Tag Archives: Felix Hernandez

My Thoughts – Catching Up!

I’ve been challenged in blogging lately, but that should end today. I apologize to all my readers for being away, but in the words of that great philosopher Arnold Schwarzenegger, “I’m Back!”

  • The Seahawks still have the inside track for the NFC West. With all teams losing last week, we just simply advanced a week on the schedule. The next two weeks are critical for the Hawks. They have home games against Kansas City and Carolina. I view these as “must-wins.” If they do, that puts them at 7 wins with division games against San Francisco (road) and St. Louis (home). A win against the Rams would put them at 8 wins and essentially give them the division. The loss against New Orleans didn’t hurt. The next 2 weeks may mean the season.
  • I have a funny feeling that Jake Locker and the Huskies will make the Apple Cup meaningful by beating Cal on Saturday. A road win in the Pac-10 is always tough, but I don’t think the Bears have shown a whole lot of mental toughness under Jeff Tedford. Take last year’s game at Husky Stadium. I’m looking for a close game and a Husky win at 24-21. If they don’t make a bowl game, they can look back at the Arizona State game at home as the season killer. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.
  • Felix Hernandez unquestionably was the Cy Young winner. I am so pleased that the baseball writers got past the 13 win total. Had his mates posted another 13 runs cumulatively, he may have been at 21 wins! Next year will be no different unless we can get some bats. The hot stove league should be interesting this year.

Keep watching for me on Twitter – @DailyDanSports for daily updates. I will be tweeting on the football games tomorrow!

© 2010 Dan Weedin. All Rights Reserved

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Monday Morning QB – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Let’s start with the “Ugly” and work backwards. I like ending on a high note…

High School Football – I was at the North Kitsap – Bremerton game Friday night. Bremerton dominated. RB Kyle Kennedy (amended) reminds me of John Riggins. They trounced the home-standing Vikings and deserve accolades for the win. Why is this an “Ugly?” Because Bremerton coach Nate Gillem allowing his team to humiliate an opponent is totally classless. Bremerton intercepted a Viking pass on their own 3-yard line with only a couple of minutes left in the game. They were winning 35-7. Game over, right? Wrong.

After getting out of the shadow of their goal line, Bremerton preceded to pass the ball downfield (with their starters) to attempt to score again. They threw long, they ran trick plays, as NK coach Steve Frease screamed at them from the other side of the field with his finger pointing to…the scoreboard.

With seconds to go, Bremerton ran a reverse play to score a TD. Not an off-tackle, not a dive, but a reverse. Thank goodness they were called for holding, so it didn’t stand. They then kneeled down to end the game, but the damage was done.

Gillem explained they needed the win (already firmly in place by only 4 tD’s). He also said he let his players call the plays. Great. So that’s why every coach on your sideline was encouraging the players to score. Sportsmanship needs to at least stay in high school sports. In an era where parents are out of control on expectations, and kids are being wooed by colleges at younger and younger ages, you’d hope coaches would at least show some measure of respect and charity. I’m all about winning. I’m not about humiliating kids and coaches in front of their fans. Coach Nate Gillem was way over the line and should be reprimanded. His players should have been in the spotlight after the game. Not him.

Bad – the Seattle Seahawks offense. Fortunately for them, the “Ugly” went to someone else. Special teams won the game the previous week. No such luck in St. Louis. Coach Carroll has 2 weeks to figure out a way to make first downs, much less touchdowns. This is getting to be as anemic as the Mariners offense. And they at least had Felix Hernandez to help them out every 5 days. Oh, wait. They never scored runs when he pitched. Never mind.

Good – Spectacular – Tremendous – Jake Locker was left for dead by the national media and even members of his local media and fans. Like the Phoenix, he rose from the ashes and single-handedly led his team to a huge victory in Los Angeles over USC. Nebraska? A distant memory. 1-0 in conference and one win closer to a bowl game. If it took the Nebraska loss to catapult them into a positive Pac-10 season, I’ll take that loss every time. That could very well be a season-defining win for this team.

P.S. My daughter and I tied for the Fantasy Baseball bragging rights. I guess we will have to break that tie next year!

© 2010 Dan Weedin. All Rights Reserved

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Odds and Ends

1 – Berhard Langer deserved the win at Sahalee over the weekend at the US Senior Open. He played brilliantly. You can’t recover from a triple-bogey on a Par 5 in a major champonship. Fred Couples gave it a valiant effort, but he was done at that point.

2 – The Mariners stink offensively. I know that this is not news to you, but being stuck in my seat after surgery, I forced myself to watch them. This is the worst offense I have ever seen. Heads need to roll. Not sure who, but they do.

3 – Felix Hernandez impressed me. He wasn’t sharp on Saturday giving up 3 quick runs in the 1st inning. After that, nothing. That’s the mark of an excellent pitcher. To gut through a bad start and then keep your tram in the game. Kudos to him and to pitching coach Rick Adair. I’m seeing a lot of that from our pitchers.

4 – Football is back! The Pete Carroll era is upon us and I must admit I am very intrigued. After a 5-11 season, this would have been the only thing intriguing me about the Hawks. From that standpoint alone, it was a brilliant move.

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King Felix Staying in Seattle

Felix Hernandez

ESPN is reporting that Mariners ace Felix Hernandez has signed a 5-year deal with the club – read the story.

This continues to show the brilliance of Jack Zduriencik:

  • No talk next year of “if” Felix will be re-signed.  Huge distraction just swept from the table.
  • There appears to be money left over to try and keep Cliff Lee in town after next year.  Only one superstar pitcher to deal with now.
  • It shows Felix that he is respected here. His deal got done first.
  • It is continued evidence of this management and ownership being committed to the fans.
  • They end up paying less than they would have and Felix gets security against a major injury. A true win-win.

Why do a feel like a Mariner revival is just around the corner…maybe even next year?

Extra Points:

  • John Schneider, former Green Bay executive, is the new Seahawks GM.  What happened to Floyd Reese?

Dan

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