Highline's football team should be much improved this 2006 season, and that is positively saying a ton. They've been the worst team in the state the last few years just about, having reached a 29-game losing streak that's actually tied with one other team, believe it or not.

So that's negative to the 'nth' degree. Fortunately for Mike Brown, he only has absorbed a handful of that streak since he became the head coach last year.

The season for improvement looks good because of several things, not the least of which is numbers.

"We have 62 players on paper, some not here because of ineligibility and equipment," said Brown.

Equipment? One doesn't hear that word everyday for a reason why a kid is not playing, but that is kind of an importance piece of equipment, that is, the helmet, and that is what's been missing.

"We are running low on equipment. We don't have enough helmets. We actually had to turn some freshmen away,' said Brown.

So that's a good sign, more numbers, if they're good numbers that is. They should be.

Led by a 6-1, 200 senior, Anthony Watkins, who was a fourth-place state finisher in the 100 meter run and returning starter at quarterback. The Pirates may finally make a team, or two, or three walk the plank.

Brown did not choose to have his players say anything for the preview and just wants people to know that Highline should be different in so many words.

"We will be doing a story with King 5 news," said Brown.

That's odd for a team that has lost 29-games. That's like on Wall Street, bad news is good news because it gets your name out and that often is free advertising. Anyway, Brown answered simply to the question of "Does that mean that people think you are going to be a much better football team than last year?"

"I think so," he said.

Highline has tried hard in past years and just had bad luck in different games. For whatever reason a lot of ineligibilities were why Brown last year had some problems from the start of his first year.

"We had 26 ineligible last year. That was the biggest difference last year," he said of why maybe he couldn't take that team to even one win.

"We had a mandatory study hall and had to cut everybody," he said.

"Everybody" wasn't everybody but it was enough to make this team about as low on numbers as one could imagine, in the 20s. That's meaning guys playing offense and defense -- both ways -- and that's hard to come by for any team, especially at a 3A level.

How many are ineligible thus far?

"Five this year," said Brown.

The biggest difference in this year and last year, play-wise and player-wise, was the commitment players made to go to a football camp together.

"We played full contact football last July," said Brown. "We played two, three times a day for two weeks instead of one, camp was four days, nothing but football and food and sleep. We participated in 14 scrimmages. We beat some good teams in camp, like Snohomish. We had a good camp and were a good team down there. I don't think that's ever happened before."

And that's good and this next part is good. The weight program has been taken on well that Brown has implemented.

"We have a 200 club, if you can bench press 200 pounds four times you get a t-shirt or squats, the same thing, and so on," he said.

The players to watch are Danny Hignite, a 5-7, 170 junior that will be spotting time at quarterback with Watkins and also running the ball at a backfield spot, as will Watkins for that matter.

Others Brown mentioned would be senior Justin Gibson, 6-1, 195, Doug Owusu, a 5-11, 205 sophomore running back and linebacker, and junior John Dakin, a linebacker and lineman.

Goals are pretty high for a team so far down the past few years.

"We first want a winning season," said Brown.

And that 'p' word even became heir apparent.

"We want to make the playoffs," he said.

There's power in positive thinking they say.