I write this with the full knowledge that I'm probably going to get slammed: I LOVE the signing that the Seahawks have done! Anything is better then a running back that thinks he's playing baseball and slides to avoid contact and blocks (if we're lucky) like a scared grandmother about to be hit by a truck.

Julius Jones never got a fair shot outside of his rookie year because of Marion Barber, but look at the yards:

• 2004: 819 yards, 4.2 YPA, 7 TDs in 8 games
• 2005: 993 yards, 3.9 YPA, 5 TDs in 13 games
• 2006: 1084 yards, 4.1 YPA, 4 TDs in 16 games
• 2007: 588 yards, 3.6 YPA, 2 TDs in 16 games

Last year was when Barber really hit the scene (975 yards, 4.8 YPA, 10 TDs, and a Pro Bowl), but he's best two years were with Barber behind him, the numbers don't lie. While his YPA weren't through the roof, he still produced.

The running game in Seattle hasn't been the same since the Super Bowl run, but that's not all on Steve Hutchinson's departure. The loss of one or two guys on the offensive line does not constitute the drop off off a little over 1000 yards and 20 TDs that we saw Shaun go through in 2006. He never tried to get the tough yards and it was just made glaringly obvious by the mind numbing drop in stats.

"Oh, he was hurt!"

"Oh, his line sucks!"

ENOUGH! in 13 games last year, Shaun posted 716 yds, 3.5 YPA and 4 TDs. Maurice Morris, his back up and probably the first to go with all the signings this offseason, got 628 yds, 4.5 YPA, and 4 TDs in one more game. ONE MORE! BEHIND THE SAME DAMN LINE!

The writing is on the wall, especially if they get a back in the draft(Mike Hart will still be on the board at the end of the 2nd round). Shaun Alexander is out of town. Take your Twinkies and Bible and go somewhere else. I hear the Texans are looking for anothe fragile ex-Seahawk runner to compliment Ahman Green.

(Sorry for the horrible pun, I just couldn't resist)

The Rockets are losing their premiere big man to a stress fracture in his left foot that will require surgery and put Yao Ming on the shelf for the rest of the year. With the Rockets soaring through this part of the schedule and climbing the ranks in the stacked West, this will definatly make things harder for them. Are they out of it? I don't think so, not yet anyway.

With the dearth of wings and playmaking guards on this team, I think they just need to find a body for the middle that can eat up space, fouls, and boards. If T-Mac can stay healthy for the stretch run, which is a MONSTER if, the outside shooting and pretty solid permiter defense (I don't care what anyone says, Shane Battier is as good, if not better at times, the Bruce Bowen), I honestly can say that they will be able to absorb the loss. Would I be surprised if McGrady and Houston folded it up for the year? No, but this is not like before.

Tracy and Yao have never been the most durible players on the hard wood. In the past, that has been the bain of the Rockets, not having enough depth behind their two stars. But now, with T-Mac playing the way he almost always seems to, Luis Scolia coming along fantastic, and the rest of the team's role players clicking around him, I think they'll be fine. Will it be enough for a playoff spot? Yes, but only just. No higher then 7th. Will they win a series? No, but they'll make it tough for whoever they've got. For the short term, this only helps the young talent that Houston has accrued to gain experiance and confidence for series in the future.

This shouldn't be the end of the Rockets run, as is. This is the just the start.

As is evident in the little blurb of to the right, I am a Sonics fan. And as such, I've been through my share of ups and downs. But normally there is an up to look forward to at some point. Realistically, there isn't one.

When Clay Bennett and he's group of lowly subhumans purchased my beloved NBA team, it was blatant what they were up to. They bought the Seattle SuperSonics to move them to Oklahoma City. Clay pretended to go through the motions of getting a new arena, but he was never serious. The Muckleshoot Indians offered to build him an arena, on thier own land no less, no money from him, and coldly refused. This man is trying, and doing a damn fine job of, tearing the heart out of one of the most loyal fan bases in America.

But, I always held hope. I had that glimmer that David Stern and the NBA would step in and tell Clay, "Fuck off with this OKC crap!" if only for the sheer economic ramafactions. But no. Stern is proving to be just what people have been branding him for years. Pompous and spineless. Look at how dreadfully the Memphis Grizzlies are doing, how poor attendance for the New Orleans Hornets is, and they're #1 in the West for God's sake! Imagine throwing another team into that wasteland. There is such a abundace of quality college atheletics in the area, who the hell cares about a bunch of whiney, overpaid primadonnas when you watch players throw their bodies on the line for the love of the game. Yes, they all have dreams of going pro, but not all of them will and they know it. Yet, there they are, busting their nuts because they love the game.

The Sonics will not thrive in Oklahoma. Period. They may be a laughing stock here, but they're OUR laughing stock. They are still the SEATTLE SuperSonics. The history of the franchise will still be tied to the Pacific Northwest. Oklahoma never won an NBA title, Seattle did. Lenny Wilkins, Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, Dennis Johnson? Seattle. None of those guys would give OKC a second look. When Kevin Durant's contract is up, he's gone. He'll fly to the first major market team as soon as he has the chance, even if that means the Knicks or the Clippers. In Seattle, he'd be able to get his face out anywhere in the U.S., and given the M's success in Japan, maybe even join Yi, Yao, and the rest of the Rockets in popularity in Asia.

I hate to say it, but I'm savoring every single Sonics game as if it's the last, because they more or less are. And that fucking disgusts me.