Thursday, February 6, 2014

seattle seahawks

I'd like to speak my piece about the Seattle Seahawks and then never mention it again. (You can already tell by the tone here how I'm feeling.)

It is super exciting that they won all those games during the season, they won the NFC championship, and then won the Superbowl. Like, super exciting. Seattle has only had one championship in its history of pro sports (an NBA championship in the '70s or something), so this is very cool and big for the city. We watched the NFC championship game and we watched the Superbowl. Of course I was rooting for the city (and curious about the lackluster commercials to boot). I am all about "spreading the love," as in the 49ers (NFC championship opponents) have won gobs of times in the past, as have the Broncos (Superbowl opponents). The Seahawks were the underdogs, who have never won before, and by golly I wanted them to have their minute of fame.


That being said, lalala, I'm so done with this. DONE.
  • First of all, let it be reiterated, that our coach Pete Carroll got in BIG TROUBLE for CHEATING at the University of Southern California. He had folks on his staff who offered rewards/money/whatever to new recruits, and that was against the rules. He got in trouble, USC was fined/sanctioned, and he basically ran to Seattle with his tail between his legs. I mentioned this fact to someone and they got mad at me, "well you can't get in trouble for offering pro players money!" like it was just ludicrous I'd imply he was a cheater in that regard. Another friend admitted that she really hoped he "found Jesus" somewhere between California and Washington. Well, sorry folks, there are lots of ways to cheat. In fact, the Wall Street Journal, in the days leading up to the Superbowl, did a fascinating article on how both the Seahawks and the Broncos cheat at football. Evidently there is something called a pick play, and it's totally against the rules, but plenty of teams do it -- Seattle and Denver included. Refs are evaluated/judged worse for making "bad calls" then they are for making no call at all, so lots of refs just ignore the pick plays. It just confirms that the concerns of my household are validated. I don't trust Pete Carroll farther than I can throw him. If there's a way to cheat, he will find it. I am taking this Seahawks win with a grain of salt, and it will always be tainted for me.
  • All the fair-weather fans are making me CRAZY. They're selling bows for baby girls made with bottle caps for $20. A shirt they've had in their closet for years for $15. Someone knitted a hat in Seahawks colors and it was going for $50. I mean, really? Just wait until all this is over and buy something on clearance, sheesh. Do you think they're not going to win if you don't wear their color? I'm over it. I do not own any Seahawks gear but I'll hold onto my Mariners jersey until it's worth millions. Football is fine and sometimes interesting, but it's NOT MY LIFE.
  • The icing on the cake was yesterday. They had a huge victory parade in downtown Seattle. It would have been cool if I was still a working stiff, because I could have gone to work at 7 AM then had a good view from 32 floors up. The parade route went right past my old office (and plenty of my co-workers were talking about it yesterday on Facebook). Lots of people -- 500,000 to 700,000 people! -- went to this parade. And if you want to be crazy and do that on one of the coldest days of the year (22 degrees when Laurel went to bed last night... only in the 30s during the day), then fine. Here is what I am NOT OK WITH:  Five private high schools in Seattle canceling school so everyone could go to the parade. Edmonds Elementary School (not our school) telling parents that children missing school to attend the parade would be an excused absence. A little girl who rode the bus with my son getting home, finding her house locked because her whole family was "at the parade" and now stuck outside in the cold. Not enough transit to get all these people to/from. PEOPLE. IT IS JUST A PARADE. The fact the schools and school districts are supporting kids MISSING SCHOOL to go cheer for a team that already won their game is just LUDICROUS. I can't even explain how disappointed and mad and disgusted I am. It's a football game. These people didn't cure cancer, fight overseas, find Jesus. Ugh. Lots of my Facebook friends pulled their kids out of school and went to the parade as a family. I just can't even fathom it. What are we saying about our priorities here? A football game is more important than school? I'm totally upset. 
OK, I'm done. I want this over with already. I really don't care anymore and Seattle has literally gone crazy.

1 comment:

Kurt said...

Did u hear about the Seahawks players who supposedly figured out Mannings codes for plays? They claimed their defense was so awesome because when Manning would call the play they knew exactly what the team would do and therefore knew exactly what to do to stop them.

I'll agree with you about all or the hype for the parade. I also find it interesting how all of the championship sports teams go to the Whitehouse after their win. Like the President doesn't have anything better to do than entertain athletes.