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March 26, 2008

Whats on your mind Seattle

Seattle Sports Blog:

This April marks the 3rd year of publishing articles for Seattle Sports Blog.

Here are a few stats for those loyal viewers:

--published over 650 articles

--received over 6,500+ post/replies for viewers

--received over 25 HATE post/replies from Steeler fans ;)

--have a customer loyal base of over 600 people recieving this blog feed via RSS or email subscription

Great to have everyone on board and we look forward to continued success of posting on all Seattle Sonics Blogs, Seattle Seahawks Blogs, Seattle Mariners Blogs, Washington Huskies Blogs, Hydroplane Blogs, and just overall fun post about the national sports scene

Posted by Seattle Sports Blog Guy at 9:32 AM | Comments (2)

March 25, 2008

My picks for the sweet 16

National Sports Blog: 2008 NCAA Sweet 16

Ok, I admit, I'm pretty good at doing this NCAA bracket stuff because I've been doing these pools for the last 15 years. Some teams just don't seem to be able to find the ability to get into the final four (Tennessee, Memphis) and some teams are able to win by consistently having strong coaches and solid recruits (Louisville, Michigan State).

Here are my picks for this weeks sweet 16:

NC over WSU: I'd love to see an upset here, but UNC has way too many weapons for guys like Cowgill et al to defend. Too athletic, on too much of a roll right now

Louisville over Tennessee: See above. Bruce Pearl is a turbo charged hyper freak type of a coach...not really the type of personality that meshes with tight games. Pittino is Mr. cool on the sidelines and has really athletic players. I like Louisville here

Kansas over Villanova: How Villanova got past Clemson, I don't know. Kansas has a well balanced team and should be able to take care of Nova.

Wisconsin over Davidson: Sorry folks, but the dream season of Davidson ends here. Wisconsin is well coached, deep, and plays smart basketball

Memphis over Michigan State: I really like MS, but I think Memphis has too much fire power for MS. They are a very athletic team, one that MS can hang with, but I think they have 1 or 2 more weapons than MS.

Texas over Stanford: The game is being played in Houston...nuff said. Stanford doesn't have enough national followers to support this team in Texas.

UCLA over Western Kentucky: Oh, sad to see the mid majors lose, but what a run they had. UCLA, too deep, too good to lose here.

Xavier over West Virginia: I was impressed by WV to get past Duke, however, Xavier is a senior lead team that can shoot lights out. Expect the same in this game.

Final Four? Same as I've said since the brackets came out: Kansas, Texas, UCLA, UNC

Posted by Seattle Sports Blog Guy at 4:30 PM | Comments (0)

March 18, 2008

EA Sports Madden 2008 sucks

I'm going to continue to write about how absolutely horrible this game is until the day I die. I even went as far as trying to contact someone at EA Sports via their website to complain and got 0 response and 0 feedback from their automated system. Then, I got a survey on my experience with their system..yeah, it sucks, and SO DO YOUR GAMES!!!! EA Sports is more worried about their stock price and making their investors happy than making good games anymore. Moreovever, how in the world has the NFL sold themselves to the devil by only allowing one software company to produce their licensed games? Unbelievable! I urge, I beg you out there in cyberland, to WRITE TO THE NFL and tell them to lift this ban against all other companies from producing games. Lawyers, doesn't this have class action lawsuite written all over it?

Here's ANOTHER one of my main beefs with this game. You either play the game on "Pro" and blowout all opponents and go 17-0 and win the Superbowl on "Franchise Mode" or you go 7-9 in "All-Pro" and throw 30+ Int's.

Check out my stats in 2 seasons with Hasselbeck and the Hawks:

Pro: 28 TD's, 7 INT's and I went 12-4 and won the Superbowl playing the computer...somewhat realistic, but it got too easy to beat people and I was winning every game like 45-7...and picking off every pass and running it back for a TD...LAME, not realistic!!

All-Pro: 20 TD's, 35 INT's and I went 7-9. NOT REALISTIC!!! So, I lowered the computer's ability for INT's to ZERO and their awareness to ZERO half way through the season. Guess what? SAME RESULTS, SAME INT'S!!!

EA SPORTS SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Seattle Sports Blog Guy at 2:28 PM | Comments (2)

March 17, 2008

2008 NCAA braket breakdown

Ah, nothing quite as sweet this time of year like the ole' NCAA basketball tournament. I'm a sucker for the thing and have enjoyed watching as many games as possible over the last 20 or so years. When it really boils down to it, the upsets are what I enjoy watching most, but it's generally the major conferences that end up in the Final Four when it's all said and done. I'd love it if a St. Joseph's was able to get to the Final Four, but the problem with the NCAA men's basketball tournament selection committe is that it's run by the peeps from the major conferences...and they WANT the BIG schools in the Final Four so that it has a larger TV audience and essentially, more revenue.

So, enough about the politics surrounding the event, let's take a look at some of the teams involved and who we like here at Seattle Sports Blog. I think UCLA is going to win it all based off a great PG, a well balanced team of role players, and a stud in Mr. Love in the middle. North Carolina is good too, but didn't impress me all that much against Clemson in the ACC tournament final. The other top seeds? I see Kansas falling to Clemson, I see Memphis making it to the final four (a 33-1 record is too impressive regardless of how good Texas is) and I see USC coming out as well as a final four team. The Pac 10 was tough this year and get's little media attention from the east coast biased ESPN and CBS. I've never been a big fan of Tennessee and they seem to choke every year. I really liked Stanford as well, but playing Texas in Houston is a tough draw. Everyone seems to not like Duke this year, but I see them squeeking by Xavier and facing UCLA.

Upsets, upsets, upsets: I like George Mason, St. Joe's, Siena, Davidson, Baylor as my big upsetters this year. Good, solid teams and all playing teams that are suspect in this year's field. Most of these teams won't make it past the first round, but they always make things interesting against the big conferences. Good luck to Wazzu and the Zags...I have Zags out in round #1 and WSU getting to the sweet 16 before bowing out to North Carolina. Louisville and Clemson are my sleepers to get to the sweet 16.

OBTW, Seahawks lost DJ Hackett to Carolina. Goes to show the guy is more interested in money than winning. Have fun in Carolina D J, too bad you have no QB to get you the ball.

Posted by Seattle Sports Blog Guy at 4:06 PM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2008

Shaun Alexander: Thanks for the memories

In case you haven't read the great article from Steve Kelley from the Seattle Times on Shaun Alexander, here you go: Seattle Times Shaun Alexander article

Here is what I wrote in reply to Steve's post:

You just said everything that every Seattle Seahawk fan has been wanting to say for the last year: thanks for the memories Shaun, you were great, but you are unfortunately past your prime and this is a business. If Shaun was a pint sized RB like a Barry Sanders or Warrick Dunn, he could probably continue to do what's he's done for a good year or two. But the problem lies in the fact that he is a big back that has lost a step. A 6'0, 230 lb RB that runs at best a 4.6 now is NEVER going to be able to crack another 25+ yard plus run again in this league at his age.

Thanks Shaun, you brought the Hawks back to a prideful status. It's now time to give Seattle a friendly wave goodbye and accept the fact that your days are numbered.

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Also, while I'm posting, what's everyone's thoughts on Lorenzo Romar? A very, very subpar year and the second year in a row that the Washington Huskies men's basketball team had a terrible year in Pac 10 play. I still think the verdict is out on Romar. He can't seem to figure out what line-up he wants to use, still doesn't seem to get when to call a zone vs. man defense, and has horrible in-bound plays (when was the last time you saw a well executed in bound play from UW?). Two years in a row of mediocre basketball spell trouble to me. Yes, the Pac 10 was well stocked this year with talent, but we also have a McDonald's all american in Brockman, a lights out three point shooter in Appleby, and "supposed" top talent in guys like Pondexter and Overton. Talented, yes, but you also need a coach that can direct. Is Romar the answer? I think next year will be a pivotal one in his career at UW.

Posted by Seattle Sports Blog Guy at 11:55 AM | Comments (1)

March 3, 2008

Seattle Sonics article ESPN

Man, gotta say that I haven't really given a damn about the NBA in general anymore. I can't say that I'm all that happy about the inpedning down of the Sonics, however. I suggest anyone who reads this article from ESPN take some time to read all the comments from people around the US about the Sonics leaving: ESPN article

This article (and videos) brings back a lot of memories for myself. Hanging out in Bothell as a young boy on a Friday night, parents out to dinner with friends. Got the house to myself, eating a Totino's pizza, and watching a Sonics Sacramento game. Life was good (and the team was winning back then). I was definitely part of the Kemp era that included their connections with the whole Seattle grunge scene. George Karl was a GOD in my mind and a rebellious, non-conformist type that fit right in here.

What happened with this team started with his firing. Wally Walker then proceeded to ruin just about everything else with this team over the next several years. The worst part of this team leaving is the turnaround is right around the corner. Durrant is going to be a lifer, a gamer, and the GM has masterminded 6 first round draft picks in the next 2 years. Think this team is headed in the WRONG direction? Not at all...more like headed to a championship for the Oklahoma Corn Chuckers.

Posted by Seattle Sports Blog Guy at 4:54 PM | Comments (1)