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July 2009
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| June 2008Well, I'm back from vacation. While trying to rid my brain of the Seattle vs. Bennett and Co. trial, I wondered what was happening with the Seahawks. So here's a quick shot of what has been going on in Kirkland:
Well the draft is over. It's been a busy day. Seattle completed a few trades, but not a blockbuster like last year (Ray Allen to Boston for the #5 pick aka Jeff Green). Here are the picks with grades.
Almost forgot to mention this one, the Supes grabbed Cal center DeVon Hardin. He's a 6'11" rebounder with length. DX calls him a "best case scenario Nene". He's limited offensively, but he can be a defensive presence. ...The Sonics just picked Kansas center Sasha Kaun with the 56th pick in the draft. Don't expect to see him in Sonics uniform next season. Apparently, he's got a deal with a Russian League team. It sound more lucrative than an NBA 2nd round pick rookie contract. By the way, Kaun is from Tomsk, Russia. UPDATE: Kaun sold to the Cleveland Cavaliers for cash. Do svidaniya! We hardly knew you. ...Good news for Cougars guard Kyle Weaver. The Charlotte Bobcats picked him #38 overall. Coach Larry Brown will like the do-it-all guard. Here's DX's take on Weaver. I talked to a fellow Cougar. He's a little upset Seattle didn't pick him. Now, he'll have to do the man-crush via the long distance. Sorry Tait...there's always NBA Season Pass on cable. ...According to ESPN, the Sonics have traded two of their second round picks to Detroit for PF D.J. White out of Indiana. The Pistons picked White #29 overall. Here's a little info on White from DraftExpress. DX says he runs the floor like an old man. But he can rebound, block shots, and is very long. Hmmm, should we be excited about him? ...The Sonics picked C/PF Serge Ibaka from the Congo. It's a great pick. He's a 6'10" shotblocker, rebounder, and has freakish athleticism, according to DraftExpress.com. His agent reportedly says he wants to stay in Europe for the next few seasons, but I just spoke with Serge via satellite. Ibaka isn't set on staying in Spain to play ball. According to DraftExpress, his deal Spain isn't a done deal. Apparently Ibaka has still yet to sign the four year contract in Spain, but its believed that they will work things out somehow later. - draftexpress.com
The Seattle Supersonics picked point guard Russell Westbrook out of UCLA with the fourth overall pick. He's a good defensive player and can finish on offense. Kevin Durant looked like he was smiling at the draft. I'm sure he's happy he's got a premier point guard. Here's Draft Express' take on Westbrook. ...ESPN's Andy Katz just reported that the Sonics & Clippers deal is off. The deal was if OJ Mayo was gone by the time Seattle picked 4th, the Sonics would send that pick to the Clippers for the #7 pick and a 2009 protected 1st round pick. I'm sure they'll be more rumors floating between now and when the draft starts (4pm). ...ESPN.com is reporting that the Sonics will trade the #4 pick if USC guard O.J. Mayo is already picked. If Mayo is gone, Seattle will send the LA Clippers the #4 pick for the Los Angeles' #7 pick overall and 2009 1st round protected pick. No word what "protected" means. It could be lottery, Top 3, Top 10, or some other kind of "protected" type of pick. Stay tuned. But if Mayo is gone, I think it's a great deal. The Clippers are expected to grab Indiana guard Eric Gordon. That leaves a talent pool of Brook Lopez, Jerryd Bayless, and Kevin Love. ESPN's Chad Ford still thinks it'll be Lopez. (Darn Yous Chad Fords!) If the Sonics like all 3, by dropping from #4 to #7, they should still get one of them and gain a 1st round pick in 2009. That's a smart move...if Mayo is gone. But who knows, this trade could fall through or it may be speculation...no official trade announcement has been made. ...Today is the day. The sports nerd in me is pretty excited about the NBA draft. Who will go where, who's gonna wheel and deal, and more importantly, when will Kyle Weaver be picked. But should any Sonics fan be excited today? Sure the team currently has the 4th overall pick and should get an excitable talent. Yet the possibility of a move to OKC looms overhead like a overcast winter day in Seattle. I guess you can call it another victory for the OKC Barons. They're spoiling the pure joy or the ability of a fan getting lost in all of the splendor and possibilites of the 4th pick. So who should the Seattle Supersonics pick? Here's couple picks by the experts:
Start planning a Super Bowl parade. The Seahawks have signed long snapper & 6th round pick Tyler Scmitt. He's the missing piece. Okay, all jokes aside, the long snapper was a sore subject...I hope he'll earn his paycheck this season. The Hawks also signed 7th round pick and kicker Brandon Coutu. Both received multi-year deals. The official release is after the jump. ...Despite what ESPN "declares" to be the truth during every NFL Draft since 1998, Cougars legendary quarterback Ryan Leaf is not the worst QB or the biggest bust ever in the draft. That claim belongs to Joey Harrington (according the Detriot Free Press via Pro Football Reference). It's science...look it up. I love science. Former Seahawk QB Rick Mirer(er) is #2. Followed by Carolina Panthers QB casualty David Carr. Then it's my boy Ryan Leaf. Sure you may say I'm a little bias because I went to Wazzu with good old #16, but give me the name of one of Leaf's top 3 receivers during his rookie season (without looking it up), then you earn the right to criticize him. Good luck, because 99% of fans can't...the other 1% are true blue Charger fans who are traumatized by the Ryan Leaf years (the bad ones from the NFL...the good years came during his final 2 seasons in Pullman). ...The good folks at Seattle Weekly put out a 6-minute-plus documentary of the Save Our Sonics fan rally from June 16th at the Federal Courthouse. The only thing wrong with it...they show KOMO's and KIRO's live trucks and not KING 5's. We'll have to work on that. But it was nice to see X-Man, Gary Payton, and Spencer Hawes talk about the team. Overall, it's a good piece of video...nice production value. Watch, enjoy and discuss.
Troubled Lakes quarterback Calvin Schmidtke has landed a scholarship to play with Indiana State University. Former Huskies RB coach Trent Miles is ISU's head caoch. He gave him the offer. Schmidtke's free ride with the Cougars was pulled when he ran into trouble the with law. Here's ISU's article on Schmidtke. ...Miss Elam's crew chief/owner Erick Ellstrom is pulling his boat from the races on the East Coast. It's only 3 races, but that's half of the season. (there's only 6 races in the season). So it's unlikely that the Miss Elam will be able to defend its title. Ellstrom says his racing group is headed to Moscow in 2 weeks and Norway in 5 weeks to talk to racing officials about bringing the sport to Europe and beyond. Unfortunately, those trips coincide with the three east coast races. Ellstrom says it would spread his team's resources too thin. Apparently, the American Boat Racing Association (ABRA) and the other owners are cool with the move. I suppose like most leagues/organizations, they want to go global and grow their sport. The U.S. market is a little restrictive. There aren't many big cities with a body of water that could handle a hyrdroplane race and deliver a crowd needed to make it financially sound. Here's more on the story. Ellstrom says they'll run four international race exhibitions in Decemeber and January. He plans to bring two other boats with the Miss Elam. But the plan is eventually to expand the season or create two seasons (summer and winter). The hydros could race in the U.S. in the summer and go overseas to run another season. Ellstrom felt confident the U.S. tour will survive without them. Despite being the defending champ, he thinks there are some up-and-comers, Jean Theoret and the Miss Beacon Plumbing, that'll carry the tour on the east coast.
The Storm cut Florina Pascalau (according the Seattle Times, for salary reasons) and have traded for F Camille Little. Seattle sent Atlanta a 2nd round pick in 2009 for Little. Little made the 2007 WNBA All-Rookie team. The press release is after the jump. ...Legendary punter Ray Guy is holding a 2-day academy at Pacific Lutheran University July 2nd and 3rd. You can find out how you can attend after the jump. For some reason or another Guy isn't in the Football Hall of Fame, at any rate, it's a good chance to learn from probably the best punter to play the game. ...Objection tally? Sports reporters calling win and losses? The blog coverage of the City of Seattle vs. the Sonics is reaching epic guessing porportions. So I decided to ask a Seattle lawyer familiar with sports cases, attorney Mike Hunsinger. In the past, the Hunsinger Law Firm has represented players from both the Huskies and the Seahawks. Mike was kind enough to give me his take on the case. (He also included a disclaimer. You can read it at the jump) Here's Hunsinger's take: I have been trying cases in Seattle for almost 31 years, involving almost every conceivable kind of dispute. I have developed a niche practice in representing student-athletes and coaches in a variety of matters, including litigation against the NCAA and the WIAA. The Sonics simply say it is makes no sense to make them stay in their dysfunctional relationship with the City for 2 more years: why not just write a big check to the City? The City says the Sonics play a more important role than merely a rent-paying tenant, so they should be forced to stay, despite the fact the team sucks and the fans are rebelling. The Sonics will win unless Judge Pechman concludes: (1) Bennett et al handled this whole thing so badly (including testifying less than forthrightly under oath) that they flat out don't deserve to win; or (2) keeping the Sonics for a couple years is more important to the City than a big check. The City has demonstrated how difficult it is to prove (2): I can't imagine that a well-known writer calling LeBron James the equivalent of Hercules is going to turn that tide, and the economists are over all the map. So it comes down to whether the Sonics deserve to lose just because they . . . well, they don't deserve to get what they want because they behaved badly.
Well, the axe is still falling. And while it sure seems the players have a lot to say for the current state of the Mariners, was this afternoon's firing of Manager John McLaren the right move? And who's next? Some players sure seem to be in the firing sights. Richie Sexson, and more. Was the dismissal the correct move for the team? And who, besides Ichiro, is safe among the players? Sound off in the comments section below. ...If you've followed the countless local blogs posting the proceedings in the case of Seattle vs. the Sonics, you likely have an idea in mind about which side is making their best case so far. Do you think Nickels hurt Seattle's chances? Do you think Bennett made his case? What about Sonics CEO Danny Barth, or former Seattle Center Director Virginia Anderson? Leave a comment below, over which side you think is winning in the courtroom. ...Okay, so we're in day three of Seattle vs. the Sonics. It's all the news, right? Well, does the rest of the nation's sporting news even care? Should they?
Tomorrow, Clay Bennett is set to take the stand in the federal court case of the city of Seattle vs. the Sonics. If you were a lawyer for Seattle, what would you ask the owner of the Sonics? Leave your question for Clay in the comments section below. ...I'm in the middle of working out the details, but I wanted M's fans to have a place to say whether or not they thought the firing of Mariners General Manager Bill Bavasi was the correct move for the team. Like CEO Howard Lincoln said, a change was certainly in order...
Starting to feel like D-Day has come for the Sonics in Seattle, starting with Monday's trial where the city tries to enforce its KeyArena lease on the team. It's hard to get a consensus from Seattleites over this move. Should the team be allowed to pay out a bare $10 million to get out of the lease? Sure seems like less than half of what Bennett and Co. offered to the city a few months ago.
The Mariners just sent over a press release to update closer J.J. Putz's injured elbow. They did an MRI. The M's team doctor Dr. Edward Khalfayan calls it a hyper extended elbow. Putz hyper extended his right elbow in Wednesday's game, resulting in triceps tendon inflammation and an irritated ulnar nerve. The exam showed NO damage to the ulnar collateral ligament or the flexor bundle in his right elbow. - Statement from Dr. Khalfayan He'll be re-evaluated on Monday. The press release is after the jump. ...The Associated Press uncovered a brief for the Sonics lease trial. In it, the Sonics ownership claims that $10 million is enough for them to cover the last two years of the KeyArena lease agreement. Huh, I'm not if that's insulting, accurate, or just short sighted by the team. In an April deposition, Clay Bennett believes the team will lose up to $65 million if the team stays for the final two years of the lease. But they could make up to $19 million if they move to OKC this season. That's nearly a $85 million swing. But yet he's offering $10 million to leave. Obviously, I'm not an owner, nor a billionaire, but if I'm trying to get out of something and feeling like a "man possessed", I might take a bold step and tell the City of Seattle about the $85 million swing and ask for some sort of fair compromise to move my (Clay's) team to OKC. But that would force the Bennett group to be something it, allegedly, really hasn't been since buying the team...honest and forthcoming.
The brief cited a survey taken by the polling firm Field Research in November, 2007 -- just after Bennett announced he was applying to move the Sonics to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 season. The survey said 66 percent of Seattle's residents believe it would make no difference to them if the team left or they would be "better off." I'm just curious about how thorough the firm was in polling people. Why right after Bennett said he was moving the team? (That was rhetorical) Is there another poll to compare it with? Maybe find a poll from a different season, like right after the 1996 Finals...or even right now? Or ask if those 66 percent cared about a Clay Bennett-less Sonics? Or ask those 66 percent if they liked the Seahawks now like they liked them back in 1992 when they were 2-14? (although Cortez Kennedy was the man that year...winning the Defensive Player of the year on a 2-14 team) Or how does that 66 percent feel about the Mariners, right now? All I'm saying is, it's just a number that irks me...because, at this time, there's context to the poll.
In case you care, the Mariners just sent over a press release stating they've signed 23 of their draft picks. It's just a little hard to get excited because you don't see the immediate impact of these "rookies", unless you're in the city they're assigned to. For example, when the Sonics or Seahawks sign a draft pick, you can see if they're going to make the team or not. An M's draft pick might not see the majors for a few years, 8 years, or never. That being said, 7 of the picks are being assigned to the Everett Aquasox. Plus, Bellevue Community College's Brad Reid signed, too. The pitcher from Decatur is headed to the Peoria affiliate. The press release is after the jump. ...Phil Steele's College Football Preview is listing the 2008 UW football schedule as the toughest in the nation, followed by No. 5. Oregon and No. 6. UCLA. Stanford is 14, USC 21 and WSU 28. With home games against BYU, Oklahoma and Notre Dame, and road games against Oregon and USC, is the Husky schedule the toughest in the nation?
More proof, the NBA wants the Sonics in OKC, tomorrow. Today, the NBA switched the Sonics NBDL affiliation from Boise, Idaho to Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Milwaukee Bucks already use the 66ers. So it isn't about giving the Supes their own NBDL team (Seattle had shared the Boise Stampedes with Portland). For some reason, the Stampede picked up Toronto as a parent club. If the Sonics stay in Seattle, the move to Tulsa doesn't help the team as far as proximity to the big club...much like the M's enjoy with the Tacoma Rainiers. ...Is the NBA corrupt? One crooked referee says so. In fact, ex-NBA ref Timothy Donaghy said as much in a Tuesday NY federal court filing (Donaghy is the ref who plead pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges for passing inside information on NBA games).
Ouch. You can read more about the letter here. Okay, an admitted felon opens a huge can of worms during the finals when the refs are already under scrutiny. Sure seems like a problem Stern and the NBA owners can't ignore.
Tom Catlin, former assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the Seahawks, died on Saturday. He was 76. Catlin coached for the team from 1983 to 1995. He died at a Seattle hospice of complications stemming from surgery. His brother told the AP he had Parkinson's disease.
Lofa Tatupu was charged this afternoon with a DUI, after being arrested back on May 10th in Kirkland. There will be an official arraignment on June 17th. No comment from his lawyer, the Seahawks or Tatupu. Lofa practiced today in the minicamp, but did not speak to reporters.
The people from "Save our Sonics" have sent over an e-mail to say that both Gary Payton and Xavier McDaniel will appear next Monday in front of the US District Courthouse to speak to the crowd. Next Monday, June 16th, the Sonics and the city of Seattle are going to court over the KeyArena lease. "Save our Sonics" are holding a rally at 4:30pm in front of the courthouse. By the way, sometime today, Judge Marsha Pechman should rule over the pre-trial motions. The "S.O.S" press release is after the jump. Sonicscentral.com has a few rules for the rally and why it's so important for Sonics fans to be there. You can also read Seattle Times reporter Steve Kelly's reasons why people need to attend the rally. ...The next domino has fallen. First manager John McLaren went on his tirade to fire up his team, now the team has fired hitting coach Jeff Pentland. If this doesn't do anything for the M's bats, you gotta wonder what's next. Under Pentland, the team improved its batting average over the past two seasons. But this year, in the American League, they're next to last in BA, slugging percentage, and dead last in on-base percentage. The official press release is after the jump. ...Week two of the Seahawks June mincamp starts this morning, but don't expect Bobby Engram to be on the field in Kirkland. The WR told the Everett Herald he's seeking a longer deal, and a regular season hold-out is a real possibility. Last season the 35-year-old led the team with 94 receptions last season. This season, No. 84 will make $1.7 million, well below Branch and Burleson.
Engram told the Herald skipping part of training camp is a possibility. No word from Holmgren, who said last week he expected Bobby to be on the field with training camp rolls around in July. ...The Seattle Times got their hands on the Clay Bennett deposition and more. It's kind of comical at times how the bickering between lawyers goes back and forth. Mr. Keller: Are you reading from something? At any rate, here's the Times' article/excerpts from Bennett's deposition.
Lawrence spent considerable time trying to pin Bennett down on how much money -- if any -- his group publicly committed to a new arena in the Seattle region. Bennett continually said his group was willing to cover a $100 million gap between public funding and the estimated $500 million for the Renton proposal, but acknowledged exact mechanisms were never discussed and part of that money would have come from naming rights and ticket surcharges. Monday's ruling should be interesting. But I can't wait until the actual case begins on June 16th. The uncovered e-mails and depositions have been extremely interesting, but I'm sure they'll be plenty of theatrics and bombshells once the case begins.
According to an Oklahoma newspaper, Clay Bennett thinks he'll lose anywhere from $60.9 million and $64.9 million if the Sonics stay in Seattle for the final two years of the lease. Bennett believes, if the Sonics can move to OKC right now, they'll make $18.8 million. Hmmm...I just have a hard time thinking a group of successful businessmen who spent $350 million on a company (any company) and couldn't foresee something like this. And if they did, why would they still go through and buy it? But I digress. Here's a Bennett deposition quote from the newspaper article: Bennett testified he has the financial ability to withstand the projected losses, but added "it's certainly no fun losing a lot of money." - newsok.com The rest of the article goes over Bennett's financial commitment to a new arena deal, why he didn't bring in Seattle investors, and whole lot more.
The first day is over of the MLB Draft. They went through six rounds. The Mariners seem rather pleased with the players they've drafted. Here's a quote from Vice President of Scouting Bob Fontaine: "Josh Fields and Dennis Rabin are the two guys we set out to get in the first two rounds. We took a lot of pitching. After Rabin we took three college pitchers, starters with power arms and then we finished up with a young athlete out of Miami (Jarrett Burgess). Overall we got three starting pitchers, a reliever, a left-handed power bat and an athlete that has great tools." You can read the whole M's press release about today's part of the draft after the jump. ...The Mariners just sent over a transcript over about their scouting directer Bob Fontaine talking about the team's 1st round pick, Josh Fields. You can read it after the jump. I will post the audio version of the Fields interview a little bit later today...so keep an eye or ear out for that. ...As the June 16th court date closes in, more info is coming out about the trail, including witnesses, and yet another ex-Sonic player coming out in defense of the team staying in Seattle.
You can read more on Williams take here. ...If you haven't seen it by now, M's manager John McLaren went off on a 42 second tirade. Here's the bleeped version. Now, it wasn't Lou Piniella bad or even Hal McRae losin' it, but McLaren went berserk. By my count, he had 6 "f" bombs, 3 A-words, 3 pissed, 1 "s" word, 1 gosh darn-it (but the vulgar version). After McLaren's tirade, M's general manager Bill Bavasi talked to reporters. He called the skipper's outburst as controlled and not out of control (I'd hate to see him out-of-control) All of this comes on the heels of McLaren's pre-game interview. He said players need to start fearing for their jobs.
"We might be a little complacent. Definitely the way we've been going about things, it hasn't been working. Addition by subtraction has worked, and I'm not saying we're at that point, but I'm sure ownsership's not happy putting $120 million dollars on the board and 17 games under .500. There should be some people knowing that we can't go on like this." - Seattle Times
Bladen County Sherriff's Department in North Carolina arrested Sonics forward Chris Wilcox over the weekend for carrying a concealed weapons. As of this evening, the charges are still standing. Here's the Sonics official stance:
"Chris has made us aware of the situation," Sonics spokesman Tom Savage said. "We are in the process of gathering more information and we'll have further comment at the appropriate time." - Seattle Times But there's a good chance that these charges may be dropped. KING5 has learned that Wilcox has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, but he didn't have it at the time of the arrest. Here's the Seattle Times' article. ...The Seahawks released former Husky receiver Anthony Russo today. They picked up receiver Trent Shelton. The official press release is after the jump. ...The City of Seattle wants writer and Stranger contributor Sherman Alexie and KJR host Mitch Levy to testify in the June 16th case against Bennett and Co. The Sonics are trying to prevent the motion, which was filed yesterday, saying they would create a "media circus."
Pewterreport.com reports former Seahawks Jerramy Stevens will miss the first two games of season. He's finishing a suspension that was handed last season for his DUI in Arizona in 2007. But at least Stevens put the suspension off to help his team.
According to sources, one of the reasons why Stevens chose to not serve the suspension fully last year was in an effort to help the team on their playoff push. Most players in the NFL opt to serve their entire suspensions before entering free agency in order for their next contract to not be impacted by the suspension. With the Buccaneers making a run for the playoffs, Stevens elected to appeal the decision and serve the majority of the suspension in 2008. - pewterreport.com
First off, the Save Our Sonics guys are planning a rally of sorts on the opening day of the trail, set for June 16th at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Seattle -- 700 Stewart. According to the Seattle Times, SOS organizer Brian Robinson wants fans to arrive at noon in a show of support.
If Seattle settled, at what price? Is keeping the Sonics name and brand enough, at the cost of angering the NBA past the point of no return? So far, Mayor Nickels sure doesn't seem ready to budge. ...So what does the Seahawks head coach think of Tatupu's troubles with the law? A KING 5 camera was rolling at minicamp in Kirkland when Mike Holmgren spoke about Tatupu's recent arrest for suspicion of DUI. You can check out the coach's take on the situation here.
Lorenzo Romar has his 1st basketball recruit for the 2009 season. C.J. Wilcox decided to pick the UW over Utah over the weekend. The 6'5" guard plays ball at Pleasant Grove high school in Utah. Seattle Times reporter Bob Condotta talked to Wilcox's dad. Apparently, the father thinks his son will be a top 40 recruit by the end of the basketball season. Sounds like someone is gonna get a good Father's Day gift. The Salt Lake Tribune has more on Wilcox. The future Husky averaged 23.7 points in his junior season. The way the Dawgs are stockpiling guards maybe we'll see them run more like 2004-2005 season with Nate Robinson, Tre Simmons, Will Conroy, Bobby Jones, and Brandon Roy. ...M's manager John McLaren will start Richie Sexson at first base tonight against the Angels. He's been sitting on the bench since May 26th, missing five games. Before today's game, McLaren says Sexson has cleared his mind and worked hard during his time off. McLaren claims the team was targeting today as the day for Big Richie's return. The skipper says he's impressed with the Sexson has handled it and how he's worked on his game. Seattle Times writer Geoff Baker has some numbers comparing Big Richie to his replacement Miguel Cairo. The numbers show there's not much difference between the two, but you gotta believe there's a difference in attitude amongst the players. Afterall, in another Baker blog he notes Big Richie has struck out 17 times in his last 36 at-bats. That can be very disheartening to watch. McLaren does give credit to Cairo for his recent play for giving the team spark and playing good defense.
I'm not trying to advertise for anyone or, in this case, any golf course. But I just received an e-mail. For the month of June, you can play Chambers Bay golf course for $69. Here's the catch. It's gotta be Sunday through Thursday and after 3:30pm. You can call the pro shop at 253-460-4653 for tee times. As you may already know, Chambers Bay will host the 2010 U.S. Amatuer & 2015 U.S. Open Championships. From what I've heard, it's a great links-style course. Chambers Bay says that tee times are filling up fast...so you've been warned. Here's the course's website. ...Give one to the small guy. The Supreme Court refused to hear a case between fantasy baseball companies and MLB. Obviously, baseball wants money for licensing agreements. But where were they when fantasy baseball began? According to Wikipedia, Fantasy Baseball started around 1980. Some even credit Strat-o-Matic for the birth of it fantasy baseball. Strat-o-matic began in the '50's. I actually use to play Strat-o-Matic with my dad as a kid. But I digress...back to battle between baseball and its fans. MLB sees fantasy baseball as a big business and they want their piece of the pie. Anyways, here's the story about the Supreme Court denying baseball.
The Seahawks began their second optional training camp on Monday. One position very much in flux is wide receiver. We'll have to wait and see what happens with Branch, who is coming off knee surgery, and keep an eye on Bobby Engram's hold out -- after coming off a career (and Seahawks' record setting) year.
The team practices until Mon-Thursday this week and next. Then the Hawks are off until training camp opens in late July. One last note, NFL.com is starting it's training camp tour. You can check out clips from the Bears, Cowboys, Cards and more, here. ... |