10.17.2008

SportsCenter anchor Cindy Brunson chimes in on the Cougs chances this weekend

Quick update on my ESPN chat dealings, this time with WAZZU Alumni Cindy Brunson:



Finn (Seattle, WA): 43 pt. spread for the Cougs this week. Think we can beat it?












Cindy Brunson: (12:12 PM ET ) Finn -- that game will likely go down as the WORST loss for WAZZU in school history (for a 2nd time this season!)






She doesn't like our chances. At least she responded... unlike some female anchors. I'm looking at you Michelle Bonner.

6 comments:

Mark said...

Unfortunately she's probably right. check out this article I found, I think you Seattle folks might this it's interesting:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/nfl/2008/10/seahawks_join_epidemic_of_losi.html

Mark said...

Seahawks join epidemic of losing in Washington
Posted by Aaron Fentress, The Oregonian October 16, 2008 16:49PM
SEATTLE - The players had long entered the locker rooms. Most of the fans had left Qwest Field. But Seahawks fan Chris Corbray couldn't quite let go of the day's events that left his team 1-4 following Sunday's 27-17 loss to Green Bay.
Wearing a referee's uniform with a Seahawks patch on the left breast,Corbray, 43, lingered near the front railing in the south end zone stands holding a Seahawks sign."Washington state sports is abysmal and we're sad," Corbray said.
He could have been talking about most of Washington's sports teams, many of which are currently gasping for the slightest breath of good fortune.
The Seahawks improbable fall after winning four consecutive division championships was the last shoe of futility to fall for the state of Washington in arguably the worst year for professional sports and big time college programs in the state's history.
The SuperSonics are now the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Mariners had the worst record in the American League, the Washington Huskies football team is 0-5 and the Washington State Cougars football team is 1-6.
The only winning major Washington sports teams in the past season were Washington State and Gonzaga basketball -- both on the opposite side of the state -- and the WNBA's Seattle Storm.
"I'm hurting, man, OK," Corbray continued. "I'm in pain."
It's a stark contrast to the Oregon sports scene.
A Trail Blazers revival arguably has generated more excitement than at any time since the Clyde Drexler-led Blazers reached the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992. The football teams at Oregon and Oregon State again are in position to finish in the top half of the Pacific-10 Conference. Oregon has had a winning record nine times in the past 10 season, OSU seven times.
Easily this is the greatest decade for major college sports in Oregon, including five national titles - two in baseball (Oregon State), two in women's soccer (University of Portland) and one in men's cross country (Oregon.) Though the state's only major professional team -- the Blazers -- has missed the playoffs five straight years, optimism for the team is so high that tickets are hard to get. Even the state's least successful major sports team, Oregon State men's basketball, is looking forward to a fresh start under a new coach.
The last time Oregon sports fans had this much good fortune was from 1999 to 2002, when the Blazers reached the Western Conference finals twice while the Ducks and Beavers each won BCS bowl games.
"I would characterize what's going on in the state of Oregon right now, if you compared it to the stock market, is that we are going through a bull market in sports," said Drew Mahalic, Chief Executive Officer of the Oregon Sports Authority. "Right now 'optimism' is the key word in multiple aspects of our industry."
That, in turn, has helped the Oregon Sports Authority mission to help make the state an attractive location for major franchises and sporting events, such as the 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, which will play games at the Rose Garden.
According to Mahalic, the area becomes easier to sell when the local teams are winning and the fans are feeling good.
"We're very proud right now of what's being accomplished and every piece of the puzzle that does well really does impact the other pieces positively," he said. "Right now all are moving in the right direction."
From contenders to losers
It wasn't long ago that the state of Washington had its sports gears in high motion.
SafeCo Field opened in 1999 and the Mariners reached the American League Championship Series in 2000 and 2001. Qwest Field opened in 2002. By 2004 the Seahawks had begun a run of four NFC West Division titles that included a trip to the Super Bowl following the 2005 season. The Huskies football team won the 2001 Rose Bowl and the basketball team reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 2005 and 2006.
Leading those basketball teams were Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy, the player most responsible for the Blazers' rebound to date.
Born and raised in Seattle, Roy has suffered right along with every other Washington sports fan.
"It's disappointing," he said. "I'm a fan because I'm from there, but it's hard to cheer for teams that are below .500. It's disappointing but you go through times like this... We're down right now but we're going to keep our heads up."
Former Sonics guard, Gary Payton, who played for Oregon State's last NCAA tournament team, remembers some glory days of his own in Seattle.
He led the Sonics to the 1996 NBA Finals, just a year after the Mariners won their first playoff series while the Seahawks were at least mediocre.
Seattle is used to having a professional sports team in action year round. That won't be the case in 2009. After the Seahawks season ends, Seattle sports fans will have a couple of months to kill before the Mariners start up again in April.
"I know fans are going to hate that," Payton said.
Maybe even more so than the losing.
"It's kind of in a downfall right now but I think with these fans and these people's spirits here they will always keep it upbeat so I think it won't be too long before they have a team that comes back," Payton said
Seahawks last to fall
The Seahawks were supposed to be the team that brought some glory back to the state this year. But numerous injuries have left the team a shell of its former self. Several times this season, Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren has been asked if he felt an extra burden to produce a winner given the losing going on around the state.
"I choose to live my life with the glass half-full," he said. "I think that's a choice we can all make. You're going to have tough things happen. You can't allow it to knock you down. And I just personally choose not to let it."
Corbray's passion for sports makes it difficult to not feel pain over his team's failures.
He began wearing the official's uniform after a controversial call cost the Seahawks a game at the New York Jets in 1998.
"I thought the officials needed some help," he said.
Today, he and other fans are sending out an SOS, as in Save Our Sports.
"Some times all great teams have to go to the bottom to come back up," he said. "All great sports teams have to come down a bit. It's depressing, but we're optimist."
The current state of affairs in Washington has Corbray and his girlfriend, Lori Tomber, 47, ready to follow the Blazers. In fact, Tomber grew up in Gresham and 1979 Barlow High School graduate remembers skipping school to attend the championship parade for the 1977 Blazers.
And in cheering for the Blazers, they say they also will be cheering a little for Seattle, given Portland's roster contains Roy, Seattle-raised Martell Webster and former Sonics coach, Nate McMillan.
"Yes, 100 percent, now that the Sonics are gone, right now, the Blazers will be our team," Corbray said.
Joe Freeman of The Oregonian Staff contributed to this report.
Aaron Fentress;503-221-8211; aaronfentress@news.oregonian.com.

Mark said...

I think the last paragraph says it all:

The current state of affairs in Washington has Corbray and his girlfriend, Lori Tomber, 47, ready to follow the Blazers. In fact, Tomber grew up in Gresham and 1979 Barlow High School graduate remembers skipping school to attend the championship parade for the 1977 Blazers.
And in cheering for the Blazers, they say they also will be cheering a little for Seattle, given Portland's roster contains Roy, Seattle-raised Martell Webster and former Sonics coach, Nate McMillan.
"Yes, 100 percent, now that the Sonics are gone, right now, the Blazers will be our team," Corbray said.

Fortune said...

Aaron Fentress is lucky he works for some joke of a publication. I wonder what his assignment was?

Head up to the big city and watch a sport we dont have a team in. After the game find some douchebag fan that is 43 years old and wears a referee costume to the game, lets see what he thinks.

Mr. F said...

mark - thanks for posting the same thing three times. You really hammered home your point. But ya know what? I'll take a year like this over growing up without a home STATE team. Please tell your wife hello for me. Shell know what it means.

Erik said...

Yeah, I would have felt really bad if the posts made by this person were by someone who was actually FROM Oregon, but then I remembered he's not, he's just posing as an Oregon fan because his wife is from Oregon and if she hacks on to his computer and finds out anything different she won't be very happy with him.


Nice try Razzalo (yeah that's how I meant to type it)(and by the way nice typo-s Mark) we're not crackin'. Look I'm sorry that your forged attempt to win posting duties on this site failed, but the REAL people have spoken and they don't want you.

Oh what's that? a Beer Survivor joke? You think I care? I work one day a week, and that day of "work" is watching football, so ... I don't know, am I done yet? You tell me Razzalo ... you tell me .... In the immortal words of Tom Haywood, "I piss on Mark Razzalo"