Pete Carroll now has another reason to be fired up -- the preseason schedule is here! / Drew Sellers, Sportspress Northwest

Preseason games are hardly indicative of what happens when the games actually count – one needs only to go back to the 2009 season, when the Jim Mora-led Seahawks went undefeated in the exhibition process, only to fall apart when it mattered. That said, anything resembling the 2011 NFL scheduling after months of nothing but lockout talk is a balm to any hardcore football fan. That’s what we received today when the NFL announced the 2011 preseason schedule.

Now, all they have to do is to arrange to play the games. From a logistical standpoint, the current lockout would have to be broken by early July to have everything arranged in time. Assuming that happens, here’s what things look like for the Seahawks:

Thursday, August 11 – Seattle at San Diego – 8:00 PM EDT (ESPN)
Saturday, August 20 – Minnesota at Seattle – (TBD)
Friday, August 26 or Saturday, August 27 – Seattle at Denver – (TBD)
Thursday, September 1 – Oakland at Seattle – (TBD)

There are some interesting storylines here – first off, will the Seahawks and other NFL teams have enough time to bring their rookies and new players together with veterans in training camps? Both home games will mean a lot to a couple of assistant coaches – new offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell cut his teeth with the Vikings, and new assistant head coach Tom Cable rebuilt Oakland’s running game.

The regular season is scheduled to begin Thursday, Sept. 8, but everything obviously depends on the labor situation. Minnesota District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson has ordered the owners and players into mediation with U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan – also in Minnesota – with the potential for a ruling lifting the lockout on antitrust grounds if mediation proves unsuccessful as it has before. That process begins this Thursday.

You can view the entire preseason schedule at NFL.com.