TWTWTW

Jan. 10-16, 2011
It took nearly 300 player transactions — by actual count 284 — by the Seahawks over the course of a year to get the personnel in place to reach the playoffs, win a Wild Card game and advance to the Divisional Playoffs. The Seahawks got obliterated by the Bears, ending their season, but there are better days ahead, one of the main headlines of this past week’s developments.

• Good Week — It’s never a good week when you lose, but Pete Carroll, in our view, achieved all that he could in his first season with the Seahawks — despite Sunday’s flog by the Bears. Not only did he win the NFC West and oust defending champion New Orleans from the playoffs, he got his players buying into his system. Bodes well.
• Bad Week — Don’t know whether to go with the UW basketball program, over which a pall was cast due to a sexual assault allegation against one of its players, or Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch, who reprised his magnificent TD run against New Orleans with four carries for two yards in a thorough beat down by the Bears.
• Sunday, Jan. 16 — It’s one thing to lose a playoff game, it’s quite another to get done in by the respective ghosts of Sid Luckman and Otto Graham, as the Seahawks did Sunday. They allowed Chicago’s Jay Cutler to rush for more yards (46) than any Bears quarterterback since Luckman dashed for 63 against the Washington Redskins in 1943. They also allowed Cutler to become the first quarterback to pass for two touchdowns and run for two in a playoff game since Graham did it on Dec. 26, 1955, against Norm Van Brocklin’s Los Angeles Rams in a 38-14 Cleveland victory.
• Saturday, Jan. 15 — Playing without the suspended Reggie Moore, busted by Coach Ken Bone after marijuana incidents, the Washington State Cougars do something the Huskies couldn’t do two nights earlier — beat Stanford (61-58) at Maples Pavilion. Kudos to Bone for yanking the rug on Moore.
• Friday, Jan. 14 — Running back Chris Polk announces that he will bypass the NFL Draft and return to the Washington football team for his junior season. In his two seasons in the program, Polk has rushed for 2,528 yards. Most by a UW back in his first two seasons aside from Polk: 2. Hugh McElhenny, 1,563 (1949-50); 2. Napoleon Kaufman, 1,417 (1991-92); 3. Joe Steele, 1,363 (1976-77); 4. Jacque Robinson, 1,295 (1981-82); 5. Rich Alexis, 1,201 (2000-01).
• Thursday, Jan. 13 — UW sees its 11-game Pac-10 winning streak (dating to the previous season) snapped when Justin Holiday misses a pair of free throws with 2.5 seconds to play and then short-rims a shot with 1.1 seconds to go, giving the 17th-ranked Huskies a 58-56 loss at Stanford. Washington shoots just 36 percent with two plays typifying the loss: senior forwrd Matthew Bryan-Amaning botches a point-blank layup, and guard C.J. Wilcox draws an offensive foul on a 2-on-1 fast break.
• Wednesday, Jan. 12 —  UW deflates expectations by announcing that the Huskies will open the 2013 football season by hosting Boise State instead of, say, an Ohio State or any other high-profile opponent. At least Boise State is better than UW’s opening foes in 2011 (Eastern Washington) and 2012 (Portland State).
• Tuesday, Jan. 11 — A hush falls over the University of Washington basketball program as coach Lorenzo Romar acknowledges that Seattle police are conducting an investigation in an alleged sexual assault incident involving one of his players and a 16-year-old girl.
• Monday, Jan. 10 — Isaiah Thomas is named Pac-10 Player of the Week after leading the Huskies to a pair of home wins over Oregon and Oregon State by averaging 19.5 points and 8.5 assists. It’s his first-ever weekly league award and also a surprise he never won it earlier

“That Was The Week That Was (TW3)” is published every Monday as part of Sportspress Northwest’s package of home-page features collectively titled, “The Rotation.”

The Rotation’s 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.