Spencer's Injury is the "Most Serious"

please be okay

I know we are slim on the line as it is but Spencer is the one guy who is somewhat replaceable right now. Unger and Vallos can both fill in adequately and perhaps improve the middle of the line with a better knack for play calling and being more durable. I think we still have to hope Big Walt is back by maybe Week 4. If we can survive and even put him on the PUP list, he will have more time to heal and get into game shape only missing 6 games. I would hope now that Timmay is making some calls and seeing who in the LT free agency pool is able to come into town on the off day tomorrow for a workout. Especially with how bad Locklear looked last night, we could use some cheap depth at LT. Kwame Harris doesn't scare opposing DE's, I'm sure, but he is still pretty young and has started at LT a lot in his career, plus Knapp knows how to use him from being in Oakland the last few years. Also, Harris is 6'2" and 320, which is decent size.

big walt cant go on the PUP because he already passed his physical when training camp started

Can we pass a resolution banning all use of the word "Timmay"?

Don't know about everyone else but I hate people calling TR "Timmay" more than the steelers.

Tim has sacrificed our offensive power (O-line) for defense, except the defense hasn't yet showed it's worth.
I know it's just pre-season, but Jackson, Jennings, and Curry for that matter, better pull up their socks.

Jennings had a decent game last night, but TR's first round picks have been disappointments thus far.

Forgot about the PUP rule for Walt. Thanks Tony. I hope from what I have read and the extent of the surgery that he can be back by week 3 or 4. No more "Timmay" either Omarlittle... didn't know it would rile you up so much. I'm not even a big South Park fan but it just rolls off the tongue.

Omarlittle,

Thank you for bringing up the "Timmay" issue. I also hate that a lot. I think with the time Ruskell has put into the NFL and the effort he's putting into our Seahawks, he deserves a little more respect. Would you guys call Holmgren something like Holmfatgrim or Holmbitch? Of course not because he's earned respect whether you like his coaching style or not. Same goes with Tim Ruskell. Call out his decisions if you don't like them. That's fine but at lease do it in a respectful way. I'm sure Ruskell has enough class to call you by your real name and title if he was addressing you either in person or via electronic mail.

Holmgren has done more in the NFL than Timmay! When you let one of your best players leave in FA after telling the coach you WOULD keep him... maybe you'd have earned more repect.

Levi,

You're showing how classless you are is all. Or should I call you something like Lewitless.

Some fat man on NFL.com just said Justin Forsett is his number 1 fantasy sleeper this season. If NFL.com is catching on, you can bet the rest of the league noticed long ago. No practice squad for Forsett this season.

I would

He's a has been as a coach. He's lost twice as many bowl games as he's won.

So 3/5's of the OL is out and we just halfway through pre-season. Good frickin Lord. The shame of it is, I really think the Hawks skill players are good enough to contend but that means squat with not OL.

The bigger mystery to me is the Defense. They continue to put resources into the defense (incl. coaching) and nothing ever changes.

Can't get any pressure on the QB. I am trying to prepare myself for the week 2 tilt against the 49ers where Hill or Smith will throw for 300+ and never crack 200 against anyone else.

Chris...BAD title...you forgot the "bumps and bruises" part...makes all the difference in the world...just sayin

As regards Ruskell, he can only do so much each year, and every year so far, he has taken an area of the team and done some major overhauling. I would be shocked and amazed if we didn't either spend 2 of our first 3 picks on OL, or make a splash with a FA OL, and spend at least one of our first rounders on the line...while he's been fixing other things, he's at least been throwing a bone to the OL, he got Unger this year, and he got Whale last year, (not Ruskell's fault that the guy got hurt) and offered Deilman more money than he got from SD. He hasn't ignored it, he's just had other priorities...As I've said before, I'm betting our first 3 picks in this year's draft will be S, LT and G/C (or perhaps another T, and move Willis and Lock to guards) or, he'll get a good OL in FA, and we go S, LT, RB in the first 3 rnds...

In a round about way I'm okay with Spencer being injured now, that Locklear is getting his time in now over the next two games to work into this responsibility. For all the promise that Spencer supposedly possesses when has it shown? I think it's high time that they let Unger play center with the first team and start working on getting some line cohesion now.

As for Lock taking over big Walt....heck who could possibly fill those shoes. Both on out team and otherwise? Possible no one. You can't take the best player a franchise has ever had and just replace them. RIght now though we get a chance to witness Lock, Sims, Unger, Wrotto, Willis, work together whcih I still think is not that bad of a line. In fact I think it could be quite good as long Lock gets some more help in Pass protection. Then IF Walt comes back you obviously put him back at LT and lock at RG/RT if one of those guys isn't doing it.

Geez, Billt--your namecalling someone who pointed out Ruskells worst mistake (and the worst mistake any NFL GM EVER made) was itself incredibly classless! That was pathetic. You should be ashamed. He has every right to be pissed still over Hutch, and for gods sake--how many years does it take a qualified GM to field an acceptable offensive line? Ruskell is working on his fifth year, and so far we dont have even an average offensive line. Jury still out on that one, but the timeline is getting ridiculous.

I for one intend to continue to refer to Ruskell as "Timmay"! when he pisses me off. And I happen to think the "Timmay"! thing in South Park is funny. If you dont, well thats too damn bad! Try expressing your alternate views without calling people names!

Calling someone on the blog names is much worse than referring to Ruskell in a semi-derogatory manner. And last time I checked, a mispronunciation of a name is much less rude than referring to someone as "fat" or a "bitch". At least in my book.

And as far as Im concerned, you have been just as guilty of not giving proper respect to Holmgren--as you flat out said that Holmgren tanked on purpose last year, and you said repeatedly that he was selfish and wrong for not putting the supposed good of the franchise ahead of his pride by removing starters in order to give young players opportunities.

To even say those things shows how little class you posess. Pot calling kettle black, Billt.

Wow who pissed in your cornflakes STTBM?

I had to stop reading when you said the Hutch thing was the worst mistake by any GM in NFL history, I mean really?. If you feel a guard deserved left tackle money, go ahead and feel that way, but no guard, not even Hutch deserves that much $$$.

If he kept Hutch and let Alexander walk people would have been pissed either way. He did what he and a lot of other people thought was correct, but that was in 06 and no amount of finger pointing, complaining and hindsight can undue what is done so lets all just get over it.

Mora said on Mitch's show this morning that it is a muscle tear and that he will miss at least a few reg. season games... They will have to decide between Vallos/Unger at center and either Wrotto/Unger at RG... that's what Mora said anyhow...

Ruskell has got to win the division without Holmgren to get my respect,I have tried but I am also one that cant get over the Hutch thing.All I know right now we as a team have some work to do to take the Cards down,I got my ticket and will be there doing my job as a fan GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!

Damn, and Spencer was playing ok too! What crappy luck. Well, I guess we better hope Wrotto gets healthy in a hurry, so Unger can play C. Otherwise, we may have to go with Lock-Sims-Vallos-Unger-Willis for at least a few games, as Big Walt is pretty likely to miss at least 4 games from what I am hearing. I guess it could be worse, but it sure would be nice to see a competent veteran line out there for Seattle for the first time since 2005!

omarlittle--Yes, Ruskell's bungling of the Franchise Tag to save a few hundred grand over the life of a contract was flat STUPID. To compound his mistake, he PROMISED Holmgren he would Franchise Tag Hutch, and he broke his promise. On purpose. So its safe to say Ruskell lied and broke a promise to a man of high integrity.

While we have moved on, its almost five years later, and we still dont have a starting-caliber LG (though Sims may finally be the answer). Nor do we have a starting caliber C or LT without Walt. And Ruskell is ultimately responsible for this situation.

If Ruskell had refused to pay Alexander all that money and signed Hutch, we all would have been pissed. But was there anyone else waiting to pay him that much?! I think the answer is no, we were the only team who wanted him for various reasons. And while hindsight is 20/20, mistakes of that magnitude are not just swept under the rug, they linger for years.

As far as mistakes go, Ruskell has made more than his fair share. He has had the two best drafts in the NFL the last two years, and is always looking to improve the team. His defensive talent evaluation, while not perfect, is pretty damn impressive. However, his offensive talent evaluation is pretty much a D+. He still has plenty to prove, and a short time to do it in. I think he's got two years to show if his defense can be a top-10 squad or not (they are paid in the top 3 I believe), and whether he can field a competent offense with the remainder of the cap money.

As far as forgetting: never. Forgiveness is possible, but not yet. We need to win some playoff games post-Holmgren before I am a Ruskell fan. But then again, Im still pissed at Ken Behring for the decade of hell he put us through...

Are you really going to bash Ruskell for not having a pro bowler behind Walt? How is that his fault? Do you think ANY team could loose their LT with out a decline in proformance from the OL and offense in general, regardless if its a HOF like Walt. So yes in a perfect world we would have 5 Walter Jones' starting on our OL, but the NFL does not work that way. How would you justify paying 2 LT's starting LT money? Its just not feasible.

Its easy to find talent drafting in the top 15 of each round, but Ruskell is sifting thru that grey area of talent where it gets harder to find quality players and I think he has done a more than respectable job in that regard. Also I really don't care if you still remember the Hutch thing, but I'm tired of people whinning about it every chance they get, we know what happened so let it die.

STTBM,

You've got your fantasy about what happened with Hutch and being the most negative Ruskell hater in the known world,it fits your fable to continue to bring it up every chance you get to support your totally unreasonable hatred of our GM. Nothing he does is good enough for you. Almost every post you make, you tie someing into it that paints Ruskell in a negative light. You always bash the living hell out of him and then throw some little carrot in at the end like he had the best draft in the NFL for the last two years. The fact that that scumbag Hutch screwed Seattle and defected right after he made a public speech about how much he wanted to stay in Seattle and how much he loved it here has you and others so po'ed that you just have to find someone to blame and so you've targeted Ruskell. He's been your scrapegoat for everything that goes wrong with the Seahawks for as long as I've been reading this blog. Why don't you just give it a long long rest? I know there's several other people who feel the same way about your incassent harping on Ruskell and derogatory demeanor whenever you post about Ruskell.

It's so funny that you disrespect Ruskell every time you call him by your childish little name but it annoys you that I would do the same to anyone else. My name calling had nothing to do with Hutch only that you and others are totally disrespecting Tim Ruskell by calling him a name obviously meant to be disrespectful and I wanted to see how the person doing it would like being called a name that is equally disrespectful. It wasn't even you I called by that name but now that I think about it, maybe I will figure out a name for you that's derogatory and use it every time you use "Timmay" to refer to Ruskell. You guys are as bad a a bunch of 1st graders. You have a perfect right to disagree with whatever Ruskell's done but not to slander his name. As I said, Ruskell would show way more class than that and even though you would slander him, he would respond to you civily.

I guess I made my point though and it got across very well to judge from your post. (big grin) Thank you for confirming my assumption that you can dish it out but you sure can't take it. You call Ruskell by a dergoatory name and then when I call someone else a name to point out that it would annoy them to be called by such a name, you jump in and prove my point by busting my chops over it. About your continued disrespect to TR, from you, I never expected anything less than for you to keep showing your character by continuing to call him "Timmay" and be the most negative fan in Seahawk land.

Billt--its you that is the 1st grader. You simply cant stand a negative word about Ruskell. As far as youre concerned, the guy can do no wrong. Because he won one Super Bowl. 10 years ago. Because you read a book about him. Because you seem to have your own ego tied up in whether he does well or is respected.

"Timmay!" may not be the most respectful way to refer to someone named Tim, but it is a far cry from "HolmBitch" or "HolmFat", which are insults and names YOU used.

Also, its far worse to call posters names when they disagree with you than it is to refer to a Hawk official by a derogatory nickname.

Funny thing is, youre utterly illogical: you never responded to a a single point I made, instead labeling me "the most negative Ruskell hater in the known world". How cute. Because I barf when you and others fawn all over Ruskell and ignore his mistakes? Because I bring up points that you never respond to because they are irrefutable?!

Holmgren said, IN PRINT, that Ruskell PROMISED him he would Franchise Tag, not Transition Tage, Hutch. Or Holmy wasnt going on vacation. Ruskell LIED!Period. Even if you cant stand to admit it. Its the truth, and all your handwringing and insult slinging wont change fact.

I have much more loathing for Hutch than for Ruskell, as Ruskell has done many good things as GM. However, we have achieved nothing yet that ties directly back to Ruskell, other than spend 60-75 million on defensive payroll for what again? Oh yeah, we have no offensive line, our defense has done jack for several years despite a huge influx of money and talent, and we just looked like crap against a terrible team with an even bigger change in offensive and defensive schemes--a team with much less talent. And Im supposed to never utter a word aobut RUskells mistakes?! Thats not logical, Billt! Thats fanboyism.

And when was the last time you saw me refer to Ruskell as "Timmay!"?! Ages ago. My point was I will be damned if some overly-optimistic Ruskell fan-boy who gets his panties in a huge wad over anyone saying anything less than ecstatic about his hero Ruskell will tell me what I can and cant do. ANd when you call posters names, who DIDNT CALL YOU NAMES, you bet Im gonna bust your chops!

As for dishing it out and taking it in--I take lots of crap, judgements both personal and professional, from you and others. And except for losing my temper in a big way once, I have refrained from personal attacks and namecalling against other posters. Its you who is unable to be reasonable or logical when it comes to Ruskell. Its you who namecalls and labels anyone who disagree's with you and your fanbase, and its you who throws tantrums whenver someone stands up to your weak attempts at bullying others.

Overoptimism and an utter lack of logic is not a virtue Billt. Its simply your personality.

STTBM,

I give up. You purposely ignore my point and try to bring up a strawman to fight with. I said you can say what you will about Ruskell's supposed failures or what ever else you don't like about him but all my point was that you should at least respect his name. That's being adult about it. Attack the policy, not the man but you want to make it all about who likes Ruskell and who doesn't. You just don't get it and I'm tired of beating my head against the brick wall that is your ego. I only make up names for Holmgren as an example (and it made my point because you hated it) and the same with the poster who referred to TR as "Timmay" (Levi). You ignore the insults to Ruskell and focus on my response and examples which were triggered by the misuse of TR's good name instead. Typical.

I'm not going to argue with you any more. In fact I won't have any interaction with you at all if I can help it. It's just not worth the aggravation. You live in a world of dissapointment, inuendo, and the need to assign blame for all that displeases you. I prefer to live in one of hope, achievment, and understanding and your constant negative outlook really brings me down. Have a nice day but I know you won't. Too many things to blame someone about floating around.

Still not a single response to any of the points I made, nor any rebuttal. Not one response to any of the holes in your logic I pointed out. Only an overemotional response that touches only on the big picture.

Theres no strawman: I said IN TWO POSTS, that I feel it is much worse to namecall a fellow poster than it is to refer to Tim Ruskell as "Timmay!". You disagree. You feel its perfectly ok for Billt to namecall anyone he wants if they dislike his hero, but its not ok for anyone to namecall Billt, nor to refer to someone named Tim as "Timmay". Have you even seen those SOuth Park episodes, Billt?!

I responded directly to your points, refuted them, and asked you to respond to mine. But you seem incapable of refuting anything, nor of even discussing single points. All you want to talk about is how since Ruskell does most things right, its sacrilege to say anything against him.

Bill, Im pretty blunt. Maybe you need to bust out a dictionary and read the definition of INNUENDO, since you claim I live in a world of it.

Understanding?!! Bill, you have no understanding at all of anyone who doesnt completely agree with you.

Your problem, one of them, as I have said, is that you cannott assign any blame to Ruskell. For some reason, if you admit he's made a single mistake that hurt the team, your fragile ego will disintegrate...or something. Meanwhile, despite blaming him for multiple mistakes I feel have hamstrung our team, I think he's a good if not great GM and give him due credit for his various successes. That makes me a negative person in your mind. Whatever.

You need to stop labeling people Billt. Because you dont know jack about who people are or what makes them tick.

For your own sake, go back and read my posts and respond to every paragraph. After reading the whole thing. The whole thing, Billt.