The Final Four

This coming Saturday and Monday in Indianapolis, Indiana will be the final of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The final four teams will be Duke playing Michigan State, and Kentucky facing Wisconsin. Michigan State is the lowest seed left in the tournament. Duke, Kentucky, and Wisconsin are all #1 seeds. So I would say those picked the seeding did a pretty good job.

Personally I am rooting for Michigan State to beat Duke and Wisconsin beating Kentucky. In the final on Monday I am picking Michigan State to beat Wisconsin. These games should all beat pretty good games. I am sure Kentucky is still favored to win the whole thing. They actually were lucky because they beat Notre Dame by two points with six seconds remaining. Kentucky was fouled with the six seconds remaining. They made both free throws, and Notre Dame was unable to connect at the end. Likely it was a defensive foul but it was really a close call. It could have gone either way. Personally I would not have made the call since it was so close. The game should have gone into overtime. It was a hard loss for Notre Dame. Kentucky has not lost a game all season long. Most likely the starters for Kentucky will go into the NBA. Since the NBA cannot take players out of high school right now the ones that could go into the NBA play one season of college ball and then go into the NBA. Often Kentucky does that every year. It is sad that happens though they are playing by the rules; however, this means a lot of people root for the opposition.

When Duke faces Michigan State this will be the 12^th time at Duke that Coach K will be in the final four. He is so excited because this is the youngest team he has taken to the final four.

Wisconsin had another good season that placed them in as number 1 seed. They play in the Big Ten who generally have a lot of good teams. Also, Michigan State is from the Big Ten as well. No one expected them to make this far into the tournament. In fact going into the final eight was a surprise as well.

I thought the round of 64 was by far the most exciting round of all. There were a total of five games that were won by one point on the first day. Also, there were some other close games. Georgia State was the most surprised by beating Baylor on a three pointer at the end of the game; however, they lost in the round of 32. It would have been real exciting if they would have gone to round sixteen. Another team that had a good go in the tournament was North Carolina State. They lost in the final eight.

So let’s go Michigan State. I am rooting for you all the way.

In other news that was very sad over the weekend the Seattle Mariners minor league pitcher and number eleven prospect in their system passed away. About a week before spring training in early September he was hit by a boat while swimming. Up until this weekend he had been in a coma. Most players in the Mariners system including the major leagues were hoping that he would make a total recovery. Last season he played for the Mariners Jackson General double A team. He died at such a young age of twenty. He was the youngest player in the league and four years younger than the average age. His teammates said that he was a joyful young man and was very mature for his age. He could have pitched for the Mariners Triple A team which is in Tacoma, Washington just about a half an hour drive south of Seattle depending on traffic. Also, it is less than ten minutes away from where I live at Cheney Stadium. I may have had a chance to see him pitch as I go to a few games every year. He may have had a chance to start for the Mariners in 2016. Most of the players are dedicating this year to Victor Sanchez. Our thoughts are with his family in Venezuela where the accident occurred as well.

Until next time have yourself a great week.  

Busy End of March for Sports

The end of March is when three major sports are quite busy. There is March Madness going on. Going into tonight’s games (March 27) is twelve teams remaining. There is about ten days remaining of spring training for baseball. Many of the teams regular season start including the Seattle Mariners begin on April 6. You will find the season does start on Easter April 5 Sunday night between the St.Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. The National Hockey season is coming to a close with the season ending on April 12. The playoffs begin on April 15 and then there is the National Basketball season coming to a close as well on April 2. The playoffs begin on April 18. So as I say keeps the fans very busy now. You can also add Major League Soccer whose season recently started.

Most of my time will be the conclusion of the NCAA tournament and the beginning of the baseball season. Of course, you can’t forget the NFL college draft on April 30. Those NFL big time fans that do not follow many of the other sports will look into all the mock drafts coming up. The Seattle Seahawks will be totally speculation. This year they have eleven picks without a first rounder since they traded it away to New Orleans for tight end Jimmy Graham. Since Pete Carroll has become head coach of the Seahawks it is anyone’s guess. All we know is that they will pick eleven quality players.

In the next ten days before baseball season begins there is no idea who will be occupying the Seattle Mariners bullpen. They had the best bullpen in baseball last year and it is expected again this year; however, they have so much depth that earlier this week Manager Lloyd McClendon says that the only sure reliever is closer Fernando Rodney. They will go with seven men in the bullpen starting this season while last year they had eight most of the season. Most thought that the Mariners will go with two left handed relievers in the group; however, McClendon says that may not be true. He may go with only one left handed reliever. He says that the team will go with the best seven relievers regardless whether they are left or right handed. So the Mariners will have some high quality relievers. Likely they will have a reliever not on the team that was on the team last year. Most believe that Charlie Furbush will be at least one of the left handed relievers; however, the way McClendon is speaking I can’t believe that is totally guaranteed. There is a possibility a chance though maybe little he could not be on the team. If he is not on the team he likely would be traded to some other team. Other words it will be interesting to see what happens. We know for sure the bullpen will be really good again and they will have some available for call up from Triple A in case of injury or poor performance.

Let the days ahead to see what is exciting in all the sports. Have a great weekend and enjoy all your teams.    

King Felix Hernandez

Though the Mariners have added two star players to their offense the last two years Felix Hernandez is still the face of the Mariners along with being the number one pitcher.  You just have to ask the players, media, fans, and Felix. Just kidding Felix.

This year Felix will become the Mariner’s number one strike out king by passing Randy Johnson. He needs only twenty-one wins to pass up Jamie Moyer with the most wins ever on the Mariners. With the added offense to the team we all hope that he gets those twenty-one wins this year. Adding to that he turns twenty-nine years old in April. I am sure not many teams have their all-time winner before the age of thirty. As a local announcer said last week it is going to take a long time for another pitcher to pass up Felix on the Mariner record books. The only one that comes to my mind currently would be Taijuan Walker; however though he is only twenty-two years old Felix was pitching for the Mariners at a younger age. What makes Felix special is that a lot of pitchers come into their prime at his age while he has been doing it for a long time. It is possible we have not seen Felix at his best year. If the Mariners make it to the World Series like a lot of media people think they will we may see this as the best year of Felix.

Though Felix strikes out at least two hundred batters a season; it will be his seventh in a row if he does it this season which is expected unless he gets hurt. Only Tom Seaver has thrown more consecutive seasons of two hundred or more strike outs. Seaver did it nine times. As long as Felix stays healthy he could pass Seaver by. Felix does not have overpowering fast ball that Randy Johnson had though he could throw it hard than he does. What makes Felix affective is that he has four quality pitchers and may add another one this season. He may have the best changeup in baseball. Unlike many other pitchers he throws his changeup only two or miles less per hour than his fast ball. Most pitchers throw the changeup at least ten miles per hour. What makes Felix changeup so effective along with all his other pitchers he has a lot of movement on them. All you have to do is ask those who face him along with his catchers.

So if you ever have the chance whether in Seattle or any of the cities that Felix pitches in I would do so. There are not many pitchers you can say that you want to see pitch. He loves having a lot of fun when he isn’t pitching but when he is pitching he takes it very seriously. Again enjoy him there is no other King around like him now.

Critical Week in Spring Training

Now with less than two weeks until regular season begins in major league baseball it is a critical week for both some players and teams. This week it is important for some players to perform at their best. Teams have to decide before the season begins what their final twenty-five man roster will be. At this point most teams have only a few spots to decide what player will make the team to fill out the remaining roster.

The Seattle Mariners came into spring training with only a few spots actually available. Most of the roster was already filled. The Mariners general manager and manager say they likely will make the final decisions this weekend so players that do not make the team can either get ready for minor league baseball or hook up with another team. For a veteran player who does not make the roster it could be the end of the line unless they can hook up with another team. They have to decide to keep going or retire.

The positions that are still waiting to be decided on the Mariners is the fifth starting pitcher, second left handed reliever, a fifth right handed relief pitcher, and backup catcher.

The fifth starting pitcher on the Mariner staff right now comes down to Tijuan Walker and Roenis Elias. Right now the edge seems to go with Walker. It is likely the loser will start the season in Triple A though Elias could end up the second left handed reliever. His advantage is that the Mariners know what he can do since he pitched almost the whole season last year for them. Also, he is on the Mariners forty man roster which is a whole another story I may get into some other time.

The three main candidates remaining in spring training to fill the spot of the left handed reliever are rookies David Rollins, Tyler Olson, and veteran Joe Saunders. Rollins at this time has the advantage because he is rule 5 player the Mariners picked up during the off season. The rule 5 players has to be offered back to his original team or put on waivers for the other major league teams to pick up before going back to the minor leagues. I may get into that at another time as well. Tyler Olson has had very good spring training; however, the Mariners have the option of sending him back to the minor leagues which is likely will happen. The Mariners do know what he can do so if a relief pitcher gets injured or does not perform very well they can bring him up at any time. Joe Saunders advantage is that he is a veteran that the Mariners already know what he can do; however, they have to decide in his case by March 31. At that point he has to be told either he has made the team or not. If he does not make the team he can either go to the minor leagues or try to hook up with another Major League team. The Mariners if they decide to keep any of the three left handed relievers they have to add them to the forty man roster as well as the twenty-five man roster. So it would affect another player who currently is on the forty man roster. They would have to release a player or put them on waivers.

The backup catcher has two candidates for the position. Jesus Sucre ended last season as the backup catcher and he is very good defensively. He has the advantage at this time. The other candidate is John Baker; however, his odds of making the team are not very good. Also, he would have to be added to the forty man roster as well. He is a veteran so he could decide not to go to the minor leagues as well. I am sure the Mariners hope he does because they would love to have a veteran catcher available because of injuries.

Anyway, I have to say good luck to those players, and I do not envy the Mariners on having to make those final decisions. One thing we do know for sure is that Mariners should have a very good year. We just hope that not too many injuries happen.

Sweet Sixteen

You may think that I will be writing about a daughter, granddaughter, or someone’s friend who is turning sweet sixteen. Actually I am writing about the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament.

Over the weekend there were some good games in the field of thirty-two after the rounds on Thursday or Friday. The best games were on Thursday.

On Saturday my favorite game that was an upset North Carolina State a number eight over a number one Villanova. North Carolina State almost blew it. I really wanted to see another upset thankfully North Carolina State held on. I was really impressed by their rebounding. Villanova had to make almost every shot near the end of the game to have any shot at winning because NC State were grabbing almost every rebound. I hope they can beat Louisville to advance to the round of eight.

The surprise team I believe still in it is UCLA. I thought they would get beaten in either of the first two games. They will be playing our team in Washington State the Gonzaga Bulldogs. I believe the Bulldogs should win the matchup against UCLA. I thought they would have more difficulty against Iowa than they actually did. Both teams have large front lines.

Another team that is doing really good is Michigan State. They upset Virginia 60-54. They too were not expected to get this far in the tournament; however, they always play well. I was disappointed that Oregon lost to Wisconsin though it was expected since Wisconsin is a number one ranked team as well.  I was hoping for the upset so all four teams representing the Pac-12 conference were still in the tournament. Still very good for the conference; most likely Arizona will go the furthest.

I really do hope that both Kentucky and Duke get knocked off before the final four. There is a good chance they will meet though in the final four. Arizona right now is my favorite to win.

Anyway I can’t wait till this Thursday for the beginning of the Sweet Sixteen. I hope the games will be as pretty as any sixteen year old girl.

Madness Marches On

With the play in games on Tuesday they now call the games on Thursday and Friday the second round which I do not really like; however, the action on Thursday and Friday were exciting. The games on Thursday especially close since five games were by one point only.

The games on Thursday especially made things bad on most people’s bracket. The only games that were not close mainly were between the #1 seeds and the #16 seeds. In fact I did not watch any of those four games because of the excitement of the other games. I generally watched the games that were the furthest along that still had the outcome to be determined.  I wished that some of the close games like Georgetown over Harvard had gone to Harvard instead. On two fronts I have two nephews who currently attending Harvard, and the other it would have been nice to have an upset as well. I think Harvard playing Utah Saturday instead of Georgetown would be more exciting. Of course, we will see how the game turns out. The Cinderella team this year has to be Georgia State beating Baylor on a three pointer. They now face Xavier. It would be really great if Georgia State could get into the round of sixteen. I consider it the game I would like to see today (Saturday). The next best game would be Arizona against Ohio State. It would be nice to see some upsets today.

The Friday games were mostly not as close as the Thursday games; however, there were some good games. The games I especially enjoyed watching was West Virginia over Buffalo. It was a close game within the last minutes, and Bob Hurley’s first time in the big dance as a head coach. Another was Louisville over UC Irvine by two points. This game I was rooting for UC Irvine because it was their first time in the big dance, and they would have been the second Cinderella team. Of course, the game I wanted to watch the most was Gonzaga over North Dakota State. This game mainly because Gonzaga is from Washington State which is my home state.

On Sunday those seem to be the games I will want to see the most. Every game looks like a good matchup. I especially like Virginia vs Michigan State. The Spartans always seems to play good in the big dance and Virginia is a good team. Another I would like to see San Diego State win over Duke. This would be a really good upset game. Of course I want to see Iowa against Gonzaga. This should be a good game especially on the front line. Iowa may give it hard on Gonzaga.

If your brackets haven’t totally exploded enjoy these games to see who goes onto the sweet sixteen. I hope we continue see the madness march on and have a final four that we will remember for many years to come.  

The Bullpen

Right now in baseball is the concern of less runs being scored on average per game. A lot of that has to do with the bullpen. Actually the bullpen has two meanings now the first is where the pitchers warm up before entering the game and the second is the collective group of relief pitchers.  Usually when the manager speaks of the bullpen he is talking about his relief pitchers. Most teams go with either seven or eight relief pitchers on their roster. Last year the Seattle Mariners who were the best relief pitching staff went most of the season with eight. This year they will start with seven. Depending how much the reliever’s pitch the Mariners will see if they stay with seven or go back to eight.

What makes relief pitching tougher now is that the bullpen is made up of specialized pitchers. Other words each has a special role to play. I now will break down what those roles are in the bullpen.

The first role reliever is the long reliever. He generally pitchers more than one inning in a game; most of the time he comes into the game in the first five or six innings if the starting pitcher is doing poorly and giving up a lot of runs. Depending on what the score is at the time will determine how many innings he will pitch. His job is important because the manager does not want any more runs scored or keep a limit to it. He may pitch several innings if the game is already out of hand and the chance of winning is not very good. Also, if the rest of the bullpen has been used a lot recently; the long reliever usually pitches only so often. The manager does not want to over use them, and the success of the starting pitchers determine how often they pitch as well. The long reliever can become a starter as well if one of the starters gets injured or performing poorly on a regular basis.

The next reliever is called the left handed specialist. This is a left handed pitcher who primary job is to come into the game and face a left handed hitter. In many cases they come into the game when there are runners on base, and it is a tough situation where the game is on the line. They usually get into the game in the sixth through the eighth inning and often face just one batter depending on how many left handed batters in the lineup when they enter the game. Most teams have two left handed specialists in the bullpen.

Each bullpen has at least one reliever they call the setup man. He generally is a right handed pitcher that enters the game to pitch in the seventh or eighth inning. Most teams now have one setup pitcher that pitches the seven and another that pitches the eight. This is why the bullpen has become so effective over the last several years.

Last but not least is what they call the closer. His job is primarily to come into the game in the ninth inning with his team ahead and make sure the other team does not score any more runs. This usually takes a special reliever to this job. Most closers start out as a setup man. Why the closer takes a special reliever is that the game is usually on the line. Most of the time they pitch when their team is ahead only by one run so it is the reason it takes some one very special to the job. Often most setup men can’t become closers. Also, a closer only last a few years sometimes; teams usually have a plan to have another reliever to become a closer at some time because the life of a closer is so short. You can see a closer be dominant one year and then the next year so bad that they lose the job. In some cases they totally lose the position of closer, and no longer pitching either.

The Seattle Mariners were the number one bullpen in baseball last year. This year they expected to be one of the best again. They have so much depth in the bullpen that someone who pitched last year may not make the opening roster, and be sent to the minor leagues. Of course, they will be ready if someone does a poor job, or is injured.

If your team has a poor bullpen it can drive a manager crazy. He could lose a few hairs. Though at team may have a good bullpen one season does not guarantee they will have one the next season. If you are a left handed specialist you can have a long career if you continue being good. The same can be said of the rest of the bullpen. It feels very comfortable to see that the Mariners likely will have another good season from the bullpen. What makes them somewhat unique is that they have a mixture of veterans and youth.  It helps that the manager has complete confidence in them as well. How much they pitch will depend how well the starting pitchers do. The manager does not want to over use the bullpen. It makes the bullpen less effective. So we will see how it goes this season.

March Madness

One of the most popular sporting events in the United States is Men’s Basketball College NCAA tournament also known as March Madness. The reason it is called March Madness there is a field of sixty-four teams going for the title and if your team loses than you are out of the tournament.  Starting today there will be four games with eight teams vying to get into the tournament which starts on Thursday March 19. One of the teams winning today will have to face the overall number one seed Kentucky in the first round of the tournament. There are a total of four regions with sixteen teams in each region. The number sixteen seed plays the number one see in the first round. A number sixteen seed has never beaten a number one seed though there have been a few close calls over the years.

Going into this tournament Kentucky has won all thirty-four games this season and is a big favorite to win the tournament; however, like all teams they know that they can’t afford to play a bad game and lose even one game to win the tournament. The last time an undefeated team won the tournament was Indiana in 1976.

The other number one seeded teams in the tournament are Wisconsin, Villanova, and Duke. Besides the fact teams must continue to win to stay in the tournament there are always several upsets. It not only applies in the first round it also happens in the other rounds as well. Though a first seed has never lost in the first round there have been other top seeds that have lost in the first round which what makes the tournament so exciting.

Every conference in the NCAA have what is called an automatic bid in which a minimum of one team plays in the tournament. The automatic bid comes out of each conference’s tournament. There is a panel in the NCAA that picks the remaining teams to play in the tournament. This is what makes the tournament exciting as well you see smaller colleges in the tournament you likely would not see otherwise.  For example, out of the Ivy League you have Harvard which is a thirteen seed that will play North Carolina a number four seed in the first round. Though a thirteen seed most likely will not win the first round the upset win is always possible. Teams like Harvard will be the only team from their conference in the tournament. The larger conferences will have several teams in the tournament. The amount of teams from a conference will depend each year how well the teams in those conferences play. There has been a few times in Pac-12 conference where only the winner of the conference tournament gets in being an automatic bid while other years they have had at least four teams get into the tournament. A conference like the Big East has often got up to seven or eight teams into the tournament.

At the end of this weekend the field will narrow down to what is called the sweet sixteen after two rounds. Next weekend it will than go to the final four; and the following weekend the semi-finals on the Saturday and the final on the Monday April 6 in Tampa Bay, Florida.

Another thing that makes this tournament exciting is that a lot of people fill out brackets of the tournament to see who wins. Often sites like ESPN will have prizes for the person who picks the best in the tournament.  It is a good way to stay interested in the tournament along with following your favorite team. All the games will be shown on television as well. They will be shown on several cable channels as well as CBS. So everyone enjoy the tournament and hopefully your favorite team will win.

Free Agency

When it comes to free agency the purpose to give players who have been around a few years a chance to go to another team of their free choice instead of the draft or being traded; of course, I can say it isn’t always a free choice.  When it comes to the three major sports free agency seems to work out differently.

In the NBA free agency works a bit different than the other two major sports. Though the players after a few years can go to another team the team they are playing for can offer the most money under the collective bargaining agreement. The NBA has a salary cap but teams can go above it with signing their own players. Most of the top players usually stay with their team; however, there are exceptions. For example, Lebron James a few years ago decided to go play for Miami Heat though he could sign up again the Cleveland Cavaliers. This last year he decided to go back to the Cavaliers being a free agent again. In many cases the top players going to another team will make a sign and trade. Other words he will sign the maximum with his original team and then be traded to the team he wants to play for. This allows the original team gets a player or more in return. The NBA though still does a lot of trading of players instead.

In major league baseball there is some movement in free agency; however, trades is the most common way a team will do to make their team better. Usually free agency happens when a team is looking for a specific need to be made. For example, this season the Seattle Mariners signed Nelson Cruz as a free agent because they need a power hitter in the middle of their lineup who also batted from the right side because they had a lot of left handed batters in their lineup. They did make a couple additional trades to improve their lineup as well.  A few other teams paid out a lot of money for the top pitchers.

The NFL is the sport that has a lot of free agency going on. It is the primary way for a team to get better really fast.  Generally teams do not make a lot of trades in the NFL. If a team does make a trade it usually high profile like the Seattle Seahawks made last week in getting Jimmy Graham from New Orleans. The teams that do the most in free agency are the bad teams who have room under their salary caps or a good team that feel a free agency can help them get to the next level in the playoffs. Also, a lot of free agency happens because teams release players who have high salaries, and the players in the NFL contracts are not guaranteed like they are in the NBA or major league baseball. Another thing they may have a player who is eligible for free agency but they cannot afford to keep them because of the salary cap. When it comes to players the NFL teams can only afford to keep a few high priced players on their roster.  Most teams you will see quite the change in rosters each year especially among backup players.  The ones you likely will see continue for several years are those players that are on special teams. They are players that are very good on special teams.  Most rookies that come in each year make their teams because of special teams.

So you can see how free agency works in the different three sports. The only thing common is to make their teams better. If you are a backup player in any of the sports to be able to stick around as long as you can is to have some special skill, and get better each year to be successful.

Mariner Shortstop

The Seattle Mariners are at about half way point of spring training with three weeks remaining until the regular season begins. The Mariners have a set lineup except at shortstop. In the outfield they will be platooning in left field and right field. How that continues will depend on the players. The same thing at shortstop will depend on how the two players Brad Miller and Chris Taylor perform these next three weeks. The loser likely will start the season at Tacoma in Pacific Coast League.

At this point the competition is fairly even. Both players so far are having very good spring trainings. The manager has not tipped his hand on who he favors to be the shortstop. It may come down to the final day of spring training. Personally I would like both players be on opening roster but that likely will not happen unless there is an injury; currently Willie Bloomquist is the backup at shortstop; however, he is coming off an injury he suffered near the end of last season. So far he does look like he will be ready for the season. Bloomquist is the primary utility player on the team where he will be backing up at all the infield positions. He is capable playing in the outfield as well but likely won’t play in the outfield because of the platooning in left and right fields. The only way both Miller and Taylor would be on the opening roster would be if an injury would happen to one of the infielders.

At this point I would say that Brad Miller may have a slight edge because he has the most major league experience. I see that each player has different skills to playing shortstop. Brad Miller hits left handed while Taylor bats right handed. I would say the player who wins out likely will because of the skills the Mariners will need at the beginning of the season. Brad Miller is considered the better hitter with more power while Taylor is considered the better fielder. Right now though I see both of them about even in both areas; Brad Miller has a lot of power to right center, and what is somewhat unusual when he hits home runs he usually hits two in a game. He should do will in Safeco Field because a left handed hitter with power to right center is a really good thing. If he does win the shortstop position he will have to start out better than he did last year. He struggled the first half of the season though he redeemed himself the second half of the season. I would say part of that was Chris Taylor by that time was on the team and pushed him. Both players had good second half of the season. They shared the position almost evenly. This happened after Willie Bloomquist was injured and did not return for the remaining of the season.

What does Chris Taylor bring to the table for the Mariners at shortstop is first of all he is good fielder; however, he is more of spray hitter than Miller. Other words he will be able to hit the ball to any place in the field. Miller is more of a pull hitter which can be an advantage if there is a runner on first base. Besides being a spray hitter Taylor does have some power to his bat as well. He may not hit as many home runs as Miller but he could hit a lot of doubles and some triples as well. As far as running the bases I think Taylor maybe faster but not by much.

I would say though the loser out of spring training may start in Tacoma you most likely see him some time during the season especially if one is struggling very badly or there is an injury in the infield. In a radio interview second baseman Robinson Cano did not favor one of them over the other but felt who did win the position could become an all-star player sometime in his career. I call that high praise for sure.

Personally I do like both players. I feel bad that one of them will not be the regular shortstop.  I think that they are so capable that most likely one of them will be traded. I would not say during this season unless it is around the trading deadline at the end of July. So good luck to both of them and let the best player win.

My New Blog

 

I have decided to add a new blog that I will write about sports only. I know that there are those how may want to read only about my stories concerning my life both past and present and others who may only want to read about sports. Depending what is going on in sports and my life I will likely right about three times a week. I will write how I see things going on in sports. The main reason is that there are so many out there writing about sports.

Now continuing on; the Seattle Seahawks made a trade on Tuesday March 10 with the New Orleans Saints. They traded center Max Unger along with a first round pick to the Saints for tight end Jimmy Graham and a fourth round pick. I know it came as a surprise to most including myself. Jimmy Graham is the best tight end in the National Football League that turned out to be available.  I am sure the Saint fans were totally shocked with the trade.

Last week the Seahawks released starting tight end Zach Miller mainly because he failed his physical. He missed most of the season with an injury so most of us figured they would go and get another tight end in a trade or free agency but this was a surprise for sure. What makes the Seahawks better teams not only were they looking for a tight end it gave them most likely the best receiver on the Seahawks as well? Jimmy Graham maybe a tight end but the Saints often used him like a wide receiver. Though the Seattle has some good receivers they do not have a number one type receiver on their roster. So the Seahawks in many ways have received two players in one. It allows the Seahawks to have a number one receiver to the team who they can go to on any downs. Also, will allow Doug Baldwin who is the top wide receiver to be used on third down situations which he is the best at; another thing the Seahawks have another tight end Luke Willson who can become more effective receiver with Jimmy Graham on the team.

This trade may not only make Seahawks a lot better offense it maybe the best in the league. Even if it is not the best the improvement on the offense along with having the best defense in the league have the Seahawks favored again to the Super Bowl.

I will be writing more about the NFL and the Seahawks in the weeks and months ahead before the season begins. We will have to see if they pull out any more surprises. Of course, I will be writing about the Seattle Mariners since baseball season is about ready to start. Until next time enjoy your time.