Malik
(8/22/11)
I don't want to give in
to the Portis hype machine. I like what I've seen of Portis, as the
third string QB for the Seahawks, but the truth is that he will need
time before he can start in a regular season NFL game. It's not like
most rookie QBs can play as a starter. There are some flukes out
there, but the majority of QBs in the NFL start as the low man in
the depth chart. The only real issue, in a normal situation, that
can change that is enough injury on a team to force the rookie into
the starting role. I mean Jake Locker will probably start this
season with the Titans after a dozen weeks since Hasselbeck is
pretty prone to injury...unless the Tennessee O-line can keep
Hasselbeck protected.
That said...it's sad as
hell that I really am starting to wish Portis was the starter with
the Seahawks. He looked damned good, for a rookie playing against
soon-to-be-cut players in San Diego...especially since Portis was
playing with soon-to-be-cut receivers and rushers on his own team.
It got worse on Saturday, when the Vikings came to town. T-Jack
looked pretty ineffective (nothing like showing the Vikings, even
with Seattle's home field noise effect of the 12th Man, that they
were smart to ship him out of town), and Whitehurst didn't exactly
pick up the slack. It was only in the final 2 and a half minutes,
when Portis came in, that I liked what I saw from Seattle.
While running with a
hurry-up and a two-minute offense, Portis looked like he was in
control. Considering he's never been brought in only for a high
pressure time, with a sizable loss on hand, in the NFL, he looked
damned confident. Yes, he made some questionable moves, but nothing
beyond what I've seen in a two-minute offense with normal NFL
starters. He had his arm ready, and he made some great quick throws.
Of course, Portis had no chance in hell to make up for two scoring
drives in such little time, but he looked really good trying to at
least end the night on a less horrible of feelings.
Anyway, in the end, the
Seahawks are looking like...who cares? I've seen the Seahawks go
undefeated in the pre-season, only to limp away with a losing record
in the 16 games that matter. This is the pre-season. I am only
enjoying the pre-season because it almost looked like we would have
had no season at all. So, this is like getting a smaller Christmas
gift early. It's not as nice as the regular season, but it's still
really nice to have. Also, watching the roster changes is pretty fun
in a year when no team had a good opportunity to really prepare for
the season. Even if a QB ran practices outside the regular channels,
during the lock-out, it still doesn't mean much when so many players
were quickly shuffled around the league. Also, these unusual
practice sessions were without the coaches, so that just made them
more of conditioning exercises than real practices.
In the end, I am just
going to sit back and enjoy seeing what unfolds for the next couple
of weeks. However, more than anything, I really want to see if
Seattle has a QB who is worthy of being something more than the
back-up to one of the other guys who has no right to be anything
beyond a back-up. If T-Jack and Clipboard Jesus cannot get their
acts together, I wonder if Pete Carroll will actually consider
bringing in Portis during the regular season (probably to play the
second half after watching one QB flail, and after the other one was
injured the week before). It would be ridiculous, but the idea of
T-Jack and Whitehurst being the starter on any team is also
ridiculous.
Malik |
Malik
(8/24/11)
I cannot believe that
the Sounders, despite having such a lame start to the MLS season,
are looking so good right now. I mean they are basically going
neck-and-neck for 2nd place in the MLS standings, have another
chance for the US Open Cup with the semi-finals coming up soon, and
are holding their own in the CONCACAF Champions League. They entered
the group phase without too much drama, and they are now 2-0-0 in
the group phase after beating Monterrey 1-0 last night...in Mexico.
Not only does this
bode well since Monterrey was pretty much a thorn in the sides of
the Sounders in last years CONCACAF group phase, but also this makes
the Sounders the second MLS team to win in Mexico. Considering
how the Sounders play better in Seattle when they have their fans
chanting and giving their full effort, things look pretty good with
two more group phase games at home. Right now Seattle is #1 in their
group, and will remain in the top for a while with only Monterrey
having a win before last night...a win to go with the loss that
Seattle handed them at their home.
Anyway, I will be
pretty sporadic on posting for a while. I know this is not much
different than normal, as of late, since I have not been exactly
consistent with postings for a few months. However, I'm entering a
stretch of vacation time and this will undoubtedly leave me away
from the productive mindset needed to post anything.
Sadly, I will be
missing out on PAX this year. Yes, I've intentionally missed PAX
each year (I'm not a fan of standing in lines and paying to see
stuff that I can see for free a little later in the future). This
year, however, are some panels and discussions I really would love
to see. AVGN will be represented with a panel Friday morning, and
the next game from one of the people behind Portal and Left 4 Dead
will be revealed. This is in addition to a few dozen other things
that are actually raising my curiosity.
I'm also going to
have to miss out on another pre-season game for the Seahawks this
weekend. Although, after watching the last game against the Vikings,
I may be better off not being subjected to this level of humiliation
until it matters. I think if the Seahawks keep up what they are
showing in the pre-season, the mantra "suck for Luck" is going to be
a strong factor. Of course, that would be assuming that Seattle can
actually do good at being bad. Normally, the Seahawks tend to be
just a little too good to be crap and way too bad to be good.
Malik |