Might as well go build a bomb shelter and hunker down
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Gloom and doom. Cats and dogs lying together. Fire and brimstone. The final episode of “Seinfeld.” The apocalypse. The summer of 1982. Think of all the awful things that have happened or may happen in your life and your angst won’t add up to all the anguish Seahawk Fan feels this morning. Read on.
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• The Hawks are 0-2. Oh, the humanity. What are we going to do? We won’t say “relax,” because that’s already become a cliché, thanks to Aaron “Freakin’ “ Rogers. But the sentiment is applicable. The Hawks are 0-2, sure. It’s a lot worse than being 2-0 or even 1-1. It’s not great. It’s also not insurmountable. Nor is it something to ignore. The core reasons the Seahawks are 0-2 are worth examining, worth fretting over. The missed tackles. The offensive mistakes. The lack of discipline. All of those things are whitewashed away in wins and stand out like a water fountain in the desert after losses. The Hawks have been a great defensive team the past few years partly because they rarely miss tackles. That hasn’t been the case the first couple weeks, in part because their eraser, Kam Chancellor, is holding out and partly because Bobby Wagner isn’t playing to his high standards. Half of that can be cleaned up easily. The other half is a problem that won’t go away until either Chancellor mans up and honors his contract or the Hawks capitulate. The offense is going to be plagued by a leaky offensive line all season. That’s nothing new. But until Darrell Bevell and Russell Wilson work out how to integrate Jimmy Graham into the flow while still highlighting Marshawn Lynch, it’s going to struggle. That could happen as early as next week – thank the schedule gods the Bears, in Seattle, are next up – or it could be an ongoing process that nibbles away at the team’s confidence. Finally, Pete Carroll’s teams have never been the model of discipline. It’s just a byproduct of his style and loose attitude. It’s the bad that comes with a lot of good. Still, it’s galling to see the number of silly penalties – how many times can Michael Bennett line up offsides? – and angry ones – ripping a helmet off, even if provoked, isn’t a smart thing to do – that never seem to matter in wins but can be aggravating in losses. OK, they are aggravating all the time. Carroll’s teams have always been this way. Live with it. It isn’t changing. But will the record? Sure. The Bears are the perfect salve for the burns of the first two weeks. Then come the Lions, another chance to get well in front of the home folks. By then we should have some sense of what the Hawk offense can be, what the defense is (whether or not Chancellor is a part of it) and where the season is headed. We have none of that this morning. All we have is the neighborhood Seahawk Fan over in the office corner trying to hide his or her red eyes. Remember, it could be worse. He or she could be a fan of the 49ers.
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• WSU: The Cougars don’t have a game Saturday. It’s their one bye week of the season. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t work going on. Far from it. There was a short practice last night and Jacob Thorpe was there. He has more in this morning blog post. He also has a story on what’s ahead this week for WSU. ... The Cougars are still in the bottom three in this Pac-12 power ranking and not listed at all in this top 25 poll (the latter phrase was added just to get you to smile).
• Gonzaga: The women’s soccer team picked up a highly prized draw yesterday.
• Seahawks: The 27-17 loss marked the third consecutive time the Hawks had a fourth-quarter lead and gave it up. That’s not a stat anyone is proud of in the Seattle locker room. ... The Hawks have yet to figure out how to use Graham. When is that going to happen? ... Yes, there are problems. They need to be worked out quickly. The team thinks they can be. ... In actuality, the Hawks defense played better against the Packers than it did against the Rams. ... The grades are bad but is it time to panic?
• Mariners: As the season winds down, the M’s are playing about as well as they have all year. But does it mean anything? One thing it does mean is they are four games under .500 after Sunday’s 9-2 win at Texas, Felix Hernandez’s 18th win of the season. ... Stefen Romero played centerfield for the first time in his life. ... The M’s rookies still get hazed a bit. ... The M's decision on a general manager is crucial for their future. ... We have this link just to add to your woes. Sorry.
• Sounders: Portland lost 2-0 and its playoff hopes are fading a bit.
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• Don’t worry. Be happy. Yep, that song is another example of awful you can compare to the Seahawks’ 0-2 start. Until later ...
