The Good Guys Sports Blog

by dpscansen | February 11, 2010 · 1:27 pm

Pac-12?: “We’re looking at it very seriously”

Whoever said the only constant in life is change probably was not referring to the Pac-10 conference when guided by commissioner Tom Hansen for the past 26 years. Hansen developed a reputation for maintaining the status quo rather than progressing. It’s no wonder the Pac-10 was the last conference to budge on the basketball conference tournament, and while an expanded TV deal with ESPN seemed logical to expose the Pac-10 to a national audience, Hansen decided to keep the conference in its Fox sports bubble. Of course it would be unfair to put all the blame on Hansen, but the commissioner is a logical place to start.

Today, Hansen is out and Larry Scott is in. Scott is 45 years young and already has a proven track record from his time heading up the Women’s Tennis Association, where he accomplished some impressive growth. He is a marketer, and in just 6 months on the job, changes have been made. The Pac-10 has altered its bowl alignment, adding the Alamo bowl and pushing the others down a slot, which is terrific. And now comes word that Scott and the Pac-10 are considering expansion, and will seriously look at resolution in the next 6-12 months. This is not the first time the conference has entertained the subject, but this time may actually produce change, because instead of Hansen at the helm, it’s hot-shot Scott.

I can identify two main reasons why now is a logical time for expansion. First, college football is a business, and it’s not often that a conference will leave money on the table. The Pac-10 knows the importance of positioning itself well for a major TV deal when the current FOX/ABC/ESPN deal expires in 2012, and by adding a new market in say Salt Lake, Denver, or Las Vegas, the conference could score a big deal. Another money-making incentive to adding two more teams is the ability to have a conference championship game, which would be a major exposure boost. Secondly, the Big Ten/11 has publicly announced its desire to grow, and because the Big Ten is the Pac-10’s brother of the BCS conferences, it makes sense that the Pac-10 looks at expansion also.

So who fits the bill as a possible 11th or 12th member to the conference? To begin, let’s look at the requirements and start to trim the list. The Pac-10 prides itself on academic prestige, and all current conference members are research institutions without religious affiliation. Next, a Pac-10 school must meet geographical and cultural standards and be well rounded in its athletic programs and facilities. Last but not least, any additions must make sense from a marketing stand point; the conference won’t make change for the sake of change, but rather change for the sake of revenue. This means no thank you to all the California state schools, which don’t meet the academic bar, and BYU is a long shot because of the religious linkage. Oregon and Washington don’t have another candidate, and New Mexico, Wyoming and Arizona don’t have much to offer. I think we can cross Boise State and Idaho off the list for the small market factor, Hawaii for geography and poor facilities, and Texas because I don’t see them leaving the Big-12. Finally, San Jose State, San Diego State, and Fresno State don’t have the facilities and academic prestige, and both markets have already been addressed by the conference. So who is left?

If the conference wants to expand to a new market, which I can only assume it does, Nevada could be an option. UNLV and Nevada both present a reasonable argument, but does Las Vegas really scream college football? Above all, I think the conference is eying Utah and Colorado as its expansion destinations. Denver and Salt Lake are two nice markets and both are easy to get to from the west coast. The University of Utah would no doubt jump at the opportunity, but Colorado University may be a tougher sell because of their Big-12 affiliation. Still, I think it could be a fit, and if Colorado State wants to hop on board with the Buffaloes, then maybe that could work and still stay in line with the conference’s “Noah’s ark,” natural rivalry philosophy. BYU may still be in the mix despite the religion factor because of their well rounded athletics, but I see them and CSU as back-up-plans.
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Whatever happens, a trickle-down effect is sure to result when the first shoe drops, with big changes to follow as conferences scurry to find replacements. I hope it happens because a conference championship would be entertaining, but only if it helps the current Pac-10 teams, specifically UW. There will be barriers like how to handle the revenue sharing and splitting the conference into 2 equal divisions, but ultimately, if the analysis shows significant profit increase, then it will likely happen. Now, if they could just figure out a playoff system!

-Dan

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Tagged as Larry Scott, Tom Hansen

by Joe Loughery | February 11, 2010 · 12:50 am

UW vs. Cal – Pac-10 Lead and Tourney Birth at Stake

Oski - The Creepiest Mascot in Sports.

At 6pm, Washington and California rumble in Berkeley for the Pac-10 lead. Some may scoff and say that leading the Pac-10 isn’t much to celebrate, but I beg to differ. We can all look at, and study, the RPI to death, but I usually like to judge teams based on how they actually look on the court, and then compare them to other teams across the nation. Cal and Washington are the two most talented teams in the Pac-10, no question. Cal has been consistent at home and away, with their only bad loss being the blowout at HecEd. The UW, on the other hand, has been dominant at home, 16-1 (how they lost to the Ducks is beyond me, lucky win by Ernie’s crew? Maybe…), and flat out bad on the road. In fact, they have regressed in many ways. Texas Tech and Georgetown were competitive games, on the whole, while their four conference road games have been clunkers.

The key, in my mind, to this game will be Jerome Randle. In the game at HecEd, Randle was lost. Literally. He could not pass, had no idea where his man was on defense, and Coach Montgomery noticed, benching him for long periods of time. He ended the game going 2-9 from the field. It was by far his worst game of the year. If Randle just has an average game Thursday (19.1 pts), things will be very different. Patrick Christopher had a big game that day. 28 pts, 8 boards, 14-18 from the line. He pretty much got the shots he wanted all day. That concerns me. Look, Justin Holiday can’t guard everyone. I think Cal is beginning to figure it out on offense. They are a three man team: Randle, Christopher and Robertson. Over the past couple games, these guys have scored 102 of the 135 points the Bears have scored. Cal is getting their identity in order, which means good things are in store for the crew from Berkeley.

One the other side we have the Huskies. Coming into this game, the Dawgs may have started to figure out who they are: a defensive team. Quite literally, when this team plays in your shorts, brash defense led by Venoy Overton (or Venoying as I like to call him), they are extremely hard to beat. There is no one in the Pac-10 who can hang with them when they are crazy on defense and crashing the boards. The problem, of course, is they don’t bring this defense on the road with them. The two losses in Arizona were

Plastic Man!

embarrassments. No one contested shots, no one got back, and what happened? Got run by 17 both times. Now, in both those games, Holiday didn’t play, and he is most certainly a difference maker. Just see the game up in Seattle against those same teams. Horne and Kuksiks were non-factors, largely due to Holiday playing his Stacy Augmon “Plastic Man” defense defense on them. I expect Holiday to play well Thursday, but it will be interesting to see who Holiday checks. He is taller than Christopher, but Patrick has him by 40 lbs. Robertson is a load at 6-6 230. I expect to see a lot of switching with Pondexter on these two guys. If the Dawgs let the Big Three go off, it will be a very long and frustrating night for the Huskies, so QPon, Holiday, and Venoy must bring their A games. I do think the emergence of Scott Suggs has helped this team gain confidence on the offensive end verses a zone. I have no idea what defense Cal was running in the January game. I watched the who game, and Cal didn’t play a lick of defense. That said, Suggs and Turner have been great zone busters with the ability to hit the corner three ball. Do it with some consistency, and they have a recipe for success on the road in a hostile environment. I know I haven’t said much about Isaiah in this post, and that is by design. If I.T. just lets the game come to him and plays his role, the Huskies are much better off.

In the end, this will be an extremely tough game for the UW to win. I cannot think of a scenario in which Cal comes out flat. I would think right away we must lock down Randle. Thomas is underrated as a defender, so I expect him to check Jerome. After that, the Dawgs better hope the refs let them play, or else they’ll have foul trouble quick, and Cal in the bonus before the 12 minute mark. The Huskies must withstand the initial emotion of the start, and just hang in there and give themselves a chance at the end. I feel very confident the Dawgs will come out playing well, I just think Cal may be slightly better because of the home court.

Joe

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Tagged as California Golden Bears, Washington Huskies

by Andrew Long | February 10, 2010 · 2:07 pm

September 19, 2009

(Sorry, this is a little long!)

Actually, lets start a couple hours earlier. It was around 9:30 p.m. on Friday night. School had ended for the week and I was on my usual weekend spot, Matthew and Lisa’s couch. I had finished reading an article by Jerry Brewer, Seattle Times columnist, on how this sports weekend could be a memorable one. One of the reasons why it would be is because the Yankees were in town. By this time the Mariners were out of the playoff race but that didn’t change the fact that we needed to beat the evil empire. Matthew had run up stairs for a few minutes and I was watching the end of the game. It was all but over, the Yankees were up and the best closer of all time was in to finish off the 9th inning. He got two quick outs, just like everyone thought he would. The third out was going to be Mike Sweeney. But with that beautiful swing of his (sarcasm) Sweeney somehow smacked a double. Then Ichiro came up and hit his walk off home run. I was yelling, Lisa might have even let out a little “Whooo!” and Matthew was wondering what was going on downstairs. With the Huskies playing #3 USC tomorrow, this was the only sports miracle I expected from the weekend. But, as I went to bed that night, I couldn’t keep myself from dreaming a little bit.

This was the weekend when all my Husky hopes were going to come crashing down. After a strong showing against LSU and then finally ending a 15 game losing streak by beating Idaho, I thought the Trojans would come in to Montlake and beat us down. I know these thoughts were in Matthew’s head too. In the morning we crammed into the back seat of Danny and Jessica’s car with Katie, who I knew next to nothing about except that we had sweet, matching Jake Locker jerseys. Aside from some Sean Kingston tunes, the car ride was relatively quiet. I was nervous, as I usually am on game day, and so I was quiet. The bus ride from the Kirkland park & ride to the stadium was no different. And as we walked to the stadium, the only thing I remember saying is “If we win this game I’m going to jump into the lake.”

The pregame routine went as usual- get our seats, go to the zone, go over to Hec Ed to see the hall of fame and buy some pop and then back in time for the bands pregame show. Then the game started and to be honest, it’s all a blur. USC started out hot and then we caught back up. Danny and I were texting throughout most of the game. Going into the 4th quarter I was shocked the Huskies could win the game. Matthew and me would trade looks back and forth that said, “Is this really happening?” The texts to and from Danny stopped coming because we both knew it was time to soak this all in. I imagine you know the story. Locker takes the team on a 4 and a 1/2 minute drive to set up the Eric Folk game-winning field goal. When the clock finally showed 0:00 the party was on.

After a few seconds of not knowing how exactly how to take all of this in I booked it on to the field, leaving my sister in the dust. I ended up a few yards away from the W and started jumping up and down with thousands of fans who were already there. As I was jumping and yelling I felt a few tears in my eyes. I thought, “Andrew (I guess I talk to myself in third person), are you serious? Crying at a football game?” But then I looked around. There were 40 year-old men standing next to me wiping away tears. For the next ten minutes I wandered around by myself, trying to soak up every minute possible. I stood and watched Jake hug his dad, Nick Holt do an interview where the reporter couldn’t hear him, E.J. Savannah cry, and the older season ticket holders stand and applaud from their seats. I found Dan, Jess, and Katie and many hugs were exchanged. That night I went to one of my homes (Matthew and Lisa’s) and watched it again. I’ve watched that game-winning drive countless times but I still get goosebumps when I see all of the purple rush on to the field.

I’m not writing about this to brag about my Huskies. Heck, the rest of the season was more frustrating than anything else. I’m writing about this because it’s moments like these that make us sports fans. The week before this game had been pretty crappy (to put it bluntly). I was starting to question if I made the right choice of where to go to college. I was missing friends and family. And I’d had a bad week of classes. But in those moments that I was on the field, a week that was filled with frustration was overcome by joy. Not only had this moment taken out a bad week but it had taken out a win-less season and one of the worst eras in Husky football. Finally, after sitting through those awful Tyrone Willingham years we had a reason to celebrate. I believe that loyalty pays off. With Seattle sports, loyalty can be tested but it was all paid off that day.

As I was walking around the field that day, I found Jake Locker. I patted him on the shoulder pads and told him thank you. He probably thought that I was just saying thank you for the win, but I wasn’t. I was saying thank you for making my week better. Thank you for taking out all of the frustration Husky nation had in one day. Thank you for reminding me why I love sports.

– Andrew

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by Andrew Long | February 9, 2010 · 3:13 pm

My Obligatory Griffey Post

Let me take you back a ways. Imagine 5 or 6 year old Andrew, with his mushroom haircut, sitting in church. I’m getting a little squirmy because the worship music has stopped and, like any 5 year old, I couldn’t sit through an entire church service. As the pastor spoke, my excitement would grow for the weekly after-church baseball game. Another 5 minutes passed and I just couldn’t sit there anymore. At this point, I had no idea what the speaker was talking about but I was thanking God that my mom had brought some paper and a pencil with her to keep me entertained. Once she handed the paper over, the most important decision of my week would take over my young mind, “What should I draw?” Although it was a weekly decision I always came up with the same answer… Ken Griffey Jr.

Like everyone else who was halfway interested in baseball, Griffey had captured my imagination. It was the robbing of home runs, his majestic swing, and a smile that made me think, “Someone actually has as much fun as me playing baseball.” Because of this, and a good share of success on my T-ball team, I decided that I’d become the next Ken Griffey Jr. I was well on my way, we were both left-handed, his baseball glove was black and so was mine (I only choose a black glove because I knew he had one), and we both just happened to have the same favorite number, 24.

Then time moved on. Griffey left, I became a fan of baseball more than a player of baseball and I knew I wasn’t destined to be the next Griffey. But he was still my favortie player. I got excited anytime the Reds were on TV because I missed seeing that swing and I was highly disappointed whenever he got hurt.

Seeing how I hadn’t hit double digits in age when Griffey left, I couldn’t remember the last time I saw him play live. With each passing year, the chance of seeing him grew slimmer. Then, the Reds came to Seattle. I somehow managed to get to go see 2 of the 3 games in that series. The Sunday game of that series was one I’ll never forget. Jr. hit two home runs and as he left the field after the 8th inning to a standing ovation, I know I wasn’t the only one in that stadium with watery eyes.

And then we had last year. Griffey came back. I know how fortunate I was to have my favorite player come back to my favorite team. Even though he didn’t fill the stat sheet, Griffey gave me and many fans some more memories. Not only that but he made the Mariners fun again. That smile was back on his face and it was contagious. The team smiled it’s way to one of the biggest turnarounds in baseball history and everyone in Seattle loved the team (that’s no small accomplishment when you had Carlos Silva and Miguel Batista on the team).

Now it’s 2010, 22 years after Griffey debuted on that kingdome turf, and he’s back for one more go around. I know from a statistical viewpoint that I shouldn’t love this move. Griffey’s swing is slower than it used. If he plays left field we’d have “Death to flying things” in center and “Death by flying things” in left. His knees are landmines, one wrong twist away from exploding. But dang it, I love that he’s back. That 6 or 7 year old in me pictures Jr. hitting 30 home runs while leading the team to the World Series. While this could happen, it’s highly unlikely. I don’t think he’ll play that much (probably DH at home against right-handed pitching) but his smile will be there.

Without Jr. I don’t know if I would’ve ever fallen in love with baseball like I did. Now he’s back for one more year to tickle Ichiro, shove pies in peoples’ faces, and maybe hit a few home runs along the way. That’s more than enough for me. Thanks Griffey.

Andrew

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by Andrew Long | February 8, 2010 · 2:55 pm

WSU’s Next Head Coach

After delving into the Dawgs recruiting this weekend, I thought it was time to write a light-hearted, funny post. Naturally, I landed on the topic of Cougar football. Sorry WSU friends, that’ll be my only Cougar joke in this post. Truth to be told, the Huskies were just as much of a joke as WSU was before this year. Luckily, we got rid of the man who might be my least favorite person on the planet (I’m not kidding) and replaced him with someone who has put excitement back into our program.

All of this to say that it’s obvious Paul Wulff has absolutely no idea what he’s doing. His teams come in to games not prepared, only scoring 3 points in the first quarter this entire year, and they come out of games beaten badly. Unless something dramatic happens Wulff will leave Wazzu with the worst Pac-10 winning percantage of any coach in history. His current Pac-10 winning percantage currently sits at a whopping .055.

Although he seems to be a good guy (which is more than we could say about Willingham) Wulff just doesn’t seem very smart. On signing day, Good ‘ol Paul complained about kids switching schools they’re committed to, basically blaming parents for not raising kids to stick with their word. Welcome to the real world buddy, this is how division 1 football works. Yeah, it sucks but that’s the way it goes. These are 17 and 18 year old kids making one of the biggest decisions of their lives, I can understand why they would change their minds. This is just another drop of water in a pool of reasons that Paul Wulff doesn’t have what it takes to be a division 1 football coach. I have friends who go to Wazzu who I honestly think could do a better job than he is.

So where does that leave the Cougars? Well, I’d be shocked if Wulff isn’t fired after this year. Ideally, WSU fires Paul Wulff, Oregon gives him a lifetime contract and then the Cougars hire Tyrone Willingham. Unfortunately my dream world won’t even touch reality here. So, here are a few coaches that I think should be high on WSU’s list next year.

Robb Akey (current Idaho headcoach)- If I were a Cougar fan, I would be up in arms that Wulff wasn’t fired this year and the Cougs didn’t pursue Akey. Akey hasn’t taken one of the worst college football programs ever and has turned into a bowl game winner. Sure, he coaches in a conference that is just plain bad but Idaho used to be like a high school team. Now they’re winning exciting football games (their bowl game was my favorite one that I watched) and stealing recruits from Wazzu. Akey was defensive coordinator for the Cougars and may have left on bad terms. I believe that if the Cougars had pursued him this year, they wouldn’t have run into many problems in getting him. But if Akey continues his Vandal’s success into next year then their may be a little more competition for his sevices. I think Akey would be a great fit for the Cougs and should be the top target on their list.

Mike (the pirate) Leach

Mike Leach (former Texas Tech head coach)- This is where things start to get interesting. By now, I imagine all of you have heard how Leach was fired from Texas Tech. Yeah, he’s crazy and quirky but you can’t argue with the success he had. Also, it’s hard to ignore the similarities between Texas Tech and Washington State. Lubbock and Pullman aren’t the perfect places to recruit players to. Both schools have smaller but very loyal fan bases. Both have schools in their conference that are much bigger, wealthier and have better facilities than they do. They have these things going against them but both have proven that they can have success. Leach’s offensive system is a lot like Wulff’s system, only Leach knows how to run it. I don’t know if Wazzu’s administration will seriously look into Leach, like I said he’s crazy and no one really knows what goes on inside his head, but if he became coach of the Cougars, speaking as a Husky fan, I would be very concerned.

Mike Price (Former WSU coach; current UTEP coach)- I know this has come up before and the Cougars have said they won’t hire him. But why not? He’s the best coach in Cougar history. He took them to had 3 consecutive 10 win seasons. Price took Wazzu to two Rose Bowls. He knows the school and knows how to coach there. Some could argue that he’s lost his knack for coaching since he hasn’t had much success at UTEP. I think those people need to realize he’s coaching at UTEP. The Beatles were great musicians but they wouldn’t have been a good band if they didn’t have instruments. My point, I don’t think anyone could turn UTEP into much of a winner. I think WSU should swallow their pride and give Price another chance. Let the reunion begin and let Husky fans, like me, have nightmares about the Cougars returning to halfway relevance.

These are 3 guys who I think are plausible candidates for the Cougars and who would have me a little bit frightened. But hopefully they’ll just choose some alum who has no division 1 experience, has no idea how to prepare his team, and has the IQ of a seven year old (that might’ve been a little too harsh).

Andrew

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by Matthew | February 7, 2010 · 6:08 pm

Mariners’ Fourth and Fifth Starters

The Seattle Times has a poll question up, asking, “Which of these pitchers will win the most games for the Mariners this season?” The choices are Erik Bedard, Doug Fister, Luke French, Ian Snell, and Jason Vargas, the five names most likely to occupy the final two spots in the Mariners’ rotation. It’s an important question in some ways, not so important in another, so let’s take a look at these guys and the back end of the rotation. Lookout Landing just did the same thing, with numbers, so check that out too.

There are a few other names to consider for these spots: Nick Hill, Ryan Feierabend, maybe Garrett Olson if he gets a new left arm or everyone else’s ams fall off. I think Hill in particular could eventually end up in the rotation, but for now he hasn’t pitched above Double-A and is more likely to break camp in the bullpen or go to Triple-A Tacoma. It wouldn’t be at all surprising if the team acquired another starter, but as it stands now, two of these five are likely to break camp in the rotation.

Both Danny and I have written about Bedard, and I see him in a different category from the rest. If or when he is healthy, even to say 90% of his previous level, he is the best pitcher of this group. Even if his stuff only comes back to 75%, he’s probably as good as the others. We just don’t know if he can come back or when it will be.

Ian Snell appears to have the inside track on the #4 spot. He has the most experience and potential of the non-Bedards, but was inconsistent and generally unimpressive after coming over from the Pirates midseason. Abundant theories (depression, lack of deception in his motion) have been posited regarding his ineffectiveness, but we’ll just say an Ian Snell at or near his early Pirate days would be an above average #4 or 5 starter and go a long way toward a successful Mariners season.

The other three fall into the low-upside, some majors experience category. French came from the Tigers in the Washburn trade and was fairly bad, but had some success with Detroit. Vargas spent a lot of time in the M’s rotation and in my mind, his solid change-up gives him the inside track on the #5 spot. Fister, the only righty of the three, has below-average stuff but occasionally above-average command. All three pitched in the bigs in 2009, at times successfully, at times not.

Short of having two proven veterans or blue chip prospects to slot in, the situation is set up as well as you could ask. The key is having one of Bedard or Snell, particularly Snell, perform. If Snell pitches at or above league average, he is a good #4 and potentially the best #5 in the league if Bedard can come back at some point. Filling one spot from the Vargas/Fister/French group, while not ideal, worked fine last year. It’s likely at least one of them (or another pitcher in the system) will be throwing well at any given time, leaving it up to Wakamatsu and Zduriencik to find the right one. We’re likely to see multiple pitchers get a decent number of starts for the team, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In the years of Batista and Silva, their big contracts made it difficult to switch them out when they weren’t performing, an issue that won’t come up with a player making the league minimum.

It doesn’t matter a great deal which of these players ends up with the most wins (or best ERA or FIP or whatever). It only matters that two of them pitch well at any given time, and it seems to me the odds of that are surprisingly good.

-Matthew

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by Andrew Long | February 7, 2010 · 2:41 pm

Huskies 2010 Recruits (Defensive Skill Positions)

Here’ the last of our new guys. Congrats if you’ve made it this far with me! Here we go:

Linebacker (7)

Victor Burnett, 5-11, 213- Burnett, along with Callier, Cooper, and Montana, will be enrolled in time for spring ball. This is great because with the loss of Donald Butler (and possibly E.J. Savannah), Burnett could be in line to play right away. Victor had offers from the likes of Oklahoma, Nebraska and most Pac-10 schools. Scouting reports say Burnett is always around the ball which would make him a good middle linebacker. To play that position he will need to get bigger.

Princeton Fuimaono, 6-0, 196- I proudly gave this guy the terrible nicname “Prince Fui” this week while talking to Megan about him on facebook. It won’t catch on but because of this “Prince Fui” will be my favorite Husky that no one’s heard of. He is listed as a middle linebacker on www.scout.com but becaue of his size he will probably play weakside. He played just about every offensive position possible in high school. You never know with the lack of quality depth at linebacker but I expect Fuimaono to redshirt. Long live Prince Fui!

Garret Gilliland, 6-0, 214- Gilliland flew under the radar a little bit because he was hurt much of this year. Despite this, there’s reason to think Gilliland could be something very special. This guy was named co-conference player of the year with a certain USC quarterback named Matt Barkley when he was just a junior. Garrett is said to be a very smart player with good instincts.

Cooper Pelleur, 6-3, 220- Cooper was a late addition to this class, as it became apparent that the Huskies wouldn’t sign some other linebackers. Pelleur will alternate between linebacker and defensive end. The staff seems to like his versatility in that he is able to rush the passer but can also be used in coverage. Pelleur went to school at Skyline and was originally committed Hawaii. I would expect Pelleur to redshirt.

Darius Waters, 6-1, 227- Waters committed to U-Dub last March and never thought about going anywhere else, even with some quality schools showing interest. Waters played defensive line in high school but will play linebacker here. He already has some size and may be capable of playing next year. He too could play a hybrid role in which he rushes the passer and plays linebacker.

Brent Williams, 6-2, 186- Williams is listed as a defensive end/outside linebacker. Because of his lack of size I decided to put him in with the linebackers. Sark said on signing day that Williams is up to around 200 lbs. now and will get closer to where he needs to be. A year in the weight room will really help Williams.

Chris Young, 6-1, 215- Young was an excellent running back in high school but he prefers defense and I think that’s where the coaches should and will put him. Young needs to take care of some academic issues but if he gets into school he will be a really solid contributor. Chris is the hardest hitter I’ve ever seen in high school football. Of all the highlight films I watched, his is my favorite. He could be an extremely good player for the Dawgs for the next 4 years. Please get into school Chris!

Cornerback (1)

Greg Ducre, 5-10, 165- Unfortunately the Huskies lost out on some of the top cornerback recruits but this guy should is a nice addition. He is a good guy in coverage. The Huskies need cornerbacks who are good with one-on-one coverage so that they’ll able to pressure the quarterback instead of sitting back in a zone. This is what they did against Cal and, with guys like Ducre on the team, I think we’ll see more of that same attacking defense. At least I hope see.

Safeties (4)

Jamaal Kearse, 6-2, 209- Jamaal is the brother of current UW receiver, Jermaine. Like his brother, Kearse could end up at receiver but I think the coaches plan on starting him out at safety. He’s a tall kid, who has a good frame and is athletic. When you look at a safety you want him to be about this size. I don’t know where for sure but Kearse will be a good player on the field for UW in the future.

SEAN PARKER, 5-10, 204- I know what you’re thinking, “Silly Andrew, you left his name in all caps.” This was no accident my friends, I’m just excited! Parker is probably the most decorated player in this class and highly ranked by all recruiting sources. The only downside on Parker is he’s a little shorter than most safeties, but Eric Berry (an all-american safety for Tennessee) is the same height. Parker can do everything you want a safety to do. He could very well be starting alongside Nate Williams next September in Provo (209 more days until the first game!)

Taz Stevenson, 6-3, 205- Taz is another guy with endless nickname possibilities. He’s got the size to be a very good safety. On signing day Sark compared him to…. Sean Parker. The staff likes that Stevenson can do all the things a safety needs to do. Taz may switch positions (he’s listed as an athlete by the Huskies) but he will start at safety and has the capability to be a very good one.

John Timu, 6-1, 195- Timu will be the only member of this class to greyshirt. This means he won’t enroll in school until next January and will train on his own this fall. He won’t lose a year of eligibily this year even though he counts against this recruiting class. The reason Timu is doing this is because he tore his ACL in the football season and will still be recovering through the summer and fall. That Timu did enough through his junior year to get recruited by Pac-10 schools should show you the kind of talent he has.

That covers everyone. Don’t worry, I’ll try to keep my posts shorter from now on. Thanks for reading and have a great Super Bowl Sunday (go Saints)! And make sure to check out Joe’s first post below!

Andrew

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by Joe Loughery | February 6, 2010 · 11:41 pm

Huskies, Intro & Quick Hits

Wow, well, finished up watching the Dawgs wipe the floor with ASU. That’s great, I really don’t like Derek Glasser, he’s a bum. Thursday at Cal. CAN WE GET A ROAD WIN PLEASE!?!? National TV, ESPN, let’s do this DAWGS!!! UW wins and first place is ours.

Anyway, I was invited to be a member by Danny and so far the posts have been excellent, I expected nothing less. I am clearly NOT the best good guy here, I can tell right away I might just be the peanut gallery!! I am honored to be a part of this, as I am passionate sports. It’s a wonderful constant in my life, always a great topic of discussion and interest. I think humor and lightheartedness are vital to loving sports (especially in this town!!!!), so fair warning, I may not always be serious…

About me… I’m 32, born and raised in the state of Washington, so yes, I am a homer, but I love the national sports scene as well. Went to school at Auburn High, then college at the UW, class of 2000. The Huskies are it for me, football and hoops are 1 and 2 on my list. I am very passionate about the UW, I love the school, the campus, the neighborhood. I love the vibe before and after games. I really don’t pull for any other school, and I am generally not a “root for the Pac-10” guy. I backed Penn State in the 1994 Rose Bowl against Oregon when a bunch of so called UW fans thought it was “neat” the Ducks made it. “Go west coast” they tell me. Bull. Oregon sucks and always will. Kenny Wheaton is a cuss word in my vocab.

Regarding pro sports, I love the M’s, Hawks, Sonics, Sounders, TBirds. Yes, the Sonics. I still love them and always will. The Supes are a passion of mine. The 1990’s are the decade I really matured sports wise, and the SuperSonics had their best run that decade. I am old enough to remember Dale Ellis, Tommy Chambers and the X-Man, but for me Payton and Kemp are almost sports deity. The 1996 Sonics are family. The spring of ’96 was one of the best times of my life. The fact that this city does not have an NBA team is a complete and utter disaster and joke. I shake my head every time I think about it. But, I am hopeful. No idea why, I just choose to be hopeful that one day I’ll see the Green & Gold back out there on the hardwood.

I have a ton of thoughts about the upcoming Mariners season, the upcoming NFL draft where the Hawks MUST get it right. In the NFL if you screw up the draft, it will set back the organization years.

Random Quick Hits:

Quincy Pondexter is Pac-10 POTY.

The Mariners should bring back the teal jerseys.

Cortez Kennedy belongs in the HOF, and so does Edgar.

The Kingdome was awesome, even if it stunk of stale beer constantly and had only two bathrooms.

Safeco Field is even more awesome: Tons of bathrooms!!! ICHIRO!!!!!!!!!!! Garlic Fries!! Ivars fish!!!! Sushi!!!! Zombie Nation Kernkraft 400 BLARING!!!!! DIPPIN DOTS!!!! DAVE SIMS!!!! HEY NOW!!!!!!!

Steve Scheffler and Frank Brickowski had game.

Shaun Alexander could catch, check his stats from 2001-2004.

Vin Baker was an all star in 97-98 with the Sonics. Then he discovered donuts during the lockout. The rest is history.

Steve Emtman was unstoppable. Best defensive player I have ever seen. Period.

Jackie Z and Wak are geniuses, how the M’s were above .500 last year is beyond me, (not to mention the amazing offseason JZ has put together so far, the Cliff Lee deal was highway robbery).

Game 7 of the 1993 NBA Western Conference Finals was fixed, you cannot convince me otherwise, it’s established fact, look at the boxscore.

The 2005 NFC Championship is the best game I have ever seen live. (seeing Jimmy Johnson’s hair freeze was an added bonus…)

Both times the UW lost to UConn in the Tourney resulted in me refusing food and water for days and human interaction suffered for weeks.

I have major, MAJOR bromances with Coach Sark, Jake Locker and Chris Polk.

If you’ve made it this far, congrats, I am done, sorry no prizes… I know it was a lot about me, but I thought I better get my street creds out there now before someone asks for them. More to come!!