|
Hey Addicts.
This article will serve as my post game comments but before anyone reads further, I want to give you heads up that it's highly opinionated and I'm not pulling any punches. Some of you guys who have thin skin or are already bashing at the team, coaches, and front office might want to consider whether you want to read past the alert below knowing where I usually stand on these matters. Some of you who have suggested that you're going to skip reading my pieces from now on maybe should consider starting with this one if you haven't started already rather than reading on and raising your blood pressure. I don't want anyone to hurt themselves.
As first written, this article was a scathing piece where I was determined to blast the skin off anyone who was giving up on the team after just one loss but I waited until I cooled down some and re-wrote parts of it to tone it down some. What's left is still going to blister some fans but will leave the skin largely intact. Read on at your own peril but I'll give you a heads up when it's about to turn ugly.
First of all let's talk about Sunday's game against the 49er's. We stunk it up alright for the most part. I think everyone has already painted that picture pretty well from Chris's analysis to all the comments from you Addicts. Much of the criticism was deserved but to your credit, some of you gave a lot of reasons why the game got out of hand instead of just mindlessly lashing out at everyone connected with the team without really considering the factors as some of you did. Some of you exercised your cursing skills and used foul language liberally to display all the frustrations the game brought out in you. That's OK.
Let's consider the situation as it happened from my perspective. To continue reading this article please press "Read more" below.
First of all, it was a record hot day in San Francisco. Into the 90's and being close to the water, humid to boot. That kind of heat will zap your energy faster than the dry desert heat will and the Seahawks have had days in Arizona when the heat just sapped their strength and made it difficult to find the energy to play with. A lot of you guys commented that the team seemed to lack energy. That's one reason no one seems to be considering. Of course, someone pointed out right away that the 49er's had to play in it too but that's their home field and their home conditions that they're more used to than we are just like the rain and wind at Qwest field which is always considered to be a factor in our favor.
The injuries as they happened one by one just seemed to take the wind out of our sails a little bit at a time. As we lost Tatupu, Locklear, Wilson, Griffin, and then Hasselbeck, each one took a bite out of the team's heart which had already been nicked by the loss of starters Walter Jones, Brandon Mebane, Leroy Hill, Deion Branch, Chris Spencer, and Marcus Trufant but then to get torched by Gore not once but twice knowing that maybe had Tatupu been in there healthy, it would have been different, had to take it's toll on the team even more and make the day seem insufferable in the heat and humidity. I'm sure the team and even the coaches were a bit shell-shocked by the events as they unfolded. Seneca certainly wasn't prepared to go in and lead the team for a half a game just as most backup quarterbacks in the league don't get a lot of reps and have the game plan revolve around them as they prepare for an opponent. Next week, Seneca will be a different quarterback.
Of course, all us fans who would have folded in the pregame warm-ups in that kind of heat and humidity and who would have been just wailing at the injustice of all the losses of our key players can sit here in our comfortable bars and homes watching the game and say that they should have manned up and just played through it like nothing happened as if we could have done that if it was us out there. Who are you kidding! That was tough Sunday and although the team didn't handle the adversity as well as we had hoped they would, how many teams in the league missing 10 of their starters would have just bucked up and played a great game and pulled off a win under these circumstances? I know that's a question that can't be answered but my speculation is not many. Certainly not the Seahawks in their second game with all new schemes and under a new head coach and coordinators. Did we really expect them to blast out of the chute under the new regime and be totally awesome without a hitch or two along the way? Did we? Maybe we did and the bubble just got burst last Sunday.
Some of you thought Knapp was stupid for calling a draw play when they were at 3rd and 17 but didn't consider that at the time, the 49er's had the momentum going their way and a downfield pass might have been an easy target for an interception with that kind of pressure and the Seahawks a bit flustered. The Seahawks elected to run it and then punt playing it safe instead of potentially giving the 49er's the ball with a short field to work with and possibly posting another score and putting us further behind the eight ball. It was a call that was designed to lose a battle but allow the Seahawks to maybe go on to win the war. At the time, we weren't out of the game and it would have been an unnecessary risk to throw a 20 yard pass given how the two teams were playing at the time. I don't see it as a stupid decision.
I don't see how Knapp could be considered so good against the Rams and then be so bad against the 49er's as some of you make out. Some of you pointed to his record in a negative way but he's had a top ten rushing game wherever he's been. You can't call him out after just two games in the first season we've implemented his scheme. His track record gives him the right to have a little more respect than that and to be given more time to get it going. I know most of you know that too.
Most of the above conditions and situations were brought up by you Addicts in the comments that followed the game. I say kudos to you guys who saw through the pain and frustration and decided to keep yourself on an even keel and consider the ramifications of everything that happened before going off half cocked and just blasting at everyone and everything in sight like some people did. There were extenuating circumstances in Sunday's game from the heat to the injuries to some poor plays by a couple of important cogs in the wheel. It all added up to the loss but it isn't the end of the trail yet like some of you would have the rest of us believe it is.
I think most of us when we're not wallowing in self pity and feeling sorry for ourselves because our team lost Sunday would admit that this team has much better backups than we had last year and we're more prepared to suffer injuries. Given a week to prepare Seneca Wallace with a game plan centered on his abilities, the team should be able to be competitive against the Bears at Qwest Field. You couldn't have said that about last year's team because our depth was such a big issue. We have enough players this year to field a team with a chance. That's progress sports fans whether you want to admit it or not.
And now comes the part some of you aren't going to like so well. Here's a good place to stop if you don't like to hear about disloyal fans and stuff. If you're a glutton for punishment though and don't like to hear about disloyal fans, read on.
I saw comments that blasted Mora, Knapp, Ruskell, Houshmandzadeh, Burleson, JJones, Vallos, Babineaux, and Wallace. Some of those had some valid points to make but some of them were just mean minded and disrespectful of those players. Some comments suggested that the Seahawks are done this year and inferred we should just pack it in already. I guess they think we should just tuck our tails between our legs and forfeit all the rest of our games. Here's where I start to take exception with some of the fans.
No wonder Seattle has a reputation of having fans who will jump ship at the drop of a pin. One good win and one loss with 10 starters out, and some of you guys are already crying that we're done for the year and that we'll have a higher pick than Denver in 2010 as well as essentially indicating that you're bailing out after only the second game of the season. You want your team to buck up and play tough but you want to be a leaf in the wind with no backbone as a fan? How does that work? Your team has to play tough but you can wimp out and bail just like that? Some of you had some pretty vile things to say about the team but I think it says a lot more about you than it does the team. This is the watered down version of this paragraph. You should have seen the original cut. It would have blistered the paint off an ocean liner.
Now before everyone who said a discouraging word at all gets all in an uproar, I understand that it's tough to watch a game like that and not say some negative stuff about the team when they lose like they did Sunday. I had some words too about how they played and some of the decisions that were made.That's understandable and a lot of you guys also tempered those comments with some good things to say too or declared that you're still behind the team and that we have to go back and work harder to iron out the problems. That' all just fine. This isn't about you real fans who are sticking with the team through hard times and just blowing off some steam.
Please notice I'm aiming what follows at those guys who declared that the team is done for the season or the ones who said Ruskell made a big mistake in drafting Curry or picking up Housh in free agency and that the whole team is going to be a big failure after just the second game when the team is still 1 - 1 in league play. That's a ludicrous position to take after just the second game when no one is on IR yet and all our players still figure to be back at some time during the season. It's just way to early to be declaring that kind of stuff and totally unjustified after just two games. Those are the guys I'm calling out so you die hard fans who were just letting off some steam, relax. I understand and this isn't about you so don't be busting my chops.
As far as Curry is concerned, Ruskell did what he had to do and that was take the best player in the draft who had already fallen past three teams (who are going to rue the day they passed on him) and most likely the only player who would have been a top 5 pick in any year's draft. Almost everyone agreed with it at the time and almost everyone would have made that choice had it been theirs to make on draft day. Now, when the perception is that Curry just stood around without any fire in Sunday's game and he missed a couple of tackles in just his second game, after being called a beast in his first outing, Ruskell is being painted as being stupid to select him when he could have had Sanchez or Maualuga or name your player by some fans. That is totally unrealistic but also totally expected. Everyone loves to have their say after hindsight kicks in and Maualuga has had two good games and Curry only one. Wow, time to make a judgement after just two games in their respective careers in the NFL. Anyone who thinks Curry is a bust at this stage or that Maualuga is a sure thing for that matter of fact really doesn't know much about the game of football and especially about player development.
Some armchair quarterbacks are nothing but a bag of complaints ready to explode and spray paint the situation with huge amounts of criticism without offering anything of substence as a solution. I really don't mind a well thought out piece of criticism followed by a well thought out solution or alternative course of action that might take care of the problem at hand but to just whine about a problem without any solution makes you part of that problem not part of any kind of solution.
The Seahawks aren't dead yet by any stretch of the imagination and some of you guys are way premature with all these negative rants that are just whiny crap because you feel sorry for yourselves that you believed in the team and you think they let you down and now you've labeled them as done for the season. How pathetic! Can you imagine if the team came to work at practice for the Bears game with that kind of attitude? They will come in and do their damnedest to buck up and prepare to meet the Bears because they're professional football players and men not crybabies who crumble at one loss no matter how terrible it may seem. They're going to come in and watch the game film, take their criticism like a man, and leave the film room with a resolve to fix the problems that hit them at San Francisco. Then they'll take the field and start preparing for the task of beating the Bears not roll over dead like some of their fans did this weekend. Some of you should be ashamed of yourselves. You know who you are.
Now you guys who think it's all over already go ahead and identify yourselves by responding to this article and let everyone know which type of fan you are but maybe you'd be better off to just lay low and tuck your head between your legs and kiss your arse goodbye after just the second week of the season. However, the Seahawks aren't going to give up that easy. The real fans won't either. Bitching about losing is one thing but really getting down on the team, Mora and his coaches, and Ruskell at this point over just one game with some of the scathing remarks I saw is just gutless whining. The team knows what happened and they know what they have to do to fix it. They don't need their faces and reputations rubbed in the dirt. Especially not by some whiny fan who would buckle before the warm-ups were even over if they tried to play in that game.
I'm sure I've ruffled some feathers again but I think they needed ruffling. I can't wait to hear the responses that proclaim that they can criticize the team all they want, it's a free country, I criticize anyone who disagrees with me, I can't see the handwriting on the wall but they can, I have a mancrush on Ruskell, my articles are way too long, yada, yada, yada....
As always, I call it as I see it and to heck with the consequences. If enough of you at any time don't want to read my particular brand of writing like where I call out the unfaithful and part timers who can't appreciate what it takes to stick with a team through thick and thin somewhat like a marriage that vows to stay together for better or worse, I'm always willing to bow out and spend my time doing all the things that I have to put off in my life because of the inordinate amout of time I spend writing for the Addicts and now running the weekly contest. It's really not a problem with me whatsoever trust me. Every time I mention it though, I get a rash of fans who say they like my writing just fine and to keep writing so I always end up sticking around. Hit me with your best shot if I've offended you or struck a nerve with this article but be aware that will probably label you as one of the bandwagoners who is currently off the bandwagon and given up on the team prematurely. Of course, I always like hearing that some of you like what I write too. If you guys think I'm wrong to call out those fans who give up on the team after two games and a 1 - 1 record, tell me about it. If you guys are behind my sentiments, I'd like to hear about that too.
I'll leave you with this. Go ahead and place yourself where you want to be seen as a Seahawk fan by others with your response. Me, I want to be known as someone who supports my team whether they win or lose especially when they lose and need my support the most. I want the team to know that I still believe they can be winners and I'll be behind them no matter what as long as they are still giving it all they have. I want them to know I'm not going to turn into a snarling dog and be a backbiter and call them names behind their back and withdraw my support just because they lost a game or like in last years case, blew a season due to circumstances beyond their control. I put my money where my mouth is too by having kept my season tickets for 34 years now when the team was 2 - 12 as well as when they were 13 - 3. That's who I want to be known as. Solid as a rock and someone they can count on 100%. I may bitch along the way but I'll never be the one to say they're done after just two games in a 16 game season. I challenge you guys to show what kind of fans you are too or let us know that we have to check both sides of the fence to find where you are at any given moment in time. You know which side to find me on.
Look for my game preview of the Bears game on Thursday and the weekly contest posting on Friday.
Hasta,
BillT
|
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site.. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 
The Team just had a bad game, some players got hurt, some did not play as good as expected (some however did)... That is Football...
Let's wait before jumping to any conclusion about draft, play calling, team building...
As fans, we have to support our team, even more in difficult situations.
The players must stand up and continue to fight, run, catch, tackle... and fans should help them in whatever way they can...
(on my way to buy some Seahawks stuff over the Internet
- Hello from France -