 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 |
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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 |
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