By Rick Anderson
For the GH News Group
One of the most positive recent trends in sports journalism is the proliferation of “notebook” columns, in which the writers answer questions from readers.
I’ve always thought that type of column would be fun to write, but not particularly well-suited to those of us who primarily cover high school sports.
At some point, a reader would ask whether Prep Football Team A should change quarterbacks or Basketball Team B should fire its coach. I wouldn’t be comfortable weighing in on those topics.
College and pro sports are a different matter. Although nobody actually asked me the following questions, here are responses to queries that could have been posed.
Q — Which football game produced the most worrisome long-term issues — Washington’s upset loss to California on Saturday night (and Sunday morning) or the Seattle Seahawks’ underwhelming victory over lightly regarded Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon?
A — Even setting aside the fact that the Seahawks won and the Huskies lost, there’s no comparison. The UW’s defeat was more unsettling by far.
Honesty compels me to note that I didn’t stay up long enough to witness the end of a Washington-Cal game delayed by 2 1/2 hours by thunderstorms (thanks, Pac-12 Conference, for the 7:30 p.m. start).
Reports indicate, however, that the Huskies were again plagued by dropped passes, red zone inefficiency and questionable decision-making in pressure situations. There isn’t much coach Chris Petersen can do about the first shortcoming, but the latter two are occurring with far too much frequency in the past year or two.
Although Petersen’s impact on the UW program has been overwhelmingly positive, those are disturbing trends moving forward.
On the professional front, lackluster early season showings against projected National Football League also-rans seemingly have become part of the Seahawks’ DNA.
Despite a lackluster opening act, the guess here is that Seattle’s defense will be fine once it approaches full strength and newly acquired lineman Jadeveon Clowney becomes familiar with the system. Of greater concern is the offensive line’s ongoing inability to adequately protect quarterback Russell Wilson, seemingly an annual soap opera.
The Seahawks visit Pittsburgh next Sunday, then sandwich tough home tests against New Orleans and the Los Angeles Rams around a potential trap game at Arizona. If they can finish that stretch with at least a 4-1 record (and that’s do-able), they would be well-positioned for a playoff run.
Q — Were you surprised when Husky quarterback Jake Haener transferred to Fresno State immediately after losing the starting job to Jacob Eason?
A — I would have as recently as two years ago. But with the emergence of the transfer portal, this is simply the new normal in college football.
As much as the NCAA tries to promote the image of student-athletes, highly recruited players are no longer willing to wait their turn on the sidelines simply because the school might offer a decent political science program. Although Petersen promised Haener some playing time, it wasn’t enough to keep him at Washington.
The irony in this case is that arguably the three greatest Husky teams of the past 60 years all functioned with multiple-quarterback systems.
With two quality quarterbacks at his disposal, UW coach Don James used Mark Brunell to spell starter Billy Joe Hobert on the 1991 co-national championship team.
Hugh Millen relieved Paul Sicuro in the fourth quarter to engineer the UW’s memorable 1985 Orange Bowl win over Oklahoma.
The recently deceased Bob Schloredt, as a junior, led the Huskies to their landmark 1960 Rose Bowl rout of Wisconsin. But Schloredt broke his collarbone playing defense (college football was one-platoon in those days) in the first conference game the following year and missed the remainder of the regular season.
Bob Hivner — initially a more prized recruit than Schloredt — stepped in and guided the Huskies back to Pasadena. By that time, Schloredt had returned to health and earned his second Rose Bowl MVP award as Washington upended top-ranked Minnesota.
Several of the UW’s wins with Hivner calling signals were uncomfortably close — probably closer than had Schloredt been available. Nevertheless, Hivner deserved more credit than he received for that second Rose Bowl campaign.
Q — One of your objections to the Seattle Mariners’ “step-back” philosophy this year was that you believed last year’s personnel could have made a playoff run this season. Aren’t you wrong about that?
A — Yes, I was. Assuming that the likes of Robinson Cano, Edwin Diaz and Mike Zunino would have performed the same in Seattle as they did elsewhere, the M’s almost certainly would have been out of playoff contention by late July.
That said, I still don’t like Seattle’s rebuilding plan.
Some rebuilding clubs (Arizona and San Diego come to mind) surrounded their young talent with enough established players so that they could have contended ahead of schedule had all the stars aligned properly. The Diamondbacks, in fact, still have a legitimate shot at a National League wild-card berth.
As evidenced by the lack of action to correct woeful defense and even worse relief pitching, the Mariners made no pretense of being competitive immediately — and this fan-unfriendly philosophy evidently will continue for at least another year. At times, it seemed as if the M’s were putting nine players in the field only because the rules required it.
The master plan is based on the notion that the Mariner prospects are talented enough to vault the club into playoff contention by 2021 or 2022, while general manager Jerry Dipoto fills in the gaps with some judicious free-agent signings.
I’m skeptical that these prospects are as good as advertised. But Mariner fans better hope that I’m also wrong about that, because the second part of the equation won’t transpire without the first.
Dipoto repeatedly has expressed his distaste for free-agent signings. And high-quality free agents tend to gravitate toward teams that are already contenders — not franchises that haven’t made the playoffs since 2001.
