As I sit here thinking about taking Ultra up on his challenge from a week or so ago, and possibly writing a retroactive letter to Santa Claus about all of our local sports needs for the next year, I realize that I can sum my predictions for the year up in one great big word…….
Now, let’s take it from the top, and you will see what I mean:
Basketball: I don’t care how much he and his lackies deny it, “Cash Us” Clay Bennett very clearly came into town and demolished what little bit of good there was to the Seattle Supersonics, just as a means of making Seattlites reach a point where they barely give a flying flip about the team and the fact that he has the moving vans almost packed and ready to take off to OKC as soon as the NBA’s board of governors gives him permission to do so.
The Sonics can barely win their way out of a paper bag any more after trading Ray Allen to the suddenly resurgent Boston Celtics, and letting Rashard Lewis get away to the Orlando Magic. About the only good thing about this team is Kevin Durant, and he should be the league’s Rookie of the Year for the way he is trying to carry the team on his back. Can you say “deliberate tanking” everyone?
The Federal Court hasn't even started to hear motions on the city of Seattle’s litigation against Bennett and the Sonics ownership for trying to bail out on the last two years of their lease for the Key Arena, and the other two class action suits that have been filed against them for ticket fraud (he DID, after all, make some promises to season ticket holders that he didn’t really have much of an intention of fulfilling), and already Mr. Bennett has convinced the City of OKC that they need to raise $100MM to upgrade the nearly brand new Ford Center against the POSSIBILITY that the team might be relocating there, for which the city will be holding a referendum vote on an additional city sales tax to support the renovation. (Note to OKC: If you approve it, he isn’t going to spend any of the team’s money for that renovation; and will be back in less than five years asking for $500MM more (again none of the team’s money to be added) for a totally brand new arena.
Pfooey, Clay. The people of OKC really want the Hornets back anyway. Hopefully, while you are tied up in court, Mr. Shinn will bring them back, since the league is not happy with their attendance in NOLA since their return, and you won’t have any place in OK to put the OKC whatever their names will be. There are people here who want to buy the team back to keep it here. Get off the dime and sell to them.
Baseball: Carlos Silva?? Carlos Silva??? OK, so we got a pitcher from the Twins. Note to Silly Billy Bavasi—–WRONG PITCHER, DUDE!!!! You were supposed to be dealing for Carlos’ best friend, Johan, remember? What’s up with that? (Note to Carlos: Please go and have a talk with your best friend and convince him to tell the Twinkies management that he would like to be reunited with you.) The only thing good about this offseason is that the Angels didn’t get a whole heck of a lot better. Yes, they got Torii Hunter and Jon Garland, but Vlad is getting a little brittle lately, and sending Orlando Cabrera off to Chicago isn’t going to do a whole lot for Vlad’s protection in the line up. (Torii isn’t exactly getting any younger or faster or better with the bat, you know; and Jon Garland is a solid middle of the rotation pitcher more or less).
I’m here to predict that, barring a miracle like the one that happened in NYC in 1969, I will have quit watching local baseball games on TV by the middle of July, and probably won’t have attended one in person after opening day.
Football: *sigh* Methinks Mike Holmgren retireth after the Hawks get knocked out of the playoffs (hopefully in the second round, not the first), and we have son of “Playoffs? Playoffs? Don’t even talk about the playoffs!” as the new head coach (at least until Ty Willingham gets the axe at the UW, and Mora the Younger goes off to take over that gig). He’s done a great job with the defensive secondary this year, but is he ready to be a head coach again? I dunno, but something deep within me says that the Hawks window of opportunity is about to slam shut with a resounding ####, and they go back to being the Hawks of old for a few years (translation: not so hot).
Now that I have totally depressed myself about the state of professional sports in Seattle, I think I will go off and watch a T’Birds game. At least they are playoff bound, and stand a pretty good chance of winning the American Division of the WHL again this year.
i think your way off on the Mariners dude. Angels didnt get any better. they actually lost some pitching and a solid infielder and gained an outfielder that really does nothing for them. Mariners are basiclly the same team offensivly, and the pitching is already better. Sexson wont have the same horribale season as last. Jose Lopez will play with a clear mind now that he has had time off to greive the death of his brother. Adam Jones will Finially get his chance to shine. and raul Ibanez should get his HR totals back up. as for the pitching. Silva will be a huge contributer to keeping out bullpen rested. thats what killed us last season. felix washburn and silva all can eat up innings. Batista was atually our most consistant pitcher last year and can only improve with mel as the pitching coach. now that leaves the number 5 slot. i believe it will probably be Di ckey. We picked him up in the rule 5 draft. if your not familier with him. we was pacific coast league pitcher of the year and has MLB experiance. We got him from the twins i believe but i think he played for Texas before he was traded. He is a knuckleball pitcher and was basiclly untouchable last year in the minors. If we get a catcher who can handle his knuckle we should see him in the number 5 slot. should work out alot like wakefield did for the red sox. If we hit as well as we did last year or better we have a shot at first. This will be a great season for the M's. Most people dont see the good cause they expected Santana. but im personally happy we didnt trade our young future away for him. There still is a cha
Busa: Just to clarify, I'm not a dude--I'm the opposite gender. I sincerely hope that you're right in your predictions, but I'm just feeling way too "glass half empty" on this one. They may well win more games than they did last year, but I don't think they win more than the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Azusa, Cucamonga and all points east. But I will keep my fingers crossed that you are right and I'm wrong.
It must be hard to stay positive when it rains so much. Keep your chin up. I do think the Seahawks will win in week one. That is better than my Bolts normally do.
It's easy to be whiny when you're in SEA, it is after all the second most liberal city on the west coast (after SF), so of course there's some depression there.
Let's get to brass tax:
1)Sonics/NBA: Don't really care about the NBA in general, when 85-75 and 96-90 games started becoming the norm and defense (read: lousy offense) started becoming the rage, which is basically the only reason you would ever trade Ray Allen and Glen Davis for Jeff Green and Delonte West (although West and Green are both pretty good). But spare me with Rashard Lewis, the guy's been way too inconsistent.
2)Mariners: Silva, overpaid? Yes. Lousy? No. The Triple Crown stats are as meaningful as the Hawks losing their last two road games. Look at IP and walks. Speaking of...................
3)Hawks: What gives you the idea the Hawks will be back to the Hawks of old? Unless Paul Allen sells the team to Clay Bennett, that ain't happenin'. Holmgren ain't the be-all end-all, and he had just as much a hand in the Hawks' mediocrity at the beginning of this decade (he was a better GM than Matt Millen, but then again that's not a prize or anything) as he does the Hawks being contenders. Mora will be fine (well until he goes to UW and then all hell breaks loose), don't go by what happened with Ron Mexico.
SLEEPLESS I think Seattle is a good sports town! I lived there for about 17 years now I'm back in Montana and really miss going to all those games, be thankful for what you have because you could be in my shoes and have to listen to Denver fans all the time!
Bolt: Well, both of those teams did pretty well this weekend, so you can be glad that you were wrong on this one.
Handler: Don't count ME as one of those liberals, because I am far from it (I'm fron SoCal, not north), San Bernardino County to be exact....
That said, I still think that the dismantling of the Sonics is deliberate on the new ownership's part and, good or not, Lewis and Allen were the face of the franchise for several years. I think that Durant will eventually be that again, IF he doesn't run for the hills as soon as he legally can, if the team relocates to middle America.
The jury is still out on Silva. Have to see him play up close and personal first.
Hawks: A lot of them, including the primary QB are starting to put a little age on them. If they start to go young, it could go either way--they could get better or they could get worse for a while. Your statement on Holmy and the GM position is exactly why he is not both HC and GM any more. Ron Mexico is not a role model for anything or anyone, IMHO.
Montana: I don't think I WOULD want to be in your shoes. Montana is beautiful, but too far away from everything for my taste.
Continuing to do well in FA and the draft will ensure the Hawks will worst-case scenario go back to Chuck Knox-levels, not Behring era (maybe a couple Ericksons). Of the-soon-to-be-two major league teams in Seattle, I'd worry least about the Hawks future prospects right now
If Carlos Silva is better than Jeff Weaver, then the Ms improved. The signing of Miquel Cario is totally worthless. Why can't the Mariners trade Jose Lopez and work on getting a 2B worth while. Cario is no way to improve.
The Mariners have to decide whether to go for it now, or in the future. Bavasi seems to want both, and he is doing a mediocre job at it. That has been the problem with Seattle sports. The Seahawks, Sonics, and Mariners over the past decade have always been mediocre, with obvious exceptions of course, and in return receive middle of the road draft picks. However, if you look at the great teams out there that win Championships they go through a rebuilding period.
The Sonics are going through that now. We are throwing the next two years away, but stockpiling draft picks and getting rid of older guys with big salaries, for a Championship calliber team 3 to 4 years from now. Too bad Oklahoma will be the city to enjoy it.
I don't think the Seahawks are quite at that point. It would be hard to upgrade at DEF, and Hasselbeck will be good for at least a few more years, but we need to improve the O-Line and TE positions. If we can get a good back up RB, I say we go for it, (ie, C. Taylor). If we can pull these moves over the offseason, look for the Hawks to get over the hump next year.
As far the Mariners, like I said, the question is, go for it now or in the future? Signing Ichiro to a long term huge contract, pretty much answers that question. However, are we really going to beat top AL teams?
Probably not...learn from the Sonics Butvasi! Get rid of the older guys, (Sexson + Vidro), play the younger guys, Jones, Balentien and Clement. Trade Johjima and Ichiro, for top prospects. That's right I said trade Ichiro...maybe not this year, but next year when he still has good years in him. Then in three to four years, the guys mentioned above will be well seasoned, the prospects we are dangling in front of Baltimore will be ready to go, (not to mention prospects we could get in trade for Ichiro), Felix will probably be a legit #1, and Beltre a great veteran presence, not to mention finally used to the AL...and we could have a Championship calliber team! Oh wait, that's right, you will be fired by then!
I would like to offer a different opinion on what I believe would be smart moves on the M's part.
Stop all the bonehead spending on some of these players. Why on God's green earth do they constantly go and spend money on some of these mediocre players that had a break out season or had a short, end of season, moment of brilliance. i.e. - Spiezio, Weaver, Beltre...etc. Don't get me wrong, Beltre is a hell of a player & I would hate to see him leave the M's. But he had 1 break out season and they jumped on his bandwagon & spent a boat load of money. How much did they lose on Spiezio & Aurilia? Weaver came around but it took way too long (& now that he has come around...he's gone?) Anyone rememeber Poky Reese? The guy that didn't play 1 game???
Stop dropping all that money and save the money from Bavasi's salary (Fire His Butt) and let's start concentrating on these young guys in our system that have the drive, talent & desire to get the job done! I know...'they have no major league experience'...so let's give them some. I personally would be willing to weather a down season or 2 and watch some young talent make it big, i.e.-Junior, A-Rod, Betancourt, King Felix. Let's build on what we have instead of buying from outside.
If we do buy, let's get the players who perform well and with consistencey year in & year out, like Ibanez. Letting go of Guillen? Mid to high 200 batter, great arm and better than average fielder....gone.
Last edited by StoneMustang on January 17th at 8:51 PM.
When our young talent does get to the All-Star level, stop sending them off somewhere else to shine, i.e.-Junior, A-Rod, Soriano. Why won't management/ownership fight tooth & nail to keep them in-house?
As for Ritchie, he had a bad year, so what? He is a high strike out guy and wasn't brought in because he's a contact hitter. He gets the homeruns, he is near or at the top for homeruns in a season by a Mariner & grandslams.
Jose L. had a pretty fair reasoning for his play last season as well, funny how the death of a loved one will do that to a person, huh? To us fans who have experienced it, most of us know or remember the feeling. To the fans that haven't felt it, I hope you never do.
All of these guys are professionals and we expect alot from them. On a whole they deliver, but lets not forget they are also human and subject to the same pressures as the rest of us and are just as apt to make mistakes.
I am fully aware that my reasoning is probably flawed and full of holes. I know that this year I will sit back like everyone else and yell at these guys, through my tv, asking how could you miss that or why didn't you swing at that pitch.
I also know that there is alot more to running the operations of a major league baseball team than I can imagine. But over the last ten years I have watched the UPPER management of the M's make more errors that most people will se at a little league T-ball game. Only we laugh at those errors.
Last edited by StoneMustang on January 17th at 9:18 PM.
I like the Silva signing, sure he's overrpaid, but so are the majority of the other major league players. He'll be a good option towards the back end of the rotation. I'll like his signing even better, if the M's can swing the much anticipated deal for Erik Bedard.
The Seahawks need a number of things, mainly a running back who can get positive yards, a tight end who can catch the ball, a fat guy on the defense, and some capable offensive linemen other than Locklear and Jones. I think it's time for Holmgren to step down and hand the team over to Jim Mora.
Like I've said many times, any of you Sonics fans want to jump on board the Blazer bandwagon, we'll accept you with open arms. We already took McMillan, Webster, and Roy from Seattle. Why not add some or all of the fan base as well? Mr. Allen would be glad to have you.
Count me in on all your Hawks suggestions except "a big fat guy on defense". We've had plenty of those, I got too many bad memories of watching Norman Hand being helped off the EWU practice field (he didn't quite need a Gilbert Brown-patented air mask, but that's another discussion) to want another one. Besides, Tez wasn't the biggest guy in the world. Neither was Nash.
For instance Vince Wilfork is small in NT terms but who cares as long as he gets it done?
Last edited by Handler on January 23rd at 4:55 PM.
Kelly: It WILL be interesting to see Herr Neuheisel back in the Pac 10, especially when the Bruins play the Dawgs.
Bolt: I guess we will just have to watch this weekend and see what happens. It HAS been raining a lot the last few weeks--considerably more than normal, in fact.
I am a 50 something health care professional transplanted to Seattle from SoCal in 2001 (and, before you ask, no, I don't want to go back). My tastes in sports are pretty eclectic, but in order of preference, I guess they would be baseball, hockey, basketball, football--col lege and pro/men and women alike. Teams I "HATE": USC (I went to UCLA); University of Michigan (born and raised in Columbus OH to a large family of OSU alumni/alumna e), and--probably most of all--the d***ed Yankees. I have worked in a variety of capacities at the MLB, NBA and NFL venues here in Seattle and at UW (hey, what true sports fan could pass up the possibility of getting paid to do something you would have done anyway (and had to pay for it)?)
