Time for the Mariners to get out of their offensive rut...and soon

If there's a few things out there that you can consider positive if you're a Mariners fan like myself, there's two of them: pitching and a far better record at the All-Star break than last year. It shouldn't be considered a bad thing even if you're 7.5 games out of first place in your division. But there's one thing that's remained the same: the offense is still in a major rut.

While they have one of the top pitching staffs in all of baseball, which includes defending Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez and rookie sensation Michael Pineda in the starting rotation, the Mariners are last in the majors in runs scored, batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage. It's one thing to have a great pitching staff, but if you're going to contend for the postseason regularly, you have to have both elements in fine working order.

One would think that the free-agent signing of catcher Miguel Olivo would add a spark to the offense. It's certainly helped in the homerun department, but with a .223 batting average entering the second half of the season, it's time for the veteran to pick up the slack at the plate and increase a relatively pedestrian batting average.

Designated hitter Jack Cust has been nothing more than a disappointment. Brought in over the offseason as a big left-handed bat, his numbers have been just that--a disappointment. Three home runs, 23 RBIs, and a dismal .211 batting average. And now Cust isn't in the lineup as much now.

And then there's Ichiro. It's been 10 years since he won both American League MVP and Rookie of the Year honors, and he's been very un-Ichiro-like this season. While he's still fast as ever at 37 years old, his production at the plate could mean it might be the first time in his MLB career that he won't end the season batting .300 or better, unless he can put together a strong second half.

But there are a couple of bright spots offensively. One of them is second baseman Dustin Ackley, called up from Triple-A Tacoma in June. The former North Carolina Tar Heels standout has made a big splash in the Mariners lineup, and certainly has what it takes to positively contribute to their offense. The other bright spot I speak of is Dutch-born outfielder Greg Halman. While he only played sparingly last season and put up less than spectacular numbers, he's shown considerable improvement since coming back to the show. If both Ackley and Halman continue to improve and show their potential the rest of the season, they could both be dangerous in the Mariners' lineup next season and in future years.

But still, the lack of a big bat not named Justin Smoak is part of the Mariners' problem offensively. And that's why general manager Jack Zduriencik needs to pull the trigger on a deal to bring in a bat that can lift up a flat offense without having to sacrifice any top-tier prospects working their way through the minor league system. One player I could think of the Mariners trading for is outfielder Hunter Pence from the lowly Houston Astros. While he does possess some strong offensive upside, I imagine the Astros will be asking for a lot in return as they're bound to enter a rebuilding mode much like the one the Mariners are in right now. And a deal with Houston would not include Jack Wilson or Chone Figgins, whom have both proved to be expensive flops in Seattle.

At least the positive thing about starting the second half of the season is hoping that your team can make a run for a playoff spot if you're within reasonable striking distance. I firmly believe that's where the Mariners are, and if their offense can be as smooth as their pitching staff, they'll have a shot at making their first postseason since their 116-win season in 2001. But it's going to take another bat to get there, and the right deal to get the job done.

Photo credit: AP

What a British Open win would mean for Rory McIlroy

Remember when some fella named Tiger Woods exploded onto the golf scene? Safe to say Rory McIlroy is beginning to make a similar splash coming off a dominant U.S. Open win last month. And with the next major coming this weekend at Royal St. George's Golf Club in Kent, England, this is a great opportunity for McIlroy to establish himself as the next big superstar on the PGA Tour.

The 22-year-old from Northern Ireland has had himself a pretty good haul in 2011. He almost left Augusta National with their famed green jacket at The Masters, but a dismal final round dashed any chance of that (he shot an 80, 8-over-par), and he ended up tied for 15th in the final rundown, ten strokes behind eventual Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa. Then came the U.S. Open at Congressional just outside of Washington, DC. His final 72-hole score was 268, a tournament record, as he finished eight strokes ahead of runner-up Jason Day of Australia (who also finished tied for second at The Masters).

Come Thursday morning across the pond, McIlroy will be entering the British Open as an obvious favorite. He's coming off a three-week break from his U.S. Open triumph, and should he win the tournament at Royal St. George's, it wouldn't just be his second-straight major victory, but it may also be a very popular victory in his home country given Northern Ireland's geographic proximity to England. And with Tiger Woods not on the entry list for the tournament, I say McIlroy's chances of winning his second straight major look very good, despite some other big names on the list like Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, and countless others looking to make history of their own as a champion of the British Open.

Image courtesy: Getty Images

Winnipeg can breathe easy now

Back in 1996, I was merely a casual follower of the NHL. Sure, I had watched some games here and there. But I generally didn't watch very many games until a few years later. That same year, the Winnipeg Jets sadly flew out of the provincial capital of Manitoba to the dry desert of Phoenix, Arizona, and the team was renamed the Phoenix Coyotes.

Turn the clock ahead to 2011. The Coyotes are now in control by the National Hockey League, and there was a strong possibility that True North Sports & Entertainment, an ownership group based out of Winnipeg, was interested in bringing the franchise back to where it belongs. But instead, Chicago-based businessman Matthew Hulsizer expressed interest in buying the team, and the city of Glendale (where the Coyotes play their home games) pitched in $25 million to keep the team there through at least the 2011-12 season. And now the Coyotes are looking for new ownership--again--as Hulsizer pulled himself out of the running to buy the team.

But it doesn't matter for Winnipeg now. Once Glendale was able to get their ducks in a row in keeping the Coyotes in town, TNS&E shifted their focus to Atlanta, as the Thrashers' ownership group was fixing to sell off the team to the highest bidder. The Thrashers had historically been abysmal, only making one playoff appearance in their franchise history, and their fan support was next to nothing in recent years, which may have been one of those factors into why Atlanta Spirit wanted to unload the team.

On May 19, an article from the Toronto Globe & Mail reported that Atlanta Spirit and True North had come to a purchase agreement which opened the door for relocation of the team to Winnipeg. Despite the reports being premature, Jets fans flocked by the thousands to Portage and Main, a popular gathering area in downtown Winnipeg, to celebrate the return of their team on that night. Five days later, True North and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman were in Winnipeg to announce the transaction had officially been completed. The relocation of the Thrashers to Winnipeg was approved by the NHL's Board of Governors on June 21.

Ever since the lockout wiped out the 2004-05 NHL season, I have pulled for Winnipeg to get a team again because of how much fans in the city pushed for having another team and hoping it would work out the second time around. What helped the city of Winnipeg this time is they had a new building, the MTS Centre, which replaced the outdated Winnipeg Arena (which was the original home of the Jets) that has since been demolished.

Exhale, Manitoba. The Jets are flying again. And I firmly believe they will be in Winnipeg to stay this time.

Image credit: CBC.ca

Talladega's Penchant for First-Time Winners

It's one of two weekends I look forward to during the NASCAR racing season: a race weekend at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. It's one of my favorite tracks on the NASCAR circuit, and nothing gets my blood pumping more than the high speeds and high excitement that is high-banked, 2.66-mile oval. The track doesn't just have a penchant for spectacular crashes, but it's also had a penchant for allowing first-time winners.

1969: Richard Brickhouse
1973: Dick Brooks
1978: Lennie Pond
1981: Ron Bouchard
1986: Bobby Hillin, Jr.
1987: Davey Allison
1988: Phil Parsons (spring) and Ken Schrader (summer)
2006: Brian Vickers
2009: Brad Keselowski

And on the subject of first-time winners, Trevor Bayne won't be one of them because he won the Daytona 500 to open the season. But there are plenty of other drivers that can potentially get their first Sprint Cup win at Talladega this coming weekend.

David Ragan: Got his first Nationwide Series victory in 2009 in an exciting photo-finish, beating Ryan Newman to the finish line. Newman and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. made contact on the final lap coming into the tri-oval, allowing Ragan (with a push from Joey Logano) to sneak by Newman for the win. This year, Ragan led the Daytona 500 at the 500th mile, but was penalized on the next to last restart for illegally changing lanes, which in effected handed the 500 to Trevor Bayne, who had been drafting with Ragan for much of the race. One week after coming off his first career pole at Texas, Ragan is very close to his first Cup series win, and it just might come on Sunday.

Regan Smith: Technically, his name shouldn't even be on this list. But it is because of this controversial finish in 2008:

And you can thank NASCAR's yellow-line rule for making this possible. In 2001, NASCAR implemented this rule in response to Dale Earnhardt's fatal accident at the Daytona 500, which means a driver that moves below the yellow line cannot advance their position while below the line. Unless the driver gives that position back, he/she would be penalized by NASCAR and usually serve a drive-thru penalty. Since then, Smith has been strong on superspeedways, but didn't record a top 10 finish until this year's Daytona 500, where he was in contention late in the race until getting caught up in a late-race crash and recovering from it as his Furniture Row Chevy sustained only minor damage in the crash. And like David Ragan, Smith's first Cup series win can't be that far away, and it could come this weekend.

Marcos Ambrose: While he's better known as a road-racer, Ambrose isn't too shabby at Talladega. He recorded a 4th-place finish in the spring 2009 race, which included that infamous tangle between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski as they battled for the win. Don't let his lifetime average finish at Talladega of 27.2 fool you: anyone's lifetime average finish at Daytona or Talladega can improve with just one strong finish, regardless if it's a trip to victory lane or a top five. He's in his first season driving for Richard Petty Motorsports, running virtually the same equipment that Ragan drives for Roush-Fenway Racing, as RPM is a satellite operation of RFR.

Paul Menard: He's off to the best start of his Sprint Cup career. While he's been moderately successful on the Sprint Cup circuit, he continues to get better year after year, and after joining Richard Childress Racing in the offseason, is bound for his best season yet. But like Ambrose, his average finish lifetime at Talladega is 24.9, but he recorded a career-best 2nd place finish in the aforementioned fall 2008 race. With RCR's historically-strong record on superspeedways, Menard has a great chance, and could give RCR their third-straight Talladega win (Kevin Harvick is the defending spring race winner, and Clint Bowyer won the race last October).

A.J. Allmendinger: Teammate of Marcos Ambrose, former CART/Champ Car driver A.J. Allmendinger has finally gotten the hang of driving heavy stock cars after a rough introduction to them in 2007. Often called 'Dinger for short, he continues to improve much like Menard has. He has driven for "The King," Richard Petty, since 2009 when Petty Enterprises was under the partial ownership of the oft-financially troubled George Gillet. The last time Allmendinger was at Talladega, he went for this wild ride as the race leaders were battling for the win:


Photo Credits: Getty Images

10 Years Later, The Void Is Still There (But The Safety Is Better)

February 18, 2001.

That day was supposed to be the dawning of a new era for NASCAR. For one, it was the start of a new TV contract that the sport signed with FOX, TNT, and NBC. Second, it was the start of the 2001 season with the sport's biggest race in the Daytona 500. And third, it was to be the second race of a superspeedway aerodynamics package that actually debuted the following October at Daytona's sister track at Talladega with fantastic results.

But instead, it turned out to be one of the darkest day's in the sport's history. I sure haven't forgotten about the events of that day, and I don't think I ever will. It was supposed to be the greatest day in Michael Waltrip's life, as he recorded his first NASCAR Winston Cup victory in his 463rd career start with his brother, 1989 Daytona 500 champion Darrell Waltrip, calling him to victory in the FOX booth. Waltrip drove the #15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, a car owned by Dale Earnhardt.

Instead, NASCAR and millions of its fans were mourning the death of the sport's biggest face and namesake. On the final lap of the race, coming out of the fourth and final turn, Earnhardt was running in third place, watching two of the cars he owned run first (Waltrip) and second (Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet) respectively and was wrecked trying to protect third place from Sterling Marlin, Rusty Wallace, and Ken Schrader. Earnhardt made contact with Marlin's Dodge Intrepid, and his car shot up the 31-degree banking and slammed head-on into the wall, taking Schrader with him.

At first, the crash didn't appear to be that bad. But when Schrader climbed out of his car, he walked to the driver's side of Earnhardt's wrecked car, and frantically gestured for the paramedics to get to Earhnardt, indicating that he was badly injured. While Waltrip was celebrating his victory, Earnhardt was getting cut out of his car and was getting transported by ambulance to the hospital. Attempts to resuscitate Earnhardt were unsuccessful, as he was pronounced dead at 3:16 pm MST. At a press conference about two hours later inside the Daytona International Speedway's media center, NASCAR president Mike Helton stepped in front of a throng of reporters and made the grim announcement:

"This is undoubtedly one of the toughest announcements I've personally ever had to make. But...after the accident in Turn 4 at the end of the Daytona 500...we've lost Dale Earnhardt."
-NASCAR president Mike Helton

Earlier in the race, a spectacular crash involving Tony Stewart caused the race to be red-flagged for a brief period of time to clean up the track from other cars that were involved in the crash, which also eliminated another Dale Earnhardt-owned entry driven by Steve Park (#1 Pennzoil Chevrolet). During that red flag period, Earnhardt was communicating on the radio with his longtime owner Richard Childress.
In the following clip near the end, Childress describes what he and Earnhardt were discussing, and it had something to do with safety.


In the days following the tragedy, tributes from all over the country and the world started pouring in. Earnhardt's memorial service was broadcast on all local news stations in the Charlotte, North Carolina area (because most of the NASCAR teams are based around Charlotte). One of my friends was living in Charlotte at the time of the tragedy and he told me that it was like a sitting President of the United States had died (as in almost eerily reminiscent to the entire nation mourning the loss of President John F. Kennedy in 1963).

But the racing had to go on because Earnhardt would have wanted the racing to continue. And almost everybody associated with Earnhardt paid tribute to their fallen friend in their own way by winning at least once in 2001. The following week at Rockingham, North Carolina, Steve Park paid tribute to his late boss with this exciting finish against defending series champion Bobby Labonte:



Three races later, Earnhardt's successor, Kevin Harvick, was engaged in a fierce battle for the win with Jeff Gordon at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It was a race where Earnhardt would have entered as the defending champion:



And then the series returned to Daytona for the Pepsi 400. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was returning to the site of perhaps the darkest day of his life, and it was safe to say that his father might have been riding shotgun with him on that July night.


Finally, on the six-year anniversary of Earnhardt's fatal accident, it was Harvick coming out of nowhere on the last lap to battle with race leader Mark Martin. And as mayhem ensued behind them, Harvick and Martin duked it out for the win.


In terms of how the cars changed, the 2007 season was the year NASCAR debuted its new "Car Of Tomorrow" platform and phased it into use over the course of that season. The car was mostly built with one thing in mind: safety in the wake of Earnhardt's death. Before the car was rolled out, NASCAR mandated that all drivers wear a head-and-neck restraint system, with the HANS device being the most popular of them. The cockpit of the car is now bigger as well, as the car is two inches taller and four inches wider than the old car. The driver's seat was also shifted more to the center of the car to reduce the risk of injuries if that side of the car was struck at high speed. The tracks have changed in regards to safety as well. Every track on the Sprint Cup circuit has SAFER (Steel And Foam Energy Reduction) barriers installed at every track

Perhaps the greatest test of NASCAR's safety innovations coming full circle happened during a qualifying session at Texas Motor Speedway in 2008, where rookie Michael McDowell tested out everything.

Photo credit: autoevoltion.com

It's Luongo's Time To Be Top Dog Now

Prior to this NHL season, Roberto Luongo had to carry not just one, but two big responsibilities for the last two seasons. The first one was obvious--being the starting goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks. But the second one might have been one of the sticking points as to why the team couldn't solve the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup playoffs the last two seasons (the second of which paved the way for the Blackhawks' to win their first Stanley Cup since JFK was in the White House), and that was the designation as the team's captain.

Fast-forward to the 2010-11 NHL season. The Canucks are easily the best team in the Western Conference right now and are considered heavy favorites to raise the Stanley Cup at season's end. The thing that's helped their cause the most is Luongo is no longer the team's captain, as he handed the position down to Henrik Sedin, last year's league MVP. And it's also allowed Luongo to focus on the most important job in his repitore, and that's patrol the crease for the Canucks.

Before Luongo came to the Canucks, he had a brief yet rough stint with the New York Islanders, a team that's mostly been short on success since the early 1990s (he was drafted by the Islanders in the first round of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft). After the 1999-2000 season he was traded to the Florida Panthers, where he received a Vezina Trophy nomination (for league's best goaltender) during the 2003-04 season. But still, success for the Panthers was hard to come by and after the 2005-06 season concluded, Luongo was on the move again. He was traded to the Canucks (along with defenseman Lukas Krajicek and a sixth-round draft pick) in exchange for defenseman Bryan Allen, goaltender Alex Auld (who started much of the Canucks' games in 2005-06 after starter Dan Cloutier was injured early in the season), and forward Todd Bertuzzi (who was still under a dark cloud stemming from his infamous attack on Colorado's Steve Moore during the 2003-04 season).

With Luongo in the fold in Vancouver, it solved years of instability at the goaltender position which began when fan-favorite Kirk McLean left Vancouver after the 1997-98 season. That said instability led to former general manager Brian Burke (1998-2004) dubbing Vancouver as "the goalie graveyard," but that title is now no more since the Canucks' acquisition of Luongo. Since his arrival, he's set records for wins in a season, save percentage in a season, and is the franchise's all-time leader in shutouts. With the strong possibility of the Canucks finally winning their first Stanley Cup in 2011, it would make Luongo's resume complete, which also includes a QMJHL championship with the Val-d'Or Foreurs in 1998 and an Olympic gold medal from the 2010 Olympics--won on Canadian soil in Vancouver.

Photo Credit: AP

Grizzlies vs. Bobcats, Take Two

The Missoula half of the rivalry has run its course for this season. Now, it's Bozeman's turn host the rivalry. For the Montana Grizzlies, it's a chance to sweep the Montana State Bobcats for the season and do so on the Bobcats' home floor. For the Lady Griz, on the other hand, it's a chance to get even after what MSU did in Missoula on Saturday afternoon.

Let's start with the Lady Griz. Last Saturday afternoon they stumbled out of the gate and trailed Montana State by as much as 17 points early in the second half, and the Bobcats' Rachel Semansky and Lyndi Seidensticker were scoring points and getting open looks at will. Then Montana began to rally and erased the Bobcats' big cushion, and tied up the game on two occasions late in the second half. But they never were able to take the lead in the second half, and MSU went ahead for good after Ausha Cole hit a free throw with 14 seconds left in regulation (which was then followed by Sarah Bailan making a pair of free throws of her own three seconds later) to preserve a 72-69 win. For the rematch in Bozeman, Montana will have to make do without standout sophomore center Katie Baker, who had to undergo emergency surgery early Monday morning which will keep her out of action for at least three weeks. Jessa Loman Linford and Ali Hurley will both have to pick up the slack in Baker's absence on Saturday afternoon, and possibly the next few games after that.

And then there's the Grizzlies. In front of a packed Dahlberg Arena, the Grizzlies surged to a 25-10 lead within the game's first 10 minutes and held a 40-29 lead at halftime, with Griz point guard Will Cherry scoring 15 points in the first half. The momentum continued into the second half, as Brian Qvale and Art Steward both scored double figures in the second half (Qvale scored 11, Steward scored 13), plus Qvale added 13 rebounds from the five he got in the first half. It remains to be seen during the rest of this week if the momentum is still going to be there when the teams meet again in Bozeman on Saturday night. It can be a sure thing the Bobcats will be ready to settle the score on their home floor after never having much of a chance in Missoula, but the Grizzlies will pretty much have the same factors ready to keep the Cats at bay again. It's always an exciting matchup whenever these two intrastate rivals meet, and should the Grizzlies win on Saturday, they'll have all the statewide bragging rights to themselves through at least next basketball season.

Photo Credit: AP

Packers-Steelers should be a Texas-sized heavyweight bout

One team has the obvious edge in offense. That team is the Green Bay Packers.

Another has the obvious edge in defense. That team would be the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Come February 5th at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, only one of these teams will be hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy at game's end.

For the Packers to bring the Vince Lombardi Trophy back home to Green Bay: Back when the Packers last won a Super Bowl, Bill Clinton had just been re-elected to a second term in the White House, gas cost about $1.25 per gallon, Toni Braxton had the #1 song in the land with "Un-Break My Heart," and the highest-rated TV show was NBC's "ER." Now they're the first six-seed from the NFC to ever make it to the Super Bowl, and they have the leg up in regards to offense. But in order for the Vince Lombardi Trophy to come home to Titletown, the Pack has to scale a Mount Everest of a defense that is the 2010's version of the Steel Curtain, which has allowed only 207.5 YPG in the playoffs. Both teams utilize a 3-4 defense, but their philosophies are very different. While the Packers have given up 17 points a game leading up to the Super Bowl, the Steelers have the edge in regards to total defense (combined against the pass and the run), which means whoever wins the battle in the trenches consistently could give the other side fits over the course of the game. Both teams possess strong running games, and if the Packers can move the ball effectively on the ground, they can win.

For the Steelers to add a 7th Lombardi Trophy: This is the third Super Bowl appearance for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the past six years. They won "one for the thumb" in Super Bowl XL against Seattle (which was also one of the most controversial Super Bowls in history in part because of questionable officiating throughout that game) and added another one in Tampa against Arizona in 2009 to make it "Six-burgh." Now they're looking for lucky number seven, which would solidify their edge in championships during the Super Bowl era. As I remarked earlier, the battle in the trenches could be the difference in who leaves Cowboys Stadium with the Lombardi Trophy, and if the Steelers defense can eliminate the Packers' run game, their chances will look very good. While the Steelers offense isn't as explosive as the Packers offense, it is effective and does possess a strong running game. But the game-breaker for the Steelers could be quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who could be looking to attack the Packers secondary with his arm. But he'll have to be careful throwing the football because the Packers secondary has a penchant for picking off passes that could shift momentum back into their favor. The Steelers offensive line will also have their hands full with the Packers should Big Ben decide to move the football with his arm, as the Packers defense could be looking to go right after Roethlisberger much like the Steelers defense will be looking to let 'er rip on Aaron Rodgers.

Things to watch for from both teams: This will not be an easy game for either team. Both teams have strong running games while at the same time have strong defenses as well. The battle in the trenches will be one thing to pay close attention to as the game progresses, and whichever team wins the most battles will likely win the game. Another thing to keep an eye on is protecting the football. While Green Bay has the edge in turnover ratio (+3 compared to Pittsburgh's even ratio), the Steelers are also capable of forcing the Packers into making mistakes, and should a turnover take place late if the game's tight, it could prove to be quite costly for whichever team coughs up the football. Most of the players on the Steelers active roster know how to play these meaningful games, while on the flip side most of the Packers roster will be getting their first taste of playing on Super Sunday.

MY VERDICT: STEELERS 16, Packers 14

Photo credits: Getty Images

Why Seahawks fans should also root for the Packers...for this weekend, that is

Saturday was a day that I wasn't expecting to pan out well. Sure, the Seahawks were in the postseason for the first time since 2007. But they had gotten in with a less than impressive 7-9 record, which was an NFL first in a non-strike year. And even I was skeptical about their chances at home against the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints. I had just left Dahlberg Arena to see the Lady Griz basketball team get their first conference win of the season in pummeling Sacramento State 78-35, and learned from my good friend Jerek Wolcott, a UM athletics photographer, that the Seahawks and Saints were tied up at 17-17 late in the first half. When I arrived home the Seahawks had then pulled ahead 24-20, after the Saints kicked a field goal to end the first half. It was a good thing I caught the second half when I arrived because late in the 4th quarter, Marshawn Lynch ripped this earth-shaking run to seal the upset and move the Seahawks to the second round of the playoffs:


With the Seahawks' improbable victory in sending the defending champions to an early postseason exit combined with the Green Bay Packers pulling off an upset of their own at NFC East champion Philadelphia the following day, their next challenge will be at Soldier Field in Chicago. For the Seahawks, it's a regular season rematch against the NFC North champion Bears, whom they defeated in Chicago 23-20 earlier in the season.

Speaking of the Packers, I have to admit, I'm not real fond of them largely with how Brett Favre was run out of town by president/GM Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy. Though they do generate a relatively large following, influenced in part because Favre was their starting quarterback for 16 seasons and breaking passing records left and right, all but assuring himself of a first-ballot induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. But with Favre no longer a Packer and likely retiring from football, Aaron Rodgers is now at the controls of the Packers offense (was named the Packers starter in 2008), and he just came off his first postseason victory against the Philadelphia Eagles. But if Seahawks fans want one more home game should they beat the Chicago Bears on Sunday, they'll have to pull for the Pack in Atlanta on Saturday, and the Falcons are not a pushover because of their #1 seeding in the NFC. Just like Seahawks/Bears from earlier in the season, Packers/Falcons is also a regular season rematch at the exact same place. In the regular season meeting on November 28 the Packers tied up the game with less than a minute left in regulaion, on a Rodgers touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson. Then the Falcons drove into field goal range and nailed a game-winning 47-yard field goal from Matt Bryant to win that meeting 20-17.

Photo Credits: AP

Reposts from my replacement blog

I was somehow able to regain control of this blog, and it was as simple as answering a simple security question that I won't mention here. Anyways, here's what was posted on that substitute blog:

The Tale of Two Different Basketball Teams at Montana (Part One) (Written December 13, 2010)
For the past six seasons now, I have been an ardent follower of men's and women's basketball at Montana. I've seen great players come and go, but both teams have very different philosophies.

Let's start with the men's team first. One of the factors that had me hooked was the fact that Larry Krystkowiak was the head coach when I first started following the team. First game I attended was a home game against Pac-10 power Stanford during the 2005-06 season and the Grizzlies beat them soundly. That win over the Cardinal was one of the factors that helped the team get selected into the NCAA Tournament as a 12-seed against Nevada, who was a 5-seed that year. The 12 vs. 5 matchup in the NCAA Tournament has historically been an upset matchup, and the Grizzlies upset the Wolf Pack in Salt Lake City before falling to Boston College two days later. Three months afterward, Krystkowiak left the program as head coach to accept an assistant coaching position with the Milwaukee Bucks (the team Krysko spent the majority of his NBA playing career with), which was a move I never saw coming.

Assistant Wayne Tinkle was promoted to the head job. Krysko and Tinks had two totally different personalities. Krysko was blunt, brash, and fiery, but he knew what he was doing and wasn't afraid to light a fire under his players. Tinkle on the other hand is calm, reserved, and one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. The first two years of the Tinkle era were relatively mediocre, but the team finally started getting its legs back during the 2008-09 season, largely because of the team signing junior college transfer Anthony Johnson, who would make an almost immediate impact on the team.


Johnson's impact on the team was felt most significantly during the 2010 Big Sky championship game at Weber State. With Montana trailing 40-20 at halftime, Johnson took charge and guided the Grizzlies back from the dead, scoring 34 points in the second half and the Grizzlies' last 21 points of the game to beat Weber State and win the Big Sky Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. In the process, Johnson outscored the entire Weber State team in the second half 34-25. The performance was so incredible, national media outlets from ESPN to USA Today took notice of Johnson's effort, and he was even nominated for an ESPY award for "Best Championship Performance," and the following video shows why Johnson deserved those said accolades.


Even though Grizzly fans miss A.J. (who is now playing professionally in Greece), the team has plugged along nicely and has performed well all season to this point. That includes a huge win over national power UCLA at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles in a game the Grizzlies dominated throughout, just days after UCLA lost a heartbreaker at nationally-ranked Kansas. The team also has an impressive win over Cal State Fullerton and a blowout win against Idaho, but the Grizzlies will have road rematches against those respective teams and soon, so it will be interesting to see how they'll do in the rematches.

I'll weigh in on my thoughts about the women's basketball team at some point later this week. (Post was written on December 28)

My Favorite Feel-Good Sports Moment, In Time for Christmas (written December 24, 2010)
You always look at the positive things in life when Christmas comes around the corner. Just like at Thanksgiving, you're surrounded by family and friends. On Christmas Day, there's more to it. You have a tree decorated with ornaments and lights with neatly-wrapped gifts under the tree. And others go out of their way to offer up a Christmas for those that wouldn't otherwise have the luxury of experiencing the joy that is of Christmas Day.

It's not very often that I'll talk about auto racing here, but I have to make an exception in this case. Back in 2001, the CART racing series was racing in Germany on the weekend after the United States was attacked by terrorists on September 11th. While all major sports leagues decided to postpone their events out of respect of the victims who lost their lives on that fateful day, CART made the difficult decision to continue on with their activities at the Lausitzring, because all U.S. airspace was restricted as a result of the terrorist attacks on New York City and The Pentagon in Washington, DC.

At that point of the 2001 season, Alex Zanardi (right) was not having a successful return to CART, after a failed return to Formula One in 1999 and taking a year off in 2000. But on September 15, 2001, it appeared as if Zanardi was back to the form he had when he won back-to-back CART championships in 1997 and 1998, as he held the lead late in the race when he made a late pit stop with 13 laps remaining. After leaving the pits Zanardi hurried back onto track to beat out second-place Kenny Brack, but accelerated too quickly and spun onto the track from the warmup lane into race traffic. The car spun into the path of first Patrick Carpentier, who barely missed him, and then Alex Tagliani, who drilled Zanardi in the monocoque just behind the left-front tire. The impact was so bad Zanardi lost both of his legs as a result of the impact and lost a significant amount of blood. But thanks to the quick thinking and reaction of CART's medical team led by Dr. Steve Olvey, Zanardi's life was saved.

Turn the clock ahead to Mother's Day weekend in 2003. It had been over 18 months since Zanardi's life almost came to a tragic end, and in turn ended his open-wheel racing career. CART was making its second trip to the Lausitzring, but there was one thing Zanardi wanted to do before the race was to begin. Just watch the first ten minutes the following clip and you'll be amazed at what he was able to do with his two prosthetic legs.


What Zanardi accomplished that day to fulfill that promise instantly made him a hero to everyone that watches racing, myself included. I enjoyed watching him in CART from 1996 to 1998, and while he won everything left and right, he did it in a way that would have you on the edge of your seat most of the time. He was one of the most exciting drivers I had ever seen drive a race car, and if the CART/IRL split never happened in 1996 (Zanardi's rookie year in CART), I believe he would enjoyed having that symbolic swig of icy cold milk at least once, as a champion of the Indianapolis 500.

The Tale of Two Different Montana Basketball Teams (Part Two) (Written December 28, 2010)
A couple of weeks back I weighed in on my thoughts about the men's basketball team at Montana--a team that is now ranked 18th in the latest Mid-Major Top 25 poll. Now, I'm going to weigh in on my thoughts about the women's basketball team.

Just like with the Grizzlies, I have followed the Lady Griz since the 2005-06 season. Their team that year was young much like the teams they've had the last two years--young, talented, expected to make mistakes and learn from them. But one of those young guns was Mandy Morales, who led the team in scoring four straight seasons after she redshirted the 2004-05 season (as a result of her transfer from Arizona State after initially enrolling in Tempe and signing a letter of intent to play for the Sun Devils), and was the Big Sky's MVP in her sophomore and senior seasons. She was also honorable mention for All-American four straight years.


In regards to coaching, there has been one constant--Robin Selvig, a lifelong Grizzly from his days as a player on the men's team from 1970 to 1974. Since he took over the women's program in 1978, Selvig has notched 743 victories in his 33-year career, making him one of the winningest college basketball coaches in the nation, men's or women's. All of his assistant coaches have played for him at some point in his career, and the turnover there has been next to nothing since he named assistant Trish Duce to his staff prior to the 1994-95 season.


Last year's team could very well have contended for, if not won the conference title, regardless of what eventual league champion Portland State did. But during the team's third conference game of the season at Eastern Washington, top scorer and rebounder Katie Baker (right, in white jersey) injured her knee trying to get a rebound and was lost for the remainder of the season. The true freshman out of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho had easily become the team's best player right from the start of the season. And while the team went 8-6 the rest of the way without Baker, the team just couldn't get over the hump and lost to Portland State in the Big Sky tournament.

This year's team was voted by both the coaches and the media to win the conference title in 2010-11, but this year's team was swamped with a brutal non-conference schedule. They lost six games in a seven-game stretch heading into their Holiday Classic, in which they face two teams that have a combined two wins between them. Many of those non-conference losses can be attributed to abysmal shooting from the field despite having one of the stingiest defenses in the Big Sky Conference. With Baker back along with senior starters Sarah Ena and Stephanie Stender, the team should play well in conference play. The defense is there, but if they can put they can forget about their shooting woes, then they'll be one dangerous unit when league play gets underway next week.