Morrow's Musings
- By Jeff Morrow
509-582-1507
Posted Aug. 4, 2000
Holmgren ready to cut exhibition season
It's hard to believe that it's time for the Seattle Seahawks to begin playing games again, but here they are getting ready to play host to the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday at Husky Stadium.
For Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, exhibition games are the best way to evaluate players.
But with the proliferation of minicamps and offseason workouts, Holmgren already knows a lot more about his players than coaches would five years ago.
It used to be, in the 1970s, teams had six preseason games and 14 regular season matchups. Then the ratio changed to four preseason/16 regular season.
Maybe it's time to reduce it again.
"When I was on the (NFL) competition committee, we talked about a number of plans for preseason and regular season games," said Holmgren. "I was a proponent of having preseason games so you can really evaluate your guys. I'm kind of leaning the other way. It wouldn't hurt my feelings at all if they backed off the preseason games to a couple of games.
"Put in a couple of weeks of work, play a couple of games, and get ready for the season," he said.
The things Holmgren will concern himself with Saturday will be how they get the plays in from the sidelines, and how his coaches function in a game situation.
"They're kind of rusty, too," he noted. "It's nice to win these (exhibitions). But it's more important you're making sure you keep the best players on your team."
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Other Seahawks camp notes:
* Holmgren likes his kicker, Todd Peterson, and punter, Jeff Feagles - who not only gets in his punting work each day, but he also chases down loose footballs and does some snapping.
"I told him I pay him a lot of money, so he should be doing things like that," said Holmgren. "In fact, he brings me my paper every morning. The good ones endear themselves to their teammates."
* Holmgren said quarterback Jon Kitna has been one of the lone bright spots in camp.
"I've tried to be," said Kitna. "With the exception of one practice, I've gotten better each day. I really felt one practice last week was a waste of my time. I expect a lot more of myself this year."
* Wide receiver Derrick Mayes, who returned to practice this week after suffering a hamstring pull, is expected to be a team leader this year - and a guy Kitna will depend a lot on.
"I think today is a fine example," Kitna said. "We were supposed to run a 10-yard out pass play. But the defensive guy jumped up on him, and Derrick just ran by him. The thing is, I felt he would do that. It's kind of scary that we think alike like that."
- WSU's Steve Gleason is listed as a rookie free agent defensive back for the Colts.
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Connell's Jacob Stocking has a quest to get ranked high as a tennis player in the Pacific Northwest.
The 18-year-old, who won the Class 2A boys singles title in 1999 and finished second in 2000, has made tennis a top priority this summer.
"I eased up last year," he said. "This year, I'm trying to get ranked. There is a requirement that you play at least six (USTA-sanctioned) tournaments."
Stocking has a victory in Wenatchee and two second-place finishes in Yakima and Richland. He's still got a tournament in Tacoma this month to get his sixth in.
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Those hydroplane-driving Evans brothers, Mark and Mitch from the Wenatchee area, are reportedly going to take a crack at water-speed records for propeller-driven boats on Lake Chelan.
Mark will likely be driving the U-16 Miss E-Lam Plus, the boat he just drove to victory in the Columbia Cup. Mitch will be in the U-3 Vacationville.com when this all will go down Nov. 4.
In June, Russ Wicks drove the U-25 Miss Freei to a world-record speeed of 205.494 mph on Lake Washington.
Boat owner Ken Muscatel said he will be there with his boat to defend the world record if it's broken.
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Summer football camp results:
Kamiakin's varsity, JV and freshman teams won their respective championships at the Boise State camp, with the varsity and JV teams pitching shutouts in the title games.
Varsity players Cam Hall (defensive back), Sam McEvoy (tight end) and Chad Renz (offensive line) all earned camp awards.
Southridge sent 88 players to the University of Idaho camp, where Jeff Splattstoesser was named an all-camp defensive back and Erik Johnson was an all-camp offensive lineman. Russell Graves was all-camp at linebacker, and sophomore Drew Hansen was named most-improved offensive lineman.
Pasco attended Central Washington University's camp. Coach Steve Graff said the Wildcats didn't hand any awards out for this camp.
Othello was also at Idaho, where Dan McCourtie (running back) and Lance Reichert (defensive lineman) were named all-camp.
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Bill Leahy, the race director for the annual Big Cross collegiate cross country meet every September in Pasco, notes that the Nos. 1, 2 and 9 all-time runners at the meet are competing this fall in the Sydney Olympics for the United States.
Adam Goucher, who ran a meet-best 23 minutes, 54 seconds for Colorado in 1995, is running in the 5,000 meters. No. 2 all-time, UCLA's Meb Keflezighi, and No. 9 Alan Culpepper of Colorado will both run in the 10,000 meters.
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Finally, we're looking for people who have great sports back yards. Whether it's a great basketball court, maybe a scaled-down golf course or a ballfield that takes up the whole yard, if you think your backyard is a sports lover's dream, let us know. If you have one, let us know at jmorrow@tri-cityherald.com.
- Jeff Morrow can be reached at 582-1507 or via e-mail at jmorrow@tri-cityherald.com
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