Sounders Recap (5/23)

- The Colorado Rapids according to their website apparently live with the motto, “Heart. Pride. Honor.” I think their marketing department watches a bit too much Gladiator.

- With a name like Rapids, I would assume the mascot would be some sort of tidal wave, yet I see a fox of some sort. And it is taunting the Sounders fans in attendance by waving a scarf. After doing some research, I learned a lot of disturbing mascot information.

First, the fox is Franz the Fox. From the website:
The fourth, and newest member of the Rapids Mascots, Franz is a Vulpes vulpes, or as they are more commonly known, a red fox! Franz is a defender, and will wear the Rapids' third kit, as well as the #5 on the back of his jersey. The red fox is native to Colorado and tends to make its habitat near human-populated areas, such as the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge, which is adjacent to Dick's Sporting Goods Park! The Rapids chose Franz to be part of their mascot crew for the reason that red foxes are very territorial, very loyal, and extremely quick on their feet as part of their nature.....the same qualities that make a superb defender!

Are you serious? They make him sound like a God. Yet according to National Geographic the red fox will eat pet food or garbage. Enjoy eating garbage Franz. And why is his name Franz? Is Franz a common name in Commerce City (more to come on that later)?

It gets worse.

The Rapids have four fricking mascots. Along with Franz the Garbage Eating Fox, they feature Edson the Eagle (a midfielder), Marco Van Bison (a forward), and Jorge El Mapache who is a stupid raccoon. What is going on?

It gets even worse.

Again from the website.

What Happened to RapidMan?
RapidMan, the club’s former mascot, made the 4th of July, 2007, his official retirement date. After being part of the club since the team's inception in 1996, RapidMan announced plans to pursue other ventures. The Rapids held a Testimonial Match in RapidMan's honor at halftime of the Rapids' July 4 game. In the soccer world, it is traditional to hold a testimonial match in recognizance of a player who gives 10 years or more of service to his club, and as RapidMan had served the Rapids organization for 12 seasons, the Rapids invited in several of RapidMan's fellow mascots from around Denver and the world to participate in the game.

Do they know RapidMan was a mascot? This is really pissing me off. Foxes cannot grip scarves. This is a poor representation of animals for the children.

On to the other notes.

- Steve Zakuani looked overmatched for most of the game. Without Ljundberg and Alonso (who left one minute into the match), he was constantly pressured, double teamed, and beat up. He didn’t respond for much of the match, but did have a couple opportunities late. Makes sense as a rookie.

- Early in both halves, the Sounders had very little possession. When they did, they looked pretty good. And they possessed the ball for most of the last twenty minutes where they had numerous chances but couldn't convert.

- James Riley is very valuable. He wins balls, serves great ones down the sideline and created both goals with awesome crosses.

- Montero scored and assisted the other goal, but he is really a scorer only in my opinion. He lacks the ability to possess the ball and dives way too much. With that said, I am glad he is on the Sounders. Confusing? Yes. Why? I am an idiot.

- Nate Jacqua doesn’t do much, little skills with feet. Never seems to get his head on the ball despite that being his strength. At the same time, he scored the game tier when the game looked all but over. So what do I know? More confusion. Awesome.

- Colin Clarke – I hate. No confusion there.

- Cummings running wild and free down sideline in the first half. Crossing everywhere. Similar to how RapidMan would play I assume.

- Keller – two ridiculous saves. One on Conor Casey header. The other with foot one on one with Mastroeni. Then says, “What the f are we doing?” Except he didn’t say “f”.

- Apparently Keller likes mascots more than I do.

- The Sounders miss Alonso and Ljundberg a lot. And I am Captain Obvious.

- Somehow the Sounders tied this match. Despite the fact that they know have drawn in four straight matches, this was a good result. Without Alonso, Ljundberg, and Evans, this was what they needed.

- On June 20th, the Rapids will be featuring the “2009 Festival of Women”. Do they know how that sounds?

Sounders Preview (Eat it Joe)

Despite pleas by Joseph Tone (a.k.a. The Shortest Man Who Buffalo Hates), I am here to give a preview of the match tonight between the Sounders FC and the Colorado Rapids. You see despite my shortcomings as a player, I grew an affinity toward soccer (or futbol) throughout the years. This fondness (I wouldn’t go as far as say love) of soccer grew even if my knowledge friend Luis did not. He stayed 5’7.

When Dana said she wanted to get season tickets to something, I didn’t hesitate. Thus I am a season ticket holder, next to Luis, behind the goal at Qwest Field. Amazingly so are 21,998 others. 22,000 season ticket holders and a sell out every game. Unprecedented in MLS history including Toronto who has about 16,000 season ticket holders. Then on our trip to London, Dana and I stayed at a flat only blocks away from Emirates Stadium, home of Arsenal. Everyone loves soccer in England. It was infectious.

So the Sounders head into a match tonight in second place in the Western Conference behind the mighty Chivas. With a 4-2-3 record, the Sounders have 15 points while Colorado sits right behind with 12 points (3-2-3). Unfortunately for the Sounders they have a few things going against them tonight.

Freddie Ljundberg, international hottie (holler! Oh uh, nothing, ignore that), still has migraines (seriously? migranes?) thus he did not travel with the boys. National hottie Brad Evans (what? stop), recently featured as a hot player by Cosmo Girl (what an honor), also will not be traveling. Neither will Zach Scott but who cares? He isn’t even hot.

On to heterosexual commentary.

These losses will hurt the Sounders obviously. The return of John Legend (or James Riley as he is normally known) should help and without anyone getting a red card for this first time in weeks, the Sounders should have everyone else available.

Yet after starting the year 3-0-0, the Sounders lost two in a row before winning a match and then pulling out draws in the past three. Obviously any result on the road is a good thing, but those who saw the second half of the last game against FC Dallas spoke of the putrid nature in which Los Sounderos played. The Sounders need to step it up from the level of play they have shown the past few weeks. They need Fredy Montero to be a threat again. They need LeBron to play like 6th year LeBron. (For those wondering….LeBron is Steve Zakiuani, #1 overall pick from Akron….nuff said).

Maybe the Sounders will get some solid play from Peter Vagenas (I will resist the comments), who will be starting and appearing in his first game this year. A veteran of eight seasons with the LA Galaxy and brief appearances with the national team, Vagenas could provide a little of what Ljundberg does. Maybe not, but he along with Alonso could provide some good ball control in the midfield.

The X factor for the Sounders continues to be Kasey Keller. No matter how poorly they play, the Sounders will have a chance to earn points because of the dominance of the Lacey native. He will be up against some formidable foes tonight as the Rapids are led by ex-Portland Pilot Conor Casey (and former awful U.S. soccer mistake), who is 2nd in the MLS with five goals in just eight matches. Colorado also features Pablo Mastroeni and Cory Gibbs, who both earned time with the national team.

And guess what? Tonight is Asian-Pacific Heritage Night! The first 2,000 fans get a free poster of Kosuke Kimura! Holla! Kimura is the first Japanese player in the history of the MLS. And of course he attended Western Illinois University, home of the Leathernecks. And how do they honor Kosuke? By not starting him. Awesome.

Prediction? Since I hate Conor Casey…..2-1 Seattle.

$20 Chinese Food!

Is there anything better in this world than LeBron James?

I am not an athlete idolizer by any means, but it seems as if anything LeBron touches right now is pure gold. The Olympics. The NBA regular season. Announcing he will be in next year's dunk contest. That State Farm commercial where he dances like Kid N' Play. And now the puppet commercial. Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtzQ0eXVoJo

And then the ridiculousness of LeBron got a little more ridiculous tonight. With one second remaining, LeBron hit a fadeaway three to snatch victory away from the Magic.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4200792

Simply insane.

And it made me wonder a little more what I already debated and thought about in terms of LeBron and the Black Mamba. Not necessarily who is better, but who would you rather have at the end of a game?

I always made the argument that LeBron is now a better player than Kobe, but when it comes down to needing someone to hit a game winner I would choose Kobe. Is that the right choice?

After looking at the fantastic website http://www.82games.com/, I learned some interesting stats. They break down game winning shots for the following seasons: Regular Seasons: '03-04, '04-05, '05-06, '06-07, '07-08, '08-09 (thru 2/4) and playoffs: '03-04, '04-05, '05-06, '06-07, '07-08. Game Winning Shot Opportunity = 24 seconds or less left in the game, team with the ball is either tied or down by 1 to 2 points.

Under this definition, the league leader is LeBron James. He is 17-50 (34%) while Vince Carter is second with 16 (31.4%), Ray Allen with 15 (38.5%), and Kobe Bryant with 14. Here is the shocker! Kobe is 14-56 for a shooting percentage of 25%. He has the most missed game winners in the league!

82 games also looks at clutch players. For these stats "Clutch" is defined as: 4th quarter or overtime, less than 5 minutes left, neither team ahead by more than 5 points.

The top 3 at the end of the 08-09 regular season? Kobe at 56.7 points/48 minutes, LeBron at 55.9 points/48 minutes, and Carmelo Anthony at 54.4 points/48 minutes. No suprise that these three are still playing. Yet how about these other numbers for LeBron per 48 minutes in clutch time? 14.3 rebounds, 12.6 assists, and 3.5 steals. He just takes over the game in all aspects.

So who do you take? Hard to argue with this:

The Hometown Nine: A Diagnosis

There is something about baseball that lures me in with its sweet tenderness each spring. I am not sure if it is because it was the first sport I loved or maybe the way the Kingdome tiles tantalized me with their ever-so-constant threat of falling. Either way I love baseball season and inevitably find myself watching almost every game if I can (meaning if my wife allows me).

This season has been frustrating, shocking, surprising, and disappointing all in one. When Jack Z and Don Wakamatsu took over the reigns this winter, I gained a great deal of hope. I believe in these two guys and their philosophy. They preach small ball, defense, pitch selection, and playing smart. They believe in building a great farm system and not overpaying for crappy players (like Bavasi did for the past however many years). Jack Z was honored in 2007 as Baseball America’s Executive of the Year after building an infield consisting of all Brewer draft picks (Fielder, Weeks, Hardy, and superstud Ryan Braun). Yet with ridiculous contracts still on the books for Jarrod Washburn, Miguel Batista, and Carlos Silva, we all knew it would take some time. So when the Mariners started the season 15-10, it was a pleasant surprise to say the least.

Now the Mariners sit at 19-22. So where do they stand? Let’s take a look.

The Good
Russell Branyan - .305, 10 HR, 20 RBI, 1.004 OPS all for $1.4 million on a one year deal. The no risk, all reward signing is proving to be great thus far.

Ichiro - .318, 4 HR, 13 RBI. Despite the fact that he refuses to dive, he still gets hits by either slapping it to left or hitting it off the plate. Also his UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating) is 3.8, meaning he records that many more outs than the average fielder.

Franklin Gutierrez - .258, 3 HR, 17 RBI. Clearly not very good numbers. Yet his defense in centerfield is awesome and most fans wouldn’t even know it. His UZR is 5.7. Not to mention he costs $440,000 and is under club control for another three seasons.

Mike Sweeney - .246, 2 HR, 9 RBI. Not his numbers but his levity and leadership have helped. I don’t think he is the reason they win or lose, but I do think he helps the team be in the right mindset when things go poorly. Of course they have lost 12 out of 16 so not sure this matters much.

Jarrod Washburn – it probably won’t last, but it seems hard to get upset over these numbers. 3-3 with a 3.86 ERA.

Much of the Bullpen – David Aardsma is now the closer with 1.37 ERA and 9.15 K/9 IP. Mark Lowe is hitting 99 consistently on the gun. Shawn Kelley was great before he got hurt. Even Miguel Batista has been good.

The Bad
A lot.

Adrian Beltre - .200, 2 HR, 15 RBI, .231 OBP. Pathetic at the plate right now.

Yuniesky Betancourt – numbers are fine. He sees no pitches, hacks at everything, and makes untimely errors. And he is fat.

Jose Lopez - .224, 3 HR, 19 RBI. Looks lost.

Felix Hernandez – only dominant randomly. 4.14 ERA. 4-3 record. He is 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA in May. He really only looked good one time. He is getting lit up.

Erik Bedard – he has been great, but he randomly gets hurt all the time.

Carlos Silva – worst pitcher ever.

Brandon Morrow – oh I have diabetes, I want to be a reliever. Oh I suck at closing, I like to give up home runs. I think I will just be a middle reliever who used to be the #5 pick overall when my team could have drafted Tim Fricking Lincecum.

So What Can One Look Forward To?
The Mariners, despite having maybe the least potent offense the side of Oakland (SNAP!), are still in the race with a sub .500 record. Felix should rebound at some point. Ryan Rowland Smith should be back in under a week and a half. Silva is hurt so we don’t have to watch him. Chris Jakabauskas and Jason Vargas are actually pitching well for now. And the Tacoma Rainiers are slowly building the most power ever assembled by a AAA team that doesn’t have any players who will play in the majors.

Oh and remember that Ichiro may just say something like he did on June 11, 2007:

"To tell the truth, I'm not excited to go to Cleveland, but we have to," Ichiro said through an interpreter. "If I ever saw myself saying I'm excited going to Cleveland, I'd punch myself in the face, because I'm lying."

Why Would I Return?

Or maybe more appropriately….why would you care?

I can answer the former, but probably not the latter. I am not sure why you would care and by you I mean the four of you who read this.

My return to writing about sports involves a variety of reasons. First, it is extremely therapeutic for me. It allows me to get out all the frustrations that boil inside of me on a daily basis involving my favorite sports teams. Second, I often times wish I could write about sports, but not really in the formatted newspaper format. I like breaking down stats more and injecting my opinion. Thricely (is that a word?), Seattle sports have finally, at last, after a year of disappointment….given me hope again.

It has been documented in many places how horrible the Seattle sports scene was last year but….

Washington Huskies football 0-12
Seattle Seahawks 4-12
Seattle Mariners 61-101
Washington Huskies basketball 16-17
Seattle Sonics 0-infinity

No postseason.

No glory.

No joy.

No NBA team in town anymore.

What an absolutely horrific year.

Then the joy started to return.

It began with the Husky basketball team achieving new found heights with a Pac-10 championship. Then the Mariners made some very smart personnel decisions with Don Wakamatsu as manager and Jack Zduriencik as General Manager. They quickly changed the direction of the Seattle Mariners. It isn’t likely that the team will be very good any time soon, but they are headed in the right direction for the first time in awhile.

The Husky football team got a new leader from the conference’s best in Steve Sarkisian. He already has nine commits for next year’s class, including 4 out of the top 5 from the state of Washington. And the Hawks signed WR TJ Housmanzadeh, DT Colin Cole, CB Ken Lucas, traded for DE Cory Redding, resigned LeRoy Hill and drafted a stud in Aaron Curry. Hope!

Of course with the Oklahoma City Thunder potentially drafted Spanish stud Ricky Rubio, they could be building a fantastic nucleus with Jeff Green, Russell Westbrook, and Kevin Durant but Clay Bennett decided he would rather stab me in the eye with his rich stubby fingers.

I guess not everything is well, but it is a start.

Caw, Feed the Hawks!

The 2007 Seattle Seahawks open their season officially with the first preseason game on national television this Saturday night against the San Diego Chargers. With the media and all of my friends predicting the San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, and even the Saint Louis Rams to win the division, it is time for the Hawks to prove everyone wrong.

People write off the Seahawks despite going to the Super Bowl only two seasons ago and one overtime away from reaching the NFC Championship game last season. That all happened with Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander missing significant time throughout the year. What if Tom Brady and Laurence Maroney had missed the same amount of games last year? Or Peyton Manning and Joseph Addai?

Nevertheless people will believe what they wish. The fact remains that this team won three straight division championships and reached the playoffs the past four seasons. The only other teams to make the playoffs the past four years are the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots. The Seahawks will win the division again and be a force in the NFC.

Is the division improved? Yes. Are the other teams better than the Seahawks? Absolutely not.

To further examine, let's take a look at the Seattle offense.

In a division packed full of high-powered offenses, the Hawks have the edge in experience if not explosiveness. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck returns after a season full of injuries. After leading Seattle to a 4-1 start, E.J. Henderson tried to "Theismann" Hasselbeck and end his career. Fortunately it was only a MCL sprain, but nonetheless he missed almost five games. He returned only to break multiple fingers on his left hand, injure his ribs, and tear his labrum. Despite all of this, Hasselbeck threw for 2442 yards and 18 touchdowns. He returns healthy now and while missing his old favorite target in Wide Receiver Darrell Jackson, will now have a full season of chemistry with wideouts Nate Burleson and Deion Branch.

The silver lining of the Hasselbeck injury proved to be the play of Seneca Wallace. Even though the team only went 2-2, Wallace threw for nearly 1000 yards and eight touchdowns. Most teams will take that from a back up quarterback. Wallace proved he can be the back up quarterback and if (oh please no) Hasselbeck were to go down again, he can do the job. While he is no Steve Young, he certainly isn't Jim Sorgi either. David Greene will need to have a good camp to cement the third string position and thus far he is achieving that. If he ever plays in a game, the season is over anyway.

With the emergence last season of Frank Gore and Stephen Jackson, the running back position in the NFC West no longer belongs to Shaun Alexander as the king. Just don't tell him that. When asked on the radio where fantasy owners should draft him, Alexander responded, "it depends if the person wants to win." Laughing he continued, "if you want to win, draft me first." Never one to lack confidence or hunger for touchdowns, Alexander's foot now is healed and he seems hungry to return to his status among the elite. If statistics tell the story then watch out. But if age tells the story, then the Hawks may struggle to run the ball. He will be 30 years old this season and not many thirty-somethings do much running the football in the NFL. Yet it is hard to ignore these numbers when healthy.

In 2001, he put up 1318 yards with 14 touchdowns. He followed that up with 1175 and 16 touchdowns the next year. In 2003, Alexander racked up 1435 yards with 14 touchdowns only to trump that with 1696 yards and 16 touchdowns the next season. The MVP year of 2005 was simply ridiculous with 1880 yards and 27 TDs. Then 896 yards and 7 touchdowns last year in only ten games. Yet the biggest concern last season involved the yards per carry (3.6). Every other year listed above he carried 4.0 or higher per carry including 4.8 in 2005 and 5.1 in 2006.

The success of Shaun may rely most on the offensive line. His MVP year involved a great line that played together for years in left tackle Walter Jones, left guard Steve Hutchinson, center Robbie Tobeck, right guard Chris Gray, and right tackle Sean Locklear. Jones, Gray, and Locklear remain on the squad, but the other two positions now are held by youngsters. Center Chris Spencer is entered his third year and guard Rob Sims comes into his second year. They are both held in high regard and seem to be doing well in camp, but Hutch and Tobeck both made Pro Bowls so they have big shoes to fill. (Spencer wears a size 17 shoe, yes!) Ray Willis apparently is pushing Gray for time at the right guard spot, but his value may be best felt filling in as a back up at either tackle spot. When Floyd Womack remains healthy (never) he backs up both guard spots and Tom Ashworth provides a veteran presence as a back up also. A couple young guys provide depth but will never see the field if this team is successful.

If the starters at the line positions can remain healthy and play together, Alexander can have a good season. And if he does well, we shouldn't see too much of Maurice Morris. He remains a decent change of pace back and can run after the catch, but it is doubtful the Hawks' coaches want him playing too much. Meanwhile Mack Strong returns for his 87th season as fullback, but Leonard Weaver may get some time there as well. Coaches, fans, and players alike all rave about the ability of Weaver and he may even see some split back action with Alexander.

The receiving corps remains talented and should be a strength even with the trade of Jackson. Deion Branch enters as the primary receiver and will run the same routs that D-Jack did the past few years. It wouldn't be suprising for Branch to put up 65-70 catches this season in the West Coast offense. He runs precise, quick routes and has good hands (a big downfall of Jackson). Either Nate Burleson or D.J. Hackett will start as the other receiver. The camp battle thus far has been fantastic as Burleson apparently has been catching everything. Hackett remains a fan favorite and has both size and "deceptive quickness" according to those who know these things. Either way, both receivers will be on the field a lot as Head Coach Mike Holmgren and Offensive Coordinator (puppet) Gil Haskell love the three and four receiver sets. Of course Bobby Engram remains the best threat on third down plays as he simply does not drop balls and Hasselbeck loves to find him over the middle. With those four receivers, it is easy to love the depth at the position. The fifth and sixth receivers will be a combination of Ben Obomanu (who is almost a lock to make the team and maybe see playing time), Jordan Kent (please no), and Courtney Taylor.

The question mark aside from the line is the tight end spot. Marcus Pollard comes in at 35 years old, but a good receiver. Whether he puts up good numbers or not, it seems hard to believe he could be worse for the team then Jerramy Stevens. Aside from the arrests and idiocy, the man dropped a lot of balls the past couple years (nice Super Bowl buddy) and had trouble staying healthy. The most he ever caught in one season was 45 balls in the Super Bowl run and clearly he was a threat. Pollard will need to catch between 30 and 40 passes to be a real threat to other teams and hopefully he does because back up Will Heller sure as hell isn't going to do it.

With age and some question marks, it would be easy to write off the Seahawk offense. Yet they still have one of the top three left tackles in the game, a top ten quarterback, a top seven running back, and depth at receiver. So will they score points? Yes and it will be a lot. So will the other NFC West offenses, but will they be able to stop anyone? Will the Hawks?

Soon to come....

Charlie or Ty?

The national debate ended awhile back as the country fell in love with a chunky offensive guru. No one cared anymore whether the African-American successful college coach had been wrongly let go. All was good again at good old Notre Dame because the Fighting Irish posted a 9-3 season followed by a 10-3 campaign.

All hail Charlie Weis.

Except for me.

Bob Davie posted a 21-16 record in his first three seasons and did not get fired. Tyrone Willingham went 21-15 in his first three seasons and lost his job. Davie is white. Willingham is black. Hmmm. I searched for more answers.

The big knock I repeatedly hear involves Willingham's ability to attract the top flight talent that Notre Dame needed to succeed. Interesting theory, but simply not true. According to scout.com, Coach Willingham posted the #13 overall class in the country in 2002 and the #5 overall class in 2003 while Coach Weis posted the #27 class in 2005 and the #5 class in 2006. The one class Willingham failed with was 2004 where they landed #30. He finished the year being fired. One poor recruiting class apparently gets you fired at Notre Dame. Some say that is fair. I say let's look closer.

The expected depth chart for this upcoming season (Weis' third with Notre Dame) will still have three offensive starters recruited by Willingham and six defensive starters. Last year's 10-3 squad that everyone raved about so much featured nine offensive starters recruited by Coach Ty and all eleven defensive starters. So he can't attract enough talent but his players can go 10-3 with another coach? This fails to include that fact that eleven other players left the Notre Dame program sinced Tyrone Willingham was fired on December 1, 2004, due to their loyalty to him.

This isn't too say that Weis cannot recruit as he certainly can. He had the #11 class in the country for 2007 and thus far has the best class of committs in 2008. But would Willingham have done any worse?

It was Willingham who recruited Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija, Darius Walker, Rhema McKnight, Anthony Fasano, Maurice Stovall, John Carlson, and Tom Zbikowski. That talent looks pretty good to me.

The other knock on Willingham involved his ability to win on Saturdays. Everyone loved him up until Saturday. Well in his three seasons, the Fighting Irish posted a 7-8 record against ranked opponents beating Michigan two out of three times. Under Weis, the Irish hold a 3-5 record against ranked teams (beating Pittsburgh, Michigan, and Penn State). Both coaches hold 0-2 records in bowls at Notre Dame.

I understand that 9-3 followed by 10-3 gives Weis an upper hand. But again he did it with Tyrone's players including Brady Quinn who Willingham never got to go the battle with as a starter. Tyrone went with Carlye Holliday and many other Bob Davie players.

Could Willingham have gone 10-3 with his players at Notre Dame last year? Unfortunately we will never know as the Irish administrators decided that Coach Willingham didn't "produce" enough. Wonder what they would have said if he was white.