Bleacher Report - Articles by Ryan Comer

Affirmative Action Has No Business on the Football Field

Ryan Comer — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:10:00 -0500

Former University of Washington head football coach Tyrone Wilingham.

When Tyrone Willingham was appointed head football coach at the University of Washington, prior to the 2005 season, optimism rang throughout the Pacific Northwest. After coming off the horrible Keith Gilbertson era, it appeared that the Husky football program could go nowhere but up.

With Willingham, many people thought the program was finally back on the right track.

There were, however, many who weren't so convinced it was the right hire. Take me, for example. When I heard that Willingham was going to be the Huskies next coach, I cringed.

I knew that Willingham was going to demand discipline. That the problems which plagued the Huskies under Rick Neuheisel would not under Willingham. But I had some serious reservations about Willingham's ability to lead a program to success.

Prior to coming to Washington, Willingham was just 65-51-1 in 10 seasons at Stanford and Notre Dame. More importantly though, and the main reason I was pessimistic, was his bowl record: a very unimpressive 1-4.

Things were so bad in Willingham's final year at Notre Dame in 2004 that he wasn't even allowed to coach the team's bowl game, a game they eventually lost to Oregon State.

Four years later, all I can say is "I told you so." I had my reservations about Willingham, and I was right. In four seasons as Washington's coach, Willingham was 11-37. This past season, the Huskies finished an embarrassing 0-12. They were the only team in the Football Championship Subdivision without a single victory.

Willingham blames Neuheisel for the Huskies ineptitude. In fact, after the Huskies 16-13 double-overtime loss to in-state rival Washington State, a team which had allowed 60 or more points to four different Pac-10 opponents, he said as much.

But the reason for the Huskies failure the past four seasons wasn't because of Neuheisel, although Neuheisel certainly didn't help. No, it was because of Willingham's own personal shortcomings.

In the 48 games Willingham coached at Washington, the Huskies were outscored in the second half 37 times. Not so coincidentally, that's the same number of losses the program accumulated.

Willingham was fired because he couldn't adequately prepare his team. It didn't matter how well his team played in the first half, because most of the time, he would be so outcoached in the second half that he'd lose.

Willingham consistently failed to make the proper halftime adjustments necessary to win a ballgame in the second half. To think that Willingham was fired for any other reason than his failure to win would be absolutely asinine.

Then I flip on the television yesterday and see Charles Barkley flapping his gums about how there needs to be more black coaches in college football. How it's a disgrace that there are just FOUR black coaches in college football right now and something needs to be changed.

Then I read the following article about how this issue may be taken to a federal court.

The fact of the matter is simple. Willingham wasn't fired because he was black. He was fired because he sucks. But simply being black doesn't mean that Willingham should be given another opportunity to run another collegiate football program into the ground.

If Willingham ever gets another job coaching, it should be done because of his merits and accomplishments. Not because he's black.

The same applies for any other potential coach who happens to be black. You get the job you're given because of your accomplishments and potential. Not because your black.

I'm trying to imagine the fallout if the following situation became a reality. Let's say before the Washington Huskies hired Steve Sarkisian as their coach a few weeks ago, they interviewed with former UCLA coach Karl Dorrell.

Dorrell was a joke at UCLA and essentially got ran straight out of Pasadena. Imagine if UW President Mark Emmert sat down with Sarkisian and said, "Listen buddy. I know you're a great coach with a lot of potential. I know that you've tutored Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, John David Booty and a slew of other great USC quarterbacks.

"I know that you yourself are a former quarterback and could help this program a lot. I like you, really I do. And I would love to hire you. But I got Mr. Dorrell on line two and he wants this job because he's black and he says the NCAA needs more black coaches. I realize you're more qualified than him, and I realize that he will probably do nothing good for this program. He just doesn't show the promise you do. But my hands are tied. So...sorry man. Too bad you're white."

I'm all for giving people jobs. I'm all for giving every person, no matter what his/her skin color may be, an equal opportunity at earning a job. But when it comes down to actually making a decision between two people, said decision should be made because of qualifications, not race.

A business has to make a decision that is best for turning out a good product and making a profit. Not just so it can say it meets a quota for employees of a specific race. And it's time people like Barkley understood that.

Weekly Sports Links and Football Rankings

Ryan Comer — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:35:00 -0500

UCLA head football coach Rick Neuheisel is back in Seattle this weekend to take on his former team.

An interesting article on UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel and his return this weekend to Husky Stadium.

At 2-7 and four games out of first place in the NFC West, there’s little chance the Seahawks will make the playoffs. It’ll be nice to see starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck on the field though...hopefully.

An article on Seattle Mariners’ potential managerial candidates.

Speaking of managerial candidates, the Mariners interviewed Joey Cora today. I wouldn’t mind him being the manager.

At least someone thinks the Mariners can win again soon.

A quick update on my high school football team. They’re 9-0 after defeating Inglemoor, 35-14 in the first round of the Washington state 4A playoffs. Woodinville (8-1) should be a lot tougher challenge this week, but if I recall correctly, Auburn hasn’t dropped a single home game in the three years I’ve been back from my mission.

Interestingly though, Woodinville and Auburn played each other in the 2005 state playoffs with Woodinville winning 14-7.

NCAA Top 25 (Note: The following rankings were compiled prior to Ball State's 31-16 win over Miami (OH) last night)

1. Texas Tech (10-0) – Last week: Defeated Oklahoma State 56-20
This week: Bye

2. Alabama (10-0) – Last week: Won at LSU 27-21 in OT
This week: Sat. 11/15 - Mississippi State (3-6) - Prediction: Alabama

3. Texas (9-1) – Last week: Defeated Baylor 45-21
This week: Sat. 11/15 – at Kansas (6-4) - Prediction: Texas

4. Florida (8-1) – Last week: Won at Vanderbilt 42-14
This week: Sat. 11/15 – South Carolina (7-3) - Prediction: Florida

5. Oklahoma (9-1) – Last week: Won at Texas A&M 66-28

This week: Bye

6. Boise State (9-0) – Last week: Defeated Utah State 49-14
This week: Sat. 11/15 – at Idaho (2-8) - Prediction: Boise State

7. USC (8-1) – Last week: Defeated California 17-3

This week: Sat. 11/15 – at Stanford (5-5) - Prediction: USC

8. Penn State (9-1) – Last week: Lost at Iowa 24-23

This week: Sat. 11/15 – Indiana (3-7) - Prediction: Penn State

9. Ohio State (8-2) – Last week: Won at Northwestern 45-10

This week: Sat. 11/15 – at Illinois (5-5) - Prediction: Ohio State

10. Utah (10-0) – Last week: Defeated TCU 13-10
This week: Sat. 11/15 – at San Diego State (1-9) - Prediction: Utah

11. Oklahoma State (8-2) – Last week: Lost at Texas Tech – 56-20
This week: Sat. 11/15 – at Colorado (5-5) - Prediction: Oklahoma State

12. Missouri (8-2) – Last week: Defeated Kansas State 41-24
This week: Sat. 11/15 – at Iowa State (2-8) - Prediction: Missouri

13. Georgia (8-2) – Last week: Won at Kentucky 42-38
This week: Sat. 11/15 – at Auburn (5-5) - Prediction: Georgia

14. Michigan State (9-2) – Last week: Defeated Purdue 21-7
This week: Bye

15. Ball State (9-0) – Last week: Defeated Northern Illinois 45-14
This week: Tues. 11/11 – at Miami (OH) (2-7) - Prediction: Ball State

16. North Carolina (7-2) – Last week: Defeated Georgia Tech 28-7
This week: Sat. 11/15 – at Maryland (6-3) - Prediction: Maryland

17. TCU (9-2) – Last week: Lost at Utah 13-10
This week: Bye

18. Florida State (7-2) – Last week: Defeated Clemson 41-27
This week: Sat. 11/15 – Boston College (6-3) - Prediction: Florida State

19. LSU (6-3) – Last week: Lost to Alabama 27-21 in OT
This week: Sat. 11/15 – Troy (6-3) - Prediction: LSU

20. Brigham Young (9-1) – Last week: Defeated San Diego State 41-12
This week: Sat. 11/15 – at Air Force (8-2) - Prediction: Air Force

21. Pittsburgh (7-2) – Last week: Defeated Louisville 41-7
This week: Bye

22. Cincinnati (7-2) – Last week: Won at West Virginia 26-23
This week: Fri. 11/14 – at Louisville (5-4) - Prediction: Cincinnati

23. Virginia Tech (6-3) – Last week: Defeated Clemson 23-13
This week: Wed. 11/13 – at Miami (Fl.) (6-3) - Prediction: Virginia Tech

24. South Carolina (7-3) – Last week: Defeated Arkansas 34-21
This week: Sat. 11/15 – at Florida (8-1) - Prediction: Florida

25. Georgia Tech (7-3) – Last week: Lost at North Carolina 28-7
This week: Bye

NFL Power 10

1. Tennessee (9-0) – Last week: Won at Chicago 21-14
This week: Sun. 11/16 - at Jacksonville (4-5) - Prediction: Jacksonville

2. NY Giants (8-1) – Last week: Won at Philadelphia 36-31
This week: Sun. 11/16 – Baltimore (6-3) - Prediction: NY Giants

3. Carolina (7-2) – Last week: Won at Oakland 17-6
This week: Sun. 11/16 – Detroit (0-9) - Prediction: Carolina

4. Atlanta (6-3) – Last week: Defeated New Orleans 34-20
This week: Sun. 11/16 – Denver (5-4) - Prediction: Atlanta

5. Pittsburgh (6-3) – Last week: Lost to Indianapolis 24-20
This week: Sun. 11/16 - San Diego (4-5) - Prediction: Pittsburgh

6. Washington (6-3) – Last week: Bye
This week: Sun. 11/16 – Dallas (5-4) - Prediction: Dallas

7. Tampa Bay (6-3) – Last week: Bye
This week: Sun. 11/16 – Minnesota (5-4) - Prediction: Tampa Bay

8. Indianapolis (5-4) – Last week: Won at Pittsburgh 24-20
This week: Sun. 11/16 – Houston (3-6) - Prediction: Indianapolis

9. New England (6-3) – Last week: Defeated Buffalo 20-10
This week: Thurs. 11/13 – NY Jets (6-3) - Prediction: New England

10. NY Jets (6-3) – Last week: Defeated St. Louis 47-3
This week: Thurs. 11/13 – at New England (6-3) - Prediction: New England

BYU's "Quest for Perfection" getting more and more likely

Ryan Comer — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 06:39:17 -0400

For the Brigham Young University football team, the Las Vegas Bowl just isn't cutting it anymore.

It's time for a greater challenge.

Now, four games into the college football season, it looks like the Cougars just might be ready for that challenge. After throttling UCLA 59-0 on Sept. 13, BYU blew out yet another opponent Saturday. This time, it was the Wyoming Cowboys 44-0.

It marked the first time since 1985 that the Cougars successfully reeled off back-to-back shutouts. Ironically enough, the scores of those two games in 1985 were also 59-0 (over Wyoming) and 44-0 (over Utah State).

With each passing win, the Cougars rise higher and higher in the national rankings. Two weeks ago they were at No. 18 after narrowly defeating Washington thanks to a blocked extra point. But after decimating the Bruins, the Cougars rose to No. 14. With their win over Wyoming, they moved up to No. 11.

Also rising is BYU's chances of playing in a BCS game. According to the rules of the BCS, a mid-major like BYU can enter the BCS if it finishes No. 12 or better in the national rankings.

BYU players and coaches refuse to talk about the BCS though. "Just take everything one game at a time and let the BCS take care of itself," is exactly what they'll tell you.

It’s a good thing I don’t play for BYU, so I am allowed to make such speculations and look further than “one game at a time.”

When the season started, I didn’t give BYU much of a chance to go undefeated. I thought that road games at TCU and Utah would be certain losses, and I wasn’t thoroughly convinced the Cougars could even win at Washington.

TCU, Air Force and Utah loom as the toughest tests for BYU’s quest for perfection. But to be honest, none of those teams compare to BYU in terms of speed, power and overall athletic ability.

BYU quarterback Max Hall is having one of the best seasons as BYU quarterback has ever had. In just four games, he’s completed an astonishing 74.3 percent (103-for-144) of his passes for 1,284 yards and 15 touchdowns. He’s thrown just two interceptions.

It helps a lot when you have guys like Austin Collie and Dennis Pitta though. Collie has recorded 30 receptions for 386 yards and five touchdowns while Pitta has recorded 29 catches for 432 yards and three touchdowns.

Running back Harvey Unga has carried the ball 77 times for 366 yards (a 4.8 YPC average) while adding three touchdowns of his own to bolster the running game.

BYU’s offense throughout its first four games has averaged 480.8 yards-per-game. This offense is not just good, it’s amazing.

Looking at the rest of BYU’s opponents, I struggle to find one I think will be able to slow it down.

Not only is the offense good, but the defense has been playing stellar as well. After Wyoming was shut out by BYU Saturday, Cowboys running back Devin Moore said he believed the Cougars’ defense to be faster than he originally thought. This is a defense that has allowed on average just 302.8 yards of total offense.

But what really impresses me about this team is it’s third down conversion ratio. On third down, BYU has converted 67 percent of the time (38-of-56).

Going undefeated is tough.

Crashing the BCS is even tougher. But with a team performing like BYU currently is, it’s hard to argue that they won’t.

Just maybe when this year ends, the Las Vegas Bowl will have to find someone new.

BYU-UCLA Highlights Another Exciting Weekend of Football

Ryan Comer — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 01:14:00 -0400

Unfortunately, I have to rely on the BYU game this week to keep me entertained because it's the only one that looks to have the potential of being good.

No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners at Washington Huskies

University of Washington president Mark Emmert said that UW fans shouldn’t just assume the Huskies will lose to the Sooners Saturday. Well, I’m glad someone in Husky Nation is confident, because I sure am not.

The Huskies have done very well the last few years at keeping games close into the second half, but if they are able to continue that trend this Saturday, it will truly be impressive. It’s hard to see how anyone could assume anything other than the Huskies getting completely flattened this weekend.

UW’s offense did fairly well against BYU with four touchdowns, and there are some who wonder how good Oklahoma’s defense is after the Sooners allowed 326 total yards last week against Cincinnati—including two second-quarter touchdowns.

As tough as Washington sophomore quarterback Jake Locker is to bring down, it’s not hard to imagine the Huskies having some offensive success Saturday.

The difference will be Oklahoma’s offense when it is on the field. If UW fans thought Max Hall to Harvey Unga and Dennis Pitta was hard to contain, how hard is it going to be to slow down Sooners QB Sam Bradford? In his first two games, Bradford has completed 76.7 percent (46-of-60) of his passes for 578 yards and seven touchdowns.

Helping Bradford is the dual rushing threat of DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown. So far, Murray has carried the ball 30 times for 212 yards and three touchdowns, while Brown has carried the ball 29 times for 134 yards and four touchdowns.

The Huskies’ defense was exposed badly in Eugene, and even more so last week against BYU. I look for this to be just another game where having Locker just isn’t enough.

Prediction: Oklahoma 41, Washington 24

UCLA Bruins at No. 18 BYU Cougars

Before the season started, I thought this had the potential to be BYU’s toughest game of the year. After Bruins QB Ben Olson was injured, however, I thought maybe it wouldn’t be so hard after all. Now I’m taking my original stance again.

Sometimes in college football, we as fans have this nasty and annoying habit of taking the rankings for more than they're worth. When people look and see BYU ranked No. 18 while UCLA is unranked, they say, “Well, BYU should win.” Not so fast.

Last year when BYU went to Pasadena to face the Bruins, UCLA was ranked No. 13, while BYU was unranked. With just 13 yards separating the Cougars from the lead, Hall fumbled to all but end the game.

Rankings can be extremely overrated, and anyone who thinks that just because the Bruins are using their third-string quarterback BYU should win is just...plain...wrong. This quarterback defeated then No. 18-ranked Tennessee despite FOUR first-half interceptions. Don’t expect so many picks from the youngster this week.

Maybe it’s just because I know UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel’s ability to get his team prepared and ready, no matter who the opponent. I saw him win some games at UW that I don’t think Tyrone Willingham could have pulled out to save his job. The guy is as good a coach as he was a football player.

This is a guy who took the UW franchise from mediocre to Rose Bowl champions. Since he left, the UW football program has been a joke.

I haven’t even mentioned offensive coordinator Norm Chow and defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker. This coaching staff is nothing short of amazing.

This is BYU’s chance to once again show its legitimacy. With Kirk Herbstreit and many others in the media picking UCLA, the Cougars have no choice but to win this game. The Bruins’ defense will be tough, but I think the Cougars can manage just enough to hold them off.

Prediction: BYU 24, UCLA 16

San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks

Predicting how the Seahawks offense will perform without its top three wide receivers is nothing short of difficult. Thank goodness the Seahawks got the 49ers this week.

With 49ers QB Alex Smith out for the season with yet another injury, San Francisco will rely on J.T. O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan was at the helm last week against Arizona, but lost 23-13 despite a semi-respectable performance.

Against the Cardinals, O’Sullivan went 14-for-20 for 195 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. It wasn’t a horrible performance by any means, but it also wasn’t amazing.

The Seahawks defense shut out the 49ers at home last season and overall just plays better at Qwest Field.

Because the 49ers have Frank Gore, they’re always going to be a threat to run. However, if the Seahawks' gameplan is to shut down Gore, which I think it will be, I don’t see O’Sullivan as being the type of guy who will be able to carry his team to victory in a hostile environment.

As I stated above, the Seahawks offense is going to suffer without its three leading receivers. But it should still be enough.

Seattle 23, 49ers 9

Other predictions

NCAA Top 25

No. 1 USC over No. 5 Ohio State 37-17
No. 2 Georgia over South Carolina 34-13
No. 6 Missouri over Nevada 42-20
No. 7 LSU over N. Texas 51-6
No. 8 Texas over Arkansas 33-17
No. 9 Auburn over Miss. St.38-14
No. 10 Wisconsin over No. 21 Fresno St. 40-27
No. 11 Alabama over Western Kentucky 45-9
No. 12 Texas Tech over SMU 47-17
No. 13 Kansas over No. 19 South Florida 24-21
No. 14 East Carolina over Tulane 34-10
No. 15 Arizona State over UNLV 45-14
No. 16 Oregon over Purdue 38-17
No. 17 Penn State over Syracuse 46-6
No. 22 Utah over Utah State 54-7
No. 23 California over Maryland 24-14
No. 24 Illinois over Louisiana-Lafayette 36-13

NFL

Green Bay over Detroit 23-17
Kansas City over Oakland 24-10
NY Giants over St. Louis 31-14
Indianapolis over Minnesota 28-21
Cincinnati over Tennessee 16-14
New Orleans over Washington 27-24
Carolina over Chicago 24-17
Jacksonville over Buffalo 20-13
Tampa Bay over Atlanta 23-14
NY Jets over New England 21-16
Arizona over Miami 30-10
Denver over San Diego 27-17
Pittsburgh over Cleveland 27-23
Dallas over Philadelphia 23-20
Houston over Baltimore 31-13

Seahawks vs. Bills: Final Scores Can Be Deceiving

Ryan Comer — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 02:20:00 -0400

Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren probably doesn’t want to hear anybody say his team is cursed when it comes to playing games that start at 10 a.m. PST.

So what if heading into today the Seahawks were just 19-23 in such games since he took over in 1999. So what if the Seahawks had lost 20 of their last 32 games that started at 10 a.m. Us outsiders might see that as an ominous trend. I certainly did when I looked at Sunday’s matchup against the Buffalo Bills.

But if anyone tries to tell you the start time had anything to do with the Bills’ 34-10 schlacking of the Seahawks today, they’re dead wrong. At least this time, that cannot be an excuse.

I predicted the Seahawks would win today’s game against the Bills 27-10. My reasoning was simple. The Bills boasted one of the worst offenses in the league last year. Their offense was so horrible that even teams like Oakland and Miami were better. I saw the Seahawks’ defense as being ready to get revenge after last year’s NFC Divisional round disappointment at Green Bay.

I wasn’t entirely wrong about the Bills offense. No matter what you may think after seeing that huge 34 they put up today, the offense had very little to do with it.

Sure, Bills quarterback Trent Edwards had a nice game, completing 19 of 30 for 215 yards and a touchdown. Sure, running back Marshawn Lynch had a nice afternoon with 18 carries for 76 yards and another touchdown, including a 21-yard scamper in the first quarter that put the Bills ahead 7-0. Sure, wide receiver Lee Evans had a nice afternoon, collecting four catches for 102 yards.

The Bills offense was decent today. But it wasn’t spectacular. So how did the Bills manage to reel off 34 points despite just a ‘decent’ showing by their offense?

Two words: Special Teams

27 of the Bills' 34 points were directly aided by the special teams. Leading 7-0 in the second quarter, Roscoe Parrish took a punt 63 yards for a touchdown to give the Bills a 14-0 lead. Late in the third quarter, leading just 20-10, the Bills faked a field goal to score another touchdown.

On the ensuing kickoff, Seahawks return man Josh Wilson fumbled the ball, giving the Bills the ball right back on the Seattle 30. Edwards completed a touchdown pass on the very next play to officially turn the game into a rout. Rian Lindell also kicked two field goals for Buffalo.

Heading into the game, I had no idea that the Bills would score so many points off of special teams. Simply put, it’s because they did that they won.

It also didn’t help the Seahawks any that they had to rely on a bunch of inexperienced wide receivers. I know, I know, I said I didn’t think that would matter. Without Deion Branch and Bobby Engram, many people have speculated the Seahawks’ offense might not be so potent.

I kind of shrugged it off thinking it would all be okay. Oh, how wrong I was. Dropped passes, poor starts off the line, bad routes, the Seahawks receiving corps of Courtney Taylor, Jordan Kent, Logan Payne and Jeb Putzier looked like … well … a bunch of rookies. Nate Burleson, the lone veteran still healthy, made some fine catches, including a nifty touchdown grab to cut the Bills’ lead to 14-7.

But almost as if on cue, he was injured in the third quarter. He had to be helped off the field and seemed to not be able to put much—if any—weight on his injured leg. After that, it was pretty much over. Hasselbeck tried threading the needle to some of the young guys, but as they had done all game long, they let him down. Hasselbeck ended up completing just 17 of 41 passes for 190 yards.

Hasselbeck wasn’t completely without blame, missing and overthrowing on several attempts. But the commentators made an interesting point, and that is, when you consistently see your wide receivers letting you down, it hurts your confidence as a quarterback. You wonder, “Well, who can I throw to? Who will catch it?”

Such thinking forces the quarterback to sit in the pocket longer than he would like and gives the defense an easier chance at sacking him. Hasselbeck was sacked a total of five times Sunday. About the only bright spot for the Seahawks receivers was tight end John Carlson, who the Seahawks drafted in the second round of last year’s NFL Draft. Carlson had four catches for 52 yards.

I have to admit the Bills had a pretty good gameplan going into the contest. They knew the Seahawks receivers weren’t going to be much of a threat, so they did their best to stop the rush. For the most part—outside of a couple solid runs by Maurice Morris to begin the third quarter—they succeeded.

So what does it mean? Should the Seahawks worry? Well, it kind of depends on how badly Burleson is hurt. It’s already highly unlikely that Branch and Engram will be able to return any earlier than Week Five.

Fortunately, the Seahawks play in one of the worst divisions—if not the worst division— in the entire NFL. San Francisco lost 23-13 at home to Arizona today and the St. Louis Rams got pummeled 38-3 at Philadelphia. Just how bad were the Rams today? Their lone points came in the fourth quarter, they managed just eight first downs, had just 166 total yards, were penalized nine times and went 0-11 on third down.

The Seahawks next two games are at home against (drumroll) the Niners and Rams. Then, the Seahawks have a bye before heading off to New York to face the Giants in Week Five. So really, the Seahawks couldn’t ask for a better schedule for the next three weeks.

Playing San Francisco and St. Louis also gives Hasselbeck more time to get timing routes down with his new receivers before playing some stiffer competition. It’s probably also important to note Hasselbeck missed the entire preseason after game one against Minnesota because of a sore back.

He’ll tell you that doesn’t matter, but I think he’s lying. As inexperienced as the Seahawks wide receivers are, Hasselbeck could have benefited greatly from an additional three preseason games to work with them.

Basically, I’m not worried too much about Sunday’s game. Yes, it looks ugly, but I’d much rather the Seahawks lose a non-conference game on the road in Week One than a divisional matchup late in the season.

Because if the season turns out the way I still think it will, with Seattle and Dallas battling for the NFC’s top seed, the Seahawks’ record against conference and divisional opponents is going to mean a lot more.

Additional note: Morris was injured in the third quarter as well. The severity of the injury is still unknown. I'm not so worried about this as some may be because I have a lot of confidence in Julius Jones. I think that should Morris be sidelined for an extended period of time, Justin Forsett, who the Seahawks drafted out of California last year, will be able to step in and do a fine job. He had an amazing preseason.

Seahawks in games that start at 10 a.m. PST under Mike Holmgren:

at Chicago: W 14-13

at Pittsburgh: W 29-10

at Kansas City: W 31-19

at NY Jets: L 19-9

at Miami: L 23-0

at Jacksonville: W 28-21

at Atlanta: W 30-10

at Cleveland: W 9-6

at Washington: L 27-14

at Buffalo: W 23-20

at Kansas City: L 19-7

at NY Giants: L 27-24

at NY Giants: L 9-6

at St. Louis: L 37-20

at Dallas: W 17-14

at Atlanta: W 30-24 (OT)

at Green Bay: L 35-13

at Cincinnati: L 27-24

at Washington: L 27-20

at Baltimore: L 44-41 (OT)

at Minnesota: L 34-7

at New Orleans: W 21-7

at Tampa Bay: W 10-6

at New England: L 30-20

at St. Louis: L 23-12

at Minnesota: W 27-23

at NY Jets: L 37-14

at Jacksonville: L 26-14

at Washington: L 20-17 (OT)

at St. Louis: W 37-31

at Tennessee: W 28-24

at Green Bay: L 23-17

at Detroit: W 9-6

at St. Louis: W 30-28

at Kansas City: L 35-28

at Tampa Bay: W 23-7

at Chicago: L 27-24 (OT)

at Pittsburgh: L 21-0

at St. Louis: W 24-19

at Philadelphia: W 28-24

at Carolina: L 13-10

at Atlanta: L 44-41

at Buffalo: L 34-10

at NY Giants: still pending

at Miami: still pending

at St. Louis: still pending

BYU-Washington: The Definitive Preview

Ryan Comer — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:56:00 -0400

You won't find much better than this. :-)

Why BYU will win

Washington started 24 true or redshirt freshmen in its opener against Oregon and got blasted 44-10. That’s not even mentioning that Oregon was using its third-string quarterback.

Oregon is a ranked opponent and has a powerful offense, almost no matter who is running it. But BYU is ranked higher than Oregon and has an even more powerful offense.

Cougar quarterback Max Hall threw for nearly 500 yards against Northern Iowa last Saturday, and tight end Dennis Pitta had over 200 receiving yards. BYU has arguably one of the most balanced offensive attacks in all of college football.

After the UCLA and Tulsa debacles from last year, and the Arizona and Boston College debacles from two years ago, BYU is hungry for a win against a BCS school on the road. If Washington had problems stopping Oregon, trying to stop BYU won’t be any easier.

It would be shocking if BYU was held under 35 in this contest. Can the Huskies REALLY keep up?

Why Washington will win

BYU hasn’t won a non-conference game on the road since edging Utah State by a single point in 2002. That’s nine straight losses for BYU against non-conference opponents on the road. Since 2000, the Cougars are just 4-14 on the road against non-conference opponents.

BYU has also never won at Washington in three tries. The Cougars could have gone perfect in 1996, but lo and behold, their lone loss that season was...you got it...at Washington.

History aside though, because it really doesn’t mean a lot, Washington offensive coordinator Tim Lappano vows to open the playbook up a lot more this week to help Jake Locker.

Part of the problem against Oregon last Saturday was that the Huskies were determined to run the football, even though the Ducks were stacking the box with eight and sometimes even nine men. They challenged Locker to beat them with his arm, and their plan worked.

But Lappano seemed to agree he should have made better halftime adjustments and run the ball a little less. Don’t expect the Huskies to run so much on Saturday—unless it’s Locker.

BYU’s defense was hardly tested at all last week against Northern Iowa. Expect Washington to test the Cougars’ inexperienced defense...a lot.

I'm sure the Cougars remember vividly Northern Iowa's quarterback sprinting down the sideline for 69 yards in the first quarter last Saturday. I said this before: That was a designed run that BYU just wasn't prepared for. You can't prepare for someone like Locker, who Bronco Mendenhall admitted is faster than every player on his team.

If this game turns into a barnburner, like many speculate it will, can BYU really keep its poise in a hostile environment thirsty for any sort of win?

Intangibles

I’ve already mentioned BYU’s desire to win this game in order to prove it can beat a semi-respectable out-of-conference opponent on the road. Utah proved its validity last week in Ann Arbor, and don’t think for a second that the BYU players and coaches are letting that go.

How horrible would it be if Utah could go into Ann Arbor and beat Michigan, but BYU couldn’t even go into Washington during a down year and take out the Huskies? Especially with all this “Quest for Perfection” crap the Cougars are spewing. Oh, but it’s just about achieving personal perfection. Right.

How about the importance of this victory for the Huskies? The difficulty of the Pac-10 schedule is undeniable. With road games against Oregon, USC, California, and Arizona, as well as home dates against UCLA and Arizona State, it would almost be a miracle if the Huskies could get as many as four wins in conference play.

It would be even more amazing, considering they haven’t won four games in conference during any of Tyrone Willingham’s three years as coach.

The Huskies have a better than average chance in their home game against Notre Dame later this season. If they can defeat BYU, this game might turn out to be what gives them the elusive sixth win to be bowl eligible—something else they haven’t been yet under Willingham. How much do you think a bunch of freshmen want to be able to say they turned the University of Washington football program back into a bowl team?

Speaking of Willingham, this game could very much be his job on the line. If Washington loses to BYU and then loses to Oklahoma (which almost certainly will happen), that’s an 0-3 start. Willingham doesn’t make the schedule, but unfortunately he’s the one ultimately responsible for the results.

How much do you think he wants to win this game, if nothing else to avert the "hot seat" question for one more week?

What do I think will happen?

Washington may be able to keep up for a while, but in the end, the defense is going to be what loses the game. This is a defense that allowed more points last year than they did in Willingham’s first season (2005). Maybe I’m wrong here, but isn’t improvement a critical mark of success?

Here’s another little fact to consider. Last season, Washington was tied or within a touchdown at halftime in nine of its 13 games—yet they finished with just four wins.

In the first half, they outscored opponents by an average of 16.69 to 14.38. But in the second half, the Huskies were outscored by an average of 17.23 to 12.54.

Check out these games.

Ohio State

Halftime: UW led 7-3. Final: OSU wins 33-14 (Huskies outscored 30-7 in second half).

At UCLA

Halftime: Tied 10-10. Final: UCLA wins 44-31 (Huskies outscored 34-21 in second half).

At Arizona State

Halftime: UW led 17-13. Final: ASU wins 44-20 (Huskies outscored 31-3 in second half).

Arizona

Halftime: UW led 28-23. Final: UA wins 48-41 (Huskies outscored 25-13 in second half).

At Hawaii

Halftime: UW led 28-21. Final: UH wins 35-28 (Huskies outscored 14-0 in second half).

Here are a few more interesting games.

Oregon

Halftime: UO led 24-17. Final: UO wins 55-34 (Huskies outscored 31-17 in second half).

Washington State

Halftime: WSU led 21-20. Final: WSU wins 42-35 (Huskies outscored 21-15 in second half).

This team, for whatever reason, doesn’t have the ability to keep up. It’s like watching a car that’s running on empty. It has this ability to go for a while—sometimes a little bit longer than you expect (see Ohio State and Arizona State)—but in the end, it’s going to die. When that moment happens, the results are embarrassing and horrifying.

Right now, the Huskies start every game on E, and it’s just a matter of time after the opening kickoff before they run flat out of gas and everybody just blows right past them.

The only way Washington wins this game—I repeat, the ONLY way—is if it gets out to an early lead. That’s what happened against Boise State last season, and it’s the only reason the Huskies won. They jumped ahead 14-0 in the first quarter, and it was pretty much over.

If Washington wants to win this game, it needs a similar start against BYU. The Huskies cannot expect BYU to jump ahead 7-0, 10-3, 17-7, whatever, and then hope to be able to come back. They also can’t expect to allow BYU to hang around and then pull it out in the end. It’s just not going to happen.

Blow the Cougars out in the first half. Get ahead by two or three touchdowns. Force BYU to doubt a little bit. Create some uncertainty, and it may just end up being the difference.

But I don’t foresee that happening. BYU is going to be in this game the whole way through, just because Washington won’t be able to make consistent stops on defense. Even if Washington scores, BYU will answer. Then, maybe halfway through the fourth quarter, Willingham’s crew is gonna sputter...and stop.

Originally, I picked 30-27 BYU as my final for this game. I think I’m going to revise that a bit: BYU wins 37-27. Trailing 27-23 midway through the fourth quarter, BYU engineers two late touchdown drives to put away the Huskies and move to 2-0.

NBA Not Doing the Blazers Any Favors With Brutal November Schedule

Ryan Comer — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 03:05:00 -0400

About halfway through December last year, when the Portland Trailblazers decided to start reeling off win after win, I had this strange thought: If the Sonics were to leave Seattle, I think I could become a pretty big Blazers fan.

Blasphemy you say! How can someone who cheered for Shawn Kemp, Detlef Schrempf and Gary Payton POSSIBLY cheer for the same team ‘Clyde the Glide’ Drexler played on? BLASPHEMY you’ll say. Well, it’s simple. The Sonics have sucked for the better part of ten years now. And with the Mariners – and especially the Seahawks playing fairly well over the past decade, my passions have sort of switched. That’s not to say I stopped being a Sonics fan, I just didn’t care to watch them lose every night with no promise of really ever improving.

But the Blazers … there’s a team I thought I could get behind if the Sonics were to leave. Brandon Roy is a University of Washington graduate. Nate McMillian played his entire career with the Sonics and even coached the team for a period of time. Paul Allen, the only reason the Seahawks are still in Seattle and not wasting away in L.A., is the owner of the Blazers as well. With all those Seattle ties, I thought of how easy it would be to shift allegiances.

Well, the Sonics have indeed fled, and so there I sat without a team to cheer for. Not entirely true … there’s always the Blazers.

Needless to say, I’ve been pretty stoked about the start of the new season. Portland has improved steadily over the past couple years from Western Conference fodder to actually semi-respectable. With Roy, Greg Oden and now Jerryd Bayless, I was anticipating an exciting season this year. Then I looked at the schedule the Blazers were dealt and cried. Just take a look at their first five games.
+

@ LA Lakers

San Antonio

@ Phoenix

@ Utah

Houston

In the first month of the season, the Blazers have 11 of 18 games away from home with road games against Detroit, Golden State, New Orleans, Orlando, Utah, Phoenix and the L.A. Lakers. Talk about a brutal schedule. It’s hard to get excited about a team that even though could be really good could also very likely start 0-5.

I really don’t understand how the people who make these schedules sleep at night. I know in the end it all evens out, but I don’t think it’s wise to understate the importance of getting off to a fast start. Meanwhile, let’s look at the first month for the Spurs. The Spurs will play nine of their first 16 games at home. They play Memphis twice, Chicago, the L.A. Clippers, Sacramento, Miami, New York and Milwaukee. Tell me, does a powerhouse like the Spurs really need the benefits of an easy schedule to start the season?

I’m not going to lie. No matter how difficult the Blazers’ schedule may look, I’m still going to be excited about the start of the season. But holy geez…

Washington Huskies Football and Its "Quest for Mediocrity"

Ryan Comer — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:22:00 -0400

A couple days ago I posted my thoughts on BYU’s quest for perfection. For the record, because I’ve mulled it over and done some heavy research on the subject (contrary to someone who shall remain nameless but DID respond to said post on this blog), BYU will not finish undefeated.

I have a lot of respect for Bronco Mendenhall and his ability to shape defenses. I know that this defense, although young, isn’t going to be as bad as many think. I’ve read reports from players who say this is the fastest defense BYU has had yet in the Mendenhall era.

But it is inexperienced. I think at least once, maybe twice, but probably three times, it will falter, and BYU will lose.

The offense is great, we know that—but it’s not perfect. Against good defenses last year (Utah and UCLA), it was shut down pretty effectively. BYU won those games because the defense stepped up.

If those games happen again this year—and I anticipate they will—I just don’t think the defense will be able to step up.

Anyhow, for the purposes of THIS post, I’d like to post about my other favorite team—the University of Washington.

There’s no doubt this team DEFINITELY won’t be going undefeated. But I was thinking about a possible slogan that would be suitable for them that they could have printed on T-shirts.

How about: “University of Washington Football: Where our quest is to just be mediocre.”

In 2004, the Huskies were 1-10 (0-8 in the Pac-10). In 2005, they were 2-9 (1-7 in the Pac-10). In 2006, they teased us with a 4-1 start out of the gate, including wins against UCLA and Arizona, but finished 5-7 (3-6 in the Pac-10).

Last year, they had Huskies fans hoping again after a blowout win at Syracuse and a tough, gritty win at home against Boise State. But alas, they finished even worse than the year before, this time at 4-9 (2-7 in the Pac-10).

This year, it doesn’t look like things are going to be any easier, at least as far as the schedule goes. With their first three games being at Oregon, BYU, and Oklahoma, this team could very easily start 0-3.

But what are the odds? It’s coach Tyrone Willingham’s fourth year. It’s phenom quarterback Jake Locker’s second. The Huskies were said to have one of the best recruiting classes in all of college football last year.

Is this the season the Huskies finally reach mediocrity?

In a word...no.

As the eternal optimist, I want to stand up and shout, “Yes, of course they will.” But I'm also the eternal realist.

The Huskies are going to start 0-3. There’s little doubt about it.

Oregon lost QB Dennis Dixon and RB Jonathan Stewart last year and will be lucky to finish in the top tier of the Pac-10. But they are still better than Washington.

It’s the first game of the season, it’s at Autzen Stadium (somewhere the Huskies haven’t won since 2002), and it’s going to be in front of a nationally televised audience. I’d just be happy if the Huskies kept it within 20.

Next up is BYU. Everybody in Seattle laughs at BYU because of the conference it plays in. Tack on the fact BYU hasn’t won a road game against a Pac-10 team in seven years, and this is almost a gimme. But BYU’s offense is better right now than Washington’s.

I know the threat Locker presents. But I also know that BYU has faced those quarterbacks before (how many times did they face that stupid triple option Air Force played?). Of course, none of AFA’s quarterbacks were ever as good as Jake Locker.

The Cougars won’t stop Locker, but they’ll subdue him, which is basically all they need to do. Locker’s pass efficiency was horrendous last year. You almost don’t need to guard the wide receivers because he’s just going to overthrow them anyway.

UW hired a new defensive coordinator, which will help solve some of its problems this season. But I really don’t expect those defensive schemes to just come out and work as well as they’ll need to in order to slow down Max Hall, Harvey Unga, Austin Collie, and Dennis Pitta.

Finally, we have Oklahoma to round out this horrible gauntlet the Huskies laid down for themselves. I don’t even need to say anything. Oklahoma by at least 25.

The next four games look a little better for UW: Stanford, at Arizona, Oregon State, and Notre Dame.

The Huskies beat the Cardinal 27-9 on the road last season. I would be shocked if the Huskies didn’t get their first win of the season here.

Last season, the Huskies lost a 48-41 shootout to Arizona. Once again, I’d like to believe the defense will be ready in this game—but I don’t. They might keep it close, but in the end, Willie Tuitama will throw a two-yard screen pass that will end up being a 99-yard touchdown, and the Huskies will lose.

I can’t believe the Huskies haven’t beaten Oregon State since 2003. When I was growing up, the Huskies may not have been the best, but AT LEAST you could count on them to take out the Beavers. I think they’ll finally do it again this year.

Last year they almost beat them in Corvallis (and would have if Locker hadn’t have been so horrible before getting knocked out with a concussion in the first half). Carl Bonnell came in and made it a game, almost pulling off the victory. If Locker can do this year just HALF as good as Bonnell did through the air last year, the Huskies will win this game.

I also can’t believe there were actually coaches who voted for Notre Dame to be in the Top 25 this season. How ridiculous is it that a team that goes 3-9 can garner so much respect?

I know, I know. Jimmy Clausen is the next Matt Leinart. But until he proves it, which I clearly don’t think he’ll do this year, the Fighting Irish are going to remain a joke. I think UW actually wins this one in a rout.

Oh my goodness...that puts the Huskies at 3-4. Just three more wins to mediocrity.

Well, getting closer won’t happen the following week. The Huskies go to USC. Perhaps Mark Sanchez will break his arm and the Trojans will only win by 35.

And it won’t be the next week after that (against Arizona State) or the week after THAT (against UCLA). With Rudy Carpenter coming back for his senior year, I don’t think the Huskies are going to present much of a threat against the Sun Devils. It’s sad because beating Arizona State would be one of those signature wins for Willingham that he could use to prove he’s turning the program around. I think he’ll have to look elsewhere.

New UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel, who was fired by the University of Washington after the 2002 season, is going to want this game more than perhaps any other game on the schedule (except maybe USC).

Remember in ‘02 when Neuheisel had the Huskies players chanting, shouting, and dancing at the center of the field of Autzen Stadium in Eugene after the Huskies decimated the Ducks? Then just one week later he had them doing the same thing at Martin Stadium in Pullman after the Huskies defeated then-No. 3 ranked Washington State.

I think that being fired from the University of Washington helped Neuheisel realize how much he needs to mature. But after this game, I still don’t think he’s going to stop his players from having a big ol’ dance party on that big W in the center of Husky Stadium.

That leaves our beloved Huskies at 3-7 and no chance at mediocrity. If it means anything, I think they’ll defeat Washington State and California on the road to finish the season.

Washington State is equally as horrendous as Washington, and they don’t even have Locker. And California, especially its defense, just wasn’t very impressive last season.

So there you have it. 5-7. If there’s any consolation, my predictions give the Huskies a mark of 4-5 in the conference, which is better than they’ve been under Willingham yet.

It’s sad that this team feels the need to keep scheduling such brutal non-conference schedules. Doing so is throwing away almost any opportunity to go to a bowl game.

Last year, the Huskies were ranked as having the toughest schedule in all of Division I-A football, with non-conference games against Boise State and Ohio State. This year, with BYU and Oklahoma, it’s not looking much better.

I know the Huskies think this will toughen their players, but it’s at the expense of Willingham's job. He could be a very good coach, but giving him schedules like this makes it hard to tell.

It is amazing the amount of talent this team has though. Freshman Chris Polk might be so fast even Locker won’t be able to overthrow him, sophomore running back Brandon Johnson might be the best running back the Huskies have had since Corey Dillon, and freshman tight end Kavario Middleton might be a future Top 10 draft pick.

But that’s a lot of “might be’s” that I don’t think the Huskies can rely on—not this year, at least.

I also just read a report today that E.J. Savannah, the team’s leading tackler last season, is ineligible this season for academic reasons. I like to think even with the newness of much of the Huskies offense that they’ll be able to score a lot of points. But it’s really becoming scary how many they’ll give up. Unless this new defensive coordinator has some amazing schemes, it could be VERY ugly.

Maybe things will get better in 2009 and 2010. But then again, maybe they won’t.

Looking ahead to the Huskies' non-conference schedules for those two years, I see the Huskies are scheduled to play LSU, Notre Dame, and Idaho in ’09, and then BYU, Nebraska, and Syracuse in 2010. Somebody, please, shoot this university’s athletic director.

In the end, it looks to be another sad season on Montlake for the Huskies. Maybe some day they can be mediocre again.

Seattle Mariners Have Hit Rock Bottom

Ryan Comer — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:58:00 -0400

Maybe it's a good thing I haven't had internet at my apartment for the last week. Since the Mariners decided to start hitting opposing pitchers with their helmets instead of their bats, I haven't been in the mood to blog about them.

The Mariners are now 1-7 in May, and just lost three of four to the Texas Rangers at home. Add to that Bedard and King Felix pitched two of the games, and it really is disappointing. But at this point, I'm used to it. Right now, I don't expect the Mariners to hit or win. In the last three games, the Mariners scored just one run and got just 13 hits. Absolutely horrific. Look at some of these players and their performances.

Ibanez: 1-11 2 K

Beltre: 0-9 3 K

Sexson: 0-4 2 K

Clement: 0-6 3 K

Johjima: 0-7 K

Betancourt: 2-12 K

Balentien: 2-9 K

Seven of the Mariners starting nine hit just 5-58 with 13 strikeouts in the last three games.

Everything that can be said about this team has been said already. We know (or at least I know) they aren't really that bad. Last year they hit close to .290 as a team, with basically the same hitters. But right now, the Mariners don't have any confidence at the plate. They got seven runs on Texas in the first four innings of game one of the four game series, and then got just one lone run the rest of the series.

It seems almost as if they are trying so hard to do something they don't honestly believe they can. Once you get into a slump like that, it's really hard to break. You'll see individual players go through lapses in confidence and production, but rarely do you see a team, and even more rarely for this much of an extended period of time. Watching it has been nothing short of excruciating.

The only way to bust out of a slump is to find consistent success over a period of time. It doesn't have to be a long period of time. Maybe just one series is enough. But there has to be tangible success that everyone sees that lasts for more than one game. The problem with the Mariners is that for one game, every now and there, they find it. Like the opening game of their series at Cleveland. Or the opening game of this past series against Texas.

Unfortunately, it hasn't been maintained because the very next day they get shut down and lose their confidence again. It's gotten so bad that you have Richie Sexson charging the mound because a pitch was high. (Note to Sexson: in the future, try harnessing all that anger and aggression you have for pitches that are high and using it to blast home runs, which was the sole reason for you being brought here in the first place. You weren't brought here to hurl helmets at pitchers. You were brought here to take their pitches and pump them into the bleachers.)

The Mariners are now eight games below .500 and eight games out of first place. Far from where everybody expected them to be, and by far the biggest disappointment of the season thus far in baseball (except for maybe Detroit). Anyone who knows anything about the Mariners, and watched them last year, knows they are capable. They have the potential to win 15 of their next 20, and all of a sudden be over .500.

I know this because I watched them last year, and I know what they can do.

Too bad they don't.

New York Yankees Sweep Hopeless Seattle Mariners

Ryan Comer — Sun, 04 May 2008 20:35:00 -0400

For the first month of the season, Felix Hernandez and Carlos Silva were staples in the Mariners' rotation. Because of Hernandez and Silva, the Mariners were able to win some games despite not hitting the ball well.

This weekend in Yankee Stadium, Hernandez and Silva faltered for the first time in 2008. And with the offense still struggling, that meant a Yankee sweep was inevitable.

Before the series started, both the Mariners and Yankees were struggling offensively. I figured the Mariners would take at least one of the three games because I didn't anticipate both Hernandez and Silva struggling so mightily.

Today at the Stadium, Silva gave up eight runs and 11 hits in just three innings. Yesterday Hernandez gave up six in five-and-two-thirds.

With the sweep the Mariners went 1-5 on the road trip, fell to 13-19 overall, and now sit 6.5 games behind the AL West leading Los Angeles Angels.

This is NOT the way the Mariners were supposed to start the season. With Bedard, Hernandez, and Silva anchoring the rotation, the Mariners were supposed to be better than the 88 wins they totaled last year.

With the Angels losing Kelvim Escobar and John Lackey for more than a month at the start of the season, the Mariners were supposed to be the team to beat. Now they're fighting for third place.

Once again, it's still way too early. The Detroit Tigers started the season 2-10, but have gone 12-8 since to fight their way back into the AL Central race.

With the weekend sweep, the Mariners are now hitting just .204 in the month of May and .251 overall. Except for Ichiro and Raul Ibanez, not one Mariner is hitting higher than .250 so far this month.

The Mariners will be glad to be going home. This week they have a four-game series against Texas and a three-game series against Chicago. That's seven games against teams that are also sub-.500.

This is a great opportunity for the Mariners to climb back into things. At this point, the Mariners can't worry about how far behind the Angels they are. They have to just focus on winning games and winning series. They have to focus on getting over .500 and staying over.

Nothing is out of control yet, but it's not looking good. Still, it's true that every team throughout the season has periods where they just don't play good baseball.

Hopefully the Mariners just decided to get that period out of the way early in the season and now can focus on playing better.

Mariners at Yankees: Wang Continues Mastery of Mariners

Ryan Comer — Sat, 03 May 2008 11:51:00 -0400

The Seattle Mariners have never been able to defeat Chien-Ming Wang. And Friday afternoon at Yankee Stadium was no different.

Wang gave up just one run through six innings of work as the Yankees defeated the Mariners 5-1.

Erik Bedard pitched seven strong innings for the Mariners giving up just one earned run, four hits and striking out six, but it wasn’t enough.

As disappointing as it was to see the Mariners struggle yet again to get hits, I can’t say I was entirely surprised. The Mariners have never been able to hit Wang. For some reason, he just owns them. He has ever since he came into the league. Whether it’s at Yankee Stadium or Safeco Field, if Wang is pitching, you might as well shoot up a goose egg for the Mariners. Unless Ichiro goes crazy on the basepaths like he did in the sixth inning last night when he stole second and third.

Some pitchers just own certain teams. It’s hard to explain.

Luckily for the Mariners, the Angels and Athletics both lost tonight so they didn’t fall even further off pace in the AL West. The key for the Mariners will now be to regroup and get ready to hit Mussina today. Mussina is far from what he once was. He is nowhere near the dominating pitcher he once was. He’s extremely mediocre at this point of his career. One good thing the Mariners have going for them is although Bedard suffered a tough-luck loss today, they still have Felix Hernandez and Carlos Silva to finish off the series. And the Yankee bats are still far from amazing. It wouldn’t be entirely surprising to see Hernandez shut down the Yankees tomorrow. If he does, which he should, the Mariners should be in good shape.

On the bright side, Ichiro continued his trek back to normality tonight going 2-4. In the last two days, his average has gone from .252 to .273. Like I said a couple days ago, the Mariners need Ichiro to get his bat going. Although it hasn’t done much the last two days to spark the team, I believe it will.

Other notes from the game:
Wladimir Balentien and Jeff Clement went 0-5 with three strikeouts Friday. But I’m not going to get too upset about it. Balentien is swinging at a bunch of pitches out of the strike zone right now and I think the more he plays, the more he’ll just become more patient. Same with Clement.

Mariners at Yankees Series Preview

Ryan Comer — Fri, 02 May 2008 13:58:00 -0400

The Mariners and the Yankees kick off their three-game series today at Yankee Stadium with both teams playing far less than their best baseball.

The Mariners are fresh off a series in Cleveland where they dropped 2 of 3 while the Yankees were just swept in a three-game series at home by the Detroit Tigers.

Both the Mariners and Yankees have lost six of their last eight but will send their aces to the mound today. The Mariners send newly-acquired Erik Bedard (2-0 2.04 ERA) to the mound while the Yankees counter with Chien-Ming Wang (5-0 3.23 ERA).

Wang has a career record of 26-9 at Yankee Stadium with an ERA of 3.04. He has never lost to the Mariners and is 6-0 with a 2.51 ERA in six career starts. Last year Wang was 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA against the Mariners in two starts.

Bedard, meanwhile, is 3-1 with a 2.85 ERA against the Yankees in seven career starts. Last year Bedard was 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in three starts against the Yankees.

Saturday's matchup features Mike Mussina (3-3) against Felix Hernandez (2-1). Mussina is coming off a solid performance at Cleveland where he threw five innings giving up two runs and seven hits to pick up the victory. Hernandez is coming off a tough-luck performance against the A's where he had a 2-0 lead heading into the eighth only to give up four runs and get the loss. Hernandez struck out a season-high 10 Athletics that afternoon. Hernandez has gone at least seven innings in five of his six starts so far this season but is a career 1-2 against the Yankees with a 4.82 ERA in three starts.

Sunday's matchup is Darrell Rasner (1-3) against Carlos Silva (3-0). Rasner is 1-1 with a 2.53 ERA in two career starts against the Mariners. In the last three seasons, Silva is 1-2 with a 6.06 ERA in three starts against the Yankees.

This is going to be a very interesting series from the standpoint that both teams are struggling a lot right now, especially at the plate. The Mariners enter the series hitting just .257 as a team while the Yankees are hitting just .255. Where the Mariners may have an edge is on the pitching side. The Mariners have a team ERA of 4.05 so far this year while the Yankees have an ERA of 4.68.

Wang has always pitched well against the Mariners and Bedard, as of late, has pitched well against the Yankees. With both teams struggling to find their rhythm at the plate, I expect the first game to be a classic pitchers duel. I have to give the advantage to the Yankees in game one just because Wang has never lost to the Mariners and seems to be stronger than he's ever been this year. If the Mariners win, it will have to be because they kept it close and were able to rally late off the Yankees pen.

Seattle has the advantage in game two. Mussina isn't the dominating pitcher he once was and I expect the Mariners bats to finally come alive. Hernandez is due for a hiccup, but I don't forsee this being the game where he has one. Last year in Hernandez's only start at Yankee Stadium he went seven innings, giving up just one run and five hits while striking out five to pick up the victory. With the way the Yankees bats are struggling right now, I don't envision them getting better off Hernandez.

If the Yankees bats are going to get healthy this series, it will have to be the third game against Carlos Silva. In his only start against the Yankees last year Silva gave up five runs and nine hits in just 5 1/3 innings. Granted, Silva has had a fabulous start to the 2008 season, but he's always seemed to struggle against the Yankees. Unlike the first two games, I expect the Yankees to explode in game three. Will the Mariners be able to keep up off of Rasner? I don't know. I think this is a toss-up. But should definately be the highest-scoring game of the series.

This is an intriguing series because I highly doubt either team will sweep. But either team could take 2 of 3 and it wouldn't exactly be surprising. I give the advantage to the Yankees simply because they are at home.

Predictions:
Game 1: Yankees 3, Mariners 1
Game 2: Mariners 6, Yankees 2
Game 3: Yankees 7, Mariners 5

Mariners April Heroes and Goats

Ryan Comer — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:17:00 -0400

Here is a list of the Mariners heroes and goats for the month of April.

Heroes

Jose Lopez: .313 BA, 17 RBIs
Raul Ibanez: .291 BA, 5 HR, 20 RBIs
Felix Hernandez: 2-1 44 2/3 IP, 41 K, 2.22 ERA
Carlos Silva: 3-0 42 IP, 2.79 ERA, 1.17 WHIP
Erik Bedard: 2-0 2.04 ERA
Sean Green: 14 1/3 IP, 13 K, 1.88 ERA
Roy Corcoran: 10 2/3 IP, 1.69 ERA

Goats

Richie Sexson: .219 BA
Jose Vidro: .211 BA
Kenji Johjima: .177 BA
Brad Wilkerson: .232 BA
Miguel Batista: 24 2/3 IP, 2-3 5.47 ERA
*Eric O'Flaherty: 6 2/3 IP, 0-1 20.24 ERA, 15 ER, 16 H, 3.00 WHIP

*An interesting note about O'Flaherty and the Mariners bullpen. The Mariners bullpen was not given a lot of praise in the month of April and considering they had an ERA of 5.11 and a WHIP of 1.47 that's quite understandable. But if you take away the 6.2 worthless innings of O'Flaherty, who didn't even last half the month before being sent down to Triple-A, the Mariners bullpen actually had a pretty decent April. The bullpen ERA would be 3.61 and the WHIP would be 1.32. A 3.61 bullpen ERA isn't amazing or anything, but definitely not worth the trash it received from much of the media.