Quick hits: MNF, Huskies, Moore, Mora, & Yu

Some random thoughts while waiting for the page designers in Texas to put the finishing touches to the Daily Miracle:

MNF: Best memory? I think it was the same game. Da Raiders vs. the Seahawks in November of 1987. I remember riding up the Kingdome elevator with Reggie Jackson and some blonde. Reggie wore a fur coat the blonde, I remember writing, had legs that went from here to there and back again. Al Davis, who recently passed away, sat in the row behind me and I stole a few glances. He was dressed in all-white that night, or maybe it was all black. No, he was wearing a full length black leather jacket with white pants. I can’t say for sure, but his wardrobe always caught your eye when he was in Seattle for a Raiders’ game. I thought it was interesting he never sat in an owner’s suite or a box. He was always in the press box. On the field that night, everybody was talking about — and still talking about — Bo Jackson. Jackson ran for 221 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-14 win over Seattle. Bo popped a 91-yard run that night, but the one people still talk about is one in which he train-wrecked linebacker Brian Bosworth on a two-yard TD run. If I was a gambling man, I’d bet that ESPN shows that play sometime during the broadcast.

This, I’m pretty sure, was like Jackson’s fourth or fifth game in the NFL after making a name for himself in baseball with the Kansas City Royals. After the game, Seahawks wide receiver Steve Largent said, “I think he should stick to baseball.”

MNF trivia: Did you know the Seahawks had the best MNF record? Me either.  But I just read that the Hawks are 16-8 in 24 appearances. Five of their MNF wins have been by shutout, including their last three: 42-0 vs.  Eagles in 2005, 16-0 vs. the  Raiders in 2006, and 24-0 vs. the 49ers in 2007.

Jim Mora’s the new football coach at UCLA: I wonder if he’ll be able to entice his good buddy, Hugh Millen, out of the broadcasting business to coach for him. Millen fills our heads with some insightful, hard-core football analysis about the Huskies and Seahawks. I don’t know if there’s a better student of the game than the former UW and NFL quarterback. It would be interesting to see how he would do in a college coaching environment. If he’s ever going to do it, you’d think it would be with Mora, his former college roommate.

The Go 2 Guy: By know, you’ve probably noticed that Jim Moore, formerly of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (and the lovely metropolis of Port Orchard), is writing a weekly Monday column for us. The Go 2 Guy writes about Jim Mora this week. Mostly because I forgot to put this at the end of his column, I was gonna plug his Dec. 18 appearance at the Clearwater Casino. It’s part of an ESPN 710 production — Moore co-hosts a show with Kevin Calabro in the afternoons — and he will be  there for the Seahawks-Bears game. Stop by, it’ll be a lot of fun. If you think you can dance, you might win free tickets to the 49ers game. And there will be drawings for other prizes. Yours truly won an autographed Russell Okung helmet the last time Moore was at Clearwater. I gave it to a buddy who’s giving it to his grandkid for Christmas. You might get lucky if you show up. If not, you’ll get a chance to introduce yourself to the Go 2 Guy. I know he’s got some fans on this side of the pond. One bought us a pizza after Moore’s first column appeared. Thanks, Larry. I’d like to see you dance on the 18th.

Duke 86, Washington 80: After watching Duke take care of Washington on Saturday, I get the feeling this is not going to be one of Coach K’s elite Duke teams. The win was never in doubt — the Blue Devils led by 19 early and by 19 with 7:11 left — but it wasn’t an impressive victory.  The Huskies showed some signs of being dangerous. Tony Wroten, Terrance Ross and C.J. Wilcox are three of the best offensive players in the Pac-12. But Washington has a lot of problems to address at the other end. They can trap and steal and play helter-skelter all-over-the-floor defense as they did in the final minutes to make it close, but they’ll get in foul trouble doing it and they don’t have the depth to sustain that kind of play. Until they become a hard-nosed defensive team in a halfcourt setting and a better rebounding team, they are going to have a hard time getting to the NCAA tournament. They’re 4-4 for a reason right now. And we don’t even know the status of Ariz N’ Diaye yet. The 7-footer could be out a while with a knee injury. If coach Lorenzo Romar wants a designated rebounder, there’s one walking around campus. And he’ll be available after the Alamo Bowl. It’s gonna be interesting to see if UW football coach Steve Sarkisian allows Austin Seferian-Jenkins to play basketball.

You excited about Yu?: Yu Darvish I’m talking about. MLB clubs have to submit a bid by midweek to see if they can win the right to negotiate with the 25-year-old Japanese pitcher. He’d look good in a Mariners’ uniform, but Prince Fielder would look better. Well, not actually look better, but the roly-poly power-hitting first baseman would be a better fit for a team in dire need of some offense. If you believe what you read it’ll take about $100 million to win the bidding rights and to sign Darvish, who supposedly has nine pitches. Is that possibles? Let’s see: 2-finger fastball, 3-finger fastball, changeup, curveball, slider, forkball, screwball, drop and what’s the ninth? I don’t think he has a knuckler. What could it be? A spitter? A sidearm delivery of everything I mentioned above? A slow ball? The Rangers are supposedly hot for Yu. Maybe the M’s get him, then trade Michael Pineda for some serious hitting talent. Me? I’d rather see Yu than Ichiro in an M’s uniform next year.

Sorry to interrupt these ramblings, but the Daily Miracle has arrived. There are two of us sitting here in the hustling, bustling, newsroom. Pretty soon they’re will be one. Twizzle, twizzle, twozzle, twome, time for this one to go home.

Have a good day everybody.