Ideal Lineups for 2012: Sounders

First Team:

GK: Michael Gspurning
LB: Marc Burch
LCB: Jeff Parke
RCB: John Kennedy Hurtado
RB: Adam Johannson
LM: Alvaro Fernandez
CDM: Osvaldo Alonso
CM: Brad Evans
RM: Mauro Rosales
WF: Freddie Montero
F: Eddie Johnson

Second Team:

GK: Andrew Weber
LB: Leonardo Gonzalez
LCB: Zach Scott
RCB: Andrew Duran
RB: Patrick Ianni
LM: Cordell Cato
CDM: Servando Carrasco
CM: ???
RM: Christian Sivebaek
WF: Roger Levesque
F: David Estrada

Gspurning is set as the number one between the posts, but Andrew Weber is fighting for his position with 2011 draft pick Bryan Meredith. Josh Ford is out with a knee injury and isn't expected to be healthy for a few months.

Leonardo Gonzalez is expected to win the number one LB job, but I think I'd prefer Burch instead. he's got that valuable free kick foot, and fits Sigi's new strategy of keeping possession and moving the ball forward out of the back. Gonzalez' speed and agility has taken a serious hit over the last two years and seems to be an obvious weak point in the back line, assuming Johannson lives up to expectations.

I want Steve Zakuani to be ready to go to start the season more than anything, but unfortunately that doesn't seem to be terribly likely. I'll be flying my Cascadia 11 flag regardless. Luckily for the Sounders brass, it means they can wait a little while longer before deciding  whose place Zakuani will take. Rosales, assuming he continues to play at the same high level as he did in 2011, isn't going anywhere. And Fernandez, while never really becoming a fan favorite, has done his job well. He has scored goals and created opportunities for the offense en route to ranking second in the MLS Castrol Index. It'd be nice to move him or Rosales to center mid, but there's no guarantee that either player would fit the position well. Thus, Brad Evans keeps his monopoly for another year.

That's a concerning monopoly considering that I'm not sure he really has an adequate backup this year. Erik Friberg played that role last year, but I've been under the impression that Sivebaek has been getting most of his minutes out wide.

Up front, the big news has been that Eddie Johnson is meant to be the forward partner with Fredy Montero. It worked well against a Florida college side a few weeks ago (a goal, an assist) but obviously it wasn't the top level of competition and he left the match early with a hamstring pull. If Johnson returns to 2006 form, the Sounders will easily repeat as the top goal-scorers in MLS. If not, it might fall to David Estrada or a healthy O'Brian White to pick up the slack. But Estrada has been receiving a lot of praise for his effort in the preseason, and will probably see decent time in multiple conversations.

Ideal Lineups for 2012: Mariners

1. 3B FIGGINS
2. 2B ACKLEY
3. RF ICHIRO
4. 1B SMOAK
5. C MONTERO
6. DH CARP
7. CF GUTIERREZ
8. LF WELLS
9. SS RYAN

Bench:
C: OLIVO/ MOORE
SS: KAWASAKI
3B: GUILLEN
OF: SAUNDERS

As of right now, the Mariners are almost forced to play Chone Figgins and his 36 million dollar contract. It appears that Figgins has the inside track at the lead-off position in Japan late next month. But I don't buy that being first in the order is suddenly going to revive his broken career. Ichiro was bad in 2001. But there's no reason to think he can't bounce back and have a year more typical of one of the best #1s in baseball history.

I would certainly trade one (and probably two) of Hultzen, Paxton or Walker for Brett Lawrie of the Blue jays. Like Smoak and Montero, he's a young, power-hitting position player (Third base) that would immediately give the Mariners the most potent power potential in baseball. The Mariners don't seem to have a lot of third basemen in the organization with power potential (save perhaps Alex Liddi). Last year, Lawrie played in 42 games, and posted 9 home runs with 25 RBI and a WAR up close to 3. Best of all, he's a local boy, a British Columbia product.

more after the break

Sounders Video of the Week: ECS + Open Cup + 2011

Not long now until the Champions League match against Santos Laguna. The Sounders withdrawls are starting up again. First Kick can't come soon enough.

If you haven't bought tickets to the Champions League match yet, do that here.

Mike Cameron retires

Mike Cameron hung up his cleats today, ending an excellent 17 year baseball career as one of the premier outfielders in the game. It's hard replacing the most complete player of an era, but Cameron came into the Mariners organization in 2000 and made it easy for Seattle to forget what they had lost. He wasn't in a M's uniform for as long as many fans would have liked, but he made a permanent mark on the team he played for and was a huge part of the 116 season. Ken Griffey Jr will always be the center fielder synonymous with Seattle. But our best times came with Mike Cameron patrolling the border, catching defecting fly balls and sending them to Siberian work camps. Perhaps second only to Edgar, you were MY Mr. Mariner, and you will be missed.

Neagle, Fucito shipped off for former USMNT Johnson

Sadness would be the feeling that best describes Sounders fans today, as fan favorites Mike Fucito and Lamar Neagle were traded to the Montreal Impact for Eddie Johnson, a former US Mens National Team star whom has disappeared in Europe over the last five years.

Johnson will be called upon to play the same role that Nate Jaqua, Blaise Nkufo, and O'Brian White all filled over the last three years; as target forwards, they are expected to hold the ball up and create space for Montero's golden boot. And in that role, Johnson has excelled despite not scoring much himself  through his time in Fulham and other English and Greek clubs. If he can play this role and return to the torrid scoring pace he set his last go-around in MLS ( 15 goals, 24 matches, Wizards, 2007) then this trade will be an excellent one for Seattle.

But issues abound. Johnson hasn't scored a professional goal since 2010. He has been shipped around to several different clubs since signing with Fulham. Some rumors say that he is not a good clubhouse guy. He also allegedly showed up to his fitness examination at Puebla (his last club) horrendously out of shape (on the contrary, Sigi said he will be a factor in the Champions League series against Santos Laguna).

Not to mention what was given up for him. Mike Fucito was one thing; he developed something of a cult following after scoring a stoppage-time winner in 2010 and recreating Dawn of the Dead, but he frequently missed open shots and had seemingly hit his ceiling. But Lamar Neagle...

I had high hopes for the Federal Way kid (who was the only remaining Washingtonian on the roster). He had shown a unique gift for the long shot, something this Sounders squad lacks. He had two corner-of-the-box blasts (one against RSL to seal a win, and another against Columbus to cap off a hat trick) that demonstrated a real eye for the goal, especially from long range. He also had a killer instinct, Scoring the tie-r in Kansas City in 2011 and the first goal in Seattle's attempted playoff comeback. The stats guys don't believe in clutch, but if there is such a thing, Neagle was probably it.

Neither of these guys were projected as starters, since Fucito didn't fit the mold of Sigi's offense and Neagle was stuck behind Zakuani, Fernandez, Rosales, and possibly new signing Sivebeck. But that doesn't mean he couldn't have been part of this team's long-term plans. In a short period of time, Neagle became only second to Zakuani as my favorite player on the Sounders. I saw him as having Edson Buddle-type potential. Now, he gets to realize that potential in a city as far away in MLS as can possibly be. Where we'll only see him in Seattle once every two years.

But back to Johnson. There's a lot of people down on him, and for potentially good reasons. He will constantly be compared to what was traded for him until he far surpasses what Fucito and Neagle do. And he has every oppourtunity to do that in Sigi's system. The Sounder's offense has always performed at it's best when Montero is on form, and Montero is on form when he has a target man. He was great alongside Jaqua in year one, next to Nkufo in year two, and with White (between White taking the starting job and being diagnosed with blood clots) in year three. Having White or Nkufo last year probably would have resulted in a Seattle Supporters Shield. If Johnson can fill that role in 2012, Seattle will be the team to beat.

I have maintained faith in our front office. I believe that they know what they're doing. They've shown it time and time again with guys like Hurtado, Alonso, Rosales, Fernandez, and yes, even Neagle. He's only 27 years old. He might be that last piece.

No matter what happens, I'm going to miss Lamar Neagle. But I won't miss him as much if Johnson replaces him with an MLS Cup.

Hope Solo joins Sounders Women, W-League suddenly becomes relevant

Yet another world-renowned #18 goalie is coming home to play for the Sounders, as Hope Solo prepares to strap on the shin guards for the W-League Seattle Sounders Women. With the WPS in financial trouble and looking to miss the whole 2012 season, the W-League becomes the top flight for professional woman's soccer.

Solo is expected to play at least three of the team's seven home matches this year, surely giving the team's season-ticket numbers a boost. Solo will miss some time pulling national team duty at the London Olympics, but I doubt anyone local will begrudge her for it.

Details on new SoDo Arena to be revealed THURSDAY

What an amazing turnaround. Two weeks ago, the Seattle Times came out with a story about a hedge fund manager from Seattle (via San Francisco) looking to build a new arena in order to lure the NBA and NHL to Seattle. Today, we are on the precipice of everything becoming official, as Christopher Hansen prepares to address the city of Seattle on his new proposal for a third major league sports arena.

Mitch Levy of "Mitch in the Morning" shared a few details via Twitter this afternoon. Most interestingly, "NO Taxpayer Money", and among the most private money put into an arena in sports history.

It's finally coming. What so many Seattle sports fans, who have taken to hibernating from the end of Football season to the start of Futbol season, have been waiting for... It's finally becoming a reality. We could have professional hockey in this city in EIGHT MONTHS. We could have professional basketball in this city in EIGHT MONTHS. As I said in an earlier post, Seattle is on the verge of becoming a five-sport city. I'm in heaven today. I'm going to be euphoric tomorrow. My state when our teams arrive (whether they be this year or in ten) is going to be indescribable.

MLB: 162 games, 81 at home
NBA: 82 games, 41 at home
NHL: 82 games, 41 at home
MLS: 34 games, 17 at home
NFL: 16 games, 8 at home
Total: 376 games a year, 188 at home

Soon, we might have more sporting events than we do days in a year. And that's a really exciting prospect.

Finding parallels between today's NBA, yesterday's NFL

Baltimore Colts-Seattle Supersonics
Indinapolis Colts-Oklahoma City Thunder
Cleveland Browns-Sacramento Kings

I'm on the record as being against moving the Sacramento Kings from one great basketball town to another, but as the days pass and it seems to become more of an inevitability, I'm beginning to see some parallels between the movement of the NBA and how some great fans were burned by another league years ago.

For my Seattle-based readers, let me know if this sounds familiar to you:
A city (Baltimore) with a long history of supporting their team, with a great history and tradition (Johnny Unitas) is sold to a man as the building the team plays in is called inadequate. Local politicians were against putting money towards new sports stadiums, and so the team with over 30 years of history was yanked away without so much as a goodbye, destined to play in some backwater town in the middle of the country. Afterwards, a devoted group of fans lobbied incessently for the return of the sport, in the end only being placated by taking a team from someone else.

The parallels are many and striking. The image of the Mayflower moving trucks leaving Baltimore left a scar on not just the Baltimore sports psyche, but that of the entire nation. The Irsays, more than a decade after football returned to Baltimore, are no better a name in the city than Bennett in the northwest. From 1983 to 1996, the old Baltimore Colts marching band continued to play in the city and around the league, giving fans hope and leading the charge for the revival of the sport in Maryland. And that return came, but at the expense of the Cleveland Browns and their fans. Cleveland has since seen their team return as well (through expansion no less) in 1999.

Now, Seattle seems poised to see their sport return four years after the Sonics were soullessly ripped from their heart. But the fanbase is confronted with doing to Sacramento what Baltimore did to Cleveland (who had another owner not thought of well today). If Sacramento is indeed headed to Seattle, one can only hope that it will be handled the same way; Sacramento regaining a team in the future, and their history remaining in Sacramento the way the Browns and Ravens handled things.

Peyton isn't right for the Seahawks, Brock and Salk

Brock, Salk, I know the two of you need something to talk about for three hours each day (frankly, I haven’t tired of the different SoDo arena angles yet, and you could always spend a few minutes on *GASP* the Sounders) but I’m confident that neither of you are truly surprised that Seattle isn’t winning this round of “musical chairs”. In fact, I’d wager you both know that Vulcan isn’t even interested in the game.

Frankly, adding Manning isn’t something that a lot of teams would jump at on February 13^th, 2012. Brock alluded to this last week, but forgot one important factor, one that plays heavily in the current situation in Indiana; Manning, whether he wants to be or not, is a distraction in a QB controversy.

You put him somewhere like, say, Houston, and QB immediately becomes an unnecessary question mark when before there wasn’t one. Houston already has a Pro Bowl quarterback, one of the best in the game when healthy. Behind him, the Texans have TJ Yates, perhaps the most tested backup in the league. In Yates, they have a guy that can come in and win a playoff game, who doesn’t have any injury history. Between the two, Houston has perhaps the most enviable quarterback situation across the NFL today.

Why would Houston want to throw a Manning-sized wrench into an enviable situation? If you add Peyton to that team, fans immediately pick sides. “Do I want Schaub or Manning”? If you thought Tebow-Orton was bad, try pitting two of the best quarterbacks of the last five years against each other, and watch the city of Houston rip itself apart, signaling the fulfillment of the Mayan prophecy.

Salk suggested Houston trade Schaub to Washington as part of signing Manning. WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT? Why would they move a proven, elite starter for a moderate upgrade at best and a complete disaster at worst? Which Peyton will they get? The Felix Hernandez of the last 15 years, or the Jamie Moyer that may result from his apparent loss of muscle mass? Please explain to me why ANY front office would take that sort of risk. Ditto for every other team in the league save maybe for Washington, Arizona, and Jacksonville.

None of the above reasons are all that relevant to Seattle’s case. In an ideal situation, Pete Carroll would probably love to have the Peyton Manning that finished the 2010 season, as one of the elite football minds in the game. But even Pete would probably tell you that his situation and that of the Seahawks do not mesh well.

In fact, a lot of the same roadblocks that had Matt Hasselbeck packing his backs and shipping off to Tennessee are in play here. Manning has played his entire career barely getting hit, playing behind great linemen like Jeff Saturday. He has no such assurance here, playing behind one of the least-experienced lines in football. The five starters on Seattle’s O-line have only a handful of games played together, and may be a few years away from developing the chemistry needed to be an elite blocking unit. Tavaris Jackson, despite running into a few sacks of his own accord, was sacked as many times as anyone in the league. How many games does Manning figure to start before he’s on the IR again, taking one too many Aldon Smith face-masks to the torso?

The best case scenario for Manning would be to heal perfectly with no lasting side effects. And if he were to return to his former self, he’d be a boon for the Seahawks for the few years he has left in him. He’s got the potential to take this team to the big game on his own. If he could make that husk of a roster that was the Indianapolis Colts competitive for so many years, he could do wonders for a team that’s starting to find some talent.

But the worst case scenario would be a 2010 Mariners-level of disappointment. If Pete and John take a chance on Manning, get everyone’s hopes up, and he doesn’t play or falls flat on his face… One or both of them would likely be fired. As has been mentioned many times before, Pete Carroll’s time in Seattle will be judged, for better or worse, by the long term quarterback they bring in. And all indications at this juncture are that Peyton Manning is not “Peyton Manning”.

I could have told you this is how it would be before the season even ended. T-Jack will be the Seahawk’s starting QB in 2012. He may continue to be in 2013. That is a fact almost regardless of Peyton Manning’s health. I don’t believe for a second that Pete Carroll will spend another penny on a starting QB until he has his guy. Until then, he’s going to use Jackson as an Alex Smith; a guy that does nothing more than spread the ball around. And you know what? That might not be the worst thing in the world.

Am I defending Jackson? A little bit. Believe me, I’d much rather see Matt Flynn or a healthy Manning taking the snaps under center in 2012. But Jackson has been running for his life behind a young offensive line with a totally new group of offensive weapons. Give him Alex Smith’s level of familiarity, and a few more elite offensive tools, and this team can put up 40 points a game without taking a risk on a Manning or sinking 10% of the salary cap on Flynn.

Remember that Smith was pretty much EXACTLY Tavaris Jackson in terms of accomplishments until last year’s playoff game at home, where he made two big plays to a wide-open Vernon Davis. That team had immense talents like Davis before Harbaugh ever arrived, and Smith had been throwing to a freak of nature like that for several years. They knew each other. Carroll has been building essentially from scratch, and like Harbaugh, he’s simply making due at the position for now. Because as soon as you ink that QB, you’ve either saved or killed your franchise (See Kolb). You don’t get a second chance at it.

Pete Carroll and John Schneider seem to know what they’re doing. I really, really believe that. You can’t tell me that they just hit perfectly on guys like Richard Sherman, Michael Robinson, Brandon Browner, Kam Chancellor, Doug Baldwin, Marshawn Lynch, Red Bryant, and the like, but don’t know how to get a good QB. You can’t tell me that Pete Carroll, after years of elite quarterback grooming at USC, is incapable of bringing “THAT GUY” in.

This team was devoid of talent two years ago. Now, this regime has elite competitions for spots. It’s going to keep improving, but like the Mariners, they aren’t ready to add that big piece yet. So if Schneider decides not to trade up for RGIII, or reach for Tannehill, or give Flynn the big bucks, I’m going to be okay with that. They’re going to get their guy, and when they do, he’s going to be really, really good.

Womens Pro Soccer coming to Seattle in 2013?

Thanks to Sounderatheart.com for the link to the story

There's been a lot of time spent the last few days talking about theoretical new sports franchises in Seattle, but today we have something fairly concrete; Seattle will be teaming up with San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Jose/San Francisco to join the new top flight Women's Professional Soccer League.

The WPSL has been a division two league for several years now, much like the W-League the Sounders Women play in now. The league will also include the Boston Breakers and Western New York Flash of the Women's Pro Soccer league, as well as some D-2 WPSL teams like Chicago and Indiana (with more teams announced soon). With the financial problems that Women's Pro Soccer (the current top-flight women's league) is having, the WPSL looks at the very least to step into that void if the league collapses (2012 season is cancelled) and at best give the country two competing leagues with representation in the west.

Notes:

• It's my sincere hope that this new team plays its home matches at Memorial Stadium at Seattle Center. Nothing feels more minor-league than to have professional teams playing on college grounds, and hopefully the demand for Womens soccer in Seattle is greater than the 4,000 capacity that Starfire can supply. Memorial's 17,000 capacity may be a bit too big, but if they can replicate the Sounders success, it could be the perfect solution. This team would step in and immediately become the primary tenant, not to mention helping to keep the Center healthy now that it's clear NBA and NHL won't be played there. It's almost poetic to put another Sounders team in there when soccer mania started on those grounds almost 40 years ago. 
• Is there any doubt that Portland and Vancouver would be future expansion targets? Vancouver's womens team is one of the most successful in the league, and Portland just had a great showing for the national team a few months ago. 
• Keep the Sounders name. After only three years, the Sounders are right there with the Galaxy and Cosmos as the biggest soccer brand in the country. A partnership would benefit the new team in so many ways, not the least of which is tapping into an energized soccer fanbase. It would only take one in five of current Sounders supporters, along with a few people that don't care about men's soccer, to make the Sounders women a huge success.

In Which I Talk About Seattle Attendance, Part 2 (Mariners)

Last time I took a look at the Sonic's stats before the move to OKC, but that post was originally meant to be part of this larger conversation about the Mariners. Both posts simply got much longer than I ever intended them to be.

So what about the Mariners? Well, it's still a simple answer, but it's more fascinating to look into, so like the proud Seattlite I am, I'm going to attempt to take a page from Jeff Sullivan and break down some NUMBERS.

(WARNING: The following dozen-or-so paragraphs are long, in-depth, occasionally boring overviews of a decade of Mariners futility and the effect that futility had in the stands. I'll sum it up nicely down below, with a paragraph in red. Continue past the jump to read more.)

In Which I talk about Seattle Attendance, Part 1 (Sonics)

Seattle, for about two decades now, has been pretty well thought of in the team-support category. From setting decibel records and causing earthquakes, shattering beliefs about what soccer could be in this country, to making opposing players shout out on television "I MISS SEATTLE", this city has become a place that players hate to play and that fans love watch.

But it always seems like there's that one guy that wants to chime in (usually from Portland) that wants to say "HEY! No one goes to Mariners games any more! And how about those Sonics, huh? How's there attendance these days?"

The Thunder retort is extremely simple to explain. Despite watching a frequently lousy team (without beloved Sonics stars like Payton and Kemp, soullessly traded away), tiny Key Arena still sold near capacity every night in 2006, averaging over 16,000 fans per game at a 95 percent sellout. (Only seven other teams in the league had higher percentages) This in a market with two other professional sports.

For Seattle readers, the year I picked will stand out. That's because it's the year that the Sonics were sold out from under us to the good ol' oil boys from Oklahoma City. Amazingly enough, that year and 2007 were pretty similar, with attendance dropping JUST under 16,000 at a 93.5 share of capacity. In 2008 however, as emails were leaked and it became obvious that Bennett was never keeping the team in Seattle, attendance tumbled to only 13,000. So in short, attendance was only as about as high as it could be in their building.

(BTW, Since the move, despite all the misplaced ballyhooing from OKC about how we lost the Sonics because we didn't support them well enough, they have failed to crack the top 10 in their brand new-ish building and only draw 2,000 more per game, as the only pro team in the market, with one of the best players in the league. Would NOT have been particularly hard to sell Seattle on a new building with perennial playoffs in sight.)

What to do with Key Arena?

With all this talk about the rumored SoDo arena and nearly immediate tenants from two major sports leagues, it's hard not to get excited by the possibilities. We're talking an 18-22,000 seat building with all the modern amenities, perfect for not only 82+ sporting days a year, but also great concerts. Like the Jonas Brothers. Or Nickelback.

But as some quickly forgot ( a certain NBA commissioner in particular) it hasn't been that long since Key Arena was remodeled almost brick for brick. In fact, it wasn't even 20 years ago that our friend David Stern had great things to say about our humble locked pavilion. This is a great place to watch a sporting event, even now. Even with the black curtains over the upper deck.

Obviously any new arena is going to be the absolute focus of the city's entertainment dollars. But the Seattle Center area still hosts a lot of jobs, including nearby sports bars. It's important for the city to keep the area vibrant and active, and the Key can play a big role in that. But how?

(More after the break)

Seattle: Home of Super Bowl L?

Hot on the heels of possible new arena news comes the possibility of a great use for an old (er) one. According to Q13 Fox News, the Hawks have submitted paperwork to the league with the intent of hosting the Super Bowl in 2016. That year would mark the fiftieth anniversary of the very first Super Bowl. Rumored challengers for the bid are Los Angeles (in the process of building a new football stadium) and London. If our beautiful CenturyLink can do THIS, then it can certainly host the biggest sporting event in the country.

Sounders Video of the Week: Zakuani + Arizona + Stepover

It is so amazing to see Zakuani running with the big boys again after his gruesome accident. I wish he could break camp with our guys straight away against Santos, but the day he's totally healthy is the day he should come back. If only the pathos side of my brain could understand that...

I honestly can't believe this is the first real Sounders post I've made since I started the blog. ME, a four-year season ticket holder. Well that won't continue. As we get farther along in camp, and closer to that first Champion's League date, this will become more and more Sounders centric. Even in the face of two new competitors for the Seattle sporting dollar.

Addendum: HOW DO OUR TRAINING SHIRTS ALWAYS LOOK BETTER THAN OUR ACTUAL GAMEDAY KITS???

How Seattle's return could affect NBA realignment

Last Friday, I wrote an article expressing my feelings on an ideal national hockey league. I made that map BEFORE all this new stuff about a Seattle arena came out, which makes it all rather timely. So to continue on that brain wave, here's a similar map for the NBA. Details are after the break. 

Sonics video of the week: Presidents + Key + 2012

Hopefully we'll be able to see this again REAL soon.

Seattle on the verge of being a five-sport city

There have been rumblings concerning prospective arena builders in the Seattle area for months now. Today, The Seattle Times featured an article in prime position of their Sunday edition, detailing the efforts of a group "possessed" in building a new Sodo arena and bringing NBA and NHL to the Emerald City.

Led by Seattle native hedge-fund manager Christopher Hansen, the group has bought a tract of land just south of the Safeco Field parking garage, and says that there will be no need to worry about "eminent domain" seizures from the city. That suggests that earlier worries about possible business holdouts at the proposed Sodo arena site are no longer a concern.

It also appears that this arena option is much farther along than the rumored Don Levin arena on the eastside. That doesn't proclude Levin from being an NHL owner in Hansen's building, nor from contributing to the Sodo arena financially.

More after the break:

Seahawks Video of the Week: Marshawn + Skittles + Beastquake

I was kind of surprised when the Skittles thing took off after Seattle's Thursday night performance this year. Not because it isn't awesome (I can't get enough of the Skittles shower video, embedded after the break). But because Marshawn had made his love of multi-colored candies before the season started. Talking with ESPN Films, discussed his mother-son bonding tradition along with how he beat dem Saints.
Also, bonus video after the break. As someone currently suffering from a debilitating obsession with Skyrim right now, I found the following clip muy hilarioso. Those are foreign words, right?

Could these be the Hawk's new uniforms?

This is one of the supposedly leaked Nike redesigns of the Hawk's uniforms for 2012. It was shown off with 31 other redesigns sometime early last year or late 2010. I think with a silver helmet and some fancier pants (some blue or green on those silver pants) I could really REALLY come to like these. Note the faint feather stencil on the shoulder pads.

Cortez Kennedy: Hall of Famer

It's a testament to both the ineptitude of 90's hawks and east-coast bias that Cortez took five tries to become a hall-of-famer. Congratulations, best defensive tackle of your generation. You earned it.

Why I love Seattle, Part 2

Even in the offseason, there's a lot to love about the Emerald City.

Rumor is though, that the "offseason" may be a thing of the past around here, if the NHL has its way...

Why I love Seattle, Part 1

Fantastic.

A NEW National Hockey League

Inspired by Tom Fulrey's blog, the NHL Reallignment Project, I decided to throw my hat into the league re-rigging game and have come up with entirely new hockey league.

Details after the BREAK