I'm grieving the Mariners, trying to avoid being irrationally angry at the Huskies and trying to figure out what the hell to make of the Seahawks. I'm not alone in any of these feelings.
So happy I got to be there on Saturday night, great seat near the right field foul pole. Never been to a game like that before, rarely get to go at all. The roar that went up when Haniger gave us the lead... Chills, I'll never forget it 💙 love those boys win or lose
That's a good take on UW, Danny. They clearly have massive bodies up front on both sides of the ball, yet they can't impose their will on anyone. Is that indicative of a soft mindset? Poor training/conditioning? Scheme? Technique? It's a mystery to me.
You mentioned the sustained success at Stanford with a punishing physical style. When Harbaugh took over that program, he brought in an absolute badass strength and training coach, Shannon Turley. He drove those players like a maniac. And over a period of years, they took a succession of so-called 2-star and 3-star athletes, and turned them into the toughest, meanest fronts in the Pac-12 (Pac-10 at the time). Harbaugh coined the term "intellectual brutality" to describe how his guys bullied the conference. Shaw has continued with the gameday philosophy for the most part, and has had considerable success of his own, but when Turley left a few years ago it appeared some of the nastiness may have left with him. Stanford these days is able to recruit more blue-chip specimens for its fronts, but they don't always seem to play with the mean edge they had a few years ago.
When I look at those big dudes up front for UW, I wonder if something is missing behind the scenes that could transform them into the kind of unit Jimmy Lake wants to see. The great UW teams of the past usually overpowered their opponents up front, and they need to regain that edge to fulfill their potential.
I appreciate the insight about Stanford, and didn't realize there had been a change. The fact is that Washington has not been able to overcome Stanford's toughness going all the way back to Sark specifically. The difference was that Sark never sought to play that style of football. The Cardinal was simply were so tough on defense that it Sark's offense couldn't handle it to the point he was an inexcusable, wrong-headed baby in the wake of defeats.
Lake wants his team to be tough like that. His team has a veteran offensive line, multiple running backs and good tight ends and yet the Beavs were clearly the tougher team on Saturday. There is a clear-cut problem that Jimmy Lake needs to address and remedy because it simply can't look like this next year if he expects to keep the job.
Thanks for thorough thanks for the unexpectedly exciting Mariners ride. Yep, there's crying in baseball. As a Husky alum, who just moved back to WA this Spring, I am sorely disappointed in coaching (football) & hope Donovan gets the boot. I'm willing to give Lake another chance. Don James needed a few.
I tend to agree with you on Lake, Keri. He's a first-time head coach and maybe he botched his first offensive coordinator hire. Let's see how he goes about fixing what is a clear problem, though. Because I would agree with you. I'm really disappointed in how this team is playing in multiple aspects of the game.
But the Sounders won 3-0, Danny. Did that mitigate anything? Or am I the first to inform you :)
Love your insight Danny!
So happy I got to be there on Saturday night, great seat near the right field foul pole. Never been to a game like that before, rarely get to go at all. The roar that went up when Haniger gave us the lead... Chills, I'll never forget it 💙 love those boys win or lose
That's a good take on UW, Danny. They clearly have massive bodies up front on both sides of the ball, yet they can't impose their will on anyone. Is that indicative of a soft mindset? Poor training/conditioning? Scheme? Technique? It's a mystery to me.
You mentioned the sustained success at Stanford with a punishing physical style. When Harbaugh took over that program, he brought in an absolute badass strength and training coach, Shannon Turley. He drove those players like a maniac. And over a period of years, they took a succession of so-called 2-star and 3-star athletes, and turned them into the toughest, meanest fronts in the Pac-12 (Pac-10 at the time). Harbaugh coined the term "intellectual brutality" to describe how his guys bullied the conference. Shaw has continued with the gameday philosophy for the most part, and has had considerable success of his own, but when Turley left a few years ago it appeared some of the nastiness may have left with him. Stanford these days is able to recruit more blue-chip specimens for its fronts, but they don't always seem to play with the mean edge they had a few years ago.
When I look at those big dudes up front for UW, I wonder if something is missing behind the scenes that could transform them into the kind of unit Jimmy Lake wants to see. The great UW teams of the past usually overpowered their opponents up front, and they need to regain that edge to fulfill their potential.
I appreciate the insight about Stanford, and didn't realize there had been a change. The fact is that Washington has not been able to overcome Stanford's toughness going all the way back to Sark specifically. The difference was that Sark never sought to play that style of football. The Cardinal was simply were so tough on defense that it Sark's offense couldn't handle it to the point he was an inexcusable, wrong-headed baby in the wake of defeats.
Lake wants his team to be tough like that. His team has a veteran offensive line, multiple running backs and good tight ends and yet the Beavs were clearly the tougher team on Saturday. There is a clear-cut problem that Jimmy Lake needs to address and remedy because it simply can't look like this next year if he expects to keep the job.
Thanks for thorough thanks for the unexpectedly exciting Mariners ride. Yep, there's crying in baseball. As a Husky alum, who just moved back to WA this Spring, I am sorely disappointed in coaching (football) & hope Donovan gets the boot. I'm willing to give Lake another chance. Don James needed a few.
I tend to agree with you on Lake, Keri. He's a first-time head coach and maybe he botched his first offensive coordinator hire. Let's see how he goes about fixing what is a clear problem, though. Because I would agree with you. I'm really disappointed in how this team is playing in multiple aspects of the game.
Appreciate the reply! We miss you here! Super glad you are still actively communicating on West Coast sports.