by | November 17, 2012 · 10:08 am

UW vs. Colorado Predictions

I don’t have any Colorado jokes, so let’s pay brief homage to one of the most delectable dishes on the face of the earth, Chile Colorado.  At its best, bite-sized hunks of beef cook in a slightly spicy tomato sauce until fork tender.  Sometimes I eat the hunks by themselves, maybe with a little rice.  Usually I wrap them in tortillas with said rice and dip in the sauce.  Perfection in a mini burrito.  Yum!

I doubt our opponents in Boulder had anything to do with Chile Colorado’s origins, since it’s considered a Mexican dish.  Still, the Buffaloes can take comfort in knowing something great bears their name, because their football team is closer to Puerto Vallarta than it is to greatness.

Joe

For whatever reason, I’m worried about this game, which stems from my lack of confidence in the Huskies on the road. Their win at Cal helps, since Colorado is a weaker, less talented version of the Golden Bears. Colorado is essentially a Big Sky team. The Huskies should have no problems, even with the strange 11 am local time start. Run the ball with Sankey, play action to ASJ and Kasen. Sounds familiar? Yeah, been saying this for weeks, and Sark has been doing it. I think UW gets it done, despite my road worries.

UW 35 – CU 13

Matthew

I share some of Joe’s concerns about the Huskies road woes, but Colorado is really bad.  They play hard, so it might stay close for a quarter, but the difference in talent should take over shortly after that.  The only reason to think the Huskies will lose this game is because it’s on the road and because we’ve come to expect the worst as Husky fans.  Luckily, the school should have already gotten some of its customary terribleness out of its system after the basketball team’s loss to Albany on Tuesday.  That was horrible.  The football team would likely have to play worse than the basketball team did to lose to the Buffs.  Hopefully this will be a chance to coast to an easy win, rest a few guys, and get a pass rush going.  Dawgs win big.

UW49 – CU 10

Andrew

I have nothing negative to say about buffaloes.  What a beautiful creature.

The Huskies should beat Colorado easily.  If they don’t, it may be something of a disappointment (even if they win).  This game doesn’t have much intrigue.  In his weekly Husky prediction, Bob Condotta didn’t break down the game, he just talked about an interview.  The ESPN guys each wrote one sentence about this game.  Those are three guys that I like to read the most and they gave next to zero insight to this game.  And that was fine, because there’s next to zero insight needed.  The Huskies are much better than the buffaloes and the final score should reflect that.  The Dawgs should roll, after coming out flat (because no one expects much of a game) and win by over 20 points.  Sankey should run for 200 yards, Keith should be extremely efficient and Derrick Brown should get a 4th quarter of playing time.  Matthew said whoever picks the highest score for the Huskies gets bonus points.  I don’t know what this means exactly but I know that I shouldn’t pass up bonus points.  So, with that in mind…

UW 63 – Colorado 17 (Bonus points all around!)

Dan

I don’t know how exactly to break down tomorrow’s game other than to say Colorado is horrible and despite difficulties on the road, UW will win. The win will get Washington to 7-4, setting up an Apple Cup showdown and  a chance to get to 8 wins for just the 5th time in the past 20 seasons. Am I being overconfident? Probably, but seriously, CU is really, really, really bad.

Huskies 38 – Buffaloes 20

 

Bonus points to Andrew!  Good job Little Guy!

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by | November 17, 2012 · 12:54 am

Pac-12 Picks – Week 12 (And a little something extra!)

Never fear, the picks are here!  After the jump, I have an abbreviated version of the mascot rankings that I’ve come to know and love.  Hold your applause for the comments.  Before the jump, I’ll give you the picks and the Good Guys’ records for this Pac-12 season, that is all of a sudden winding down.

Arizona at Utah
Dan, Matthew, Joe:  Arizona
Andrew:  Utah

WSU at ASU
The Good Guys: ASU

Stanford at Oregon
The Good Guys:  Oregon 😦

California at Oregon State
The Good Guys:  Oregon State

USC at UCLA
Andrew, Joe, Matthew:  USC
Dan:  UCLA

The Record:
Dan (64-14, and he’s also correctly picked 18 games in a row from what I can tell..)
Joe (61-17)
Andrew (60-18)
Matthew (60-18)

Not to toot our own horns too much but the Good Guys have gone a combined 44-4 in the last 2 weeks.  Yeah, not too bad!

Follow the jump for some fun!  As always, the Husky picks will be up soon!
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by | November 10, 2012 · 12:20 pm

Pac-12 Predictions – Week 11

I’m late on this and don’t have much time so we’ll go without tthe standings. Dan is winning….

Arizona vs. Colorado
Good Guys: Arizona

ASU vs. USC
Good Guys: USC

Cal vs. Oregon
Good Guys: Oregon 😦

UCLA vs. WSU
Good Guys: UCLA

Stanford vs. Oregon State
Dan, Matthew, Andrew: Stanford
Joe: Oregon State

Go Huskies!

Andrew

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by | November 9, 2012 · 5:41 pm

UW vs. Utah Predictions

I don’t have a lot of time, so here’s a joke.

Once there was a tiny little baby who could somehow talk. Even more amazingly, this baby found itself standing next to Kareen Abdul-Jabbar on the subway. The baby looked Kareen up and down. Both stood in silence, eyeing each other, waiting for either to make the first move.

Finally, when the tension was too much for the master of the skyhook to bear, the baby winked at him and said, “Utah.”

Joe

As confident as I am the Huskies will win Saturday night, I am not confident they’ll win big. Utah is not a good team, but they are tough, which is a reflection of their coach. Kyle Wittingham is no non sense, and his teams are always ready to play. The Utes are coming off two blowout home wins over the hapless Cougars and Golden Bears, which really doesn’t tell us much. The Huskies are coming off an ugly win over those same Golden Bears, but also over a highly ranked and very good Oregon State team. I look at that win over OSU as the bar. The Dawgs play vastly better at home vs the road, and Utah has been very poor away from campus. I expect the UW to run the ball well, and work in play action with Price to ASJ and Kasen. If this sounds familiar, it should, it’s what I said they had to do last week. And they did. And they won. The Huskies have a golden opportunity to run the table and get to 8 wins, which would be a tremendous milestone for this program under Coach Sark. Quite honestly, anything less than running the table will be a massive disappointment. Utah is very beatable, and we know the chaos ensnaring UW’s last two opponents. I think the Huskies know this, and they’ll play with urgency on Saturday night, the final home game before going back home to the new Husky Stadium next season.

UW 23 – Utah 17

Matthew

We know a couple of things about the Huskies at this point. At home against an FBS team, they will probably score 17 or 21 points. They will also hold their opponent to between 13-17 points, meaning they usually win (as long as the opponent isn’t USC). Utah is playing better of late, but they still have a weak offense with a true freshman quarterback. The big challenge will be for the Huskies to deal with a stout Utah defensive line led by All-American Star Lotulelei. If they can do that well enough to get Bishop Sankey to 100 yards and give Keith Price some time to throw, this might be the time we see the Huskies break that 21 point barrier. Even if they don’t, I think they win this one.

UW 28 – Utah 17

Dan

At this point in the season we pretty well know what the Huskies are. The offense is not going to suddenly revert to 2011 form like we've all hoped, nor will the defense go back to last years dismal level. Keith Price is an average QB and Sankey is the key to the offense, surprising as that is to say. My only fear about tomorrow's game is that we don't know this Utes team. I don't just mean Husky fans, but everyone, Utah fans included. I suspect Utah fans want to know if their team has taken the next step with Wilson at QB and a re-energized team following a rough start. I think Utah is closer to the team it was at the beginning of the season than the juggernaut that rolled over Cal and WSU, which is why I see a Huskies win tomorrow on Senior Night at the Clink.

UW 27 – Utah 17

Andrew
Lately I’ve been giving reasons why the Huskies will win and then picking them to lose because I’m superstitious and all that. The Huskies are a good team at home and Utah has Bern a bad team on the road. It’s that simple to me. If the trend continues the Huskies will win. I’m worried about Trufant not playing and if that happens the game may be a little closer or a loss. Also, Utah very well could be a good team. They have improved a lot no doubt. With that being said, I’m taking the Huskies.
UW – 20 Utah – 13

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by | November 7, 2012 · 4:30 pm

Husky Seniors – Cole Sager

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be looking at some of the Husky seniors who will be playing their last games as Dawgs.  Although the senior class is small in numbers, I believe there are some favorites out there.

More often than not, athletes are termed as arrogant.  Whether that’s the case is something that may be worth arguing, but I think we’ve all heard this at some time or another.  I’m not a professional or collegiate athlete (nor will I ever be), but it stands to reason that maybe a certain level of arrogance is needed to play sports at these high levels.  Sports are mental and physical games, and to be at your physical best you have to believe that you are one of the best.  That doesn’t mean all of these athletes think less of the people watching them, it just means they expect a lot of themselves.  Still, we see some NFL receiver spouting off on ESPN about how they’re God’s gift to the world, and most fans are turned off.

Cole Sager is possibly the least heralded player on the University of Washington football team.  He came to U-Dub as an invited walk-on in 2009, the first season of the Sark era.  Before that, he was a running back and linebacker for the Burlington-Edison Tigers, who he helped lead to the state playoffs his junior and senior season of high school.

After coming to Washington, Sager was immediately inserted on special teams.  In 2009, he was awarded with the scout-team special-teams MVP.  He also played a little bit on special teams as a freshman.  He’s continued that role for each of the past 3 seasons.  While he practices with the running backs, he has yet to see a carry and will probably finish his career with more tackles (12 at the moment) than rushing yards.  

College football teams need players like Cole Sager.  They add depth and do what you ask them to do to the best of their ability.  While Sark is trying to get the overall talent level to where it needs to be, Sager has filled in admirably on special teams.

That’s not what I’ll remember Cole Sager for though.  Every home game, he runs out of the tunnel with the rest of the team.  He comes down to the end-zone by where we sit and prays, like a good share of the team does.

Most athletes pray on a knee and then get up and move to the sideline.  While I don’t know what most athletes pray specifically, I imagine that it’s against injury, that they play their best and that God is glorified through it all.  Again, that is just my best guess and I’m sure some players pray for more.

Once Sager reaches the end-zone, he takes off his helmet.  He holds it in one of his hands and then he stretches out his arms towards the east and west ends of the stadium (these are the bigger portion of stands) and prays.  It appears as if Sager is praying for the people in these stands.  While nothing can be certain without an actual interview, this is what I choose to believe he does.  The world is made up of different beliefs, religions, and ways to look at life.  We tend to keep to sports here on the blog and not say much about our faith and we’re going to keep it that way.  But, whether you believe in a God or not, Cole Sager is praying, to what he believes to be the most powerful thing in the universe, for the fans.  That’s the opposite of arrogance.  That’s selflessness.

Cole Sager will run out of the Clink’s tunnel in front of the hometown fans one more time on Saturday.  He will probably line up on the kickoff team, and I sure hope he makes a tackle.  But, what I know he’ll do is stand in the end zone, hands stretched out towards the bleachers and pray.  Personally, I’d like to thank him for that.  Good luck in whatever comes next, our prayers will be with you.

Andrew

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by | November 7, 2012 · 2:49 pm

Where Did All the Good Mariners Go?

Mariner fans frequently complain about players getting good after they leave the Mariners.  Mike Morse, David Ortiz, Shin-Soo Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera, all were Mariners who got traded and then became really good.  Sometimes, the complaint is made somewhat tongue in cheek, but there’s always some honest frustration burning beneath the joke.  There’s no avoiding the truth: there have been Mariners or Mariner prospects who only got good after they left town.  It would be really nice to have them still in uniform.  It would be nice to have anyone good in uniform.

The thing is that every team has these players.  Some teams have less talent in their organizations, so few of the players contribute for any team.  Some organizations are especially good at evaluating their talent and trade away or release fewer players who ultimately contribute somewhere.  They keep the good guys for themselves, essentially.  There are ways teams can minimize the talent they let go, but they will always have some players who become stars or solid players elsewhere.

I bring this up because the Mariners are shortly going to have to part ways with a lot of players who could eventually wind up in the category of players they want back.   Continue reading →

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by | November 4, 2012 · 1:08 pm

The Schedule and 1 Impressive Stat

My biggest pet peeve with college football is not the lack of a playoff system, the absurd Pac 12 referring, or even Oregon fans. I don’t like any of those, but far and away I most detest the inconsistencies related to scheduling, which often makes it difficult to evaluate teams. I could go on and on about this, as most of us can when we get to talking about our pet peeves, but I’ll try to keep this concise and get on to the Husky talk.

For starters, we’ve seen how a Boise State team can beat 1 good opponent and 11 nobodies, and back into a BCS game. Or how about Notre Dame, currently ranked 3rd in the country, despite playing 6 of its first 7 games at home, and having just 4 road games total! As for our rival, Oregon, well they managed to not step foot on another school’s campus until their 7th game of the season. Meanwhile, UW has had to go through murderer’s row, but folks (media included) generally ignore this stuff because we prefer to look at a team’s W-L record and decide how good they are. That works in most sports, just not college football. You see, the Huskies are 1 of 13 FBS teams with s 5-4 record,  but our schedule through 9 games has been historically brutal, a factor that ought to be weighed. And weigh it we shall!

Consider this. In games 2-8 this season, 5 of the Huskies 7 opponents were ranked top 10 in the country. If that’s not crazy enough, another foe in this stretch was a night game in Tucson, and we all know how that went. Thank God the Huskies won 2 of those games, otherwise we’d be sitting at 3-6 and fans would be calling for Sark to be fired. Again, fans look at records, which I understand in a bottom line business, but to form reasoned opinions you have to look at the whole picture. When 66 BCS conference schools play just 12 games each, and each school gets to pick 3-4 of these games, records can get pretty misleading. The Huskies are 5-4, but give Sark the schedule that the other dozen 5-4 teams have, and we might be talking about a 7-2 or 8-1 team, and a top 15 ranking. That’s pretty dang annoying to me.

My point is this, we are starting to talk about a team that could go 8-4, and at this point there’s probably a 40-50% chance UW wins 9 games total in 2012, despite that unprecedented 7 week stretch. I’ll be ecstatic if this happens because the program will continue its upward trajectory in the Sark era. We all know Rose Bowl talks can’t happen until the gap closes with Oregon, and until the Huskies learn how to play decent against good teams on the road, but still, 8 or 9 wins (with this schedule!) just 4 years removed from 0-12 would be awesome.

Finally, and somewhat unrelated to this rant about scheduling, as I was watching the ugly game vs. Cal on Friday, I started thinking how much trust I have in Sark when the game is close. I decided to see what Washington’s record is in games decided by 8 points or less (a 1 score game), in Sark’s 4 years. I discovered an impressive stat, which is that after starting 2-5 (remember those brutal losses in year 1 at Notre Dame, ASU, UCLA!) since then, the Huskies are 10-0 in games decided by 8 or less. 10-0! You’ve probably heard this Husky team called inconsistent, but actually this team is consistently good at home, consistently good in close games, and consistently awful on the road. It’s about as simple as that, except not really. When evaluating Sark, the Huskies, et cetera, remember to weigh these factors, and remember that the Cougs lost to Colorado at home. That happened, and it ought to cheer you up daily.

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by | November 3, 2012 · 12:38 am

Pac-12 Picks – Week 9

Matthew is getting credit for this post, but this is really Andrew.  I’m on Matthew’s laptop and am too lazy to log him off.  That was something you didn’t need to know.

The Huskies got a road win tonight!  It was one of the ugliest football games I’ve ever watched but they won.  We might have more of a recap in the next few days but for now, here’s the picks!

Arizona at UCLA
Joe, Dan:  UCLA
Andrew, Matthew:  Arizona

Arizona State at Oregon State
The Good Guys:  Oregon State

Colorado vs. Stanford
The Good Guys:  Stanford

Oregon at USC
The Good Guys:  Oregon 😦

Utah vs. WSU
The Good Guys:  Utah

As you can see, there won’t be much separation made this week.  Here are the standings on the year, including tonight’s UW-Cal game.

Standings:
1.  Dan (53-14)
2.  Joe (51-16)
3.  Andrew (50-17)
3.  Matthew (50-17)

There we go!  Have a good weekend.

Andrew

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