This is AMAZING!
One Per Cent: Smartphone app that helps doctors detect cancer
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Mortality in ankylosing spondylitis. - PubMed.gov
I hesitate to put info like this out there because it can be demoralizing and cause fear. But, after thinking about it a fair bit, I believe that the tip-off that this study and many others reflecting similar information can help those of us with inflammatory illnesses such as AS understand the impact of the disease on more than just the skeletal, connective tissue systems. There is clear evidence that AS causes a reduction in life span without regard to treatment received. This is mainly due to the increased risk factors for heart disease, as well as the abnormal treatment of lipids in the body and many other common sense risks which can shorten our lives.
Knowing that AS brings with it an increased heart risk due to inflammatory changes, as well as many common effects of AS work to cause or accelerate heart disease (these include microvascualr changes, endocrine changes such as low testosterone and increased cholesterol as well as poor sleep habits and less exercise overall). Knowing that AS is an over-arching risk factor for heart-related mortality is a form of empowerment for those of us who have this disease - but only if we do as much as possible to treat and address all of the risks that AS ADDS to our personal cardiac risks. Below is the abstract from a study showing the many increased risk factors to increased mortality due to AS.
Mortality in ankylosing spondylitis.
Research Institute, Hobart, Australia.
Abstract
Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory rheumatic disease which causes pain along with loss of physical function and quality of life over many years. It has also been shown to increase mortality compared to the general population, independent of treatment modalities. Cardiovascular deaths are increased, and recent studies suggest both an abnormality of lipid regulation and microvascualr changes. Increased rates of suicide, accidental death, and alcohol-related deaths have also been reported. This review examines rates and causes of increased mortality in AS and highlights a need to focus on cardiovascular risk factors and psychological health in addition to physical disability in patients with AS.
Increased Mortality Rates in Ankylosing Spondylitis Patients. PubMed
Friday, February 18, 2011
Gary Ridgeway Back in Seattle
Lines on maps. So much in life is determined by lines on maps. In 2003, lines on a map allowed a man who had killed dozens to avoid being executed for his crimes. At the same time, the plea deal Ridgeway's attorneys were able to work out with King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng spared the families of Ridgeway's victims both the pain of an extended trial and the unending distress of not knowing the fate of their loved one with any degree of certainty. The result of the plea deal and the lines of King County on the map have kept Ridgeway alive (though he doesn't look so good).
Because Ridgeway's habit of picking up and frequently murdering prostitutes along the Sea-Tac strip just south of Seattle took place in King County, he has been able to plead guilty and avoid execution.
This week Ridgeway was in King County Court to plead guilty to his forty-ninth murder - that of Becky Marrero in 1982. He received the required life without parole sentence as set out in the plea agreement. As he told the court in his original trial, "I killed so many women, I have a hard time keeping them straight."
I know that it is not a small number of people who feel as I do, hoping that at some point police will be able to make a case against Ridgeway in a jurisdiction across the King County line.
Low Testosterone - Serious Health and Mortality Risk
As we learn more about the health effects that are associated with low testosterone (defined as less than 300 nanograms per deciliter of blood), it is apparent that the impacts upon the health of most men range from being asymptomatic, to serious health conditions such as congestive heart failure, or cumulative and serious vision impairments.
It is not clear yet, whether the low levels of testosterone in the blood are causing these issues, or whether they are effects of other health problems. I tend to agree with the hypothesis that low and ultra-low testosterone are causative , and left untreated, can cause serious disease processes.
In men of a certain age such as I (over 40), to an elderly man, low testosterone can result in fatigue, moodiness, depression, inefficient use of nutrients along with other issues. It is important to use a blood test to check on testosterone levels in any cases where a man has developed symptoms. Important enough that it can carry the weight of a life or death decision. Men with ultra low testosterone are just over 40% more likely to have a heart attack than men who have levels at, or well above the normal level.
The discovery of a blood testosterone level that is far below normal can also be a tipoff that the endocrine system is generally having problems. In my own case, the onset of Ankylosing Spondylitis (I wouldn't know that I had AS until nearly eight years later), both because it is the result of my immune system attacking healthy joints and connective tissue, and because it causes inflammation throughout the body, occurred at the same time, I began feeling a deep fatigue. This fatigue was not only feeling "tired". but was an indicator that something in my body was failing. I am fortunate to have a primary care physician named Warren Fein, a man who is not only very good at his job, but is an excellent listener. When he heard my description of the fatigue, he immediately checked for blood thyroid levels, and when they were low (well below the minimum threshold), he prescribed a synthetic thyroid replacement, then followed up to see if my fatigue had abated. It had not, and this caused us to set out on a mission to find the rest of the problems, if any, with my endocrine system.
In my case, not only had my thyroid been affected, but I also had low vitamin D levels, low testosterone, elevated cortisol, low human growth hormone, etc. In other words, we learned that there were so many areas of the endocrine system that were out of whack, both Dr. Fein and I believed that something was causing the pituitary system to fail. Even after beginning testosterone replacement therapy following an evaluation with Dr. Davies ( a top-notch endocrinologist), my blood levels continued to decline - at one point I had only 70 nanograms per deciliter of blood. finally, with larger doses every other week, we were able to get the testosterone level up to just over 300.
I encourage men over 40 to read up on the issue and if you are experiencing some symptoms which could be related to low T, discuss it with your doctor. You might just be saving your own life.
Low Testosterone Symptoms, Health Effects, and Testosterone Replacement
A Cry for Innocence - the WM3
Beginning with the viewing of "Paradise Lost", the HBO documentary film which detailed the murder of three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, as well as the arrest and trial of three teens in relation to the crimes. The whole subject is sad and sickening. The killings themselves, and the subsequent arrest and conviction of three other young men that I simply don't see a single piece of evidence - not one, not even the "confession" of one of the young men - that indicates guilt.
This link is to the CBS News special examining the case, as well as new information in the case. It's worth watching. I can also recommend the definitive resource on the case, this website:
The documentary can be found at:
CBS News presentation on the WM3, as well as new evidence
Now just one more comment about this case: Not only do I believe that these three young men did not commit the crimes, but I am truly frightened by the fact that a man could be sent to death row without a single bit of evidence. If it can happen to him...
I hope you'll watch the video, check out the website, and truthfully, I hope that some of you will offer your support in whatever way you can (I have chosen to post this blog entry where thirty-five thousand readers will have the chance to access information and perhaps start down the road of becoming informed, a road that I can only believe to end at new trials and acquittals.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Cairo Teen Finds Looted Pharaoh Akhenaton Statue
Thank heavens they've returned at least one looted ancient treasure to the Museum. Hard to imagine laying your hands on a statue more than 3,000 years old, ripping it from its' base in the national museum, and then throwing it like garbage into a trash bin.
I wonder what would have become of the statue had not the 14 year old nephew of a professor found it and brought it to his uncle, who then made sure it was returned to the museum.
I have been struck still and silent many times in my life, when I stood in a place where history I knew had occurred. I can't imagine taking a priceless and irreplaceable statue like this.
I know people are starving, but I can't see that destroying or trashing this rare statue in a rare style will feed a single soul.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Biggest Solar Flare In Years Headed For Earth « CBS Los Angeles
Maybe this is the first in the series that is supposed to cause the end of the world in December 2012? If you haven't heard that theory, the 10-15,000 year solar flare maximum intensity cycle will supposedly cause massive damage and trigger the disastrous end to the world. Of course, that assumes that the conclusion of the Mayan Long Count calendar leads to more than simply a new era, and the solar flares lead to more than some electrical grid and communications problems.
Biggest Solar Flare In Years Headed For Earth « CBS Los Angeles
Monday, February 14, 2011
This Cracked Me Up
Matt Rosemeir's Edible Dirt comic often cracks me up, and this comic is no exception.
Suicide by Cop
I may be showing some insensitivity here, and if so, I am sorry. It is not my intent. Suicide is always hard on the people left behind, and I in no way wish to minimize the grief that friends and family are feeling.
In a study of 707 officer involved shootings between 1998 and 2006, conducted and published by Dr. Kris Mohandie, thirty-six percent of the incidents were incidents where the shooting was precipitated purposefully in order to force police officers to kill a person. But the person who wants the officer to shoot them because they wish to die, but cannot kill themselves is not the only victim in such situations. They put officers lives in danger, innocent bystanders lives in danger and with certainty they cause a great deal of emotional turmoil for the officers involved.
This morning Lakewood Police officers were dispatched to a domestic dispute. When they arrived, a woman with a knife in her hand emerged from the mobile home she shared with a domestic partner neighbors say she often fought with. Shouting for officers to shoot her, the woman pointed and waived the knife, but the officers held their fire. The woman then ran back into the trailer home and shortly afterward, returned with a gun. She continued to shout at the officers to shoot her, but it was not until she raised the gun and pointed it at officers, that they fired. Three officers fired, and thankfully, the only person their bullets struck was the woman with the gun.
I admit that my first sympathy when I heard of this case was toward the officers who were put in this position. It is a cruel and thoughtless act to force a police officer to shoot a person, and thereafter subject them to emotional turmoil. I was especially saddened that this act was forced upon three Lakewood Officers. As I see it, they have been subjected to so much.
I just want to say that though I am sorry that the woman who chose to end her life was successful, I am especially sorry that three of Lakewood's police officers will have to deal with this as well.
I have not forgotten the special burden Lakewood officers still carry, and I hope that these three officers will not be further burdened. And I am damn glad that in forcing police officers to shoot her, this woman did not cause any innocent bystanders or police officers to be hurt or worse.
Thank you for your service. I have not forgotten the sacrifice this department has made to protect the people of their community.
Sad News
Amidst the heavy economic, social justice, political and even basic survival problems to be found in Egypt today, I noted with sadness an inventory of stolen artifacts from the Egyptian Museum. Dr. Zahi Hawass mentioned the sad news of theft (others have called the same events 'light-looting', which I might find humorous under other circumstances (Guard: "What are you doing here?" Looter: "Just a little light looting. Really, it's nothing worth interrupting your marching! I'll just take this item and get out of your hair!") Except that the loss of items like those on the list published by Dr. Hawass last night isn't funny. Victorious Armies and Revolutions have always been hard on museum pieces - especially gilded ones. Damn shame.
The losses, as reported to Dr. Hawass by museum staff, are not insignificant. And knowing of Hawass' well-known impatience with both suffering fools, and with anything which interferes with the preservation and restoration of the precious items he and his minions and colleagues collect.
The Army seems to be doing some collecting itself just now, though just what it is amassing is far more ephemeral: Power. By the end of the day today, generals tightened their grasp on power: suspending the constitution, dissolving Parliament. After all, the Parliament was the group elected in corrupt elections managed my former President Mubarak, would not the people be encouraged by the military rulers depriving the Parliament Mubarak had, after all, brought to power under cloudy, even shady elections. Even as the council of generals responsible for ousting Mubarak after the weird, street shell game atmosphere which followed the former President's confused and rambling speech, the protestors seemed to view the intercession of the Armed Forces as a positive act; a first step to whatever the jumbled masses saw as democratic self-government.
Today, however, there may be reason for these same people becoming more subdued last night and today, as the military took steps to consolidate power and, though the requests were very politely communicated, the men in Army uniforms (not the hated police) began telling protestors to go home, to work, and not so much to the banks. I am sure that as the bubbling Artesian well of joy at ousting former President Mubarak slowed to a trickle it must have occurred to at least some of the protestors that the generals who seized power from Hosni Mubarak were also men who had been promoted and assigned to their powerful positions by....indeed, by the former President of Egypt. The 'military council' seemed to indicate neither any plan for the "free and fair" elections most of the protestors felt they'd been promised.
Indeed, one may interpret the actions of the military council as a shot across the bow of those of any group that expected an interim government led by civilians, or of any group that expected free and fair elections soon, or even in a future time (such as the six month transitional period expected to end with elections). Instead, with the constitution suspended and the council of generals in charge, it was made clear that any necessary governing issues would be dealt with as necessary by the issuance of decrees.
We'll have to watch for the next steps, along with the world. But, at least the military council edicts will be coming from a comfortable, well-known source: Field Marshal Mohammed Tantawi, one of Mubarak's closest associates, leading the council of generals who achieved their prominence under the former President. So, while the Parliament and constitution which had skewed power toward Mubarak, and even the cabinet has lost power, the military leadership will rule for an undetermined time, without constitution, civilian leadership or a time frame for elections.
And although it sounds like a scenario we would be quick to reject, I hope that we do not. The military is the only stable and moderate institution in Egypt. It is not a bad thing at this point to have the Armed Forces work to allow, facilitate and give time to put down roots other alternative organizations. Otherwise, I fear the Muslim Brotherhood will be over-represented simply by virtue of being well organized and well funded.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Mubarak slammed U.S. in phone call with Israeli Knesset Member
Does it ever bother you who you find yourself in agreement with? Even if it is just one issue, it troubles me that I might find myself with the same fears for Egypt as the man who has in essence been a dictator for the past thirty years, If the telephone call this article discusses actually happened last Thursday night, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the sentiments attributed to Mubarak were accurate.
In recent days, we've seen radical Jihadist groups toppling regimes and rulers throughout the Middle East (Lebanon, Yemen, Tunisia and now Egypt).
The problem is, that although I would be thrilled to see real democratic governments crop up throughout the Middle East, I am afraid the actual result will be much like it was in Iran in the Carter Presidency. The Shah was a dictator who was extremely brutal in his efforts at keeping himself in power. And taken by itself, how could a country like ours be anything but repulsed by his secret police and mistreatment of the people? And yet, when we chose to watch the Shah's regime topple, did the government become more democratic? More humane? No. In fact, the repression simply took a different form. No longer was there a royal ruler, now there was a clerical ruler. Democracy did not come, but a dictatorship friendly to the United States was toppled for a theocratic dictatorship that is openly hostile to the US. And this government has continued to fund terrorism from that day to this, has sought to destabilize the region, and now seek nuclear weapons.
So, as I fear will be the case in many Muslim countries who topple autocratic regimes that most all of us would find reprehensible, the crowds will not get their free and fair elections, their basic rights, their democracy. Instead, the best organized and funded group will be poised to make the most serious bid for power, and we may see a Middle East where even more regimes are replaced by extremist theocratic dictatorships. The main difference will be that each one that goes the way of the extremists, reduces the moderate Islamic states with which the United States can work to pursue our national security, and worse yet, with which we can work to exert influence to slow the extremist flames and moderate the rising (and possibly inescapable at this point) tide of autocratic theocracies virtually built on hatred for the 'decadent' West, and the most hated extremist target of all - The United States.
I am not so naive as to believe it possible for the US to support or ally with only regimes we approve of. Sometimes (maybe often) in world affairs, we must choose to live with much that we deplore, if only to have some ability to prevent even worse regimes from coming to power. And, in the case of the Middle East, as the list of countries and regimes with whom the United States can work continues to shrink, I am fearful, as it appears that Hosni Mubarak was, just what a Middle East region with almost no United States influence would be like. I cannot imagine it will be pretty.
And though I don't like to criticize the sitting President, who knows far more than I about what is really occurring, I was very much disturbed by the amateurish changing of of policy (9 different positions were stated last week, sometimes multiple contradictory positions in a single day). I was concerned at how casually the administration wrote off (and with a single statement early in the protests emboldened the crowds to seek nothing less than regime change NOW!) a man and government with which the US has been able to work over and over to moderate crises in the region. The simple statement that the world was watching transition did much to make it so, and I fear the outcome will eventually remind us all of the Iranian revolution. I hope that the Armed Forces are powerful enough, and respected enough to ensure that the country moves forward toward the democratic elections the people clamor for. Yet still I worry that the best funded and most well organized group will be the Muslim Brotherhood, and the elections less than free and fair, and the new regime yet another repressive theocracy headed by a dictatorial religious leader.
Should these things which Mubarak worried about come to pass, I think a great many people in the world will regret that the US did nothing to support the Mubarak administration until elections could be held. I think we may find a whole different level of swarming hatred for the United States and the West, severe impacts on our economy and ability to project power when and where needed, and an even lesser ability to work to seek a peaceful path in the region.
Of course, Mubarak could have simply been venting his personal loss at being abandoned by his most powerful ally in just a matter of days, and I am sure there was an element of this in his comments. But I can't say that I write off the rest of his statements when I recognize his potentially bitter feelings toward the US.
And please understand, I am not advocating that the US support autocracy around the globe. I am troubled by very much by oppressive, repressive, autocratic and theocratic regimes. But sometimes in this world, or at least in certain parts of it, way not find a single friend we would seek out purely because we like and admire them. Sometimes the devil you know IS better than the devil you don't. We allied with Stalin in the 40's, not because we wanted to, but because we shared a common enemy. This was also true in Egypt, and I hope that the confusing, abrupt abandonment of one of the few friends the United States had in the Middle East won't have similar consequences to the Iranian revolution.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper: Muslim Brotherhood "Largely Secular," "Has Eschewed Violence"
It is really disturbing to me that the head of US Intelligence Organizations would describe the Muslim Brotherhood in these terms.
Taken together with his unawareness in this interview with Diane Sawyer, it is troubling to me to think that the man supposed to be most steeped in events and international groups can make these kinds of gaffes.
And it is not like he was asked a difficult question in either case - most people who read a daily newspaper would have had both a different take and a greater awareness on both these questions. It seems a bit spooky to me...
Technorati Tags: Intelligence,James Clapper
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Dumbest Criminals Lists
It occurred to me today that I almost constantly notice new lists, videos or blog entries pointing out the stupidest criminals in the world. You know, the guy in Tennessee who decided that pointing his pistol wasn't intimidating enough, so he shoved it forward toward the convenience store cashier. And the barrel fell off, leading to the intended armed robber being beat down with a Louisville Slugger (I always prefer real wood to aluminum in my beat-downs...) or the feller that slipped a hastily scribbled note to a teller, who calmly pointed to the clock and said that she was terribly sorry, but the bank was closed from 12 PM to 1 PM for lunch. The guy looked a little confused, so she asked him if he'd like to sit in the comfortable waiting area chairs and have a coffee.
I suspect that the most outrageous 'stupid criminal' stories are true, but there is a lot of research being done on recidivism and in particular, guys who need a structured environment, or three hots and a cot in order to get by.which brings me to the stupid little thought that I set out to record: Hard as it is for me to imagine, some guys get themselves caught just so the can go back to prison. Can you imagine trying to get caught? Well some do. Some do? Wow, Git 'er done, Here's your sign!
Sunday, February 06, 2011
American Way: Republicans tell Barack Obama 'You’re no Ronald Reagan' – Telegraph Blogs
I don't want to be uncivil, nor do I wish to polarize. The thing I most hope for is a national leader willing to...my GOD I can hardly type the words...a national leader willing to speak his or her mind in a clear, civil way. I wish for that courage and frankness in our national political dialogue. Instead, I feel like I'm stuck in a constant cycle of shrunken sound bytes and partial quotes used as stand-alone comments rather than words spoken as part of of a larger statement.
All sides do it. Hell, I know I do it myself when I fail to catch it. The thing is, I really hate it when a member of one party invokes the name of a popular former President from the opposing party (usually after getting snookered in the mid-term elections). This is especially true when the person invoked had actually been dismissed out of hand by the politician who hopes to raise his own poll numbers by quoting a popular former President and quoting him.
So, it is nothing new to find President Obama bringing to mind Ronald Reagan as we near the 100th anniversary of the Gipper's birth. In fact, it makes sense: the President wants to pull off politically just what Reagan did once when, after a shellacking in the 1982 midterms, he managed personally to win by a landslide and his party managed to win the midterms.
I know that I will bring upon myself a volley of slings and arrows, but I do hope that those of you who have not been to the Reagan library will hold your arrows at least until you visit. It was the most powerful moment of my life (at least in the realms of politics, history, etc.), when I visited the newly opened Library and found myself standing before a REAL section of the wall the Soviets built to keep people from voting with their feet and going to the West. We wound our way to the massive section of chipped and graffiti - covered Wall. which had been a symbol as well as an actual physical barrier to freedom and peace. I felt that we had seen so many appeasers, so many that believed the Cold War would never end. And then a light came on above the wall -eight or ten feet of the Berlin wall itself - and with it came the voice of President Reagan saying, "Mr Gorbachev, Tear Down this wall!"
So, in me, this article from the Telegraph aligned pretty tidily with my own feelings. I had enormous respect for President Reagan, but as it clearly would need to be in any viable universe, my favorite Republican President was also the least electable, most liberal Republican President - a roiling ball of contradictions who both started a war and won the Nobel Peace Prize for virtually insisting that Russia and Japan stop their warfare. And, if you haven't guessed Theodore Roosevelt by now, there it is. I am most like the man that the party forced to accept the nomination for Vice President even after he declined and said he had no interest. After all, letting such a reformer as TR hold the office of Governor of New York? Well, that was just too powerful and important a role for a 'reformer'.
So, in this particular instance, with my memory of the Berlin Wall and the wonderful and powerful words of President Reagan permanently in my ears, along with the clear and certain knowledge that neither Party would want me, and therefore my opinions are only to be found here, as I blog to my faithful 25,000 or so readers, or perhaps by the neighbors in the apartment next door who overhear when I berate the TV for not getting it quite right. I'm harmless.
American Way: Republicans tell Barack Obama 'You’re no Ronald Reagan' – Telegraph Blogs
Thursday, February 03, 2011
An Elderly Couple’s Defiant Stand Against Armed Robber « CBS Minnesota
An Elderly Couple’s Defiant Stand Against Armed Robber « CBS Minnesota
First off, I am glad that this couple is okay and didn't get hurt. Second, I am thrilled for these two tough old birds that they were able to run off a greedy, criminal, good-for-nothing early twenties asshat. This is growing old with dignity! This couple, who celebrated their 63rd anniversary, stood up to some early-twenties turd, and though the man was 92 and the woman was 82, they ran the kid off.
What a brave, conquering hero that twenty-something was. Kick in the door and whack a 92 year old man with your shovel. Jump out on the 82 year old wife and yell at her to turn around to get her hands and feet bound. Can't you hear the bragging rights from this POS?
Well, not exactly, as it happened; The man got up, and put up his fists, with his wife at his side, and a couple minutes of struggling with this laughable idiot robber wannabe and ran him off.
“I’m damn near 92 years old. So, I’ve lived my life. He’s got his ahead of him, and it might not be too rosy, you know?” Wally said. "I’m just thankful that everything turned out OK,” said Betty.
An Elderly Couple’s Defiant Stand Against Armed Robber « CBS Minnesota
First off, I am glad that this couple is okay and didn't get hurt. Second, I am thrilled for these two tough old birds that they were able to run off a greedy, criminal, good-for-nothing early twenties asshat. This is growing old with dignity! This couple, who celebrated their 63rd anniversary, stood up to some early-twenties turd, and though the man was 92 and the woman was 82, they ran the kid off.
What a brave, conquering hero that twenty-something was. Kick in the door and whack a 92 year old man with your shovel. Jump out on the 82 year old wife and yell at her to turn around to get her hands and feet bound. Can't you hear the bragging rights from this POS?
Well, not exactly, as it happened; The man got up, and put up his fists, with his wife at his side, and a couple minutes of struggling with this laughable idiot robber wannabe and ran him off.
“I’m damn near 92 years old. So, I’ve lived my life. He’s got his ahead of him, and it might not be too rosy, you know?” Wally said. "I’m just thankful that everything turned out OK,” said Betty.
An Elderly Couple’s Defiant Stand Against Armed Robber « CBS Minnesota
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
'Al-Qaida on brink of using nuclear bomb'
This Vancouver Sun article, which draws heavily on reporting in the Daily Telegraph, based on diplomatic cables leaked through Wikileaks, is a headline I have been waiting in dread to hear for several years. With so many sources of 'dirty-bomb' materials, and worse, even some enriched, weaponized uranium which was lost as the former Soviet Union fell and the military lost control of some of the weapons locations, it has seemed to me at least, to be just a matter of time. It is worth a read:
'Al-Qaida on brink of using nuclear bomb'
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
FT.com: Could the US Really Default?
This chart is a very eye-catching and jaw-dropping summary of the current financial status of the United States. I sure never thought I'd see this kind of mess in my lifetime, but here it is.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Getting off Matt
I scared the holy crap out of my poor dog on Saturday. I mean, she thought the end of all things was at hand, and I was the instrument of this end. She'd been nervous all afternoon, because I'd been yelling. A lot. And, poor thing, she doesn't follow sports or watch TV much, so how could she know that I was yelling in excitement and sometimes pure joy that the Seahawks were playing so well, were competing hard, then that they were leading. The moment of Armageddon came in her perception at the same time as it came in reality for the New Orleans Saints, and it came not in the form of a Horseman of the Apocalypse but in the guise of a Beast. Or at least a man, in Beast mode.
I have been one of those dwindling few who felt that two years of mix-and-match offensive lines, countless hurries and knock-downs and sacks had nearly knocked an All-Pro quarterback out. He'd been hurt, hurried, and was stuck throwing forty-five passes a game because the running game was missing. My interpretation of the success Charlie Whitehurst enjoyed - though limited - against the Rams, was that he had played 'within himself, within the game plan', but moreover, he had played behind a line that suddenly was getting healthy and beginning to gel. And I admit that I was eager to see how Matt did behind an improved line that could give him time for his tempo routes and a running game to keep the Saints from blitzing his hand warmer into the turf. I have felt that if only the Hawks could get 100 yards a game rushing, and run the ball 25+ times a game, that would take enormous pressure off Matt (and Whitehurst too). With the O-line finally returning to health, and showing some good signs (rushing for 141 yards on 35 attempts; no sacks allowed and only 4 quarterback hits allowed), I did believe that Matt would play well - maybe even very well. I just never saw his skills tailing off, only his health and the root cause of both ill health and incomplete, intercepted or fumbled balls - lack of offensive line performance.
Against the Saints, Matt had time to throw, and he completed 22 of 35 passes (with four drops and a tip of a ball that was not thrown high, that works out to 27-35) for 272 yards and 4 touchdowns. Why did he have time to throw? The line. They were together again, and they were gelling better by the minute after the momentum from the Rams win. Rushing for 150 yards on 25 carries forced the Saints to honor the run, and even if you took out the long 67 yard run that scared my dog just short or ruining the carpet, the hawks were able to gain enough tough yards on first and second down that it kept the Saints honest. I still believe that Matt has another two or three seasons in him, and I was glad to see that the Hawks will work to re-sign him. If we can keep a healthy line, a Beast, and a veteran All-Pro who has won a Super Bowl (just a nudge to the Steelers fans), the Hawks might break the midpoint in offensive standing in the league next season. And with the defense getting some key takeaways and stops, there is reason for some optimism there, too.
I think perhaps my poor friend Nellie, the black lab, will not be quite so concerned this week when I yell, and I hope the tiny suspicion that niggles at the back of my small mind bears out to be true - that this team is getting healthy, coming together, and peaking at just the right time. The last two weeks sure seemed that way, and though it is a tough hill to climb to beat a Bears club that has also been peaking the past three or four weeks, I sure feel better about climbing hills than I did two weeks ago. At least as a metaphor for the Hawks playing well and perhaps winning as an underdog.
Thanks for the GREAT memory on Saturday, the 12th man induced deafness, the blocking and the throws that Brett Favre would love to have been making this year, but which were coming from Matt...This has been a great two weeks for a Seahawks, and I hope the ride lasts a bit longer!
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Sunshine on Discovery Bay
As always, the photos we use are either my own, or in the public domain. Please let me know if there are any errors and I'll correct them immediately.
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