Saturday College Basketball

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are now 20-1 after beating Loyola of Marymount on Thursday 85-67. Saturday they take on St. Mary's  20-5 on the road. 

The Bulldogs had five players scoring in double figures led by Filip Petrusev with 21 points. He made 11 of 15 from the foul line.

The Washington Huskies and the Washington State Cougars don't play today they play each other on Sunday at 3pm in Pullman. The Huskies on a five game losing streak are hoping to turn things around in the final eight games of the season plus the Pac-12 Conference Tournament.

The Cougars on the other hand are hoping to continue the Huskies woes by beating them at home.

Ex-Mariner Santana Signs With Indians

It was announced as spring training is about ready to happen that Domingo Santana is signing  with the Cleveland Indians. Not sure whether he will play in the outfield or dh. 

His one season in Seattle he hit well until he was hurt in August having to go on the injured list. The Mariners started Santana in left field where he should have played well but he could not adjust to the position after playing right field in Milwaukee. 

The Mariners switched him back to right field about the time Mitch Haniger was hurt. The intention was to move Haniger to center field and Mallex Smith to left. With Haniger's injury Smith went back to center. Santana did better back in right field but looked like a liability still. 

I am not sure it was Santana's fault or not. At times he wasn't able to get to balls when the Mariners were in a shift. Some of the balls were hit between second base and right field. He likely was playing to deep to get to the ball. 

I think that Santana could play first base but likely will be at dh. He could play in the outfield on occasion as well. 

Santana seemed to be a good guy so I wish him the best with the Indians. 

Seahawk Wednesday

Every Wednesday during the off-season will be Seahawk Wednesday. 

Last Sunday at the Super Bowl former left tackle Walter Jones and receiver Steve Largent both hall of famers were honored as the best 100 players in NFL history as the NFL just concluded its first 100 years.

Also, over the weekend former left guard Steve Hutchinson who played with Walter Jones was named to the NFL Hall of Fame. So he will be inducted later this year.

Tight end Greg Olsen formerly of the Carolina Panthers is a free agent. He is expected to make a visit to the Seahawks. During last season Will Dissly was injured and lost for the season second year in a row. Dissly did a fine job when healthy. The Seahawks need to have depth at the tight end; since Olsen is one of the top tight ends in the NFL it would be nice to have him especially since the Seahawks love to use the tight end in their game plan. 

The XFL Seattle Dragons begin their first season this coming Saturday. Let you know how they do in their first game.

In other local sports the Seattle Mariners will begin spring training next Wednesday when the pitchers and catchers report. Go M's. 

Marco Gonzales Signs Deal With Mariners

The Seattle Mariners signed number one starter Marco Gonzales to a four-year contract plus an option. The option goes high to $15 million so he will have to pitch well for that to go into effect.

Gonzales is a tough pitcher though not among the best in baseball. He has more heart and aggressiveness than many other pitchers out there. He is an example for the younger pitchers to follow.

Marco Gonzales will turn 28 years old during spring training in less than two weeks. He would be eligible for arbitration next season so this could save the Mariners some money as well.

Last year he had a record of 16-13 with an ERA of 3.99.  With more run support in his last couple starts Gonzales would have won a couple more games. We should expect him to start the season opener like he did last year.

The Mariners picked up outfielder Jose Siri off of waivers from the Cincinnati Reds. He will compete for the outfield during spring training with Mitch Haniger out. The Mariners now have six outfielders on the 40-man roster including Haniger.

Siri had a solid season in double-A ball playing in over 100 hundred games before being promoted to triple-A where he didn't do as well. The likelihood though Siri will start the 2020 season in Tacoma. 

More Football?

The Super Bowl turned out to be Super on Sunday with the Kansas City Chiefs winning. In the fourth quarter, you would have thought the Seahawks were playing with Russell Wilson making the comeback.

For those who want more football than the XFL starts this coming Saturday. Though I am getting ready for Mariners spring training and March Madness I will let you know how Seattle's version the Dragons will do. For those who may not know Seahawk's original quarterback Jim Zorn is the head coach.

I know football won't be as good as the NFL but it could end up being entertaining.  We will see. 

The Mariners spring training starts in 9 days when the pitchers and catchers report. The position players don't have to report for two weeks from today. The first spring training game is against the San Diego Padres on February 22.  

The regular season begins at home on March 26 against the Texas Rangers followed by the Minnesota Twins. The first road trip begins on April 2nd in Kansas City against the Royals followed by the Chicago White Sox. The second homestand will be the Mariners against the Boston Red Sox April 9 thru the 12 followed by a two-game series against the World Champions Washington Nationals. A good way to start off the season. Those who want to know the Yankees come to town June 1 thru 3. Go M's. 

Huskies and Cougars Both Lose

It wasn't a good week for the Huskies as they lost both to Arizona and Arizona State. On Saturday the Huskies lost 87-73. The game wasn't that close most of the time. Arizona State had a 13 point lead in the second half. The Huskies scored 12 points in the last 90 seconds while the Sun Devils scored six. It was a bit different than the previous four games the Huskies have lost as well.

The Cougars, on the other hand, beat the Sun Devils on Thursday with a 3 point shot after blowing a 13 point lead. Saturday though they lost to Arizona by a score of 66-49. The Cougars got off to a good start but it didn't last long. Both the Sun Devils and the Wildcats are tough teams to beat though the Pac-12 most of the teams have been playing well at home.

Both teams have most of this week off as they play each other in Pullman next Sunday. The Huskies are hoping this the right time to end this losing streak.

Coach Mike Hopkins needs to find a way to get the young puppies back into playing good ball. We all know they have the talent the deal can they play that way. Go Dawgs!

Saturday College Basketball

Most everyone is getting ready to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday you might as well get into the swing of things by watching or at least hearing about local college basketball.

The Washington Huskies who have been on a tailspin since the Pac-12 schedule at the beginning of January take on the Arizona State Sun Devils. Hopefully, things will change now that February is now here. 

It has been frustrating watching the Huskies because they are leading in the second half in double digits then find a way to lose the game at the end. Jaden McDaniels one of the Huskies top freshman had a very good non-league season has had trouble during the Pac-12 schedule including fouling out of several games as well as having technical fouls. Those technical fouls have shot the Huskies in the foot each time. He needs to control his temper or whatever it is that is causing him to get the technical fouls.

It doesn't help that the Pac-12 referees are a terrible group. So often they stop the action to look at a replay. It is in the rules but why so often. It shows they are missing something out on the floor. They either need to add another referee or get new ones. It isn't fair for the players to stop the action, especially for several minutes. Get your act together guys. 

The Washington State Cougars take on Arizona on Saturday after beating Arizona State at the end of the game. The Cougars had a big lead that they squandered and almost lost winning on a shot at the end.

The Cougars are rebuilding so whatever is positive is going in the right direction.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs take on the San Francisco Dons Saturday afternoon on the road. They beat Santa Clara 87-72. Gonzaga is still ranked second in the country waiting to be a top seed in the NCAA tournament in March.