Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Michael Saunders and The Mariners Success

When the baseball season started, it was believed that The Mariners were in for a tough year and it was supposed to be a learning experience. The Marinerswere supposed to improve but many thought that we were in for another 90 loss season. It looked that way on July 13 right after the all-star break when they were sitting at 36-52 and again heading for an abysmal season. Improvement was the key for the season and many fans wanted to be at .500 when the season came to an end. At 36-52 the mariners were on track for another 90 loss season and hope was disappearing. People began to question Eric Wedge and Jack Zduriencik. That is ridiculous to question them since we were told at the beginning of the year that it was going to be a streaky team. This team is different than the past teams that have struggled, and it is because this team is young. In fact, it is the 3rd youngest team in baseball so it is expected for this team to struggle at times. Young players are very streaky and if many are struggling on this young team then they will lose. Until they become more consistent, we will see a very streaky team that will have lows and highs. We are seeing the highs being put together right now as the Mariners are sitting at 59-64 and only 7.5 out of the wild card. In the middle of July no one would have thought that the Mariners could put together a record like that, and be anywhere close to the wild card. We are beginning to see something this month that we have not really seen since 2001 (2009 does not count for me). We are seeing a consistent team, we usually see a consistently bad team but this one is turning into a consistently good team. They have won 13 of their last 14 at home and have gone 23-12 since July 13. They are winning as a young team and that can be very hard to do and especially without a veteran “bopper” in the middle of thelineup. The pitching has been fantastic again and that has been consistent, but it is the hitting that is being surprisingly consistent. Not only on the road but at home too, at the dreaded Safeco Field. The hitters are no longer afraid of the fences and one of the hitters that has done a full 360 is Michael Saunders.



Last year Michael Saunders started the year on the team but was horrific throughout the year and was eventually sent down but his line looked like this. He had a .149 average with 2 HR and 8RBI, 56 SO to 11 BB in 58 games. He looked downright awful and it was believed by many that he was done and had no future with the Mariners. Another prospect down the drain was the general thought. Then something magical happened over the winter, he decided to reshape his swing so it would be shorter and quicker and rebound mentally so he could have the confidence to be a MLB outfielder. With the 2 HR last night he brought histotal to 13 with 41 RBI’s on the year, his defense has been stellar and for awhile he was batting in the .270’s. He went through a 2-38 slump but once again bounced back recently to bring his average back up to .248. Although the average is not amazing he brings back hope to a team that has never won a World Series. He is one of the pieces to the puzzle for The Mariners and has been shining all of this year. This year has brought hope back to Mariners fans and if they can be more consistent, next year could be a playoff year.

Thanks for reading and follow us on twitter @seasportssoup. Check back for more updates.

Lukie


Monday, August 20, 2012

Short, But Tall in Many Ways: Russell Wilson

Most people standing at five feet, eleven inches tall in American society, 5'10 5/8" to be exact, are considered to be above the average height of a person. Apparently, that's not Russell Wilson. Most college quarterbacks who put up numbers that lead a team to the Rose Bowl are considered icons and future NFL stars. Well, that's not Russell Wilson either, according to the critics. After three years at North Carolina State University, Russel Wilson transferred to Wisconsin for his senior year of college football. It put the Badgers in championship consideration right away. After a very successful regular season in which Wilson put up All-American numbers and threw 33 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions, the Badgers reached the Rose Bowl. The Badgers played the Ducks tight the whole way, but the Ducks prevailed in the end. Wilson was also a very skilled baseball player, but chose to go the football path and entered the 2012 NFL draft.

Many panelists and critics dogged Wilson for his height leading up to the draft, but many also added that if he had the height he'd be the 3rd QB taken overall because he had the intangibles and skills, just not the height. They slated him as a late 3rd round pick at best. But there was that one team that had the confidence to select the QB everyone had written off. That team was the Seattle Seahawks. It was one of their best picks of the draft, if not the best.

Russell Wilson was immediately thrown into the fire as a rookie in his first NFL season. The Seahawks had previously signed Matt Flynn, but had no starting QB set in stone. Thus prevailed an ongoing QB competition (see previous blog entry for more details). So far, Wilson has put up big numbers, much like his college stats, in the Seahawks first two preseason games. In both games, he has played the entire second half against second, third and fourth teamers. Even though he's playing against lower level guys, he's still put up huge numbers. Tomorrow, Pete Carroll will announce who will start vs. the Kansas City Chiefs this week. Here's why I think it should be big Russ Wilson.

You can't teach heart. That's what Russell Wilson has along with a lot of other overlooked skills. One of the best things that Wilson brings to the team is his heart. One trait that Flynn doesn't bring and Wilson does is his ability to extend plays. Extending plays is the key to finding the wide open receivers and big plays as well as avoiding sacks, both which the Hawks crucially need as assets in their offense. Flynn has had his chance with the first teamers his first two games in the preseason. It's time for Russell Wilson to have his shot and for us to see what he can do. People could argue that starting a new quarterback 2 weeks before the regular season would mess up the chemistry, but that's not what it will do at all. Starting Russell Wilson vs. the Chiefs will give us our winner of the QB competition. Earlier I said Flynn would win, simply because of his contract and his experience, but Wilson has a chance to take the job right out of Flynn's hands this week. The key to Russell being able to do that is showing his height factor should be considered a non-factor, his skills are as good as RGIII's, and showing the big heart of his. I think Russell can do it, but only if he gets the chance.

As a high schooler, you wanna see everyone given a fair chance. If Pete starts Russell, it'll give me a sense of fairness within the organization. If he doesn't, I will always wonder what could of been if Wilson did start the third week of the preseason because you surely can't be having QB competitions when you're trying to build chemistry and win games in the regular season. The QB competition needs to be decided by the end of this week. C'mon Pete, ditch those indecisive ways and pick the best gunslinger you got, but give everyone a fair shot. Russell Wilson will show you what's he's got.

Thanks for reading and follow us on twitter @seasportssoup. Keep checking back for updates!

Marshall

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Death Valley- Previewing the Huskies First Six Games

The Huskies 2012 football team is up against a tall task, taller than any task Sark and his boys have faced in his four year tenure. Four of their first six opponents are ranked inside the top 21 teams in college football. A tall task for any team if you ask me. The Huskies have always setup their first games playing A, B, and C caliber teams so they can ease into the season and be ready for Pac-12 play. This year they are doing the same thing, playing their B game first against San Diego St., then the A game against the third ranked LSU Tigers in Death Valley and finally the C game against Portland State. After the trio of games and a needed bye week, the Huskies head into Pac-12 play. Usually the beginning of league play isn't to hard for the Dawgs, but this year they open up Pac-12 play against the three best teams in the league, the 21st ranked Stanford Cardinal, 5th ranked Oregon Ducks and finally against the number 1 team in the nation, the USC Trojans.

AP Photo/The Daily Herald, Jennifer Buchanan

The first game of the season shouldn't be to hard for a BCS conference team as these teams look to keep a clean record early on in the season. The Huskies should have an easy time with the Aztecs of San Diego State and should be 1-0 heading into one of their toughest matchups in Sark's era. Even though Tyrann Matthieu was kicked off the team this week for drug use, LSU still poses a huge threat to the Huskies. However, I think this game could be closer than most people think. With an already clear improvement within the defense in practices this early fall, the Huskies will have the tenacity to compete with a solid LSU offense. I think if the defense can contain the LSU offense throughout the entire game, limiting them to less than 30 points, the UW offense will be able to muster up 30 or more points. However, my biggest concern is the LSU defensive line. They are just too big and strong for our unstable O Line and KP17 could be finding his knee problems re-occurring during the game, due to all the times he will be sacked. In the end the LSU defense will prove to be to much to overcome for the Huskies offense and the LSU Tigers will secure a 30-17 victory over the Huskies.

After a tough loss in Death Valley, the Huskies will easily rebound against the Portland State Vikings and flex their muscles. They will head into their first bye week with a 2-1 record. During the bye week, the Huskies will rest up and mentally prepare for a grueling three week schedule, arguably a harder three week stretch than any other team in the nation. First up is the Stanford Cardinal, at home. The loss of Andrew Luck will prove to be to crucial for the Cardinal this season. The Cardinal defense has also been sub par in the past and their cornerbacks wont be fast and strong enough to cover and keep up with Kasen, James Johnson and Austin Seferian-Jenkins. Keith Price will absolutely shred their defense and on the other hand our improved defense will hold the Cardinal below 20 points. This will be a nice upset victory for the Dawgs, beating the Cardinal 31-20.

Heading into their fifth game of the season the Dawgs will be sittin' pretty at 3-1. However, they will run into a road block. A huge one at that. The stinkin' Oregon Ducks. The team any UW fan hates the most. Their fans are cocky and obnoxious and the only reason they are good is because of a rich Uncle they have named Phil. That being said, they are one of the best teams in the nation and the loss of Darron Thomas will help them to say the least. I never thought he was that good. I don't know why there was so much hoop-la surrounding such a mediocre quarterback when you have an even more talented one waiting in the wings. That would be Bryan Bennett. The kid placed in Oregon's offense will keep the UW defense on their heels and the Huskies won't know what hit them. Oregon will put a plethora of points up on the board and will do it FAST as well. KP17 should lead the offense to some nice scoring drives against a tough Oregon defense and put up plenty of points, but in a shootout, Oregon usually comes out victorious. In a battle of the offenses, Oregon wins it 45-31.

Following two tough, bone-wrenching games, all the Huskies have to do is come home and play the best team in the country: USC. Sounds easy right? The Trojans are my pick to win the national championship this year, but their toughest game of the year will come on August 13 at Century Link Field. Even though the Huskies will be beat up, they will pick themselves up when the Trojans come to town, just like they have in the past. Matt Barkley will win the Heisman this year, but I think the task at hand on this day will be insurmountable. The coaching staff will get the Huskies FIRED UP for this game against the Trojans and the defense will have their best performance all year, forcing turnovers left and right. The offense will be its usual self and will put up a solid amount of points on the board against a great defense. I'm predicting Sean Parker and Kasen Williams will have their biggest games all year against the Trojans. The fans will rush the field after this one and Sark will keep his streak of victories over USC at home alive. The Huskies will wreak havoc in front of many fans and recruits and will upset the Trojans with the final score being 24-14.

In my opinion, after those first six games and because of the experience they will gain of playing such good teams so early, the Huskies will remain unbeaten for the final six games on the schedule, bringing their season win loss total to 10-2. I know this is going out on a limb here, but the Huskies new defense should prepare the team for a big year and will help them out more than any other year in the Sark era. The offense will have a banner year, even better than last year with KP17, Kasen and ASJ leading the way. I feel like Sark's fourth year will prove to be a special one, showing his new coaching hires were the best moves he's made yet.

From a high school student's perspective, you hope the Huskies can upset all the big name teams, but you know that's not going to happen. You hope to see under a head coach's fourth year, vast improvement within the team and that's what I think you get in 2012. I'm already looking forward to next years recruiting class as well as it should be a top-20 class. The Huskies will surprise many people this year. I feel a Rose Bowl berth in the making sometime in the near future. Maybe not this year, but in 2013, the whole country better watch out for the Washington Huskies.

Thanks for reading and follow us on twitter @seasportsoup. More to come soon and check for updates.


Marshall

Friday, August 17, 2012

Quarterback Controversy- Seattle Seahawks Edition

I'm expecting big things out of the Seahawks this year. I think a lot of other people are as well. Playoffs should be attainable and maybe even a Conference Championship game if they play extraordinarily. This can all only happen though if you have a solid quarterback who leads the team. In my opinion the Seahawks have two quarterbacks viable for the starting job, those being Russel Wilson and Matt Flynn, with one really sticking out to me. That would be Matthew Flynn, number 15.

Picture by Joe Nicholson, US Presswire

I watched Matt Flynn in college, the one year he started at LSU, and never found that he was that great of a quarterback. I never really thought much of him and believed that he was just a good ol' D1 quarterback. He threw for 2407 yards, 21 touchdowns and had a 56.3% completion rate. Not bad, but not amazing either. In reality and after my research, I realized Matt Flynn was a solid college quarterback who was VERY efficient. That's just the kind of guy he is. Not an All-American or star, but a sufficient well rounded QB. I was wrong about my initial thoughts on Flynn, clearly, as he lead LSU to the national championship over Ohio State that year. When Flynn was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 7th round in 2008, again, I didn't think much of him. I was wrong again. Flynn was the understudy to Aaron Rodgers for four years before becoming a free agent this past offseason. During those four years Flynn learned from the best quarterback in the game and showed his learning's in the two chances he got to start for the Packers. Two years ago Flynn started for an injured Rodgers against the Patriots and put up respectable numbers, throwing for 251 yards and 3 touchdowns. Last year, in a start where the Packers were resting Rodgers, Flynn went off and showed how much he had really learned. Flynn set the franchise record for passing yards by throwing for 480 yards. He also threw 6 touchdowns and had a completion rate of 70.5%, a pro bowl caliber performance. This performance increased his value greatly for the upcoming offseason as he was going to be a free-agent.

Matt Flynn visited the Seahawks and the Dolphins in the offseason before he eventually signed with the Seahawks for a three-year deal worth $26 million, usually a starter's contract. However, in the NFL Draft, the Seahawks selected another quarterback in the third round, Russell Wilson who put up huge numbers his senior year in college, but was drafted low because of his height. Thus a quarterback controversy was started between Russell Wilson, Matt Flynn and Tavaris Jackson (everyone knows he never had a chance). During training camp Pete Carroll reiterated over and over again that each QB had a fair shot, but the competition was, and is between Matt Flynn and Russel Wilson. Each QB got to play a half last Saturday and each played well considering who they were playing against, Flynn against first and second teamers, Wilson against second, third and fourth teamers. The plan is the same for tomorrow's game against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. After all the preseason games, I believe that Matt Flynn will be the first team quarterback who steps on the field in Arizona to begin the season as he simply has more experience, knowledge and skill (height too) over Russell Wilson. I believe Matt Flynn will lead the Seahawks to the playoffs, along with their top five defense, and that the team will be one and done. I also believe Matt Flynn will put up solid numbers this year, but it still remains to be seen if he is the QB of the future for the Seahawks and personally I don't think he is. Just like I was wrong about Flynn in college and with the Packers, I hope I am wrong again and I truly hope he exceeds mine and everyone else's expectations.

This QB controversy and competition is fun to watch from a high school student's eyes. You want the best QB for your team, but that fire within you kind of wants to see the underdog win. My heart wants Russell Wilson to win the competition and blow all doubt about his height away, as well as my expectations for him, but my brain says Matthew Flynn will eventually win in the end. Who knows, Flynn could end up leading the Seahawks to a championship this year and many years to come. Only time will tell.

Thanks for reading and follow us on our new twitter @seasportssoup for updates on the blog.

Marshall

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Sweet Perfection: King Felix

When an unthinkable event happens in a city used to losing, people become overjoyed. These kind of events make goosebumps rise on everybody's skin throughout the city and that's exactly what went down at Safeco Wednesday afternoon. I'm just glad that Jack Z. had never thought of or will trade Felix and that the city so used to losing got to witness an amazing event in history.

Felix has been untouchable in his last 7 starts going 4-0 with a 1.84 ERA so leading up to the game everyone was expecting dominance, just maybe not quite this good. After three innings, Felix was only at 24 pitches and he was looking to go at least the distance. He would get hitters in 1-2, 2-2, and 0-2 counts and just make them look like harmless little children as he dropped the 12-6 curve on them at-bat after at-bat and finished with 12 K's on the day. His off speed stuff was probably the best I have ever seen it from him in his career as he had control over those pitches the whole game and threw every pitch with confidence. He caused the Rays to swing and miss 25 times in the game, the most by any pitcher since 2009. Along with the amazing off speed stuff, Felix had his fastball working. His fastball consistently sat in the 91-94 mph range and would occasionally hit 95. Felix's velocity has been in question this season, but he showed improved velocity Wednesday as well as complete control of his fastball. Another thing that I observed while watching the game was that Felix got better as the game went on. His stuff broke more, his velocity rose and his control was on point. That was what made this perfect game so amazing. To show how dominant he was in the latter part of the game, he struck out the side in the 6th and the 8th and 8 of his twelve strikeouts came in the last four innings. He made major league hitters in the rays, playoff contenders, look straight up bad. The Rays had a good of chance against Felix as a toddler has playing one on one against Michael Jordan. That's how dominant Felix was. This perfect game was one of the more dominant ones I have ever seen or heard of. Felix straight up balled out Wednesday afternoon.

This game ends all speculation in Seattle that Felix is the best athlete in the city. No doubt about it. I think this game also was one of the top 3 performances in Seattle sports history. This performance goes along with the double by Edgar, as well as Marques Tuiasosopo's 300/200 game against Stanford. All three performed by hall of fame caliber athletes. Truly amazing.

One more thought on the perfecto. Melky Cabrera should buy Felix dinner for the remainder of his life. On a day where Melky was suspended for the season for his use of Testosterone, Felix stole the show and turned all attention to him and off of the disappointment shrouding over Melky. Just shows how great of a person Felix Hernandez is.

The final part of every blog we write will be dedicated to how high schoolers view all of these events. It gives a truly unique perspective to the blog. I viewed this perfect game overall as inspiring. Felix inspired me to become dominant at what I do and to give it all 24/7. At such an early point in my life, as a high schooler, I still can decide what path my life goes on and this performance inspires me to be the best, and shoot for the best, just like Felix did and was Wednesday afternoon. Felix said he was thinking about a perfect game after the third inning, which shows me that dreaming big can end up in being big. Big time that is. Exactly what Felix Hernandez is. Thanks for reading and keep updated with the blog as more will be coming out day by day.

Marshall

First Blog- Explanation

Hello and welcome to our blog. I, Marshall Cherrington, created this blog so I, along with some fellow high schoolers, would be able to share our opinions and views on the world of sports in Seattle. We bring a unique point of view from the youth's standpoint and feel like we have a lot to share with the world through our writing and thoughts. We look forward to improving and strengthening this blog over time and remember, the Mariners, Seahawks, Sounders, Storm and Washington Huskies make up the amazing Seattle Sports Soup.