October, Please End

On the last day of September, the Huskies beat Arizona for their third consecutive victory, and the Seahawks were in Chicago, feeling pretty good about inaugurating October against the Bears. Sure, Shaun Alexander was out, but their potent four-receiver attack had rolled over the Giants.

But that night the gridiron gods turned their calendars. Maybe theirs had a particularly ugly picture of the EMP, or Ken Schram, or that WTO protester in the turtle suit, but there's no doubt something about October pissed them off.

First, the Bears obliterated the Seahawks. Then, after a bizarre last-second victory at St. Louis, the Hawks came home and Matt Hasselbeck's knee got attacked. He missed most of the second half yesterday, a half the Hawks lost 21-3. Hasselbeck will have an MRI today. We need to be thinking happy thoughts.

The Huskies have won two inspiring "moral victories" this month--going down to the final play at ranked opponents Cal and USC. But even morality proponent Bill Bennett will admit that two moral victories amount to zero actual victories. In fact he'd probably lay a wager on it.

Then there's the Oregon State game, where the Huskies lost Isaiah Stanback forever. It was also the team's third consecutive loss to Oregon State, which hadn't happened since the Truman administration.

The Huskies and Hawks each have one game left in October (ASU @ UW, Hawks @ KC). On October's last day, in hopes of getting better luck for next month, Seattlest suggests dressing in costume and handing out candy to local children. It just might work.