Monday, September 15, 2008

Whatsoever I've feared has come to life...Cause I fell on Black Days

How could Chris Cornell be so prescient?

More to the point, 14 years ago, when I was a long haired grunger listening to Superunknown, how could have I missed what Chris was trying to tell me? How could I have been so blind?

It's too late now, Black Days are upon me and the only light at the end of the tunnel is just a mack truck barrelling towards me.

Seattle sports, my life's blood, are at a soul scraping low unseen in recent memory. The wellspring that was Seattle sports has dried up into a dust bowl. Seattle fans, unlike the Joads, don't even have the promise of better times ahead.

Like a train wreck or a Nicolas Cage movie, I cannot tear my gaze from the spectacle no matter how gruesome the scene becomes.

Oh, what a gruesome spectacle my beloved sports are, too. The Mariners a flirting with a 100 loss season after giving up most of the farm system in the name of Contention '08. With a painful (and unnecessary) rebuild looming '09 looks lost too. Hell, that whole franchise may be lost as long as the two headed monster of Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong are around.

Despite the jaw-dropping athleticism displayed by Sophomore Quarterback Jake Locker, UW football is firmly stuck in the mire. A tough opening schedule against three top 25 teams to kick off the '08 leaves the Dawgs 0-3 going into the bye. The 55-14 drubbing handed to U-Dub by the Oklahoma Sooners thrusts Coach Ty Willingham's head closer to the guillotine.

Not helping matters is the glacially slow maturation process of Montlake Jake's passing game. Already a consistent threat to break a big gain running the ball Jake has yet to flash any sort of a consistently accurate arm. Often his passes more look destined for Lake Washington than his receivers.

Not long ago the sting of another putrid UW football season was soothed by Huskies Basketball. The '05-'06 season that culminated in a deep NCAA tournament run seems like a distant memory now. In a tough Pac-10 it may be a couple years before another rise to prominence.

Then there is the gaping wound left for the forced removal of Seattle's oldest and most decorated sports team, The Supersonics. The pain is still to fresh for me to talk about. Instead, I will leave my post on the matter to speak for me.

Finally, the rock of Gibraltar of Seattle sports, The Seahawks have fallen victim to the malaise that hangs around the city like a growing smog cloud. Not even a visit from the hapless 49ers could help the 'Hawks this past weekend. It what should have been a sure win at home, the 'Hawks dropped to 0-2 in a 33-30 OT loss.

Injuries have decimated this team. We are down 6 of our top wide receivers. Two are out for the season with knee injuries. This includes Nate Burleson, the 'Hawks biggest receiving threat. Even back-up QB cum WR Seneca Wallace left the field after warm-ups on Sunday with a calf pull and is not expected back for around a month.

Our normally stout defense has taken it's hits too. Pro-Bowl cornerback Marcus Trufant has a cracked bone in his hand and is playing with a mini-club-like cast making INTs almost impossible. 3rd year man and seemingly constant victim, Kelly Jennings suffered cracked ribs in the game but is expected to tough it out. Lofa Tatupu, the leader of the defense an injured his hand in the first game of the year. Professional "cover" safety Brian Russel is doing his best to play through one of the worst cases of suck-itis I have ever witnessed. Despite his efforts to be a gamer Russell appears to possess the footspeed of my grandma and is doing far more harm than good out there.

Right now Seattle sports are have one of the worst runs of bad luck in city history.  There were lean years where the Sonics were terrible, UW a wreck, and the M's underperforming, but Holmgren would have the 'Hawks in the playoffs. Never had every team been terrible. For a city used to rain and gloom, the cloud of poor sports performance hangs over the self-conscious city.

"So what you wanted to see good has made you blind." Damn it, why didn't we listen?

Sunday, September 7, 2008

The Seahawks' Season Begins...And It's Really Fucking Embarrassing

I always forget how fucking terrible the Seahawks are on the East Coast. Well, the insane 34-10 blowout at the hands of the FUCKING BUFFALO BILLS just provided a painful reminder.

The 'Hawks went in to the game with little depth at the receiver position—Deion Branch and Bobby Engram are both out with injuries, as is Ben Obamanu with a broken clavicle—leaving us with Nate Burleson and a bunch of green rookies. And then Burleson went down halfway through the game with a self-inflicted knee injury, leaving Hass' with zero targets. Courtney Taylor—the most experienced receiver of the mostly-rookie bunch—couldn't pull in the ball. Neither could Jordan Kent. Logan Payne made one catch.

The offensive line just collapsed, and Hass was sacked about every other series.

If that wasn't bad enough, it's clear that the stink of Shaun Alexander still lingers in the backfield.

I might've missed a run or two, but it looked like Julius Jones had all of ONE run fthat went for more than 3-4 yards. Meanwhile, Mo Morris pulled off a few nice 10+ yard runs and TJ Duckett was nowhere to be seen.

Special Teams was a mess, too. Ryan Plackemeier kick several punts that only went for about 30 yards, and no one seemed to be able to make tackles picking up the returner, which led to one kick being returned for a TD, and several other big yard returns. The Bills even managed to pick up an easy TD, faking a field goal and passing it in—to a completely uncovered receiver—for six.

Good thing Seattle's reliable defense was there to stop the bleeding and save the day, right?

Nope.

Lee Evans shit all over Kelly Jennings, and the line never really figured out how to stop Marshawn Lynch, who ran for over 100 yards—which might've had something to do with MIA DT Rocky Bernard, who was suspended for the game, along with DB Jordan Babineaux. Even so, beastly Patrick Kerney was kept to out of Buffalo's backfield with single coverage, which is fucking ridiculous.

One would hope this game was just a fluke, but it sure as hell looks like the Hawks might be crippled by personell issues on offense. Although I still can't figure out what happened on defense.

Undoubtedly, the Walrus will lose his shit, make everyone run windsprints and straighten things out. I hope.

Next week we play San Francisco at Qwest. Let's hope next week is a little less soul crushing.