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Saturday, August 11, 2012

Olympic Results 8/11/2012

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/ U. K Telegraph

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/2012/ BBC Sport Olympic Page

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/countries/united-states Team USA Page

http://www.teamusa.org/ Team USA

Spotlight On Seahawks QBs, ex-Seattle QBs | Seattle Seahawks

Flynn relishes chance to start | Seahawks | The Seattle Times

Mariners blow 5-0 lead with Felix on mound | Mariners | The Seattle Times

Friday, August 10, 2012

ESPN 710 Drayer Looks deeper into Seattle Mariner Stuggles

By Shannon Drayer

Let's continue looking at what we have learned about the young players the Mariners are evaluating this year. Again, I will state that there are 43 games to go and things could change for better or for worse in that time.

The Mariners' goal this year was to put the kids on the field so they can see what kind of foundation they have and where they need to go from there. Some of you jumped the gun with some of your comments yesterday as this is a series and it is not all about the good. While I thought it was clear in the post yesterday, I want to clarify that by good I mean those players seem to be locks to be parts of that foundation moving forward. It doesn't mean they are great players; it means that from what we have seen this year there is reason to believe that they can take another step forward next year.

To specifically address a couple of comments before we move on, New to NW, there is no doubt this team would be better with some proven veteran stars, but that was not what this year was about. The stated goal by Jack Zduriencik was that they needed to find out what they have in this organization in order to take the next step, which is to augment that foundation with established players.

Also, to say as you did that any of the players I talked about at best "will be able to produce mediocre results" obviously is nothing more than an opinion. You don't know that. What we are talking about here is what we see right now. The hope is that Kyle Seager, Michael Saunders and Jaso Jaso can take another step forward and that Brendan Ryan is more of what we saw offensively in the second half than in the first. If so, then they most likely can be pieces of the "foundation" that the Mariners are trying to identify.

Newton, you are missing the point when you say, "This is the best worst team ever!" Although team building is important and how they play together as a team is important, this isn't as much about team as it is about pieces and finding that team. There are a few areas to be encouraged about going forward and there are areas of concern that we will get to. Gun jumping.

Chris from Bothell, Munenori Kawasaki gets a pass because he is entertaining and shows spirit? One extra-base hit this year, questionable baserunning and defense that is OK at best? We saw a huge dropoff the last four games without Ryan. I wasn't going to list Kawasaki in any of the categories because I don't see him as young or part of the future. But no, he would not go into the "good" despite how fun he has been.

Jesus Montero is hitting just .221 against righties this season, but recent success suggests he might be turning a corner. (AP)

Yesterday we looked at the good. This weekend we will take a look at the alarming. Today, the question marks.

I mentioned yesterday that Jesus Montero would fall into a "question mark plus" category for me. There has been a good amount of good with him, particularly in hitting lefties, but the Mariners need him to be more than a platoon hitter. Ultimately they are going to need more than a .705 OPS from a guy that they got to be a middle-of-the-order hitter.

Against lefties, Montero is what they want him to be. Against righties, he is as bad as just about anyone in the American League. Some encouraging news on this front, however, is that over the last five games Montero has played, eight of his nine hits have come off righties. He has had a total of 54 hits off righties this year and eight have come in the last week.

Could he be turning a corner here? Eric Wedge believes his pitch selection has been better of late and we certainly haven't seen as many wild swings. Something to watch for in the final month and a half.

The final question mark with Montero is the catching. I think when all is said and done he will not be anything close to a full-time catcher here. Wedge has been careful in spoon-feeding him catching responsibilities and at best he has been up and down behind the plate. He seemed to be making progress with some of his bad habits earlier in the year but recently he has gotten back to stabbing at the ball more, not holding (let alone framing) pitches long enough after catching them and not keeping his throwing hand behind his back or leg while receiving the ball.

One scout I talked to recently told me Montero flat out looked like he wasn't terribly interested in catching at all. Take that with a grain of salt; it was the opinion of one scout but I have seen and heard enough to believe that he will ultimately find himself at another position. The Mariners appear to be prepared for this, having drafted Mike Zunino with their first pick and having a stockpile of catchers in the lower minors.

Another major question mark for this team is the outfield. Yes, the entire outfield. Saunders is on the good list but as I said yesterday steps need to be taken forward to keep him there. We don't know what Eric Thames is but "fourth outfielder" has been attached to him by many. He will get his opportunities and we will see. Casper Wells has been streaky. After his return from Triple-A he put up a nice 12-for-20 streak only to follow it up by going 3-for-39. Things haven't gotten much better since then, but of the few hits he has had, several have been key. We need to see more of him, hopefully in right field.

We haven't seen enough of Trayvon Robinson to know what he is and behind him there aren't prospects who are ready to step into the outfield at the big-league level. Franklin Gutierrez will find himself in the "alarming" post that will come up this weekend for obvious reasons. Going forward, at this point, the outfield has to be a major source of concern. It also is a huge area of opportunity in that if they can find an impact bat -- be it by trade or free agency -- it won't be too hard to find room for him in the outfield. If they can't do that then we have real trouble. Cross that bridge when we get to it.

The final question mark (and remember, I am leaving pitching out of this) is Mike Carp. The power he displayed last year was enticing but the consistency has not been there for the majority of this year. After getting off to a hot start in his last return from Triple-A he has settled down into a .264/.365/.361/.726 line. Small sample size, but we will see more in the final months that will hopefully give us a better picture of just what Carp is at the major-league level. The on-base percentage is encouraging and the defense, while not what Justin Smoak was at first base (plus), is better than what I thought it might be.

We will tackle the alarming this weekend.

Seahawks Training Camp 8/10/2012

http://www.seahawks.com/news/index.html

Olympic Results 8/10/2012

http://www.teamusa.org/ Team USA

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ U. K Telegraph

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/2012/ BBC Sport

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/countries/united-states Team USA Page BBC Sport

Shannon Drayer ESPN 710 Seattle Mariners with 49 games Left

By Shannon Drayer

I had to not only take a deep breath but get a good night's sleep before I attempted this post. Actually, I attempted this post on the plane well past midnight but a headache that may or may not have come from watching the game derailed that plan. I'll try again. Here goes.

Okay. Wednesday night's game was terrible. A clunker, I think I called it on the postgame show. You know what? They happen. I got a good chuckle out of some of you who tweeted me during the game in a panic and once again were done with the team only to acknowledge that yeah, you were perhaps a little emotional about one game.

I've talked about it before but this year is particularly rough because of the roller coaster and the let down when you see a good amount of good, feel like perhaps that corner has been turned, then crash back down to earth. It's exhausting, but it's part of the deal. This is what this year is about and Jack Zduriencik warned us and re-emphasized the point at the trade deadline that there would be ups and downs. There certainly has been and Wednesday night was a down, I think in large part because you have got a bunch of new faces in there due to injury and trade. The question, however, is what is the end game here?

This year is about evaluating the youth, finding out what the Mariners have. While I don't think it would be fair to definitively say what they have with a month and a half of the season remaining, I think we are getting a good idea.

There is some good, there is some alarming and there are some question marks. All of this to be expected. If you were of the thought that you could run a bunch of kids out on the field, give them a year's experience and, voila, have a major league baseball team, it just doesn't happen that way. Some of the guys will sink, some will swim, some will need more time, maybe not at the major league level. I think Zduriencik and crew knew this. I don't believe they thought that after a year they would have an all star or maybe even a big leaguer at every position. They should know what they have, however, and will make moves this winter accordingly.

In his first full major-league season, Kyle Seager leads the Mariners with 68 RBIs. (AP)

So where are we right now, with 49 games remaining? We will tackle the good today then get to the alarming and question marks in the next few days. The pitching we will handle separately.

I had hoped that we would see a breakout star from this group. Probably not on the level of a Mike Trout but perhaps a little more than what we have seen from this group. A go-to-guy, a guy who proved to be a consistent threat in the lineup. The closest we have to that – and perhaps he could get there eventually – is Kyle Seager.

Zduriencik has a saying that he has dropped in several interviews over the last two years that all he is asking for is for guys to be what they are supposed to be. To play to their abilities. Seager surpassed what many thought his abilities were or perhaps realized them sooner than most thought he would. Assuming that he can build off his first year, he is well on his way.

The RBI total is what puts him on top of this list. What is encouraging is that he has upped his on-base percentage. Remember the guy who walked just three times in the first month and a half of the season? He's walked 33 times since. He doesn't strike out much and he finally had a good homestand a week ago. He has done some good things and he continues to progress. I think you can feel good about him going forward.

Michael Saunders, I think, falls into this category as well, again assuming that he will take another step forward after taking a monster step this year. It should be noted that he did this on his own. He took what was a floundering career into his own hands and changed everything in the offseason with the help of a hitting coach. I think he will most likely do more this offseason. He is slumping now and it will be interesting to see how he finishes but we could be just scratching the surface with him. Or he could be a fourth outfielder. It's up to him, but we have learned a lot about Saunders and there is a lot of determination and a lot of good to go along with all the tools he possesses.

John Jaso. Mr Clutch. I am tempted to put him in to the question mark category because I am not sure if he is what we are seeing now – which is good – or if he could possibly be more. Eric Wedge is making it a point to get him behind the plate more to see how much he can catch every day. It will be interesting to see if he tries to get him in more against lefties and see if he has made any progress in that area. One thing that I want to point out with Jaso and Jesus Montero, who is going to be in the question mark-plus category for me, is that these are the two players that have been handled the most carefully. These two have consistently been put in position to succeed with Wedge keeping Jaso away from lefties for the most part and Montero away from the righties. I don't think it is any coincidence that they are having some of the best success at the plate right now.

Last but not least and perhaps somewhat surprising on the good list is Brendan Ryan. He has shown he can indeed hit over the last two months and his defense has been invaluable to this team. He is certainly not on the alarming list and there is no question in my mind I want him at shortstop next year. His defense makes the entire infield defense better and if you can't see that then you haven't been watching the last three days. This team has turned one double play since he was injured. He helps Dustin Ackley, he helps his pitcher, he helps Seager. I think we have seen what a little offense from him means to this team and you hope that he has learned something from the horrific slump he had earlier this year that will help him in the future when things start going in that direction again.

That's it for the good. We will tackle the question marks Friday.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Olympic results 8/9/2012

http://www.teamusa.org/ Team USA

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/ UK Telegraph

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/2012/ BBC Sport

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/countries/united-states USA BBC Page

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Olympic results 8/8/2012

UK Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/

http://www.teamusa.org/ Team USA

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/2012/ BBC Sport

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/countries/united-states BBC Sport USA Page

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Thiel: Flynn in, T.O. coming, Seahawks out there | Seattle Seahawks

Olympic Results 8/7/2012

http://www.teamusa.org/ Team USA

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/ U. K Telegraph

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/2012/ BBC Sport

USA Page BBC Sport

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/2012/

Monday, August 6, 2012

Seahawks' signing of Terrell Owens a dangerous move | Jerry Brewer | The Seattle Times

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Thiel: Galaxy stars dim in 4-0 loss to Sounders | Seattle Sounders

Chicks who Love football site Russel Wilson

http://www.chickslovefootball.com/

Ibanez strikes again as Mariners lose series | Seattle Mariners

The Breeze Vol 1 No.38 Clutch gene or competitive resilience

Tiger Woods, Jordyn Wieber and I have something in Common. I am going to write on the Topic of one requirement of life sports or otherwise. The need for resilience. 6 weeks 72 hours 45 minutes with one common denominator resilience. The Six week mental sprint through Biological Science. A needed transfer course at my local Community College really was demanding. I did not get off to a great start but did resolve to keep working even though there was a few anxious and white knuckle moments as far as the straight percentage score indicated. Keep in mind a six week short course covers 16 weeks of material. The 72 Hours took Place in London as U.S Gymnastics Champion Jordyyn Weiber failed to qualify for the all around Championship eventually won by Gabrielle Douglas. we will see Weiber tonight in individual event finals tonight in individual event qualifying. I just figured she would find her way to Rio redemption in 2016.
She did win the team Gold with 4 of her teamates an she would bounce back. She has a redemptive chance before Rio to make an individal stamp on these games just not like she thought. W e seem to learn more life principles when we are not seeing results with microwave speed. Now on to the 45 minutes. Those minutes were shared when Adam Scott bogeyed the last 4 holes of the open allowing South African Ernie Els to claim the title. Time is going to allow for perspective in the case of Adam Scott. Jordyn Weiber has had no time to reflect on her efforts in London it is quite early in her case. A friend of mine Blue Magic mentioned during a recent call that he like Tiger Woods was back in relation to getting his life and family on a positive track. I thought about The Great golfer Tiger Woods being back on his game after his well documented injuries to and including the spiritual as well as the physical. Mr.Woods still has a few more tournaments to win to become the most prolific major tournament winner in U.S Golf history. To his credit he is a constant and not a variable like Mediate Michelson or Scott. He has a game back on the upswing because he has handled adversity well. A Clutch gene or resilience. I would much rather deal with Texas Ranger Yu Darvish more so than Charles Darwin, Don Mattingly is much more appealing than Mandelian genetics. In the absence of a true clutch gene Blue Magic, Woods and myself will need to settle for the quality of resilience even in a situation where it looks not so promising. I am somewhat optimistic regarding the science of epigenetics finding cures for disease and the possible clutch gene but until then..................
I can speak to my own circumstance this way. I was needing a score of 570 or above to reach my desired goal I am happy to report that I got what I needed in the insane 6 week Sprint that would have made Usain Bolt proud. What about you my readers/viewers are you diligent and focused on the goals in front of you are you thinking this is a sprint and not a marathon, Is this a false start for you do you need to rethink an approach to get the desired results? Progress requires sacrifice. Many want the rewards of position but refuse to pay the price for that position. Some would rather be hateful angry and bitter at those that have been willing to pay the price and count the cost. Maybe then Like Blue Magic or a Woods your life can be on the Upswing.
I am Mark Alan Janisch WWS founder and Senior Writer I can be found on Twitter@wideworldofspor
The Breeze is the Official and only written column of this site.

Olympic results 8/5/2012

http://www.teamusa.org/ Team USA Home Page

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ UK Telegraph

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/2012/ BBC Sport

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/countries/united-states BBC Sport USA Page

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