Washington State Versus UCLA

The Washington State Cougars on

Saturday at noon are taking on the

UCLA Bruins. This might be there

last meeting for some time. 

The Huskies have Saturday off and 

the Seahawks have a bye week as 

well so major college football the

Cougars are it for a local team.

Next week the Huskies will be home

against the Oregon Ducks.

The Huskies and Ducks will continue

playing against each other for the next

several years anyway. On Thursday

the Big Ten announced the schedules

for each team who they are playing

at home and on the road the next five 

years. Each team will have a rival team

where each will play each other the next

five years. The Huskies and Ducks will

play one another alternating between

home and away. In all they will play nine

games in the Big Ten. This means room

to play three non-conference games.

So the Apple Cup may still be played.

Hard to know whether it will take place

at the same it has always or move

forward near the beginning of the season.

At this point we still don't know whether

the Cougars and the Oregon State Beavers

will find a conference to join. Both certainly

are giving their points that they are good

enough on the field anyway. Of course it

will come down to money. 

The Cougars are undefeated heading to UCLA while the Beavers loss was to the

Cougars. It isn't easy to play on the road

or in the Rose Bowl so the Cougars will

have to hold their stand. The Bruins on

the other hand have one loss and no

wins on the Pac12 schedule so for them

to stay in the race they need to win this

one. They want to look good heading into

the Big Ten next year. The Cougars want to

continue on hoping the Apple Cup will

be for them to get into the championship

game. It would be interesting if both the

Cougars and Huskies end up in the Conference championship game. It may

depend whether there is two losses by

other teams in the Pac12. One thing

we want is a memorable end to the

conference.

Michael Penix Jr is getting a lot of print

on the west side of the state and across 

the nation however the Cougars quarterback Cameron Ward is having a very fine season as well. He hopes to add more in this game as well. The Cougars are still

a passing machine though adding in the 

run on occasion as well. Something they

have with their cousins the Huskies. We

look forward to a Cougar win in the

Rose Bowl. Go Cougs!

The Baseball Playoffs Picture

The wildcard games are all over 

already as each series were won 

in two games.

The  Minnesota  Twins beat the

Toronto  Blue Jays at home. This

was expected to be the easiest

series for the three wild card spots

to advance however it didn't  turn

out this way. This was the first

time the Twins have advanced in

the  playoffs  in 21 years. The 

longest on record. The Twins will

now take on Houston  Astros 

beginning on Saturday.

In the  other American  League 

wild card series the Texas Rangers  

eliminated the Tampa  Bay Rays 

winning in the fashion they have

done much of the season winning 

game two 7-1 after winning the 

opener 4-0. Sad for the Rays who

began the season  winning their first

thirteen  games. Injuries  hurt them

down the stretch. Texas Rangers 

will go to Baltimore on Saturday to

face the Orioles. 

In the National League the Arizona 

Diamondbacks  beat Central division

winner Milwaukee  Brewers on the

road 5-2 after the opener on Tuesday 

6-3. They will face the Los Angeles 

Dodgers in the next round on Saturday. 

The second wild card series in the

NL the Philadelphia Phillies beat the

Miami Marlins 7-1 in game two after

winning the opener  4-1. They take on

the Atlanta  Braves also starting on

Saturday. 

Now the Mariners  continue to  see 

what they must do to get back to the

playoffs  next season. Next  time up

on the Mariners we will grade each

position  on the past season and what

they need to do to improve.  Go  M's. 

Mariners Wednesday

We were hoping and expecting  the Mariners

would be in the playoffs this week however it 

didn't  happen.

The Mariners  showed in August they could

beat the teams they should however they

couldn't  carry it over into September.  They

played teams like Houston and Texas who are

a bit better than they are. Had they beaten

both at least one game more than they would

have made the playoffs.  

The month of  September  showed off the

weaknesses  of  their offense and the overuse

of the pitching. When Luis Castillo should have

stepped forward  in his last start he couldn't do 

it. It didn't  help that George Kirby could pitch

well for a few games after coming up down

sick and Bryce Miller couldn't  perform like

he did early on either. 

Most of the problem  came down on the

offense. When Julio wasn't playing at his

best the other players except JP Crawford 

couldn't  fill the void. The Mariners  will need

to add at least one player to the roster who

can be consistent like JP Crawford. We should

see Julio more consistent  next season being

more mature and learning from this last season. 

That could be enough however should be  good 

to add another bat anyway. 

The starting pitching should be better over

the long haul. This is especially true when they

don't  have to feel like they have to pitch perfect. 

The offense needs the players to hit the way

they are capable.  They showed signs at times.

Had they not strike out so much. This was true

when runners were on base. They could blame

ownership or Jerry  Dipoto  but it really came

down to them. Go M's. 

Seahawks Win On MNF

I thought the Seahawks  would have

a 3-1 record after week  4 however I 

thought the Giants would be the 

first loss. I figured the Seahawks 

would win 10 games on the season.

The Seahawks  have a bye week next

week before playing  the Cincinnati 

Bengals. Final was Seattle  24 New York 

Giants 3.

The Seahawks  defense  made a big 

difference in this game with 11 sacks.

The Seahawks  have had trouble getting 

to the quarterback  but not this time.

Let's  see this will become more regular.

Next game in almost two weeks  the 

Seahawks will go against Joe Burrow

depending  how healthy he stays.

He has a calf injury and takes on the

Arizona next Sunday. The Seahawks 

likely  look to put the rush on the

Bengals and Burrows as well. Former

Washington  Huskies  quarterback

Jake Browning is  Burrows backup.

The Be gals have a 1-3 record going

into next week. Arizona has the same

record too. See who wins next week.

I figured the Bengals would be favored

and win with a second road game in

a row despite  the week  off.

Geno Smith played  much of the game

however he was hurt in the second half

with a bad knee.  Drew Lock did a fine

in his place. Smith did return to play

most of the second half although Lock

played at the  end  of  the  game which

makes sense.

Geno threw a touchdown to DK Metcalf 

in the first quarter  to put the Seahawks 

ahead 7-0. The Giants made their only 

score late in the second quarter on a

field goal. Just before the half was

over Noah Fant caught a pass, running

for the distance but landed on the

one yard line. Kenneth Walker ended

up running the ball in. Half time

Seahawks  14 to 3.

The third quarter  was somewhat quiet

however number one pick Devon Witherspoon 

intercepted a pass going 97 yards. Myers

kicked a field  goal  in  the  4th quarter. 

Ken Walker led the Seahawks 79 yards on

17 carries. Geno threw for 110 yards while

Lock had 63 yards.

Jamal  Adams  played however was hurt 

as well.  He had a concussion. Not sure

how long he could be out isn't  certain but

could  be out for the season.  

Update later. Go Hawks!

Monday Night Football Seahawks

The Seahawks  are in New York  to take

on the Giants on Monday  Night football. 

Not sure exactly  their record however

the Seahawks have done well on Monday 

Night. It is interesting  the Jets lost to

Kansas City  Chiefs on Sunday night also

in New York.  Does that say something to

us. We will  see.

 The Seahawks  elevated two players off

the practice  squad  in wide receiver  Cody

Thompson and cornerback Lance Boykin.

The injuries at cornerback we will likely 

see some of Boykin.  Jamal Adams is

expected to  play.  How much we will see.

May play some safety and possibly linebacker. 

Offensively  the Seahawks should be running

the ball. We may see some big plays from the

wide receivers  as well. 

Next post we will  review the game. Go Hawks!

Mariners Win Final Game

The Seattle Mariners  beat the Texas

Rangers Sunday afternoon  1-0. The

game had little  meaning as the Mariners 

now go home thinking what it might 

have been.

September  was the Mariners  second 

worst month of the season going 11-17.

Had they won 13 games they would have

been in the playoffs. June was their worst

month winning nine games. April was right 

behind going 11-15. One more win in those

three months they be in the playoffs.  

April, June and September  showed what

their short comings were and I  am sure

we know the offense was the main factor.

We will have a lot of time to dissect over

the off-season. 

The Mariners  scored their run in the 4th

inning when Dominic Canzone hit a slow

roller to first base with Eugenio Suarez 

scoring from third. By the way Suarez 

was the only Mariners player to play in

all 162 games and he didn't miss many

innings either. Thank you Eugenio for a

good season especially  defensively. 

His offense wasn't  what we expected

but few Mariners were.

That's a wrap for a team that were 14

games above five hundred. Both Cal

Raleigh and JP Crawford expressed

the disappointment the Mariners didn’t 

go out and get a few better players. We

hope that changes going forward.  I am

sure Jerry Dipoto  realizes what a difference 

on the bench and particular second base

as well.  Enjoy your off-season and we will 

see what comes before spring training. 

Go M's. 

Huskies Win At Arizona

Washington Huskies won as expected though the game was closer as well.

Washington 31 Arizona 24

The Huskies hsd the ball last which was 

good. They lead 21-10 at half time. They weren't able to score their first time

having the ball in the second half although

they scored first.

This was the Huskies lowest scoring game

of the season. They have a history not doing well in Arizona so not a big surprise.

Penix threw for over three hundred yards however no touchdown passes. Didn't have

Jslen McMillan. Hopefully he will be back

in two weeks when playing Oregon. A big

test for sure. Go Dawgs!