But not necessarily about Monday night football:

Watch out for the Illahee Idiots this year in fantasy football. Got a good feeling. Overcame a 30-point deficit on Monday night to win Week 1 with Peyton Manning and RGIII sitting on the bench. Dumb coaching? Nah, just trying to keep ’em fresh.

Thoughts on the Huskies: Watching the Dawgs get pushed around by LSU on Saturday evening kind of brought me back to the late 1960s, when I was part of a junior varsity squad that scrimmaged against the West High varsity. It was like, wow, welcome to the big time. I imagine that must have been sort of how the Huskies felt like after Saturday’s game. That’s how it looked. Even cool, poised Keith Price looked a little out of sorts.

Speaking of the Huskies, did you see where ex-Dawg Johri Fogerson — the former O’Dea star — rushed for 103 yards and four TDs on just 13 carries in Central Wahington’s 56-28 win over Simon Fraser? Fogerson, partly because of injuries, never really panned out at the UW, but they could sure use him now.

The Huskies are so lean at running back that it’s triggered a debate about whether they should move safety/linebacker Shaq Thompson, the talented freshman, to running back. If he’s as good as people say he is, play him both ways. Yeah, I’m serious.

Thoughts on the Seahawks game against Arizona: Can’t they find somebody to make a clutch catch? C’mon, no way they should have lost that game. This is a team in major need of a playmaker at wide receiver. How can an NFL team be so deficient at that postition? And, oh by the way, I know it’s just one game, but what’s up with sure-handed Doug Baldwin?  I think I counted two drops and you could make it three if you count the one in the end zone at the end of the game. It would have been a helluva catch, but I think he makes it 8 of 10 times.

More thoughts on the Seahawks-Cardinals game: If QB John Skelton doesn’t get hurt, the Seahawks win that game. He was so rattled, there’s no way the Cardinals were going to get anything going against the Hawks’ defense. Give Kevin Kolb credit. He sliced and diced ’em up on what turned out to be the game-winning drive after replacing Skelton. It was shocking how easy he made it look, considering how nasty the Seahawks had been playing on defense. Just goes to shows, you can never figure this stuff out.

Trivia: Can you name the last Seahawks QB that led the team to a fourth-quarter comeback win? If you said Matt Hasselbeck, you’re wrong. It was Charlie Whitehurst, who did it last year against the Giants.

Did you catch what Howie McDonald’s been up to lately? The senior linebacker from Central Kitsap followed up his 21-tackle game in Eastern Oregon’s opener with 25 tackles on Saturday. They said he was too small for D1 or DII football — the No. 17-ranked Mountaineers list him at 5-foot-9, 217 pounds — but I think he would have found a way to contribute wherever he played. Howie plays with as much heart as anybody I’ve seen.

Are the Wolves back? South Kitsap looks to be the real deal after two weeks. They’ve got a solid nucleus of returners and some excellent talent at the skill positions, but will they keep improving on a weekly basis? That’s the key. We’ll find out about Central Kitsap this week when the Cougars take on the highly-regarded Lions of Bellarmine Prep. They might be doing it without hard-running Nick Zawadzki, who took a shot to the head last week. The Olympic League? Nathan Joyce of our staff tabbed North Kitsap and Sequim as the preseason favorites. Both are 0-2. Bremerton figured to challenge for top honors, and still could despite losing at home against Wilson. The winner of Friday’s Sequim at Bremerton game gains the inside track.

I thought former Husky QB Husky QB Jake Locker looked pretty good in his first NFL start for Tennessee. He had to leave with a separated left shoulder after making a tackle following a fumble. He threw the New England guy down like a linebacker. Which only reinforces what I’ve always felt: Jake’s a pretty good QB, but I think he be a perennial Pro Bowler as a safety.

Did I mention the Illahee Idiots? Anybody want to trade for Phillip Rivers? Didn’t think so.

The unpredictability is the best part about sports.

Everybody says Tim Tebow can’t play in the NFL,  and the quarterback/evangelist/right winger proves everybody wrong, nearly leading Denver to a comeback, upset victory over the Chargers on Sunday. You don’t have to agree with his politics or like his passing technique to appreciate what he brings to the football field — the guy’s a winner. It’ll be interesting to see if his role will increase after what he did on Sunday.

Everybody buried the Seahawks weeks ago. But Tarvaris Jackson shows he can play when he gets a little protection, and when he goes down, maligned Charlie Whitehurst comes off the bench to lead the Hawks over the New York Giants. The 10.5-point underdogs thrive in a no-huddle offense, the defense makes a lot of big plays and they shock the world. If not the world, the bookies in Vegas and all of those football know-it-all analysts.

The Yankees, the Phillies, the Red Sox are done, but the Brewers, Tigers, Cardinals and Rangers play on. And the Diamondbacks came thisclose to advancing to the baseball’s Final Four. You can’t figure this stuff out, which is the way it should be.

And how about those San Francisco 49ers? The mild, mild NFC West might have a legitimate contender after all. Jim Harbaugh can coach and QB Alex Smith, the Bremerton-born player and former No. 1 pick who has been labeled a bust, isn’t a such a schmuck after all.

How many of you gave Olympic High a chance to beat North Kitsap in football on Friday night?

How many of you thought Washington’s Keith Price was going to be this good? Steve Sarkisian will never come out and say that Price is flat-out a better college QB than Jake Locker, but he is.

Just when you think you’ve got it figured out, remember that you don’t.

There’s always going to be a Buster Douglas come along to knock out a Mike Tyson.

There’s always going to be some shocking surprises along the way; there always are and it’s a big reason why the games we like to watch and play are so much fun.

Danny O’Neil of the Seattle Times put together an easy-to-follow chart of the Seahawks’ free agency business.

You find out who they’ve got deals with, what free agents are going elsewhere and a list of Seattle’s remaining free agents. Remember, contracts can’t be signed until Friday.

Defensive lineman Brandon Mebane, one of the Seahawks’ top priorities, has been talking to Seattle and Denver.

And O’Neil reports that wide receiver Brandon Stokley’s decision to sign with Washington was premature. He’s now back on the market, according to his agent.

And I’m glad to see there’s somebody else, besides myself, who isn’t down on Charlie Whitehurst. John McGrath of the Tacoma News Tribune. He reminds us that Whitehurst was 22-for-36 for 192 yards and a touchdown in the playoff-clinching win over the Rams when Matt Hasselbeck was hurt. And he did it with 0 fumbles and 0 interceptions.

I also agree with Peter King of SI.com, who says that Hasselbeck deserves to be lumped into a category with guys like John Olerud and Edgar Martinez in Seattle sports history. You’d be hard-pressed to find a pro athlete who represented the city of Seattle any better than Hasselbeck during his years with the Seahawks.

Wouldn’t you like to have really known what was going on when Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, GM John Schneider, offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell  and the rest of the franchises’s brain trust sat down to discuss their quarterback situation?

Take off your 12th Man jersey for a second. If you look at it objectively, the Seahawks did the right thing, right?

Matt Hasselbeck: Great guy, team leader, but he is gonna be 36 in September, is injury prone and his best years are behind him. It won’t be long before he joins older younger brother, Tim, as an analyst on ESPN. Wish him well, but it’s time to move on. You know that’s what the Seahawks’ braintrust was thinking. The Hawks will miss kicker Olindo Mare, who is headed to Carolina, more than Hasselbeck.

Tarvaris Jackson: Great athlete, big arm, mobile, knows the system that’s going to be put in place. Has a career completion percentage of 58.7 percent. Hasselbeck was 59.9 last year. Bevell was the offensive coordinator at Minnesota, which drafted Jackson in the second round out of Alabama State. Nobody in the league knows him better than Bevell, who must have recommended him to Carroll. This is a new start for Jackson, who has 20 starts under his belt. If  the Vikings had not gone after Brett Favre, Jackson might be a star right now. Or not. We’re going to find out.

Kevin Kolb: Kolb must have come up in the conversation. He seemed like a good fit for Seattle, having operated a West Coast offense in Philadelphia. He blew his opportunityh in Philly a year ago, and was pushed aside byMichael Vick.  The Seahawks must have have been tempted by Kolb, but with Bevell running the offense, Jackson is a better gamble. Don’t ya think?

Charlie Whitehurst: The jury’s still out on Whitehurst, a.k.a. Clipboard Jesus. I think he’ll be the starter when the Seahawks open the season. If Seattle can become a physical team that relies on the run, Whitehurst will be a good fit. He’s been inconsistent with his deep throws, but I think that’s mostly because of his inconsistent opportunites. I don’t know why everybody’s so down on the guy. He hasn’t really been given a legit shot as a starter. He throws a great ball and he did perform well in a 16-6 win over the St. Louis Rams to get the Hawks into the postseason. Knowing that he’s the guy coming into camp might be enough to get him to that next level.

Matt Leinart: I thought he’d find his way to Seattle, but when word came down that the Hawks were signing Jackson, Leinart oopted to stay in Texas instead of competing for a job with the Seahawks.

Seattle didn’t seem to have any other QB options. It came down to Hasselbeck or Whitehurst/Jackson. I think Carroll, Schnieder and Co.  made the right decision. Don’t expect a Super Bowl run, but the Hawks might have enough to make a run for another NFC West title.

And whether it’s Whitehurst or Jackson, you gotta like the fact they’ll be throwing to 6-foot-4 Sidney Rice and 6-5 Mike Williams, on paper the  best receiving tandem the Hawks have had in years.

There’s been a lot of speculation about the Seahawks trading for Cincinnati QB Carson Palmer, which would reuinite the former USC player with his college coach, Pete Carroll. Palmer has requested to be traded. But Mike Brown, owner of the Bengals, says Carson’s not going anywhere.

Matt Hasselbeck’s future with the Seahawks continues to be debated. Pete Carroll said contrct negotiations with Hasselbeck, who is a free agent, broke down before the lockout and deal wasn’t made. Will ever be made? There’s also speculation that Seattle has discussed giving Philadelphia a first-round pick for QB Kevin Kolb, now a backup to Michael Vick. Kolb, like Palmer, is familiar with the West Coast offense the Seahawks are reportedly moving towards. Maybe the Seahawks make another run at Hasselbeck, sign him for a year and keep Charlie Whitehurst as backup and go for a QB in the next draft.

How’s your NCAA bracket? Probably not as good as the one filled out by 5-year-old Henry Hasselbeck, the son of Seahawks quarterback. Young Henry ranks No.103 out of 5.9 million who entered a contest on ESPN.com.

Charles Barkley reacts to criticism from Billy Packard by telling him to “shut the hell up.”

Spanish announcer goes loco and is reduced to tears while broadcasting the end of a thrilling Euroleague basketball game. 

The local newspaper is calling Richmond, Va., Hoopstown USA. For good reason. The Richmond Spiders and Virginia Commonwealth Rams both hail from the city. The 12th seeded Spinders and 11th seeded Rams are both in the NCAA Tournament. Sweet stuff, huh?

A day after winning the NFC West, the Seattle Seahawks have been installed as 10.5 point underdogs against the New Orleans Saints for Saturday’s playoff game.

Here’s some samples of what others are writing about the Hawks:

Les Carpenter of Yahoo! Sports said the Seahawks are “simply a bad football team,” and it’s hard to know what to make of them. Read his story here.

For one game, the Seahawks got it right, writes Art Thiel of sportspressnw.com. The homely kids got lucky. Read his column here. 

Nate Silver of the New York Times crunches some numbes and comes up with this conclusion: The Seahawks are the worst playoff team ever. Read his story here.

“Suck it up America. This is actually a good story.” That’s the view from Jerry Brewer of the Seattle Times. Read his column here.

John McGrath of the Tacoma News Tribune says the odds are long (125-1) for the Seahawks in the playoffs, but at least they’ve got odds. Read his column here.

Dave Boling of the TNT writes that QB Charlie Whitehurst put together a performance that saved the season. Read his column here.

Jim Moore of SeattlePI.com says to expect another QB controversy this week in Seattle. Read his column here.

My take? Whether you believe in the Seahawks or not, they played like a team worthy of being in the tournament on Sunday. Read my column here.

ALSO

The Seahawks announced today that defensive line coach Jim Quinn is leaving the team to become the defensive coordinator at the University of Florida. Read the story here.