TWTWTW

Dec. 20-26

• Good Week — Pete Carroll had the worst good week in our memory. His overmatched Seahawks couldn’t do anything in a 38-15 loss to Tampa Bay, but Carroll will get to play for the NFC West title anyway next Sunday — with a 6-9 record. Sort of the football equivalent of tumbling down a hole and coming up with the Dead Sea Scrolls.
• Bad Week — Charlie Whitehurst had ample opportunity Sunday to show why the Seahawks spent so much to acquire him, and he came up woefully short, failing to take any significant shots down the field. At this point, not the answer and not even the question.
• Sunday, Dec. 26 — Seahawks prove again they aren’t ready to compete with the NFL elite as they get buried at Raymond James Stadium as soon as Matt Hasselbeck exits with a hip injury. Final: Tampa 38-15. Having lost five of their past six, the Seahawks look like the lamest playoff candidate in the city’s mostly so-so sports history.
• Saturday, Dec. 25— Former Sonic Kevin Durant goes for a season-high 44 in Oklahoma City’s 114-106 win over the Denver Nuggets. Had the Sonics stayed in Seattle, we would be watching the most physically gifted player in franchise history, and its greatest scorer.
• Friday, Dec. 24 — The University of Washington football team arrives in San Diego for the Dec. 30 Holiday Bowl, and coach Steve Sarkisian immediately sends the Huskies out to practice. Despite Nebraska’s 56-21 win over UW on Sept. 18, oddsmarkers install the Cornhuskers as only 13 1/2-point choices. Oddsmakers are almost always on the money.
• Thursday, Dec. 23 — The University of Washington women’s basketball team scores just 27 points — 9 in the second half — in losing to Georgia Tech 60-27 at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Not a record. On March 8, 1975, UW lost to Washington State, scoring just 24. Remember when the UW women outdrew the UW men?
• Wednesday, Dec. 22 — Isaiah Thomas finally busts out with 24 points, eight rebounds and four assists and the Huskies record their third 30-point win of the season, throttling Nevada 90-60. Best stat of the game: two UW players, Matthew Bryan-Amaning (11) and Aziz N’Diaye (10), reached double digits in rebounds.
• Tuesday, Dec. 21 — Seahawks coach Pete Carroll elects to go with Matt Hasselbeck against Tampa Bay, despite the rash of turnovers by Hasselbeck (13 in his previous 4 games). Carroll says Hasselbeck gives the Seahawks the best chance to win. At this point, that’s hard to dispute.
• Monday, Dec. 20 — Former Washington State quarterback Ryan Leaf announces that he will write three books — about his life, football career and addiction to painkillers. The three-volume set will be issued by Crimson Oak Publishing of Pullman. For the record, Benjamin Franklin managed to contain his bio, “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,” to just one volume.