but I’m in shock.  Umm…. Go Dawgs!  http://www.ducksportsnews.com/blog/2010/02/jamere-holland-dismissed-from-ducks-football-program/

Update: Here’s another fun link on this story http://bustersports.com/blog/buster-blog/2010/02/21/pac-10-oregons-jamere-holland-has-a-lot-of-growing-up-to-do/

Update #2: This is too much fun! Another good article.  http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2010/02/canzano_even_after_dumping_jam.html

Andrew

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More Duck Trouble

Reserve Oregon linebacker Kiko Alonso was picked up at 2:19 a.m. Saturday morning cited for DUII.  This was literally hours after coach, Chip Kelly, met with the media about Oregon’s off the field problems.  This is getting really ridiculous.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindducksbeat/2010/02/oregon_football_kiko_alonso_ci.html

Andrew

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Some Non-Depressing Friday Thoughts

(I had no idea me and Joe had just about the same ideas for a post until I put this up.  Thankfully we covered some different things but sorry that it’s the same idea!)

At about 9:20 last night I was sitting in my car, shivering and listening to the Husky game on the radio (all the TV’s were taken at school).  In between yelling at the radio and fist pumps I started thinking about my blog post for today.  I was fully prepared to recount one of the most exciting comebacks in Husky history.  Ready to talk about Quincy Pondexter’s buzzer beater for a one point Husky win.  Ready to talk about how this comeback victory could give the Huskies the steam they needed for the rest of the season.  I left my car 15 minutes later disappointed and exhausted.  The dawgs didn’t win.  So, after that devastating loss and a ho-hum week I don’t want to recap that game.  As my good friend R. Kelly wisely said, “It’s the freackin’ weekend baby, I’m about to have me some fun.”  So lets start this weekend off with some happy thoughts!

  • The talks continue this week about the expansion of the pac-10.  There have been several good articles lately that have advocated that instead of expanding to 12 teams the pac should go to 16.  In my opinion, this makes sense.  If the conference simply expands to 12 teams with the addition of Colorado and Utah I question that they’re mainly adding to the quantity of the conference instead of the quality.  But if an expansion to 16 teams happened, the possibility of adding a powerhouse such as Texas grows significantly.  Why would a team like Texas go to the pac-10?  Mainly for research and academic reasons but lets take a look at an interesting scenario.  The Big-10 is looking to expand to 16 teams with teams like Missouri and Pittsburg.  If this happened they would leave most other conferences in the dust in terms of prestige and revenue.  To keep up with them the Pac-10  might need the state of Texas.  If the Longhorns were to come that means that Texas A&M would most likely have to come.  And then Texas legislation may not want these two schools to jump ship without Baylor and Texas Tech.  Add these 4 schools plus Colorado and Utah and this has turned into our 16-team super conference.  This would not only increase the quantity of the conference but also the quality.  Do I think this is likely? No, not really.  But I think it makes more sense than adding 2 teams that would barely help the perception of the Pac-10.  If the Big-10 expands the dominoes would start to fall.  Then it will be a battle between the Big-12 and Pac-10 to stay relevant.  I like the Pac-10’s chances in that scenario. (I don’t know if this makes any sense to anyone else or if you find this interesting, but it was somewhat intriguing to me so I thought I’d share.)
  • Ken Griffey Jr. arrived in Peoria today.  Geoff Baker reported that he was seen talking to Cliff Lee.  When Lee was first traded here it was apparent that he’d rather be in Philly and who could blame him.  But there’s nothing like a little talk with a future hall-of-famer to make you feel more at home.  I can just picture Jr. and Lee sitting at a table sharing stories and having a laugh.  That thought really makes me smile.
  • Danielle Lawrie picked up her 100th career victory this week.  The softball team is 6-1 and the good guys’ favorite

    Hooch

    Husky female athlete, Hooch Fagaly continues to have success.

  • Rob Johnson is the Mariners catcher.  Sorry I forgot this was supposed to be cheerful.
  • Chip Kelly held a press conference today that addressed the teams off-field issues.  He had some interesting quotes.  “I always believe discipline is improving behavior.”  Obviously you don’t use discipline Chip.  He also said, “There can’t be a rush to judgement” and “I’ll wait for some of these to play out in a court of law.”  Looking at this from my biased opinion it feels like he’s saying, “Lets see if these things will blow over.”  And finally he said, “We don’t accept this and won’t accept this.”  That sounds great but how will you un-accept it? I’m just a little confused….
  • 39 days until Husky spring practice starts.  69 days until the Husky spring game.  And 196 days until I’m in Provo watching the Dawgs!  Football and baseball are on the horizon!

Thanks for reading this very random post!

Andrew

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