The Seahawks beat the 49ers to go 2-1

Yesterday, Sept 25, the Seattle Seahawks showed that they are still one of the elite teams in the NFL as they defeated the San Francisco 49ers 37-18. The game though was not as close as the score would indicate. The Seahawks thoroughly dominated the game from the opening kick off to the final whistle.

The first quarter started with Seattle receiving after the 49ers won the coin toss and elected to defer, On the first play from their own 25 yard line quarterback Russell Wilson threw an incompletion to running-back Christian Michael Sr. On the next play Mr. Wilson looked back to form as he completed a 34 yard bomb to wide-receiver Doug Baldwin. Mr. Michael followed up with a 41 yard run into the end zone for a touchdown. The three play drive only took 34 seconds off of the clock and was capped off with an extra point kick by Steven Hauschka to give the Seahawks a 7-0 lead.

Mr. Hauschka kicked off and the football went through the end zone for a touchback. The 49ers went to work from their own 25 yard line. They where soon forced to punt though as the Seahawks defense limited the to only 7 yards. The punt gave the Seahawks the ball at their own 30 yard line where they went to work on their drive. The second did not nearly go as fast. It took the Seahawks 14 plays, of a mixture of passes and runs, to come up to a second touchdown for the Seahawks. An extra point kick by Steven Hauschka gave the Seahawks a 14-0 lead with just over 4 minutes left in the first quarter. The two teams both had drives that ended in punts as the first quarter expired.

The second quarter started with the 49ers having ball. They were held to a small gain before once again punting to the Seahawks. On the 4^th play of the drive receiver Jimmy Graham fumbled a 9 yard pass. The 49ers came up with the fumble for a 1^st & 10 at Seattle's 30 yard line. The 49ers were held to just an 8 yard gain and had to kick a field goal to make it a 14-3 game.

After the kick-off and a 19 yard return by Paul Richardson, Seattle started their drive at their 27 yard line. 4 plays later the drive ended with an 18 yard pass to Jimmy Graham for a touchdown. An extra point by Steven Hauschka gave Seattle a 21-3 lead.

After the ensuing kick-off the 49ers went to work once again. This time they put together an impressive drive that stalled at Seattle's 35 yard-line. The 49ers tried a field-goal but came up short. The Seahawks took over at their own 43 yard-line. They drove down the field before stalling out at the 15 yard-line of the 49ers. Steven Hauschka kicked a field-goal to give Seattle a 24-3 lead with just over a minute left in the half. That would be the last score of the half after the next drive of the 49ers once again ended with a punt.

The 49ers started off the second half of the game. The drive was quickly stalled to force the 49ers to punt. The Seahawks did not fair much better as they had to punt. The 49ers were again held to a short gain and would punt the ball back to Seattle. Tyler Lockett had a marvelous 62 yard return to give Seattle a 1^st & 10 at the 49ers' 26 yard-line. The Seahawks drive fizzled out at the 14 yard-line where Steven Hauschka kicked a field-goal to make it 27-3.

The 49ers next drive would end at their own 27 yard-line when Bobby Wagner intercepted the ball. Trevone Boykin took over for Russell Wilson after a knee injury. He lead the team down the field before the drive stalled on the 49ers' 4 yard-line. Steven Hauschka kicked a field-goal to give Seattle a 30-3 lead.

Another 3 & out by the 49ersgave the ball back to Seattle. 3^rd quarter woul come to an end with Seattle marching down the field. Shortly after the 4^th quarter started Doug Baldwin caught a pass from Trevone Boykin for a touch-down. An extra point by Steven Hauschka gave Seattle a 37-3 lead.

After the kick-off, the 49ers would come to life as they marched down the field. Their 11 play drive would take the into the end-zone for their first touch-down. A Phil Dawson extra point would cut Seattle's lead to 37-10.

After the kick-off Trevone Boykin would have the Seahawks marching down the field until an interception at mid-field would give the ball back to the 49ers. It would take the 49ers 8 plays to drive 48 yards for a touch-down. A 2 point conversion would cut Seattle's lead to 37-18 with just under a minute to go in the game.

Russell Wilson & Trevone Boykin would combine to complete 22 passes for 308 yards with 2 touch-downs and an interception. Doug Baldwin had 146 yards on 8 receptions and scored a touch-down. Jimmy Graham ended with 100 yards on 6 receptions and scored a touch-down. Christian Michael ended with 106 yards rushing and scored the first 2 touch-downs of his career.  

26 years ago Ken Griffey Sr. & Jr. made history

It was 26years ago today, Sept 14, that fans at Anaheim Stadium witnessed a feat that has never been seen before or since in baseball. It was that day that the father and son duo of Ken Griffey Sr. & Ken Griffey Jr. hit back-to-back home runs. The two home runs gave the Seattle Mariners a 3-0 lead in the first inning of a game that they would end up losing 7-5.

It was the second game of a short road trip that would see the Seattle Mariners play four games against the California Angels. Since the Mariners were the visiting team they started off on offense. Second baseman Harold Reynolds stepped up to the plate first and drew a walk from Kirk McCaskill. Left-fielder Ken Griffey Sr. was up next to the plate. Kirk McCaskill had him 0-2 before the senior Griffey hit a home-run to left-center field to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead. Center-fielder Ken Griffey Jr. was the third player up to face Mr. McCaskill. The pitch count was 3-0 and Griffey was given the green light to swing. In what would become a familiar sight to Mariners fans, he connected with the ball hitting the sweet-spot of the bat. It was a high fly ball that seemed to just keep picking up momentum as it traveled over the left-center field wall in almost the exact spot that his dad's home-run just cleared. The Mariners would only have two more runs in that game and lose to the Angels.

It was mid-August when Ken Griffey Sr. was let go by the Cincinnati Reds' manager Lou Piniella, who would become the Mariners manager in 1993. In what was seen by many as a publicity stunt the Mariners signed the senior Griffey to play next to his son as the first father and son duo in baseball. Then on Aug 31in a game against the Kansas City Royals he made his debut in the line in the number two spot. The move turned out to be much more that just a mere stunt as Mr. Griffey would finish the season hitting .377 for the Mariners. He retired the following yer after playing 30 games for Mariners where he had a .282 batting average.

Ken Griffey Jr. debuted in 1989 for the Seattle Mariners as a 19 year-old. He would go on to play a total of 22 years for three teams (13 years with the Mariner, 8+ years with Cincinnati, and part of a season with the Chicago Whitesox). In his career he played in more than 2600 games racking up 2781 hits,630 home runs, 1836 RBI's, and a .284 batting average. He also won 10 gold gloves and appeared in a dozen all-star games. 5 years after he retired Ken Griffey Jr. was elected to the baseball hall of fame with the highest percent in history.  

Seahawks pull out squeaker at home

Yesterday, Sept 11, was the day that Seattle Seahawks fans have been waiting 9 months to watch. The Seahawks take to the field for their season opener against the Miami Dolphins. At 1:00 pm they all turned on their televisions to see Russell Wilson lead the Seahawks on to victory.

Since the game would be at Centurylink field in Seattle and the recent history of both teams it was suppose to be an easy victory for the Seahawks. The Dolphins though didn't seem to read the same script and came in ready to make it rough on the boys in blue and green.

The Miami kicked the ball off to the Seattle Seahawks and they started at their own 25 yard line. The first drive started well for the Seahawks with Russell Wilson completing a 7 yard pass to Doug Baldwin and two 6 yard passes to Tyler Lockett. After those three completions he ha two incompletions to Lockett that brought up a 4^th & 4. Jon Ryan then came on field and made a 37 yard punt to pin the Dolphins on their own 19 yard line.

Ryan Tanneball and the rest of the Dolphin offense came out on the field for their first drive. That drive would be short though as the Seahawks defense limited them to a 3 & out gaining only 5 yards. That would bring out Matt Darr who kicked a 43 yard punt down to the Seahawks 32 yard line.

The Seahawks took the field for their second drive. Despite a penalty and sack the Seahawks were able to march down the field. The drive stopped at 21 yard like where Steven Hauscha kicked a field goal to give the Seahawks a 3-0 lead.

The Dolphins started their second drive at their own 20 yard line. They were able to march down the field. It look as though they would tie or take the lead in the game but it was not to be. On a 4^th & 1 at Seattle's 17 yard line the Dolphins elected to try for a 1^st down rather then kick a field to tie the game. It turned out to be the wrong choice when the Seahawks defense stop them.

The next drive for both teams ended up in punts. The forth drive for Seattle ended up with Russell Wilson throwing an interception that gave the Dolphins good field position. Ryan Tanneball came back out and took the Dolphin down the field where they were able to get a game tying field goal.

The next few drives for both teams were filled with penalties, incompletions, and some sloopy playing. In the final 2 minutes of the game Seattle finally put together a good drive that ended in a field goal for a 6-3 halftime lead.

The second half of the game starts with a kickoff by Steven Hauscha and a return out to the 41 yard line of Miami. The Seahawks defense once again held Miami to a 3 & out. After a punt the Seahawks started their drive at their own 19 yard line. The drive seemed to be going well as the Seahawks gained two 1^st dawns.

On the next play the entire crowd and Seattle's bench all gasped in horror as Russell Wilson was sacked and his ankle was stepped on by Miami's Ndamukong Suh. Mr. Wilson's foot twisted and when he was able to get to his feet it was obvious he was in some pain. Instead of leaving the field he decided to continue the drive. When he attempted his next pass it was obvious that the injury was hampering his play. The pass was incomplete and forced another punt.

Sloppy play and penalties for the rest of the third quarter and most of the forth quarter. At just over halfway through the forth quarter the Dolphins put together a good drive and march down to score a touchdown for a 10-6 lead.

With just over 4 minutes left in game Russell Wilson showed that even banged up he was the comeback kid. The drive didn't always look good but with each play Mr. Wilson seemed to be getting better. After a few plays Seattle was faced with a 4^th & 4 that threatened to kill the comeback. After a timeout Russell Wilson completed a pass to Doug Baldwin for a 1^st down. With just just over 2 minutes in the game the Seahawks continued their march to score the go ahead touchdown. Steven Hauscha missed the extra point so it was 12-10 Seahawks.

With 31 seconds left in the game the Dolphins took the field. They were determined to go down the field to kick the winning field goal. It was not to be as an incomplete pass and two sacks ended the game. Seattle survived to get a narrow victory at home.  

A Falcon 9 rocket exploded today in Forida

This morning, Sept 1, Cape Canaveral, Florida was rock when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded at a few minutes after 9 am ET. The rocket had been wheeled out to the launched pad for testing in preparation of this weekends mission. Shortly after re-fueling some yet unexplained mishap occurred to cause the rocket and its payload blow-up.

"Cause still unknown. More soon," Elon Musk, founder and CEO of both SpaceX and Tesla Motors, said on Twitter.

Fortunately, all personal had already been cleared from the launch area so that there were no injuries. The only casualties of the explosion were the Amos-6 communication satellite, the Falcon 9 rocket, and the launch pad.

The explosion will most likely ground any future SpaceX launches until the cause and any needed fixes are made. The last time a Falcon 9 exploded was shortly after launch in June of last year. After that explosion it was 6 months before the necessary upgrades were made to resume launches. As a result SpaceX had a much improved Falcon 9 rocket that had 9 successful missions and 6 recoveries of the first stage.

Today disaster is also a setback for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his plan to bring Internet service to remote areas of Africa. The plan had been in the works for over a year before Facebook and France-based Eutelsat paid $95 million dollars on a 5 year lease of the Amos satellite array.

“We are disappointed by the loss but remain committed to our mission of connecting people to the Internet around the world,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.

Mark Zuckerberg was in Africa promoting the mission when he heard the news of the explosion.

“I'm deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceX's launch failure destroyed our satellite that would have provided connectivity to so many entrepreneurs and everyone else across the continent,” he said in a Facebook post. “We remain committed to our mission of connecting everyone, and we will keep working until everyone has the opportunities this satellite would have provided.”