OK, so I'm coming off a cold, with a monster headache, which makes me grumpy anyway, but this week in sports has not made it any better, believe me.
My bracket for the NCAA's totally blew up in my face. "nuff said.
Baseball: Stud closer JJ Putz down with a muscle strain that caused him to blow his first save of the year. On the DL for at least two weeks. Along with the other weaknesses in the bullpen, this can bode nothing but ill (witness four losses in a row to the O's, of all people).
Then came the hip discomfort of newly acquired ace pitcher Erik Bedard, causing him to be scratched from his scheduled second outing in Baltimore (his former team home). Thankfully, that turned out to be nothing, at least THIS time. But his history of injuries the past few years is not terribly promising.
Basketball: See the above regarding the NCAA's.
NBA: "NBA? Who are they?" The NBA is dead to me now, and I think that everyone knows why. I will never watch another NBA game on TV after the regular season is over this year, nor buy tickets to any game, nor buy any of their merchandise, and will purposely boycott any and all companies that sponsor the NBA with my personal dollars. (I will, however, continue to support our local WNBA team).
My major entertainment for this summer is going to be watching and listening to how the Commish and others in the NBA hierarchy try to weasel their way out of the coming embarrassment (during the NBA finals in June) that will be the City of Seattle vs Seattle Supersonics Basketball Club, NBA, et al. It could get very interesting.
The weather: I know, I know, I live in Seattle, OK. But even I would like to see the sun at least one day a week. They tell me it is coming tomorrow or Friday. I hope so.
Football: The 'Hawks just might be going to really suck this year. Since it is Holmy's last year, they should strive to do just the opposite.
And, finally, they have come up with a name for Seattle's new MLS team and it is.......drum roll,please. Almost exactly the same as the old minor league team..Seattle Sounders FC (the FC is all that is new).
Ed: See today's post for more information that you may find interesting.
Handler: They haven't done much to improve their holes this off-season. Unless they have a super draft, picking up a bunch of players who can have an immediate impact, it doesn't look good. Shaun is likely gone soon, and the two they will be replacing him with are not much younger than he and certainly no faster or productive.
"At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."
I agree, but not about the Hawks. I dont see how our running game could get any worse than it was last year, and belive me, it wont be. In fact, our new backfield will be running off the left side all day and there will be improvement in the short yardage situation. That will open up the passing even more, which should lead to some time consuming drives, which will keep our D rested, which is when they are more effective. All that = more wins. They will have to win on the road though, which is always tough considering we will probably travel farther than any other team next year.
"Handler: They haven't done much to improve their holes this off-season."
Um, turfing Macaroni, hiring one of the best OL coaches in the league and signing Wahle (which also allows Sims to move to RG where he's better-suited) isn't improving?
TE will be fixed in the draft, but it's basically (with apologies to Itula Mili) been a hole forever
and, other than the Behring/Flores error, hasn't sunk the team. If there is a god, Jonathan Stewart comes back up north and he'll be SA's replacement.
Mare isn't a FG upgrade over Josh but he can actually get kickoffs into the endzone.
So we're looking at DT depth, a potential impact WR (might have to sub Limas Sweed for Stewart here), TE, and a kicker (Who knows, Mare might not even make the team).
Basically, we're not talking anything that drops a team from playoffs to top ten draft pick in '09.
I wouldn't feel too badly about the brackets. You are in good company. Aside from those in Kansas and Tennesse, a lot of people were throwing things at the TV. There were some people who lost a lot of money and a few brave souls who made a ton of money on that tournament.
I understand that on Sunday, there were a lot of UCLA and North Carolina fans down on the Riverwalk trying to unload finals tickets. LOL
The weather? The Spurs may have lost to the Suns last night, but the weather in SA today is absolutely georgeous. Hard to be down, when there is not a cloud in the sky.
Thinkaboutit and Handler; I can but hope that you are both right and my "gut feeling" is wrong. It is about time that something goes right around here, and the M's ain't it, and the Sonics are history, so it's up to the Hawks.
Spursce: I know. I had UNC all the way this year (and I went to UCLA, mind you). Goes to show what I know.
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)?)
