If you get a chance to go to Training Camp... Go!

The Seahawks have announced that Training Camp will be open to the public, but you need to register for a spot on Seahawks.com starting July 16 at 10 am pacific time. I don't know what things will be like at the VMAC in Renton... I don't know how close you'll be able to get to the players and coaches, but if the atmosphere is anything like it was in Cheney, you shouldn't think twice about trying to make it to one of these practices.

The VMAC is a football palace, but I'm already missing those training camps at EWU. Sure it was too hot and too remote, but it was amazing how close you could get to the players. The first time I went was in 1998, and when I saw Joey Galloway running towards me onto the field I brandished my Galloway jersey and word-barfed something like "Wooo! Joey! Yeah! Woooooo!" He actually saw me, noticed I was wearing his jersey and gave me the the "reverse nod + sup" move. THAT made my day.

I went again in 2006 with my little brother (all the pics are right here on flickr)... look how close we were able to get to the players:







Here's what I wrote back then (some of it looks pretty foolish in retrospect, of course)...

This is one of the only instances where there can be actual (albeit limited) interaction between players and fans, and thankfully no players acted like prima donna dickholes on Saturday.

As players passed by, I shouted to Walter Jones that he was the best player in the NFL and was headed to the Hall of Fame… I told Matt that this was HIS year to be NFL MVP, and I told Lofa Tatupu that he got robbed of the defensive rookie of the year award last year. I yelped at Jerramy Stevens that this was his year to be all-pro, and he gave me a big grin and said “that’s right.”

While I was jabbering away, my little brother James was getting autographs from players like Mack Strong, Lofa, Marcus Trufant and Julian Peterson. James had a blast… It was well worth the 4-hour round trip from the Tri-Cities and back.

Some cool moments:

-We got to hear Holmgren get pissed and yell at the team a couple of times.

-We saw up close that Ryan Plackemeier could be a dominant punter once he gains some consistency

-Cool plays: Kelly Herndon jumped a route to make a spectaclar interception, and D.J. Hackett made a Tecmo Bowl-esque leaping TD catch over two defenders. The best moment was during the 1st team scrimmage.. Without anyone to throw to, Hass ran for a TD. Of course, no one was going to touch him and risk injuring our most indispensable asset. The crowd let out a cheer, and Hass gave a wave and a couple of quick bows. It was a cute little moment from our bald spaz of a QB…

All in all it was a great time. If you are a Seahawks fan and have the means, you should get out to Cheney to enjoy the spectacle this month.

What was true in '06 is still true now. I just hope the move to the VMAC doesn't suck all the organic fun out of the experience.

Any of you have memories of going to past training camps to share?

Top 10 Seahawks Plays of the Decade

Not much explanation needed here: The 10 best plays of the decade.

10. Shaun Alexander's 88-yard Gallop (2001 v. Raiders)

SA ran for 266 yard that night on SNF, and 88 of them came on this go-ahead, game-sealing touchdown jaunt. Unfortunately I can't find a clip, but I vividly remember SA glancing up at the Husky Stadium jumbotron for a little help avoiding the Oakland Raiders who were in hot pursuit.

9. Nasty Nate's Punt Return (2006 v. Rams)



The Seahawks hadn't scored since before halftime, were trailing 16-14 and were playing like Night of the Living Dead-type zombies. After Nate Burleson's electrifying 90 yard punt return, the Hawks took the lead and started playing like 28 Days Later-type zombies... Rage Virus! Grrrrr!

8. Hass to Hackett in OT (2005 v. NYG)

After Feely's 3rd miss, the Seahawks STILL hadn't gotten anything going on offense for what seemed like half the game... The Hawks finally shifted the game's momentum and struck into Giants territory when Beck threw a perfect downfield strike to DJ Hackett. My favorite part of this play? In the NFL Films footage, you can see Ruskell on the sideline jumping up and down like he just won the Showcase Showdown on The Price is Right.

7. Josh Brown's 54-yard game winner (2006 at STL)



Man, I love the reaction of the Rams fans in that clip... The Seahawk fans celebrating though? Dude... DON'T tuck in your jersey. Massive fail there. Everyone else? Buy some team apparel... yeesh.

As I've said before in this space... The Hawks came back from a 21-7 halftime deficit, overcame a back-breakingly spectacular TD catch by Torry Holt, won on that 54 yard FG at the gun, and made Scott Linehan look like a jabbering idiot.

6. Hass hits K-Rob (2003 at SF)

Needing a win to keep their playoff hopes alive, the Hawks spotted SF a 14-0 lead before clawing back into the lead in the 3rd quarter. Matt Hasselbeck made a gorgeous, "drop it in the bucket" throw to a tightly covered Koren Robinson, who, despite his reputation, made a brilliant catch. The Hawks would never trail after than play, and would make the playoffs for only the 2nd time since 1988.

5. Marcus Trufant Pick-6 (2007 Wild Card v. DC)



The Hawks were trying to hold a 21-14 lead in the 2007 playoffs v. DC, and Marcus Trufant made this astounding play to seal the win. Well, that's actually not accurate.. Trufant, assisted by a series of crushing downfield blocks, sealed the win. The only time I've ever heard Qwest louder than that moment was during the 2005 NFC title game...

4. Big Play Babs Intercepts Bledsoe, Sets up JB for the win (2005 v. Dallas)

Josh Brown deservedly gets credit for the game winning FG, but on the previous play Jordan Babineaux stepped in front of a REALLY bad decision by Drew Bledsoe. Not only did he pick it off, but he streaked down the sideline and into field goal range. Not only did he advance the ball into field goal range, but he had the presence of mind to step out of bounds with time remaining on the clock.

3. Romo Drops the Ball, Big Play Babs Brings Him Down (2006 Wild Card Playoff v. Dallas)



Every time I watch that, I'm amazed at the play Babs makes... He leaps over guys, he fights off Gramatica's "block" and tackles Romo INCHES short of a game-clinching first down. Yes, Romo's bobbled snap is what everyone remembers, but if not for BPB, Romo probably picks up that botched snap and scores the game winning TD. How humiliating would THAT have been?

2. Mack Strong Runs Wild (2005 NFC Divisional Playoff v. Washington)

The Seahawks hadn't won a playoff game in 21 seasons, and DC put up enough of a fight to make things tense for all 60 minutes. The Hawks faced a 3rd down in the 4th quarter nursing a 17-10 lead, and Mack Strong tore off 38 yards on a draw play to set up Josh Brown's game-icing FG.

1. Hass to Seneca (2005 NFC Championship Game v. Carolina)

I was at the game, and the eruption of noise after Seneca Wallace hauled in Hasselbeck's perfect pass was among the loudest I've ever heard at Qwest. Coming from the mind of usually conservative coach Mike Holmgren, the deep pass to our back-up QB said "I am holding nothing back to get this team to the mother f@*kin' Super Bowl." It doesn't hurt that Wallace made a sensational over-the-shoulder grab to beat former Hawk Ken Lucas. In the biggest NFL game ever played in Seattle, the Hawks dominated from this moment on.

New Banner... So Good or No Good?

What do y'all think? That's my amateur stab at it. I welcome anyone's attempt to make a more "professional" looking version... If it looks better, I'll use it and give you mad props in this space.

Somebody (Not Me) Needs to Do This...

If you're a fan of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (and if you aren't, why not?), you know about the legend of Greenman. Charlie basically dresses up in this bright green spandex bodysuit and goes f@*king apeshit (occasionally, he drops acid before donning the suit). With our franchise's inexorable momentum towards embracing the bright neon green, we need a heroic 12th Man to step up and don the Greenman suit at Qwest Field this fall.

I'd do it, but I'm too old, too fat and too far away to do the whole enterprise justice. You can get the costume here...

What are you waiting for?

We'll always love you, JJ (plus, we never gave you a staph infection... ewww)

Former Seahawk Joe Jurevicius is suing the hell out of the Cleveland Browns, claiming that a staph infection he caught at the Browns' facility contributed to the premature end of his career.

SEVEN Browns have caught staph infections since 2003. Gross... Ick. My antipathy towards the Browns and their organization is well documented, but this whole thing pushes them even further into Bush-league dirtbag status.

Another thing I love about Cleveland fans? They insist that you pretend they aren't a ten-year-old expansion team, and that the Ravens weren't at one time the original Cleveland Browns. It's like they were married to a woman named, oh, let's say... Bernice. Then Bernice left them and moved to Baltimore, where she got gastric bypass, a makeover, a great job and a better husband. Then THEY married Bernice's identical twin sister and INSISTED on calling her Bernice and pretending as if that nasty divorce business never happened. Pathetic.

Anyway, back to Joe J... He'll always have a special place in Seahawks history, even though he was only in Seattle for a single season. But what a season! JJ had career highs in receptions and touchdowns, and was a key contributor in the 2005 Super Bowl run. His two best games for Seattle helped lead to two of the biggest regular season wins in team history. He played in XXXV, XXXVII and XL, and won a ring with the 2002 Bucs.

Not to kick a guy when he's down, but if he had taken the generous offer from Ruskell to stay in Seattle back in 2006, he might still be playing... OUR facility isn't festooned with disgusting, infectious bacteria.

Rampant Idiocy/Ignorance over on Pro Football Talk

I've slammed PFT in this space before, but today's blather from Florio and his commenters reached a new level of Frito-in-Idiocracy stupidity.

I'm not going to link to him anymore, but he RIPPED T.J. Houshmandzadeh for saying this:

“I just want to let everyone know that Matt Hasselbeck and I will be leading the Seahawks to the playoffs this season,” Houshmandzadeh proclaims. “And we’ll be going to the Pro Bowl as a tandem. We’re both going to have top five seasons: He’ll have a top five quarterback season, and I’ll have a top five receiving season. I’ll put up stats I’ve never had before yardswise because they’re allowing me to be a complete receiver.”

Florio laughs this off as the ramblings of a mental patient. I get the distinct feeling that if T.J.'s uniform was any color but gun-metal blue, it wouldn't seem quite as impossible to PFT's grand poopbah. Check the stats:

First, TJ... Over the last three years, he's been 6th, 1st and 7th on the NFL receptions leaderboard. Yeah, totally implausible that he could be in the top five, or in the Pro Bowl like he was in 2007.

What about Hass? As recently as 2007, he was

-In the Pro Bowl
-8th in passing yards
-8th in passer rating
-6th in passing TDs

Florio presents the idea of Hass-to-Housh being a top five passing combo as blatantly ludicrous. Given these numbers, he's the one who clearly has a tenuous grip on reality. I firmly believe that if you blindly gave these numbers to him, without telling him the players in question were Seahawks, he'd reach a different conclusion.

If you want your blood really angried up, go over there and wade through the manure they call the comments section. Yeesh.

Jeebus, guys... Is it that f@*king hard to hire a driver? Or call a cab? You're rich.

Owen Schmitt is lucky he didn't join Leonard Little or Donte Stallworth among the NFL's ranks of drunk manslaughtering killers Saturday night. According to Danny O'Neil over at The Seattle Times, Schmitt was pulled over for speeding and then blew .151 and .161 on two breathalyzer tests. That's twice Washington's legal limit for those scoring at home.

This time, this clip is unfortunately for one of our own:



In addition to the recklessness of his actions, Schmitt did this IMMEDIATELY after Roger Goodell suspended Stallworth indefinitely for his DUI-related snuffing of another human life. In addition, Goodell sent a message of warning to all NFL players about DUI. Cripes, Owen. On top of everything else, bad timing, dude.

Expect a substantial suspension, if Schmitt is still in the league this fall.

Personally, I say cut his ass and give Justin Griffith his snaps.

Dumbass.

All -Decade: Top 10 Regular Season Wins

We've already discussed the All-Decade Seahawks team... Here's my take on the 10 greatest regular season wins for the Seahawks this decade:

10. 12/3/06 Seahawks 23, Broncos 20

The first of four games on this list that ended with Josh Brown nailing the game winning FG as time expired... Say what you will about that little turncoat bastard, but he had a knack for high drama while playing for Seattle. Given little chance to win at Mile High Stadium against their long-time rivals, the Hawks allowed Denver to tie the game on a 71-yard Brandon Marshall catch and run. OT seemed like a given, but The Objectivist mustered a drive into field goal range. JB hit a 50-yarder, and that loss kept those Denver Douchenozzles out of the postseason.

9. 11/11/01 Seahawks 34, Raiders 27

Sunday Night Football on ESPN v. the despicable, sub-human, playoff-bound 6-1 Raiders... The Hawks were scuffling at 3-4, but got a spectacular boost from Shaun Alexander's all-time greatest performance: 35 carries, 266 yards and 3 TDs. The Hawks finished the season on a 6-3 run, while the Raiders limped into the playoffs in a 4-5 stupor (and saw their season end with the "tuck rule" game. Yes, they got screwed. But fuck the fucking Raiders.)

8. 12/2/07 Seahawks 28, Eagles 24

Even though the Eagles were 5-6 and without McNabb, this was supposed to be a Seattle loss. The "Seattle can't win 10 am games on the east coast" brigade didn't count on Lofa Tatupu going absolutely apeshit on everyone's asses. His three picks were key, capped by the game-saving INT deep in Seattle territory in the final seconds.

7. 10/9/05 Seahawks 37, Rams 31

The Hawks were coming off a 2004 campaign where they were beaten three times by STL, including two soul-obliterating defeats at Qwest. Breaking the Rams' psychological dominance was key for a successful 2005 season, and the Hawks ran out to a 34-21 lead. Up 37-31 late, the Hawks had to punt to Shawn McDonald (who delivered the killing stroke in OT at Qwest the previous October). Deliciously, Big Play Babs forced McDonald to fumble, and JP Darche recovered.

The Seahawks have won eight straight over STL, starting that day.

6. 12/29/02 Seahawks 31, Chargers 28 (OT)

As they wrote over on Next Season Sports, this was the game where Hasselbeck forever took command of this team. The Hawks were down 28-14 in the 4th, and rallied to score 17 unanswered points. This was also the game where Matt popped up after a late hit by noted dirtbag Rodney Harrison and told him that he "hit like a fucking fa@@ot."

5. 12/12/04 Seahawks 27, Vikings 23

The Seahawks came into the Metrodome at 6-6 and on the verge of playoff elimination. They were on the road and coming off a short week after a heartbreaking MNF loss to Dallas. In addition, Darrell Jackson was weighed down with grief after his father's death. No one gave Seattle any chance to win.

D-Jack had perhaps the best game of his career, snagging 10 balls for 135 yards and a TD. Hass went wild, throwing for 334 yards and three scores... The win was sealed when Michael Boulware picked off an inexplicable Randy Moss option pass in the end zone.

4. 10/15/06 Seahawks 30, Rams 28

One of the most exciting finishes in Seahawks history; The Hawks fought back from a 21-7 halftime deficit to take a late 27-21 lead. After a Mo Morris fumble deep in STL territory, Torry Holt made a ridiculous TD catch that looked like the death blow. Down by a point, Beck marched the Hawks into Rams territory. An illegal procedure flag was misinterpreted by Scott Linehan as a foul that included a 10-second, game-ending clock runoff. The jabbering dipstick was wrong, and left slack-jawed after Josh Brown nailed the 54-yard game winner at the final gun.

3. 12/27/03 Seahawks 24, 49ers 17

As I've said in this space before, the 2003 Seahawks...

were frustrating, but exhilarating. They won (and lost) games in dramatic fashion. They were amazing at home (8-0), but only 2-6 on the road. In fact, they were riding a six-game road losing streak into the regular season finale at Candlestick Park. Seattle needed a win to keep its playoff hopes alive, and they were facing former coach Dennis Erickson (who would have loved to ruin the Seahawks season). The Hawks quickly fell behind 14-0 that day, but clawed their way back and pulled out a hard-won 24-17 victory (punctuated by an astounding pitch & catch TD from Hass to K-Rob).

I was visiting my parents in the Tri-Cities, and caught a flight back to Ohio that night after the game. We got back to Columbus just in time to see the right combination of Sunday results to put the Hawks in the postseason for only the 2nd time since 1988.

2. 11/27/05 Seahawks 24, Giants 21 (OT)

We all remember Feely's three missed field goals, but what about Holmgren's brilliant time-out in overtime that led to a replay reversal which cost NYG 16 yards of field position (and contributed to one of Feely's misfires)? Or Joe Jurevicius' spectacular two-TD day? Or DJ's huge catch in OT? Or this?


1. 10/23/05 Seahawks 13, Cowboys 10

One of the all-time blood-pissers in Seahawks history, which saw Seattle trailing 7-3 late in the 4th quarter. A Hasselbeck interception set Dallas up inside our 20, and they just needed a first down or a TD to ice the victory. On a crucial 3rd down play, the D blasted Bledsoe out of bounds inches short of a first down, and they settled for a FG... You know what happened after that..

-Ryan Hannam's sliding TD catch to tie the game...
-Big Play Babs picking off Bledsoe and streaking down the sideline into FG range...
-JB's tossing his helmet and being mobbed after hitting the game winner...

I could watch the last two minutes of that game on a loop until time ends. That was the moment I sincerely started believing the 2005 Seahawks were Super Bowl bound.

If he can't make a clutch field goal, how can he protect us from the evildoers?!!?!?

Poor Jay Feely... According to his Twitter, he's a "Christian with political aspirations," and Deadspin has picked up on his "These Things I Believe" tweeting discourse. As Feely wrote:

"I have never said I believed Obama to be a socialist Muslim. It does bother me he is unwilling to defend America's greatness."

..and he went on Sean Hannity's show the other day... He's clearly angling for that post-football political and/or cable pundit career.

Now, I'm a Daily Kos reading, Obama-votin' Lib-rul, so Jay wouldn't be getting my vote anyway... But I have an unpleasant truth for Jay-F: Unless you end up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue someday, this is what you'll be remembered for...



Ahhhh... I will never ever get sick of watching that :-]

Seahawks Team of (9/10ths of) the Decade

Inspired by "All-Decade Week" over on Mike Sando's ESPN NFC West Blog, I decided to take a stab at Seattle's "All-Decade" team (yes, I know... with one year left in the decade). Here we go:

OFFENSE

QB Matt Hasselbeck
RB Shaun Alexander
FB Mack Strong
WR Bobby Engram
LT Walter Jones
LG Steve Hutchinson
C Robbie Tobeck
RG Chris Grey
RT Sean Locklear
TE John Carlson
WR Darrell Jackson

DEFENSE

CB Marcus Trufant
SS Deon Grant
FS Ken Hamlin
OLB Julian Peterson
MLB Lofa Tatupu
OLB Chad Brown
DE Patrick Kerney
DT Rocky Bernard
DT John Randle
DE Chike Okeafor
CB Ken Lucas

SPECIALISTS
K Josh Brown
P Tom Rouen
KR Charlie Rogers
PR Nate Burleson


Discuss and debate!

Happy Father's Day

Like a lot of you out there, I became a Seahawks fan when I was quite young. It was during the 1983 season that I got hooked, and that was also when my Dad took me to my first game at the Kingdome. I found the Hawks on my own; That fandom wasn't passed down to me from my father. He was more a fan of boxing, fishing, etc.

Not to get too sentimental, but my father and I never had a very good relationship. I was a bookish, geeky "inside dog" kind of kid, and he clearly was hoping for a son that was more of an outdoorsy jock. I was always closer to my Mom than I was to him, and he was very emotionally distant in general to boot. My love of the Seahawks had to be one of the only things that made me somewhat "normal" in his eyes, so we bonded over that.

My parents got divorced when I was a teenager, and I quickly developed a much better relationship with my new stepdad than I ever had with my father. I haven't talked to my father in years, but I have to admit he is one of the reasons my love for the Seahawks is so intense... When I look back on my childhood, almost all of my positive memories of him are tied to the Seahawks; Watching games with him on TV, going to games in Seattle, etc. My mom also embraced the Seahawks when I was young, and my stepdad and little brother are fans... So the Hawks are truly a family affair for us now.

As for my son, he's three and I HOPE he becomes a Seahawks fan... I've talked about my plan to keep him in the fold before:

I'm fully aware that this could go sour over the long term. Growing up out here in the midwest, he could end up a Rams or Bears fan. Even worse, he could grow up to be some emo or goth kid decrying my love for a "corporate bloodsport." Ugh.

But just like the cylons, I have a plan... I've exposed him to the Seahawks from day one, and used NFL Sunday Ticket and NFL network to aggressively indoctrinate him. He'll never have to miss a chance to watch the Hawks, thanks to the miracle of satellite television.

The biggest part of the plan is a trip to Qwest Field with him during the 2014 season. He'll be 8 years old, and I'll pick a game the Hawks are pretty sure to win.. We play Oakland at home that year... they'll probably still f@*ing suck, and I can build up his hatred of the Raiders to boot! If I'm lucky, Lofa will still be playing for Seattle at that point.. and who knows... Maybe 39-year-old Hass will still be the QB (that seems doubtful, though).

Anyway, that should be enough to hook the kid for life.

My wife is preggers with "Kid B" right now, and I'll be pushing the Hawks on the new kid too (boy or girl). I'd love my kids even if they were Steelers fans.. But that would make Sundays pretty rough in our house.

What about y'all? Are the Seahawks something you shared with your Dad? Or that you've shared with your kids?

Wow.

A beautiful shot of Qwest Field from Madden 10 (posted by mysportsphotog). Too bad I don't play Madden anymore. Why?

1. Even though I vastly prefer watching the NFL, as video games go NCAA Football is a LOT more fun to play.

2. Back when I did play Madden, I couldn't stand to play the damn game the whole week after a Seahawks loss. It would just remind me of Sunday's debacle and piss me off/depress me.

Side note: I'm still not very pleased about the change from fully painted blue end zones to what we have now. I'm sure it's because of having to share the field with the Sounders, but I still think it looks lame.

The Beard Sells Out

DKSB is now partnered with Online Seats, as you can see over in the right column. I tried the google ads thing before, but frankly that was more trouble than it was worth. The good folks at Online Seats offered me a generous lump sum for the next year, and given that I was already looking for ways to afford NFL Sunday Ticket this fall, I accepted.

You can see their page for this fall's slate of Seahawks games here... I'll be seeing y'all at the Colts game in Indy this October, and I'll be getting my tickets through Online Seats...

What can we expect in 2009?

As I've said in this space before, I expect the Seahawks to win the NFC West in 2009. However, our franchise's history suggests that if that happens, it will be another one of those years that we win a division title with a 9-7 record, like we did in 1988, 1999, 2004, and 2006.

Coming off a 4-12 year, there certainly isn't any shame in that game. But why am I pretty sure that we won't steamroll into the playoffs at 13-3 or 12-4?

This is why.

For those of you too lazy to study that link to Pro Football Reference, the point is this: The Seahawks have never had a season-to-season improvement of more than +4 wins.

1977 --> 1978? 5-9 --> 9-7.
1992 --> 1993? 2-14 --> 6-10.
2004 --> 2005? 9-7 --> 13-3.

A 5-win improvement from 4-12 to 9-7 would be the biggest leap forward in team history. Right now I have us down for a 10-6 regular season, and if things break our way that's certainly possible.. The talent is there, and our injury situation should at least "regress to the mean." We can also look to recent examples like Miami and Atlanta, who respectively had 10-win and 7-win improvements from 2007 to 2008.

But 9-7 is more likely for the Hawks than 12-4 in 2009... With the Cards likely to suffer a bit of a post-Super Bowl hangover, the Niners being wildly overhyped, and the Rams just plain sucking, 9-7 would likely mean a division title and another winnable home playoff game.

That sounds pretty damn good to me.

Mike Singletary is a Blowhard Doucher

I'm supposed to bow in respect to Mike Singletary because he was a great player and yak yak yaks away with tough talk... Sorry, but this is one guy who isn't about to kneel before that bug-eyed failure-in-waiting.

Matt Millen was a great player in his day too. How'd hiring him work out for the Lions? Singletary's record so far as Niners coach leaves me far from impressed. Sure, he went 5-4 after taking over near midseason last year... So? A .555 winning percentage over a small sample of games doesn't exactly give him free reign to blather publicly about Matt Stafford's reaction to his parents' divorce, or almost making his #1 draft pick cry, or guarantee that his his team is headed to the playoffs.

Singletary is good for crazy YouTube rants and Letterman sketches, but hasn't proved his worth otherwise yet as a coach.

Before anyone talks shit about Jim Mora, remember that he's coached a MIKE VICK-led team all the way to the NFC Championship game. Singletary hasn't done jack squat as a head coach in the NFL, and it says here that his tenure in SF will be nasty, brutish and short.

He might as well get ready to drop his pants again on September 20, because the Seahawks are going to give him and his minions another good, hard spanking.

Useful Idiots

I grew up hating the Denver Broncos, as I'm sure all y'all over a certain age did too. No team ruined as many of my fall Sundays as the Broncos did when I was growing up... To make things worse, there were WAYYYY too many Denver fans going to school with me in Tri-Cities back in the 80s. I took perverse glee in taunting them after the Broncos took beating after beating in the Super Bowl, but that didn't erase Elway haunting my dreams.

With Elway's retirement and the 2002 realignment, the rivalry has almost completely faded away... But now we have more reason than ever to root against the Donkeys this fall. As you know, we hold Denver's 2010 1st round pick. After the offseason Denver has had, I'm highly confident Seattle will be getting a very high pick.

Let's review...

They chased Shanahan out of town, and are going into battle with a rookie head coach (who clumsily set in motion the events that ran Jay Cutler out of town). They got rid of one of the NFL's best young QBs, are going to trade one of the league's most productive receivers, and have done little to improve the NFL's 30th-ranked defense in 2008.

Sure, maybe a team would want to punt on Marshall given that he apparently likes give his girlfriends the ol' Houston Team Knuckle Sandwich, but dealing the guy gives The Neckbeard one less target.

I've got Denver down for three wins in 2009... They might not be that bad, but I'll be shocked if they don't end up handing us a top-10 pick.

So bust out those Bronco Busters T-shirts.. This fall we're gonna party like it's 1988:

Going Green

I know it's probably a bad idea to talk about anything political on this blog, but whether you are liberal, conservative, Republican, Democrat or none of the above... It's clear that the popular will is being brutally suppressed by the Iranian government right now, and that all freedom-loving folks should stand in solidarity with the rightfully elected President and his supporters. One way to do that is to wear green, the color sported by Mousavi and his supporters. Their color wasn't exactly bright neon green, but any Seahawks gear you have in the blinding green should get busted out of the closet forthwith...

Conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan has been doing amazing work covering this.. If you don't really know what I'm talking about, The Daily Dish is a good place to start. He's suggested using the following pic as your facebook/twitter profile pic, and that's what I plan to do..



Alright.. back to football.

It's Good to be Aaron Curry (well, to be any Seahawk)

That's Aaron Curry with Ken Griffey Jr. (pic stolen from his AC's facebook page)... Superstar #1 draft picks certainly get amazing perks, and if AC reaches his All-Pro potential, he'll OWN the town. However, even the guys at the bottom of the food chain get a pretty sweet deal.

7th round pick Courtney Greene just got a $43,000 signing bonus. That's more money than I make in a year. I'm not about to go on a cliched "athletes are overpaid" rant... Particularly if we are talking about NFL players, they take the risk of suffering debilitating injuries and sudden, violent death every time they step on the field. Given that the average NFL career is only 3.5 years, and NFL vets have a life expectancy of only 55, I don't begrudge them the big dollars.

Maybe that's why I find the twitter feeds of these athletes so fascinating. Despite being a member of the mega-rich elite, Walter Jones still goes out to a theater to watch The Hangover.... Darryl Tapp plays UNO... Matt Hasselbeck evacuates the house during baby showers... and so on. I wonder how much these guys will still reveal once training camp hits, then the regular season. I'm sure someone like Chad Ochocinco will say something stupid in a tweet, and organizations will try to clamp down on their players' use of twitter, facebook, etc. That'd be a shame, because these social networking outlets humanize these millionaire gladiators in a way few things can.

Moving back to O-H-I-O

Your humble author and his family are moving back to Columbus, Ohio next month; I lived there from 1999-2006 while I went to grad school at Ohio State, and we're eager to get back. It's close to my wife's family, and it's a very underrated, very fun city. It's also, surprisingly, the 15th largest city in the US.

It's a pretty solid sports town too, with NHL, MLS and AAA baseball teams (all in excellent, modern facilities)... and if you want NFL, MLB or NBA action, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh are all with the range of a day-trip. I've already adopted the Blue Jackets as my NHL rooting interest.

One thing I never really embraced while I was at OSU was Buckeye football. For the most part, I was happy when they won, just because that kept the batshit-craziness somewhat under control. I went to a few games at the 'Shoe, and it was fun enough.. but it never grabbed me.

Part of this is my general contempt for college football. As an NFL fan, I couldn't understand how 100,000 people could be MAD after their team wins 42-10 (yeah, that happens in Buckeye-land). I also couldn't understand why it was more important to beat Michigan than to win the National Championship, or how 63,000 people at Qwest could be WAY louder than 100k at Ohio Stadium (at the Shoe, they also don't really get the concept that you should be QUIET WHEN YOUR TEAM HAS THE BALL).

Also, in Columbus, people wear NFL jerseys as a statement of their Buckeye love, unlike normal humans who buy a jersey because they like that TEAM. I remember having a Shawn Springs jersey that I pretty much couldn't wear, simply because if people saw me wearing it around town they wouldn't even know I was a SEAHAWKS fan.

My wife didn't buy this until we went to the Seahawks/Browns game in Cleveland back in '01. I wore my new Hasselbeck jersey, and I was accosted and abused for 3 hours non-stop. More than once, my wife was explicitly spared... she was wearing my Springs jersey, and I heard a lot of "he's ok... He's a Buckeye!"

Of course it's admirable that Ohioans are so rabidly in love with the Buckeyes... It's just one of those things that is so intense that if you grow up outside of it, it's fucking terrifying. Shit, I grew up in the Tri-Cities, and I thought it was completely normal for a high school to have a mushroom cloud on their football helmets... When I tell outsiders about that, they tend to get the "WTF??!?" face.

Here's how bugfuck insane they are about the Bucks in C-bus.. When former Michigan QB Drew Henson was with the AAA Columbus Clippers, he was routinely and intensely booed... and he was playing for the HOME TEAM!

Can you imagine UW fans booing Marcus Trufant at Qwest Field? No. You can't. Because that's fucking retarded.

But this is all 100% normal to my wife (who didn't even know Seattle had an NFL team before we met), and to any other native-born Ohioan. My son will grow up thinking this way too, and will probably be decked out in Scarlet & Grey every fall Saturday...

As long as he's in Neon Green and Gun Metal Blue watching the Hawks on the dish with me on Sundays, I can handle the rest. :-]

Yes, we're embracing an internet fad.

DKSB is on twitter now, and you'll see updates over in the right column under "Bearded Tweets." Enjoy!

Power Rankings are for Douchers. Here's what will happen in the AFC in 2009.

Go check out the NFC part of my game-by-game based predictions here... Now, the AFC:

AFC West
Chargers 12-4
Raiders 6-10
Chiefs 4-12
Broncos 3-13

AFC North
Steelers 11-5
Bengals 9-7
Ravens 9-7
Browns 6-10

AFC South
Texans 11-5
Colts 10-6
Titans 8-8
Jaguars 7-9

AFC East
Patriots 12-4
Dolphins 10-6
Bills 7-9
Jets 6-10

Playoffs
First Round: Texans 31, Dolphins 20; Colts 17, Steelers 16
Divisional Round: Colts 27, Patriots 24; Texans 20, Chargers 17 (OT)
AFC Championship: Texans 30, Colts 17

SUPER BOWL XLIV:
Eagles 38, Texans 27