Jan. 3-9, 2011
It took nearly 300 player transactions by the Seahawks over the course of a year to get the personnel in place to reach the playoffs and win a Wild Card game. That they did so as the largest home underdog in NFL postseason history makes the huge roster churn that much more impressive.
- Good Week — Slammed and bashed by critics all week, Matt Hasselbeck responds with a Ring of Honor performance — four TD passes, a 113.0 passer rating — in leading the Seahawks to a Wild Card win over New Orleans, the defending Super Bowl champion. Barring a Super Bowl win, nothing Hasselbeck does from here on can top Saturday.
- Bad Week — Seattle drinkers discover to their outrage that large beers sold by Qwest Field gougers are actually the same size as small beers, but $1.25 more expensive. The smaller cups and larger cups both hold 20 ounces of brew.
- Sunday, Jan. 9 — Former Seahawk Cortez Kennedy is one of 15 finalists for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Aside from his eight Pro Bowls, Kennedy was named first-team All-NFL in 1992, 1993 and 1994, selected second-team All-Pro twice, All-AFC four times and was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1990s. And there’s no guarantee he’ll make Canton.
- Saturday, Jan. 8 — The Seahawks ignore the fact they are the biggest home underdog (11 points) in NFL playoff history and defeat defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans in a wild, 41-36 contest at Qwest Field. Matt Hasselbeck throws four TDs and Seahawk fans are treated to the greatest individual run in franchise history — a 67-yard, tackler-shedding burst by Marshawn Lynch with 3:22 to go that ices it. One of the greatest individual plays in Northwest sports history.
- Friday, Jan. 7 — Good news: Down 19-0 in the third quarter, Eastern Washington rallies behind three touchdown passes from Bo Levi Mitchell and defeats Delaware 20-19 in the FCS national championship game in Frisco, TX. Bad news: Return home to Cheney.
- Thursday, Jan. 6 — UW freshman Terrence Ross scores a career-high 25 points in leading Washington to an 87-69 win over Oregon. It’s the most points in a game by a UW freshman since Isaiah Thomas also had 25 on Jan. 31, 2009, at Arizona State.
- Wednesday, Jan. 5 — Not a good day for Edgar Martinez or Abdul Gaddy fanatics. The Mariner icon receives 32.9 percent of the Hall of Fame vote, fathoms off the needed 75 percent, and down from his 2010 percentage of 36.2. Gaddy rips an ACL in practice and is lost for the season, jeoparding UW’s chances of advancing far in the NCAA Tournament.
- Tuesday, Jan. 4 — Former Seattle Pacific and Eastlake High star runner Jessica Pixler is named as one of the NCAA Today’s Top VIII award winners. She is chosen by the NCAA Honors Committee as a “nationally distinguished citizen who are former student athletes.” Pixler won an unprecedented NCAA track titles during her SPU career.
- Monday, Jan. 3 — Matthew Bryan-Amaning, who couldn’t even crack the UW basketball lineup in December, is named Pac-10 Player of the Week after leading the Huskies to a pair of road wins over USC and UCLA by averaging 19.5 points on 54.5 percent shotmaking. It’s his first-ever weekly league award.
“That Was The Week That Was (TW3)” is published every Monday as part of Sportspress Northwests package of home-page features collectively titled, The Rotation.
The Rotations weekly schedule:
- Monday: That Was The Week That Was (TW3) A snarky, day-by-day review of the week just ended.
- Tuesday: Wayback Machine — Sports historian David Eskenazi’s deep dive into local sports history, replete with photo eye candy.
- Wednesday: Nobody Asks But Us — We ask, and answer, fun and quirky questions nobody else is asking.
- Thursday: Water Cooler Cool — Art Thiel takes on the weekend for the benefit of the more casual fan.
- Friday: Top 5 List — The alpha and omega of Northwest sports, at least as far as we’re concerned.
