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I can't even watch the games, being out of the country semipermanently, but I think if for nothing other than a reference point of how the M's SHOULD act, talking Seahawks is a great idea.
POTD: the 2013-15 Seahawk-49'er Wars Looming
Now we are talking SPORTS
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It was 1990 or 1991 when I went into work on a Monday.
One of my bosses, a grave, dignified man, had just watched the Huskies destroy USC or somebody. With that hilarious defense that put 9 men in the box and just crashed everybody. Google STEVE EMTMAN, kid.
Then he'd watched the Seahawks on Sunday, and in those days they weren't exactly lighting it up. Anyway, Jowls Executive nodded his head sagely and told me, "You know what, I'd rather watch college football ANY DAY than the NFL. Those kids really care about what they're doing."
I thought, um, yeah, I've got a bit of a clue as to why you think you like "college football." It's called Dave Hoffman.
The moral of the story, Matty ;- ) is that when a phenomenon like Thriller 1985 emerges, you better stand in line and get tickets to the concert. You guys better savor this Seahawks thing, man. It's liable to be the best sport spectacle you ever see, like in your life. An ESPN guy was just marvelling, after the Boldin and Harvin trades, "Seahawks! and 49'er games! Have become Must! See! TV!"
That'll do for us too. I'm getting misty just thinking about those two teams standing on opposite sidelines next year. Imagine! The crowd in CLink as that San Francisco juggernaut lines up for the kickoff.
This is the first time in Seattle history, the very first time, that ANY sports franchise has behaved like an East Coast sports franchise. Now, gentlemen, you know what it looks like. A team "gets carried away" with winning when it is already a great team, and THEN it signs the two best available pass rushers* and trades for the best available offensive player.
This is the way a sports franchise acts when it badly wants to win its championship. Take your 2001-12 sermons about "sports is a business and all teams want to win" and stow them deep, deep in the trunk of your SUV. If the Mariners ever really want to win, you'll know it. They will sign Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson, develop Mike Trout, and THEN they will sign Josh Hamilton.
All these arguments about the Mariners' intentions, with Silentpadna and I prosecuting (since August 2001) and others defending, have been an utter waste of time. I'm sorry I wasted the time.
............
Anyway. Sports is about full-throated battle. It is about tinfoil on the knuckles. It is about no quarter asked and none given. "Yin", the feminine side of life, is a beautiful thing. Just not when the umpire says Play Ball. Sports are Yang.
American society has attempted to enslave Yang, to rule Yin the correct paradigm of life, but there are holdout Testosterone Zones. Jason Statham movies, New York Yankee games, Richard Sherman interviews. Over the course of the last 10-12 years, since Randy Johnson left, Mariner games have been about as Yin as it is possible for sports to get. Short of Olympic figure skating.
When one side of Yin vs Yang enslaves the other, then the Force goes out of balance, young Padawan. American society spends far too much time gazing wistfully at testosterone on the movie screens and on the floors of sports arenas, and far too little time behaving as if it had a little testosterone of its own.
Lou Piniella is weird, but he understands what sports are there for. I hate, hate, hate watered-down, feminized versions of sports that advertise a nice evening out and a "competitive" team. I feel like I've drunk diluted room temperature root beer.
We're delighted to point out that Pete Carroll is as Yang as was Sweet Lou. Carroll's pleasant social veneer misdirects our attention like David Copperfield pattering away at an audience while he sets up his trick. Carroll is high-testosterone to his very core.
Fortunately, gentlemen, you will spectate a series of sports contests which are drenched in testosterone.
There are times when testosterone -- aggressiveness -- is a bad thing, and times when it is a good thing. Sports on TV, sports in the stadium, those are among those times when aggressiveness is a good thing.
How would you guys feel about a 20-80 mix of Hawks and Mariners? Sound off.
Comments
2
Second vote for more Seahawks :) 80/20 sounds fine to me. I don't have as deep an understanding of football so I always like that topic on here. There is something about this team, they are just so...likeable. From the players to the front office. It's like you feel proud to be a fan of them. The Niners and Falcons are honorable enemies too...and Kaepernick and Harbaugh are just the right kind of rival you love to hate (like Sherman and Carroll for the opposition). The NFC death match next few years is going to be ridiculous entertainment. I don't think the league has seen an offense like Bevell is going to draw up for Wilson-Lynch-Harvin-Rice-Miller. Saw a Harvin interview from midseason when he was on an MVP track before the injury, and he's talking about the game really starting to slow down for him...scary.
One thing, Doc I don't know if you read up on a lot of football elsewhere, but if you have some go-to analysts you respect I'd love to know them...beyond the stat geeks on Football Outsiders, I don't have a good sense of who actually knows what they're talking about.
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Especially when football season starts :-) But free agent and draft breakdowns until M's are in full swing would be great, and if M's are struggling in August, I could see that swinging from 80/20 to 50/50 as we look forward to our next Super Bowl Run. Come January, we'll be asking, why do Seahawks only go to the Super Bowl when it is a cold nasty northern city?
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I haven't been here that long; I didn't find this place until last August. Since the name of the place is Seattle Sports Insider, I assumed that when football season got going the content would shift from baseball to football. Yes, I noticed the blogroll only listed baseball sites, but I assumed (again) that the listing would evolve with the changing of the sports season. Please do not mistake me; I am not complaining in any way. Baseball has always been my favorite sport, since the days of my youth going to San Jose Bees games on Saturday nights, and even the extremely rare game at Candlestick to watch Mr. Mays and my (then) beloved Giants. The baseball content you provide is astounding to me, a guy who until recently has not been SABR-savvy in any way, shape or form. You guys are a revelation in analysis and the cogent way in which you present your arguments for or against whatever it is the subject du jour may be.
That said, a little Seahawk content wouldn't bother me even a little bit. On the premise that the discussion would be on the same plane as what is done on the subject of the Mariners, then it will indeed be worthwhile reading.
5
I'm not the Dr. here but if you have not figured out by now how this place works and are not satisfied. Please don't try to change it for those who have enjoyed this place for years now since it was Detectovision.
This place has a beautiful chaotic flow to it that has made it the best blog and positive oriented sports site.
It ain't broke don't fix it. If you were looking for something different there is bound to be a place to suit your needs. Btw, their is seahawks content here be patient.
6
I guess I jumped the gun. That's the Taurus in me. Anyway I have ways loved the style this place has been.
I'm not poking at you Brent. I just don't like change :)
7
Why not cover the rise of the 2014 Superbowl champs?
8
Did you miss the part in my post about baseball being my favorite sport? I've no issues whatsoever with the current format and content. I wasn't advocating wholesale change. Said it wouldn't bother me if a minor change happened. Equine of a different hue, there.
At my age, I'm not much for change, either. I'm only one degree removed from my cell phone being a Motorola Star-Tac.
9
But usually only one will lay the deed to his house on the table.
And why did he have the deed with him anyways?
10
And that's saying something!
First, Yes please, on the more Seahawks question...
Your Yin and Yang evaluation on our society is positively spot on in my book. The prevailing culture is out of balance. I've known this but have not thought of it in Yin and Yang terms. All men have some form of outward expression of their masculinity that brings happiness. Whether it's obsessing over preseason baseball or rock climbing it's all the same thing. For myself its hunting, shooting and off-road motorcycling. For all three of these aspects of my masculine expression there exist organized groups with full time payed positions that seek to regulate, limit, and whenever possible, outright ban these activities. I note from conversations with individuals from these groups that they all seem to be basically the same people and have had to conclude that it's not so much an assault on these activities in and of themselves as it is a hatred for masculinity, the Yang. I truly struggle to grasp the root motivation for feminizing our culture. Raising two teenage daughters I feel compelled to constantly talk to them about balance in life and that, yes the genders are different, but different isn't wrong.
Lastly, just for a debate exercise, what would you say to someone who took the position that girls compete with each other from the time they are toddlers. They jockey all through childhood in a social pecking order. So that there is nothing inherently less feminine about Serena Williams shooting an icy glare across the net or Sue Bird squaring her jaw and driving to the lane than there is in either of them spending an hour in front of a mirror?
11
Love your 'Hawks perspective.