NorthWest Sports Blog brings you daily features on Oregon, Washington State, and BC amateur and pro sports teams.
NWSB Insider and Mariners blogger Jon Irwin reports on his predictions for the 2014 Mariners rotation. Seattle has a lot of great prospects in the pipeline, and their development is coming to a head. The 2014 rotation should look a lot different than the 2013 model. Outside of Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma, the rest of the rotation is bound for a youth-based overhaul. Even though we’re only one month into the season, 2013 already looks like another tough year for the Mariners.
Seattle Seahawks blogger Clinton Bell weighs in with a piece about the Seahawks most prized possession: the Legion of Boom. From Kam to Earl, Browner to Sherm, these guys are the heart and soul of the Seahawks defense. Sure the offense has some nice weapons too, but the defense is what keeps the Hawks in games down the stretch. Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, Earl Thomas, Brandon Browner, and now featuring Antoine Winfield. Look out.
NWSB Insider and Seattle Mariners’ blogger Jeff Budke talks about the Seattle Mariners win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in game 2 of the two game series. It was a happy Happy Felix Day indeed, thanks in part to another lights out performance by the King, and a timely go-ahead homer by Jesus Montero. M’s finished the road trip with a winning record, which is always something to brag about.
NWSB Editor and Insider Chris Anderson talks about Seattle’s woeful 3-4-5 in their starting rotation. As good as things have been going for the Mariners as of late, there is still a glaring error on the team that may prevent them from making a push and potentially surpassing the .500 mark in the coming weeks: the back-end of their five-man rotation. Whats in store for Aaron Harang, James Paxton, Danny Hultzen, Joe Saunders and others?
NWSB Insider and Seattle Mariners blogger Clinton Bell tells us to him the best “MY oh MY” play of the fifth week of the year had to be the all around play of the Mariners for the week. The M’s took 4 out of 6 games, en route to a series win against both the Orioles and Blue Jays. Welcome back Michael Saunders, great pitching, a triple by Jesus Montero, a slam by Dustin Ackley, and Jason Bay is hitting the ball well. A great week by our Mariners all around.
NWSB Insider and Seattle Seahawks’ blogger Jordin Ereth talks about Seattle’s 2nd round draft pick Christine Michael. There are a few ways to react to this pick. One way is to question it like every other analyst seems to do whenever Pete and John make a selection in the early rounds. Or, you could go with the seemingly more popular “I have faith in the front office, considering their track record in previous drafts.” Jordin, however, tries to get inside the genius of Pete and John.
NWSB Insider and Seattle Mariners’ blogger Jeff Budke talks about the Seattle Mariners nice game 1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night. The good. The breakthrough from Kyle Seager and re-addition of Michael Saunders has invigorated a Mariners offense that was sputtering because of injuries. The Bad. The Mariners one loss this week? Saunders was 0 for 5. Felix Hernandez won his third game in a row and has four wins already this season.
NWSB Insider and Seattle Mariners blogger Clinton Bell brings us a special piece about the difference between the Mariners and the Seahawks. History shows us that teams get more fan support when they win, but even if defeat, the Seahawks fan base has been much more supportive than the Mariners. I give the ownership’s of these two teams credit for that. The Seahawks ownership is always moving forward, while the Mariners ownership seems content on being a lousy team.
NWSB Editor and Insider Chris Anderson predicts what Seattle’s defensive line will look like in 2013. The Seahawks were one of the top defenses in the league last year. Allowing just 306.2 yards per game, 5.1 yards per play, 15.3 points per game, 103.1 rushing yards per game, and 203.1 passing yards per game, you’d think Seattle would have managed to get to the quarterback more often than not. But that wasn’t really the case.
NWSB Insider and Seattle Mariners’ blogger Jeff Budke talks about the Seattle Mariners nice game 1 win over the Baltimore Orioloes on Monday night. The good. Michael Saunders crushed a home run in the first inning off a left-handed pitcher. Yes, he played great in CF, adding something Endy Chavez can’t a foot of height. The bad. In AAA, Mike Zunino recorded his first hit at home this season (a triple). Can he come up yet?
NWSB Insider and Washington Huskies blogger Chris Hall predicts the staring lineup for the 2012-13 Washington Huskies. Andrew Andrews, CJ Wilcox, Desmond Simmons, Shawn Kemp Jr. and Gilles Dierickx all make the cut on Hall’s list. Nigel Williams-Cross, Darin Johnson, Mike Anderson, Jernard Jerreau and Perris Blackwell are the challengers for Lorenzo Romar’s squad.
NWSB Insider and Seattle Mariners blogger Clinton Bell tells us to him the best “MY oh MY” play of the fourth week of the year had to be the go-ahead homer by Michael Morse. Morse followed fellow outfielder Jason Bay for the second home run on the day for the Mariners. This one was the deciding factor in the much anticipated return of former Mariners Jason Vargas. The Marines won the game, and the series, their first series win of the year.
