A Dawg Day Afternoon

Last Saturday was Rosh Hashannah. Signaling the start of the new year on the Hebrew calendar, Rosh Hashannah is intended to be a celebration filled with family, food and synagogue.

Fittingly enough, last Saturday also marked a new beginning for the Washington Huskies football program.

But this story starts a week earlier at the UW/Idaho game. During the game, my dad informed me that he wouldn't be going to the USC game because he'd be in synagouge, observing Rosh Hashannah. (Just a quick background on my dad, he specializes in Jewish High Holidays, attending funerals and animal rescue. So as much as I wanted to go to the USC game with him, I knew it wouldn't happen).

When my dad seemed apathetic about me attending synagouge with him, it got me thinking that the Husky game, and the slim chance they could knock off USC, potentially could be one of the best sporting experiences of my life. Could I really pass that up for three hours in a synagouge that smells like old people?

The only hurdle was my mother, who god bless her, has mastered the art of Jewish guilt. While my dad relishes life's more morbid events, my mom puts her engergies into more simple affairs - like Rosh Hashannah brunch.

Upon breaking the news to her that I was forgoing her beloved brunch in favor of a college football game, she replied, "If I die this year, you'll always think about how you missed my brunch!". Thanks, mom!

What went down at Husky Stadium last Saturday is nothing short of miraculous. In ten short months, the Huskies, led by new savior Steve Sarkisian, have completely reshaped what was arguably the worst college football program in the country.

Last year's 0-12 debacle, followed by the 2009 rebirth speaks volumes about just how poor a coach Tyrone Willingham was. Willingham is a miserable person. He made the Huskies miserable. He made every Husky fan miserable.

Before this season started, my feelings towards football as a whole were slightly above apathetic. I blame Tyrone for that. Spending the last four years watching the Huskies get embarrassed week after week was like being forced to watch a Grey's Anatomy marathon.

Luckily that nightmare is over. Husky Football is back.

The Dawgs might not be the most talented team. They might not have blue chip recruits on the bench, or throngs of boosters dolling out cash to their players (ahem, Reggie Bush).

But what they do have is a coach who is committed to winning, and winning now. They have a me against the world attitude that is infectious. And now they know they can beat one of the best team's in the country.

The confidence the Husky players have after the USC win will undoubtedly fuel them for the rest of the season.

Experiencing the euphoria of the Huskies shocking college football and celebrating with some of my best friends is something I'll never forget.

And while my mom is still pissed, I know going to the game was a far better choice than spending the afternoon oddly fixated upon how well my great uncle's toupee lays on his head.

Happy New Year!

I Love This Team

Despite injuries, an offense that at times hits Ryan Seacrest's weight and a severe lack of talent, the 2009 Seattle Mariners continue to exceed all expectations.

Wednesday afternoon's 3-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels of Orange County and The Valley (LAAOCTV), epitomized the grit and desire the M's have shown throughout the entire season.

King Felix was sensational on Wednesday. Eight shutout innings of four-hit ball against a very formidable Angels lineup is the kind of a performance very few big league pitchers can pull off. Felix is quickly becoming a bonafide number one starter. And with his 14th win (ties a career high), plus his 2.65 ERA (second in the AL) Felix has earned the right to be in the Cy Young discussion.

Few people gave this team a fighting chance. Two games into September, the Mariners are six games over .500, and hanging on by mere tenths of percentage points in the Wild Card and AL West race.

From 2004-2008, the M's were a franchise built on over priced free agents who regularly performed on the field like Year One performed at the box office.

Needless to say, being a Mariners fan during the bad years was painful. Even the 2007 team that somehow pulled 88 wins out of its ass wasn't a team worth rooting for. Almost everyone knew those 88 wins were a mirage - a front for a team that was about to collapse.

Sure enough that's exactly what happened in 2008.

Enter new GM Jack Zduriencik and a new organizational philosophy. In 10 months, Zduriencik has compiled a roster full of players that other teams gave up on. The same kind of players the Mariners used to give up on, only to have them succeed with other franchises.

Cleveland saw no need for Franklin Gutierrez. David Aardsma and Russell Branyan could have been anonymous in the independent leagues. Zduriencik got all three for next to nothing.

The Brewers are paying the Mariners to have Billy Hall on the team. All he did Wednesday was knock in the game's first run on a double, steal third and score the M's second run.

Look up and down the M's roster and it's full of guys that were written off, and young players trying to show their value.

On Tuesday, rookie Doug Fister threw seven solid innings of one run ball. Four of Fister's five big league starts have been quality starts. Think the 6-foot 8-inch righty isn't in the M's plans for 2010? (Can we just say that Doug Fister is one of the all-time great porno star/athlete names? The only thing that might top that would be Doug Pokerface. As of now, I'm heavily leaning towards Fister.)

Add in the legend known as Ken Griffey Jr. and a great field manager like Don Wakamatsu, and there really is no reason not to like the 2009 Mariners.

Today's sports landscape is overcrowded with overpaid prima donnas, punks who only care about individual numbers and genuine douche bags who will say anything that sounds good (Pay-Fraud).

This Mariners team has none of that.

They may not win a World Series or even make the playoffs. The record books will most likely show them placing third in a four team division. But for the entire season, the Mariners have consistently found ways to win when they shouldn't have. They've fully embraced what it means to be a part of a team.

At various points in 2009, the M's have been down. But they've never considered themselves out.

And that's something worth rooting for.