by | November 19, 2010 · 4:11 pm

One Down, Two to Go!

Last night, the Husky football team closed out their home schedule with a 24-7 win over UCLA.  The defense had their best performance of the season and the team closed out the game like they needed to to get a victory.  Over the next two weeks, I plan on writing a few posts on the Husky seniors, but for today I want to address the biggest question left on this season: Can this team make a bowl game?

The Huskies sit at 4-6 right now with two games remaining.  Obviously, the Huskies have to win the next two to assure themselves a spot in the post-season.  They can do this.  They play an inconsistent Cal team and then a Cougar team, that is improving but is still the worst team in the conference.  Last night was a good team effort by the Huskies but I’m still not feeling very confident in our chances.  These things have to improve:

  • The defensive line needs to continue to improve. Last night, the Dawgs d-line played their best half of the season, in the second half.  Ta’amu and Jamora made 12 tackles combined and there was some penetration.  Yes, UCLA’s offense in the second half was absolutely terrible but some of the credit has to go to the Huskies defense for that.  These lineman have to keep getting better and cause penetration.  They face a tough task next week against Cal and Shane Vereen but expect the gameplan for the defense to be much like it was against UCLA, forcing Cal to throw.
  • Keep the Rushing Attack Going. If the Huskies run for over 250 yards in each of their next games, I like their chances.  This will especially be essential against WSU, in a freezing game that will be all about running the football.  Sark needs to make a commitment to running the football often over the next 2 games, much like he did in the second half.  Also, as Locker gets more healthy I think they need to let him run more.  These are the last 2 games he has.  I think he would agree with me here.
  • Converting 3rd and Shorts. This was the most frustrating part of the game yesterday.  I don’t know how many third and shorts the Huskies had but I can only think of them converting on one of them.  It’s probably more but it didn’t feel like it.  The play calling needs to be more creative on 3rd and short and the players need to execute better.
  • Colin Porter needs to start. This is the most questionable of these points, but, in my opinion, the offensive line is clearly better when he’s in the game.  He was in most of the second half when the running game really got going and was in the game on the first touchdown drive also.  Christine is a leader and gives an all out effort, but Porter is just better.  It seems like this has been the case all season.

Surely, there are other keys but these are the ones I can think of without getting extremely obvious.  That’s all for now, have a good weekend and thanks for reading!

Andrew

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by | November 15, 2010 · 2:07 pm

Pac-10 Bowl Update

In a dog eat dog conference, earning 6 wins is proving to be a tough task for everyone except Oregon, Stanford, and Arizona. USC is of course out of bowl discussion, as is Washington State and Arizona State. That leaves California (5-5), Oregon State (4-5), UCLA (4-5), and Washington (3-6) fighting to earn 6 wins. As it stands nows, the Pac-10 bowl picture looks like this:

  • Tostitos BCS National Championship Game: Oregon vs. BCS team
  • Rose Bowl Game: Stanford vs. Big Ten
  • Valero Alamo: Arizona vs. Big 12
  • Bridgepoint Education Holiday: California vs. Big 12
  • Hyundai Sun: No team
  • MAACO Las Vegas: No team
  • Kraft Fight Hunger: No team

    • Remaining Schedules:
    California: vs. Stanford, vs. UW
    Oregon State: vs. USC, @Stanford, vs. Oregon
    UCLA: @UW, @ASU, vs. USC
    Washington: vs. UCLA, @WSU, @Cal

    Oregon State is all but dead in this discussion, as is UCLA. The Beavers would need to win 2 of 3 against the top 3 teams in the conference. UCLA could very well get 2 more wins in their final 3, and sneak into the Sun Bowl, however, a loss to Cal earlier makes a Holiday Bowl bid impossible assuming Cal wins 1 more game. If Cal loses to Stanford and beats UW, which is the most likely scenario, they will play in the Holiday Bowl assuming Stanford goes to the Rose Bowl. Ironically, if Cal beats Stanford and UW, they will most likely end up in the Sun Bowl, rather than the Holiday because Stanford would be knocked out of Rose Bowl contention. Finally, Washington has the most simple route to a bowl game. They must win all 3 of their final games to be bowl eligible. And the reward for doing so would be terrific. Here’s why…
    If UW beats UCLA and Cal, and Oregon and Stanford handle their remaining games, the Huskies will be playing for a Holiday Bowl bid in the Apple Cup on 12/4. Believe big!

    -Dan

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    by | November 13, 2010 · 1:43 pm

    Pac-10 Picks: Week 11

    Last Week: Andrew (5-0), Dan (5-0), Joe (4-1), Matthew (4-1)
    Overall: Dan (52-8), Matthew (51-9), Andrew (50-10), Joe (47-13)

    Week 11:

      Washington St.-Oregon St.

    Oregon St.—The Good Guys

      Stanford-Arizona St.

    Stanford—The Good Guys

      Oregon-California

    Oregon—The Good Guys

      USC-Arizona

    USC—Andrew; Arizona—Dan, Matthew, Joe

    -Dan

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    by | November 11, 2010 · 2:32 pm

    Brutal 7 Game Stretch Over, Is Hope Alive?

    As frustrating as the Dawgs have been to watch the past 3 weeks, it is easy to forget that they are just coming off a 7 game stretch in which 6 of the opponents were ranked at the time. The one unranked opponent, ASU, was obviously no gimme either.

    I wonder if any other team has had a murderer’s stretch like that this season. UW went 2-5, which is about what I’d expect. Here is a look at these brutal 7 games with the ranked teams in bold.

    Sat, Sept 18 vs #8 Nebraska L 56-21 1-2 (0-0)
    Sat, Oct 2 @ #18 USC W 32-31 2-2 (1-0)
    Sat, Oct 9 vs Arizona State L 24-14 2-3 (1-1)
    Sat, Oct 16 vs #24 Oregon State W 35-34 2OT 3-3 (2-1)
    Sat, Oct 23 @ #18 Arizona L 44-14 3-4 (2-2)
    Sat, Oct 30 vs #13 Stanford L 41-0 3-5 (2-3)
    Sat, Nov 6 @ #1 Oregon L 53-16 3-6 (2-4)

    It gets easier starting next Thursday, and with 3 winable games upcoming, 6-6 is still within reach. So, can the football team repeat what the basketball team accomplished last year? Remember how low that team was after a home loss to USC, which dropped their conference record to 7-7? I sure do, partly because I was at that game. Then remember them reeling off 9 wins in a row after that? I realize the football Huskies are a far cry from the basketball Huskies, but I have a funny feeling this season has a long way to go.

    -Dan

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    by | November 10, 2010 · 6:44 pm

    R.I.P. Dave Niehaus

    Dave Niehaus just passed away from a heart attack today in his home.  The longtime Mariner announcer was relatively young, 75, and seemed to have every intention of coming back year after year to be the voice of the Mariners.  The Mariners have changed managers, players, and front office officials many times over their 33 year history but Dave was the mainstay.

    Sometime soon, we’ll look back at our memories of this hall-of-famer but for now we offer up our thoughts and prayers to his family.  Dave was the best of the best in the announcing booth and seemed to be the same way as a man.  You’ll be missed, Mr. Niehaus.  Seattle has suffered some bad days in sports lately, but today is more than sports.  Thank you for everything, Dave.

    Andrew

    Update: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzMgO-mrarU

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    by | November 9, 2010 · 4:25 pm

    Congratulations Ichiro and Guti

    Today, after a 2010 season in which nothing went right, 2/3 of the Mariner outfield were rewarded with Gold Gloves.  Ichiro won his 10th straight Gold Glove and Franklin Gutierrez won the 1st of his career.

    Much has been made of the Gold Glove award since the development of advanced defensive statistics in baseball (UZR, run prevention).  These sabermetrics have shown that the Gold Glove award is, more or less, bogus.  The leading example of this is Derek Jeter winning the award despite his terrible range (shown by UZR).

    With that being said, Franklin and Ichiro deserve these awards.  They both are in the upper echelon of defensive outfielders and have shown that through the course of their careers.  Guti may have deserved the award more last year but when it comes to the Gold Glove award, we aren’t going to be picky.

    Both of these guys deserve to be acclaimed and they were today, so congratulations to them.  If the season was a dark room, your defense was a very small lamp that lit up a corner.

    Andrew

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    by | November 9, 2010 · 1:21 am

    The Huskies 5th Starter

    Lorenzo Romar and the Husky basketball team officially begin their season this Saturday but there is one big question that hasn’t been answered yet, who will be the Huskies 5th starter?  As of right now, the Huskies have this as their set lineup:

    PG: Abdul Gaddy
    SG: Isaiah Thomas
    F: Justin Holiday
    C: MBA

    That leaves one guy, obviously.  In the exhibition game last Saturday (that all of the Good Guys attended and will eventually recap) Scott Suggs took the 5th starting spot.  He played pretty well, scoring 11 points and looked impressive with his jumper.  But, I don’t think he won the starting job over.  Also, I don’t think that picking this 5th starter is all that hard.

    The 5th starter, in my opinion, should be Darnell Gant.  I wasn’t sold on this idea until watching the game on Saturday.  Here are 3 quick reasons why I think Darnell is the guy.

    • Rebounding. The Huskies were out-rebounded in their exhibition game.  Sure, they weren’t playing as hard as they will in the regular season, but this is still a shock.  Scott Suggs is not a great rebounder.  Gant won’t completely solve the rebounding issue, but he will help.  Rebounding will be an issue for this team and Gant is one solution that has to be looked into.
    • Defensive Matchups. With Scott Suggs in the lineup, Justin Holiday had to guard the 4 guy.  Justin Holiday is not big enough to do that.  Neither is Scott Suggs.  Holiday needs to be on the other teams best small forward or shooting guard, like he has been all year.  Darnell gives the Huskies the matchups they want defensively.
    • Defense > Offense. Scott Suggs is an offensive player.  He may be decent on the other side of the ball but offense is where he excels.  Darnell Gant is a very good defender that isn’t a liability on offense.  They are basically opposites in that area.  The Huskies are not going to have trouble scoring.  They have too many weapons to not score, and that is why I think the 5th starter should be a defender.  Gant, Holiday and Overton are the teams 3 best defenders and I think the Huskies would be wise to have two of them on the floor most of the time.  By putting Gant in the starting lineup they start the game that way.

    Of course, none of this goes unless Gant is healthy and at the moment he’s not (groin injury).  But, he’s not supposed to be out long.  I could be way off base here, I just think this is the best way for the Huskies to win.  Frankly, it doesn’t matter a ton, players will get their minutes if they are good enough.

    By the way, I do like Scott Suggs quite a bit.  He’s going to be a good player for the Huskies this year.  This is not a slight at him at all.  Either way, I think the Huskies will be a successful team this season.  We’ll have a few previews up soon!

    Thanks for reading!

    Andrew

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    by | November 8, 2010 · 12:57 pm

    Your 2011 Mariners Wrap-up

    With free agency starting, I’m skipping over the pitchers so we can wrap this up.  Essentially, every pitcher is back for next year unless the Mariners, trade, release or non-tender someone.  Aardsma and League are prime candidates to be traded, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fister or Vargas go too, but it would have to be in a big deal because the rotation depth is hurting.  Overall, the pitching is about what it was the second half of last year: serviceable but underwhelming outside of Felix.

    So, looking at the current roster, here’s what I’d project as the opening day lineup if no changes were made over the offseason (please excuse the ugly formatting):

    C Adam Moore SP Felix Hernanadez
    1B Justin Smoak SP Jason Vargas
    2B Dustin Ackley SP Doug Fister
    3B Chone Figgins SP Michael Pineda
    SS Jack Wilson SP Luke French
    LF Michael Saunders CL David Aardsma
    CF Franklin Gutierrez RP Brandon League
    RF Ichiro RP Dan Cortes
    DH Milton Bradley RP Garrett Olson

     We can argue numerous spots there, like the 5th starter and bullpen, but it doesn’t make much difference.  Swap in David Pauley and Shawn Kelley if it makes you feel better.  Continue reading →

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