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I won’t be able to attend this weekend’s Husky football game, so I figured I give my readers a chance to go. The winner of the contest will receive 2 tickets to the game versus California. To win you need to complete the following and email me the answer:

Name Four former Husky Football players who currently play in the NFL or NBA. Email your answer to chadrick.ashby@gmail.com.

The winner will be randomly selected from the correct answers. Now I know the Huskies aren’t bowl contenders, but it’s nice to take in the sights and experience a game at one of college football’s finest venues. Plus they’re free, so no complaints. Cheers and good luck.

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Coach Steve Sarkisian announced on his website that active police, military and fire department personnel can gain free admission to this weekend’s game against Cal. Here is the official release:

“Available to all active police, military and fire department personnel – with applicable ID

Up to four (4) complimentary tickets to the Cal game on Saturday
Call or come by the Husky Ticket Office, Monday-Friday during business hours

Or come to the ticket window at the Northeast Plaza at Husky Stadium on Saturday

Husky Ticket Office: (206) 543-2200 for information”

There’s no doubt they’re having trouble keeping interest, as the Dawgs are out of bowl contention and only playing for pride. Despite that, it’s a great opportunity to take your family to experience the game. Enjoy.

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The 30-0 throttling was the first Apple Cup shut out in 45 years. Yet somehow it doesn’t feel gratifying so much as it is a return to normal. It’s a refreshing change from the past five years of silly and ridiculous defeats to the Cougs (minus the win in 2006).

I mean, say what you will about Rick Neuheisel, at least he knew how to beat WSU. Steve Sarkisian seems to be continuing that tradition that somehow got discarded by the two previous coaches.

In watching the game, WSU really are a bad team. They had a sort of swiss cheese aspect to them, in that the Huskies could impose their will on them. When we needed four yards on fourth down, it was there for the taking. When we needed a score, we were met with little resistance. This Cougar team reminded me of last years Huskies, minus the “dead man walking” coach.

I won’t turn this into a Cougar forum, but I haven’t seen a lot of improvement in the WSU squad this year. They just don’t look like they have anything going well for them. In contrast, the Huskies look to be on the up and up.

Here’s an analogy for you: If each team were a young man graduating from high school, the Huskies would be going off to a prestigious, academically and  athletically reknowned school (like UW). Meanwhile the Cougs would be struggling to graduate and on the wait list to get into Wazzu (if they even have one).

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In reading over Bob Condotta’s Husky Football Blog, he makes a few good points about today’s match up:

First, of the 33 statistical categories that the Pac 10 keeps track of, WSU is dead last in 22 of them. This includes scoring offense and defense, total offense and defense, rushing offense and defense and passing defense. Those are the essentials for football success.

What else? Even the “world’s biggest WSU fan” is doubting the team.

My pick of a 14 point Husky win is based purely on history. Basically, the lesser team always seems to find a way to make the game competitive. Condotta, meanwhile, sees the Huskies covering the 26 point Vegas line and winning 45-16.

Cheers all, and GO DAWGS!

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I’ll start by saying that if we don’t win this game I don’t know what I’m going to do. Maybe scream uncontrollably for 30 minutes or longer or take a long Silkwood-esque shower.

So far this season the Huskies have shown they are a team on the rise. You can tell there is skill in the likes of Middleton, Aguilar, Locker, Trufant and others. There are highly touted recruits coming in and seemingly good coaching to put it all together.

In contrast, the Huskies have also shown their youth and inexperience. Key turnovers and simply being undermanned hurt them in several games this year – namely vs. Oregon and Notre Dame. In short, it’s been a roller coaster ride of a season.

The Cougars, however don’t seem to have a lot going for them. They have one win versus Portland State (I think they’re DII, not even going to look it up) and have been blown out in every other game this year. The point spread between the two teams reflects that; the Huskies are 26 point favorites.

Consequently, the Apple Cup is the closest thing to a bowl game either team will get this year. Woof.

The Pick

Say what you will about Rick Neuheisel, at least he knew how to beat the Cougs WSU always shows up for the Apple Cup. Steve Sarkisian needs to learn how to do the same.

Seeing that this is always hotly contested, I think UW wins but the Cougs cover the spread. I’ll call this one UW 31, Cougars 17.

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Earlier today, the Philadelphia Union selected Sebastien Le Toux in the MLS expansion draft. Le Toux was one of the unprotected players on the Seattle roster. He was also the first player signed by the Sounders in their expansion and has been with the team since their USL days. Consequently, the Union are now on my sh*t list.

From what I understand, Sebastien was perfectly happy in Seattle. Who wouldn’t be? Seattle has the best soccer atmosphere and the best fans. He will, however, get more playing time in Philly. Sigh… We’ll miss you Seba.

Here are all of the Union’s picks (Thanks to Juan Romero of the Seattle Times):

Philadelphia Union 2009 Expansion Draft Selections

(listed in alphabetical order)

Player (Pos.) Former Club

Jordan Harvey (D) Colorado Rapids

Andrew Jacobsen (M) D.C. United

Brad Knighton (G) New England Revolution

Sebastien Le Toux (F) Seattle Sounders FC

Stefani Miglioranzi (M) LA Galaxy

Alejandro Moreno (F) Columbus Crew

Dave Myrie (D) Chicago Fire

Shea Salinas (M) San Jose Earthquakes

Shavar Thomas (D) Chivas USA

Nick Zimmerman (M) New York Red Bulls

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So I haven’t posted in a while, big deal. I was busy hunting trophy bucks in Montana and reveling in my success. By the way, if you ever need meat processed from your deer or elk, check out Farmer George in Port Orchard. You can also buy pretty much any cut of meat that you want. Ham, beef, elk, bison, deer, they’ve got it all. We’ve trusted them for years.

Moving on to topics of relevance, let us start with the Seahawks. They’re 3-7 heading into Thanksgiving weekend and have me regretting my season ticket purchase this year. I can’t even watch their games any more, I just follow my fantasy teams on NFL RedZone. Eventually they show a highlight of Brett Favre lighting up our secondary for 300+ yards.

Can you guess which other NFL teams are currently 3-7? There are four: the Washington Redskins, Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders. Not exactly stellar company, but that’s what happens when you lose 7 of the 10 games you played.

So what needs to improve? I’ll list these in order of importance:

• Offensive Line

No more Walter Jones. Hutchinson is long gone. Injuries everywhere. The Hawks need to spend at least one of their two first round picks on shoring up this lineup or face more years of mediocrity.

• Secondary

Let me put it this way: If the Hawks’ defensive ends were to enter a Duck Hunt tournament, they would fail miserably because they can’t stop anything in the air. We need someone like Denver’s Champ Bailey who can match up with the opponents’ big guns.

• Defensive Line

We keep treating the opposing QB like they’re a hors d’oeuvre at a fine dining restaurant.We need to get ferocious, like a fat chick at China Sun buffet.

• Quarterback

I keep poking shots at Old man Warner of the Cardinals, but he’s getting the job done. Hasselbeck keeps throwing lame ducks. I hate to say it, but his time in Seattle may be waining.

Outlook:

If there were a song to describe the Hawks outlook for next year, it would be “It’s a Long Way to the Top” by AC/DC. There are simply too many holes in this ship that needs fixing. I see this and the next couple years as rebuilding.

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I’ll be gone over the next week on a deer hunting trip in Montana, so there will be subsequently be no posts during that time. I therefore like to take the opportunity to have the readers weigh in.

If you have any questions, comments, feedback, suggestions or otherwise for this blog, please send them to me. Email me here. Any questions you have may be featured in future blog post.

Samples:

Who the hell this Derek Dunlap character? Why do you keep including him in blog posts?

Do you think Jake Locker will go pro?

Why do you think the Sounders will be the first Seattle team to win a major championship since the Sonics of ’79?

What’s so special about the Sonicsgate documentary?

Cheers,

Sports Guy

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I’ll start out first by saying that there will be no blog updates for the week of November 8-14, as I’ll be deer hunting with my dad (living legends are a dying breed) and friend Derek Dunlap in Montana. Hopefully our performance replicates that of the Sounders season (amazing) rather than the Seahawks (abysmal).

The game: Sunday, November 8 at noon. In the Seattle area, the game will be live on King5. Outside of Seattle, however, it can be watched live on FSN.

As for the game itself, I’ll say that I have a bad feeling about it. Of the five matches this season against the Dynamo, we’ve won three and tied two. Given their last performance (0-0 draw at Qwest), the Dynamo seemed like they knew how to scout and adapt to our style of play: they were excellent at neutralizing Llungberg and forced us to lose possession in midfield. It just seems like they’re due for a breakout performance.

I have no doubt the Sounders are going to come out and play a hard fought match. I also expect the same from the Dynamo. Their playing style in the first leg indicated they were concerned primarily with defense. In the second leg at home, I expect them to be more attack minded.

Predictions:

• At least five yellow cards
• At least one bloody face (most likely Jaqua)
• A Sounder victory in a shoot out (game ends 1-1, with the Dynamo scoring first)
• Greater than 15 fouls
• Houston Keeper Pat Onstead goes down after throwing out his hip, giving way to Gig Harbor native Tally Hall (I played against him in High School)

Other links

The Seattle Times has this story on local players on the Houston Dynamo.

Here is goal.com’s preview of the match

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Let’s start with the team that seems to have something positive going for it: The Washington Huskies. We play Rick Neuhiesel and the UCLA Bruins away this Saturday at 12:30pm. The game will be shown on FSN.

Both teams have been very inconsistent so far this year, each with 3-5 records. The difference is the Bruins have won zero conference games, while the Dawgs have won two.

After being questionable with a deep thigh bruise, Jake Locker will start against the Bruins. This obviously gives UW a huge advantage and leads my to the following prediction: UW 30, UCLA 27.

Seahawks
I’d rather not waste too much of my energy on the Seahawks at this point, so I’ll make it quick: We play an atrocious Detroit Lions team who have won only one game all season – against the Washington “We didn’t know Jim Zorn couldn’t coach” Redskins.

We are injured at pretty much every position, but most notably at the offensive line. In contrast, the Lions have their big stars coming back – Calvin Johnson and Matt Stafford.

Prediction (Seattle favored by 10.5):

The Hawks have nothing going for them right now. At 2-5, our playoff hopes are all but gone. Thus, I see us having problems with motivation. I hate to do it, but I’m calling a Detroit win, 23-20.

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