Oklahoma City Sonics

"But we didn't buy the team to keep it in Seattle; we hoped to come here," Aubrey McClendon, chief executive of Chesapeake Energy, told The Journal Record for a story in Monday's edition.

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I'm a Blazers fan, and I hate the Sonics ownership. Only a true bunch of morons could come into a city, and hold one of their professional sports teams hostage so they can get a $300 million gift from taxpayers. I hope you're happy with your team and the a**hole owners that come with it, OKC. Oklahoma City is a great basketball city and they deserve a team. An expansion team. It's just such a shame that it looks like Kevin Durant can't get his career going in one of the greatest cities in the world.

Of course, both the Seahawks and Mariners got their way with new stadiums, so why not the Sonics? I'll tell you why. Because the city of Seattle should support any ownership group except for these pricks. Make David Stern man up and admit it was a mistake to sell a team to an Oklahoma City owner. I'm personally looking forward to the league losing millions because of this move, followed by the glorious arrival of the Seattle Hornets!! Hooray...

It may very well be that the future pride of professional Northwest basketball is a goofy man-child who likes ice cream.

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Edit: I'm surprised I forgot to mention that the Premiership season got off to an excellent start for my Reds, with Liverpool beating Aston Villa 2-1 (and a well-deserved SportsCenter top play appearance for Steven Gerrard). Also, Manchester United played to a 0-0 draw with Reading that featured Wayne Rooney breaking his foot. More proof that Jesus hates the Yankees and Man U.

John McLaren is the New Doba

John McLaren and Bill Doba are great guys. They are the kind of people you want as next door neighbors, and, considering their age, grandfathers. But both men have one overriding strength that is also their greatest weakness - loyalty.

McLaren's loyalty to veterans like Raul Ibanez and Richie Sexson may cost the M's down the stretch. Adam Jones is too good a player to stash on the bench forever and Ben Broussard is hitting like we wish Richie would. Doba's loyalty to his coaching staff and his players has led to questionable decisions and defensive meltdowns over the past three years. It is possible that both could still turn out to be winners this year. And needless to say we're hoping they have success. But is it realistic that the Mariners can get a postseason spot? That the Cougs can make a bowl game?

Let's hope nice guys don't finish last.

Some Help From the Worldwide Leader

From the Spokesman-Review Sportslink:

According to athletic director Jim Sterk, the Cougars are still looking for an opponent in Seattle on Aug. 30, after an agreement with the University of Utah was cancelled by mutual agreement.

Sterk said ESPN is helping to arrange a new opponent and the game would be televised nationally. The other two non-conference games are road trips to Baylor and Hawaii.

Good news for the Cougs (if you like the Seattle game), as a decent opponent for the Seattle game needs to arrive soon to keep the yearly event alive. Unfortunately, part of the agreement is that ESPN will air a 5 minute segment during the game where Adam Sandler and that fat guy from the King of Queens debate "Who's more NOW?: Michael Bumpus or Brandon Gibson?". Also, Buster Olney will report from the sidelines about how the 2008 Yankees will be the best team ever in the history of sports.

But I digress. Added to the 2008 schedule is Nike Portland State. Go ahead, cower in fear of the Big Sky conference and the color black!

Here We Go Again

Only a couple days into training camp and special teams rears its ugly, ugly head for the 2007 Cougars. Two notes from the Seattle times:

The Cougars will have a new long snapper this year for extra points and field goals because junior Pete Hill didn't return because of a chronic knee problem. The candidates to replace him are Tony Thompson, the second-year punt snapper, and Zach Enyeart, redshirt freshman offensive lineman from Skyline High outside Issaquah.

Walk-on freshman kicker Wade Penner from Corvallis, Ore., was reaching the end zone with kicks. That is significant because the new yard line for kickoffs is the 30, which is 5 yards farther than last year in a move designed to have more kickoff returns rather than touchbacks. Penner is likely to redshirt because the Cougars have senior kickers in Romeen Abdollmohammadi and Loren Langley.

The first note isn't a major cause for concern, but Pete Hill was a very consistent snapper and performed well last season. His predecessor will have to do the same.

The second note makes me want to sound the alarm bells. With kickoffs being moved back this upcoming season the cougars need someone who can kick the ball deep enough to get to the endzone and high enough to avoid out-kicking the return coverage. Word is that Romeen is kicking the ball inside the 10, and if they cut the reins loose on Langley like they did a couple times last year he actually can kick it inside the 10 or to the endzone. But if Wade Penner can consistently reach the end zone, why redshirt him? The goal should be to win ball games now and not later. Granted, the experience Romeen and Langley have is important, but not so important that we should bet our special teams' lives on it.

Still, we are at a better position with kickers now than we were the last couple of years. If Romeen struggles, go to Langley, and if Langley struggles, go back to Romeen. Both are seniors and both are capable of making kicks consistently from inside the 30 (especially Romeen). The concern is that if our kickoff coverage is as poor as it was last season a lot of opponents will see their drives start from the 30, 35, or 40 yard line. Considering the recent struggles of the Cougar defense, we can't be spotting our opponents a 10-yard advantage in field position. All we can do now is hope for the best, and pray that we don't go back to squib kicks.

Optimistic, Pessimistic, Realistic: Part Two

Optimistic

The true optimist in me wants the Cougs to go 13-0. We'd win every easy game easily, and every hard game would be won in a way that gets us an ESPN Classic marathon five years from now. But let's be somewhat realistic here. This is a decent team, and with skill and a LOT of luck (read: no injuries), they can overcome depth issues and make some noise. With that in mind, here's the 2007-08 season (hone team in all caps):

9/1: WISCONSIN 27, Washington State 24: The cougs put up a good effort at Camp Randall, trailing by 3 at halftime and unable to make up the difference in the second half. Brink makes it close on a 20-yard TD pass to Brandon Gibson with 2:30 remaining, but the Badgers do run out just enough of the clock to seal it. Our offensive line is dominated but the defense makes up for it with a solid effort in the secondary.

9/8: WASHINGTON STATE 33, San Diego State 13: The cougs don't play around with the Seattle game this time. Dwight Tardy rushes for 142 yards and 3 touchdowns against an overpowered SD State team. The cougs outdraw the huskies in Seattle. Again.

9/15: WASHINGTON STATE 56, Idaho 14: Robb Akey's patented "give up the big play" defense falls victim to Michael Bumpus (2 TDs) and the cougar offense. Brink throws for 378 yards and Rogers throws 2 TDs with the game out of reach, because Akey's defenses are awful in the fourth quarter (IR, YK).

9/22: USC 35, Washington State 33. The cougs come back from 17 down in the fourth against a tired Trojan defense, only to fail on the two point conversion to tie with :09 seconds left. The play: bubble screen to Bumpus.

9/29: Washington State 21, ARIZONA 3. Snooze fest. Stoops can't coach, and 2 Brink pass TDs and 1 Tardy rush TD is enough to do in the Wildcats.

10/6: WASHINGTON STATE 41, Arizona State 35. NOW Coug nation can get excited. A legitimate upset (at home even!) against a legitimate team coached by a legitimate jackass. The Cougs are now 4-2 and staring a bowl game in the face for the second straight year

10/13: Washington State 35, OREGON 21: Winning in Autzen is never easy, but the revamped Doba defense shocks Dennis Dixon and the Oregon offense. Snoop rushes for 5 yards before getting both ACLs torn on a hit by Greg Trent (just kidding, injuries are NOT SOMETHING TO JOKE ABOUT!! (angry emoticon)).

10/27: WASHINGTON STATE 56, UCLA 50 (5 OT): Here's your ESPN classic game. Brink mans up and leads a TD scoring drive with under 2 minutes remaining to tie the Bruins at the end of regulation. Four overtimes occur with nothing but deadlocks, even an 8-8 tie in the 4th OT. Finally, in the fifth OT, the Coug defense recovers a fumble, and on the ensuing possession Jed Collins breaks loose for a 10 yard TD run. Field rushing occurs.

11/3: Washington State 35, CALIFORNIA 28. The Cougs shock the Bears on the road to become (officially) bowl eligible. Jeff Tedford dies a little inside.

11/10: WASHINGTON STATE 24, Stanford 14: Stanford puts up a surprisingly good fight, but is done in by a Michael Bumpus punt return TD with 5:04 remaining.

11/17: WASHINGTON STATE 36, Oregon State 33 (OT): The beavers' new uniforms look ridiculous, then the team looks ridiculous by managing only a FG in overtime before giving up a 25 yard Brink-to-Gibson TD pass on the Cougs first (and last) play of the extra period.

11/24: Washington State 21, WASHINGTON 20: The huskies shock the Cougs. Tied 13-13 with :45 seconds left, an Alex Brink pass is intercepted and returned for a touchdown. The huskies think they have a win until the kickoff is returned 94 yards for a touchdown by Brandon Gibson. The cougs then shock the crap out of husky stadium by faking the extra point: Alex Brink (the holder) rolls right and throws to Michael Bumpus for the win. Tyrone Willingham retires and joins the senior PGA tour.

The cougs await their bowl game with a 10-2 record and a #7 ranking. USC makes the national title game, meaning the cougs sneak into the Rose Bowl!!

Rose Bowl: 1/1: Washington State 35, Michigan 21: The Cougs stun the Big Ten champion and get revenge for the 1997 Rose Bowl game. Alex Brink throws for 375 yards and four touchdowns and is named MVP. He finally goes down in Cougar history as one of our greatest QBs and is vindicated after years of bashing from the Swogger/Rogers camp. He is then drafted #27 overall by the New Orleans Saints.

OK, maybe that's a little too optimistic.

Fall Camp Kicks Off

Ladies and gentlemen, 26 days until Cougar football.

Damage Control

Don't worry folks, Price isn't coming back (yet). Doba squashed the rumor, an action that should only surprise people above the age of 100 and below the age of 5. Even if Price and Doba are talking about a move, of course they aren't going to do anything publicly. And they'll deny, deny, and deny some more until Price and Doba actually decide what to do following this season. And don't be shocked if both stay put at their respective institutions in 2008. Right now they have their own teams to worry about and their own demons to wrestle, so rumors are just rumors until there's a press conference.

A common theme I see on the Cougfan forums is that a return of Price is "moving backwards". You mean, back to winning? Back to bowl games? How exactly is Price worse than Doba, especially when you consider Doba was a prominent member of his staff? I'd be happy with an up-and-comer taking over the cougs after Doba, but I'd also be just fine with Price. As long as the coach has class and wins ball games they should be welcome. And how can we fault Price for leaving? If someone gave you a million, or even a $100,000 dollar raise to leave your job for a new one, wouldn't you take it? Yes, it was disloyal. Yes, he shouldn't have coached the Rose Bowl. Now let's forgive and move on. And truly moving on means finding the best predecessor to Doba when the time comes. And that may very well be Mike Price.

Mariner news: John McLaren's lineups are a sign of absolute incompetence. I can't begin to tell you what's wrong with this:

1. Ichiro, DH
2. Vidro, 2B
3. Guillen, RF
4. Broussard, 1B
5. Beltre, 3B
6. Ibanez, LF
7. Jones, CF
8. Burke, C
9. Betancourt, SS

OK, who should be DH more often: Raul Ibanez or Ichiro? Can't we have a great defensive outfield for just one game? Jones-Ichiro-Guillen should be common sense on days like these. Then you have the disaster waiting to happen (Jose Vidro) at second base, and hitting second to help increase the team's GIDP totals. Here's how I would lineup the Mariners, based totally on performance this season:

vs. RHP (OPS in parentheses)

1 Ichiro CF (.842)
2 Broussard 1B (.805)
3 Beltre 3B (.827)
4 Ibanez LF (.753)
5 Vidro DH (.745)
6 Johjima C (.702)
7 Guillen RF (.671)
8 Lopez 2B (.679)
9 Betancourt SS (.674)

Sorry Richie, but you've been an overpriced piece of crap this season. Next:

vs. LHP

1 Ichiro CF (.818)
2 Johjima C (.962)
3 Guillen RF (1.112!)
4 Broussard 1B (.825)
5 Beltre 3B (.824)
6 Betancourt SS (.849)
7 Jones LF (2.000)
8 Vidro DH (.738)
9 Bloomquist 2B (.846)

I want to kick Vidro out of the lineup so bad, but Richie and Ibanez have such terrible stats against lefties that he earns a spot yet again. Willie Ballgame is an offensive improvement over Jose Lopez, who hits a paltry .612 OPS against lefties (still not as bad as Raul's .558). Part of me wants to believer Richie Sexson is still a major league hitter, and then part of me (my eyes) can see that he's batting .196. With 82 strikeouts. And with a potentially better player (Broussard) on the bench.

On paper this team is a mess. But somehow they're winning without Sexson hitting at all, with Raul struggling on offense and defense, and without Jose Vidro sucking as bad as I thought he would. This team doesn't make sense. My lineups don't even make much sense without the stats to back them up. Do we even have a true #3 hitter? #2 hitter? Why is Broussard on the bench so much? Why is Ibanez in the field? I give up. Johnny Mac's disregard for lefty vs. righty matchups coupled with a disregard for defense could be the straw that breaks the overachiever's back. And we lost 9-2 to the Sawks today. D'oh.