THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016
After watching the Seattle Seahawks play to a tie and lose on the road in back-to-back weeks, especially in the fashion that both games have finished, some might think it’s time to hit the panic button.
No identity on offense and a defense that has been giving up some plays it hasn’t been in recent years.
Maybe they’re not who we thought they were.
A FEW weeks ago, it was could only be described as the second worst game of the season — the worst could be the Tampa Bay-Carolina Monday night fiasco — the Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals exchanged missed field goals near the end of regulation and overtime to end in a 6-6 tie.
That’s correct, the game was so bad that neither team could score a touchdown.
Seattle didn’t waste much time getting in the end zone last Sunday, scoring a defensive touchdown on a fumble recovery by Earl Thomas. Later in the first half, Seattle set up another score on a wide receiver pass, something that should have put a spark into the team.
It didn’t quite work out that way.
Instead of keeping the momentum after halftime, Seattle found themselves down late, and eventually losing the game when a pass intended for Jermaine Kearse sailed a little bit out of the endzone to end the game.
With all the things that have gone wrong lately — and there’s been a lot — Seattle still leads the division by more than one game, with five home games still on the schedule.
Seattle hasn’t been the best first half team in recent years, but the Seahawks have somehow found themselves turning things around after Halloween.
Chances are, they’ll find a way to do it again.
For how long, that remains to be seen.
AS EXPECTED with any junior college basketball program, the North Idaho College women’s basketball team will once again have plenty of new faces on the court as the team moves from the NJCAA’s Scenic West Athletic Conference to the Northwest Athletic Conference.
There are a few holdovers, but most of the roster — outside of those with local ties — are new to the area.
We’ll have a little bit more on them in a few weeks.
Those that departed are still continuing their careers, albeit in different area codes.
Maci Benedict, who graduated in May, is now at Corban University in Salem, Ore.
Stormee Van Belle, who transferred in for her sophomore season, is playing at NAIA Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, Ore., alongside former NIC players Bailey Schroeder and Mariah Swanson. Both Van Belle and Swanson are in their junior years, while Schroeder is in her senior year.
After her freshman season, freshman Ebony Norman — who started 24 of 29 games — transferred to Salt Lake Community College. NIC does not play Salt Lake this season.
Gracie Roberts, who appeared in all 29 games as a freshman, has moved onto NCAA Division I Detroit Mercy, a Horizon League team in Michigan.
Sophomores Monica Landdeck (NAIA Montana Tech in Butte) and Grace Varcoe (Division II Cal State East Bay in Hayward, Calif.) have also moved on, along with Shelby Cloninger, who signed with Division II Alaska-Anchorage in the spring.
SO IF it takes a few weeks for this group to find its rhythm as well, don’t worry too much about it.
They will eventually.
They always do.
Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.