Archive for the 'Washington Huskies' Category

Holmgren says MattHass and Shaun A. are game-time decisions Sunday. That’s the word from Mike Sando on the T-N-T blog. “Both players practiced extensively today,” he writes, but he’s not allowed to say who took the most reps with the starters.

Baseball’s GM meetings are over, and the Mariners are still talking to what seems like almost everyone out there. Bavasi tells Larry LaRue in the T-N-T today that there’s plenty of interest in Beltre and Sexson, but “nothing remotely close” has been offered.

Go figure out Sonics’ coach Bob Hill for me, would ya? Frank Hughes writes in the T-N-T that Hill sat down to chat with frustrated PG Earl Watson and reassured Watson about his role on the team. Then, when asked about Watson’s public complaints last week, Hill’s head spins around 360 degrees, fire and smoke come out of his nostrils, and he bit–slaps Watson like this:

“This is all a waste of time. He knew he was going to be a backup when he came here. We talked about it when he first got here. It is a waste of time to talk about not liking his role.”

Yikes. Careful, Bob. Try the decaf…. Anyway, Gary Washburn writes in the P-I about the same situation, with comments from Hill predicting a good game from Watson tonight. Well, 6 points and 6 assists in 18 minutes is not too bad off the bench. But the Sonics lost another at home, 118-109 to Utah.

Oh, yeah, what’s this about an “Apple Cup”? My 8-year-old is excited. He’s a Husky fan, “because dogs are cooler than cats.” Me? Couldn’t care less at this point, but I do root for both teams when they’re playing well, reaching bowl games, etc. We’ll watch the game, but I’ll be much more interested in Ohio St.-Michigan.

So, Matsuzaka costs Boston $50+ million just for a chance to talk about a contract … and that’s just one sign of how crazy the pitching market is this winter. Larry LaRue has some great info. in his T-N-T article today. Like, two teams want to trade for Joel Pineiro? Whoa. And then this:

Just how thin is pitching – and how great is the need? Consider this: left-hander Sterling Hitchcock, who hasn’t pitched in two years, came off the voluntary retired list and filed for free agency just to get into this market.

Seriously, if that’s how it’s going to be, the Mariners are probably better off sitting out. We don’t need to sign a loser to some huge contract that ends up making Jarrod Washburn look like a bargain.

But my opinion is worth squat. Turns out the Mariners have already contacted every pitcher on the market. Or so it seems.

Apple Cup at the beginning of the year? How bizarre would that be? I know some other rivalry schools do it — I think Colorado and Colorado St., but not positive — but it just seems strange to think about having the Apple Cup every year in the warm glow of late summer. Weird or not, the two schools are talking about it.

Of all the stuff going on, the most important is this: Alexander, Hasselbeck still out for Seattle. In fact, Holmgren hopes both of them, and Bobby Engram, too, will be ready by the 19th (against SF).

The rumor mill is churning, but UW coach Ty Willingham isn’t getting on. He does a pretty good job refuting the idea that he’ll coach Michigan State (his alma mater) next year:

“I’ve already done it,” Willingham said. “(I’ve coached) at Michigan State. I wasn’t a head coach, but I’ve already been back to my alma mater. … The only job that I am focused on is the one I have.”

Over at USS Mariner, Derek isn’t too thrilled about the idea of signing Jason Schmidt to a free agent deal this winter.

In the T-N-T, Frank Hughes write about Rick Sund’s newfound freedom now that Wally Walker is out of the picture. That sounds good, but given new owner Clay Bennett’s preoccupation with arena-related issues, it almost sounds like the Sonics are a ship without a captain.

Here’s what’s going on this fine Friday morning:

IN the T-N-T, Larry LaRue gives an overview of the Mariners’ off-seasoon wish list, with a couple interesting names in there, like Nomar Garciaparra (as a candidate to DH) and Greg Maddux. I’d be happy with the former, but not with the latter.

Since the Seahawks can’t find a running game the traditional way — i.e., with actual running backs — Clare Farnsworth reports that Seneca Wallace has more freedom to run this week against the Raiders.

“There have been times,” coach Mike Holmgren said, “where I’d say, ‘Hey, (count) 1, 2, then take off. Go ahead and take off. Put the pressure on the defense that way.’”

Danny Fortson, Sonics’ savior? That’s what Percy Allen says in the Times. Good article, and he’s right about how badly the team needs Fortson to step up and contribute.

Pac-10 media think it’ll be UW coming in at #3 in men’s hoops this year. They like Oregon at No. 4, OSU at No. 8, and the Cougars to finish dead last. UCLA, as expected, is picked to win the conference. Don Ruiz also points out a couple interesting rule changes coming this year:

The most notable new rule prohibits players from calling timeout while in the air or before they have complete control of the ball. Another change will encourage referees to call fouls on all players diving onto other players in a loose-ball scramble.

Romar thinks the rule that could have the most impact demands that players set screens while “in a natural stance.” The rule prohibits players from spreading their legs to trip defenders or from cocking their forearms to hit them.

Ain’t this great? The Huskies again did some public posturing a couple days ago about the possibility of dropping their ongoing hoops commitment to facing Gonzaga every year. Bulldogs’ coach Mark Few weighs in on the subject in today’s T-N-T, and minces no words whatsoever:

“You know, if we were ever in a situation where we lost seven of the last eight games, I’d probably look to get rid of that team,” he said. “I don’t blame them at all.”

This goes back to last November, when Lorenzo Romar first talked about quitting the series, and made it clear it was because the Huskies couldn’t compete.

“One thing that certainly helps is if we can be successful,” he said. “If one side is successful and the other isn’t, it’s not much of a rivalry.”

Romar added that his comments were aimed at his own program.

Fast forward back to today, and T-N-T writer Don Ruiz is inexplicably making excuses for UW.

Yes, Gonzaga annually plays a dazzling out-of-conference schedule – this season’s lineup features Texas, Duke, Virginia and more. But then the Zags head into West Coast Conference play and pad their win total there.

Night in and night out, the Pacific-10 Conference is simply stronger and deeper. Strong and deep enough that the Huskies might reasonably want to leave room for a few clear-the-bench breathers in their nonconference plans.

C’mon, Don. Don’t let them off the hook so easily.

Number one, it’s not Gonzaga’s fault the WCC is a notch or two below Gonzaga’s level. They have no control over that part of their schedule. If they did, it’s pretty obvious they’d prefer to play tougher competition leading up to March Madness.

Number two, let’s not make the Pac-10 out to be some incredible hoops hotbed. UCLA had a great run last year and UW the year before that, but traditional powers like Arizona and Stanford have been down the past few years, and teams like WSU, ASU, and USC are every bit the doormat that WCC teams are.

Ultimately, I stand by what I said last November: Dropping the Gonzaga series because you can’t beat the team sends the wrong message to fans and, more importantly, to kids/players. It’s a bad idea.

In case you weren’t sure if we place too much emphasis on sports in this country, the fallout from Saturday’s Oregon win over Oklahoma should quell any lingering doubts.

Gordon Riese, the reply booth official who missed the onside kick call, says he’s received a death threat over what happened. Frankly, as sick as it is, I’m not surprised. My college roommate is part of Sooner Nation and I’ve spent some brief time in Oklahoma. There’s nothing more important in that state than OU football. You think the Apple Cup is big up here? You think Husky and Coug fans are serious? You ain’t seen nothing, folks.

The impact for Oklahoma is pretty obvious: They’re essentially out of the national championship picture. But here’s the thing: That’s the NCAA’s fault as much as it’s Gordon Riese’s fault. As long as the NCAA refuses to institute a playoff system in college football, teams with one loss will have a slim hope of winning the national title. So, all it takes is one referee’s mistake, or one replay booth mistake, and someone gets eliminated from title contention. Would we accept that if a mistake in Week 3 of the NFL season eliminated someone? Would we accept it if an umpire’s mistake in late April eliminated a MLB team from the World Series chase? Why do we accept it in college football?

And now there’s a possible impact on UW, too. OU coach Bob Stoops is talking about canceling the Sooners’ 2008 game in Seattle if the Pac-10 continues to require that Pac-10 officials be used in Pac-10 stadiums. Can’t say I blame him because that’s a pretty moronic rule. It would be incredibly easy to get a neutral officiating crew for games against teams from other conferences. The Pac-10 is beyond ignorant for having such a rule in place. Then again, it’s nothing new for the Pac-10 to be way behind the times.

Pac-10 media have picked USC to win the Pac-10 football race again this year, but some writers give the nod to Cal, Oregon, and even ASU. It’s the first time in three years the vote wasn’t unanimous for the Trojans.

Oregon ends up 3rd overall with 3 first-place votes. OSU, WSU, and UW are all down in the bottom half. Here’s the voting:

First place votes in parentheses
1, USC (18) 276
2, California (7) 247
3, Oregon (3) 229
4, Arizona State (1) 204
5, UCLA 145
6, Arizona 133
7, Oregon State 125
8, Washington State 96
9, Stanford 90
10, Washington 50

MLB Draft 1st day today: 14 of the Mariners 18 picks are pitchers, 11 of them at the college level. Brandon Morrow is the main guy here, the 5th overall selection. I won’t be too surprised to see him in Seattle this season. There’s a lot of hand-wringing about the M’s passing on Andrew Miller, but if the organization knows or strongly suspects it can’t sign him, or doesn’t think he’s worth the 8-figure bonus Miller wants, why waste a pick?

UW’s Tim Lincecum falls to the Giants at #10, and he’s also a good candidate to be wearing a big league uniform in 2006.

God bless Aaron Schatz of FO, who puts the Seahawks #1 in the off-season NFL power poll.

It’ll be the OSU Beavers vs. Stanford this weekend for the right to go to the College World Series. Go get ‘em, Beavs.

And finally, our old friend Ken Griffey, Jr., doesn’t want to be voted in as an All-Star starter because he already has a trip booked to the Grand Bahamas.

Sam Smith is banging on the Bulls-like-Brandon-Roy drum again in the Chicago Tribune. And in the same breath that he does that, he quotes an unnamed GM saying Roy will be next year’s Rookie of the Year.

…the possibility of the Bulls drafting Roy is growing stronger, and it hardly would be second-guessed, even though much of the talk among NBA executives the last few months was that big guys would dominate the top of the draft.

“Roy is this year’s Chris Paul if he starts,” one general manager said last week. “When it’s all said and done, he’s the rookie of the year. He doesn’t quite have NBA three-point range yet, but he’s got everything else and is ready to go.”

By the way, quite often when you see quotes like this — where the source isn’t named — the quote is coming from the same guy quoted elsewhere in the article. So in this case, that’s quite possibly John Paxson touting Roy for ROY.

Veteran Chicago writer Sam Smith thinks the Bulls should trade for Ray Allen rather than use their No. 2 pick in the upcoming draft. But like just about everyone who ever plays Armchair GM, Smith overvalues the Bulls’ goods and undervalues the Sonics’ goods. Here’s his suggestion:

So here’s the deal, and to me it makes great sense for both teams: The Bulls’ No. 2 pick and a player–probably Michael Sweetney–to Seattle for Ray Allen. Maybe the No. 16 pick, too, if necessary.

That somehow doesn’t seem like enough for Allen, a six-time All-Star and probably the NBA’s best shooter. But the Sonics, who have said they don’t intend to trade Allen, are in financial trouble with a sale or move or both possible.

Please. I don’t know whether or not the Sonics would be inclined to deal Ray Allen, but I think I can say with certainty it’s gonna take more the #2 pick and some guy named Michael Sweetney.

Meanwhile, there’s lots of other N’west hoops stuff in that column, including some comments on the Blazers’ new (and stupid) media policy. Speaking of the Blazers, and the Bulls, and possible trades, over in a separate column, Smith says the Bulls might want to deal for Zach Randolph.

And lastly, as Smith hinted in the Sonics/Allen column, Marlen Garcia says the Bulls may have their eye on UW’s Brandon Roy with that #2 pick in the draft.

As far as readiness, Roy is viewed as the most complete guard in the draft. He’s someone who can help a team right away, which should continue to raise his stock by the time the June 28 draft rolls around in New York.

“He can contribute immediately,” ESPN analyst and former UCLA coach Steve Lavin said of the Pac-10 player of the year. “He’s the readiest at both ends of the court.”