(I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "Why is there a picture of Bill f*@#$*! Simmons on this site. Bear with me)
Its been awhile since I've posted here, and I've been wanting to post something. Anything, just to be around. Then, thanks to everyone's favorite writer, Bill Simmons, insperation struck.
This is from his latest mail bag.
Q: Did you READ Peter King's MMQB column this week? Where on the scale of "most ridiculous unjustified whining well after the game is over" scale do the '05 Seahawks rank? I'd say at least an 8.9. It's been more than three MONTHS and they're STILL whining! Look, it's one thing if the call certainly cost you the game (e.g. the Tuck Rule game, the '72 U.S. basketball team, etc.), but come on. The Seahawks have no one to blame but themselves. Get over it.
-- John Gale, Albuquerque, N.M.
SG: Hear hear. I think Mike Holmgren is keeping it up to deflect attention from the fact that he mangled the clock management at the end of both halves. Seriously, did that game even crack the top-100 worst officiated games of the past 25 years? What about the Don Denkinger Game, or Game 6 of the 2002 Kings-Lakers series, or Game 7 of the 1993 Sonics-Suns series, or the Pats-Raiders playoff game in 1976, or the Jeffrey Maier Game, or the Hart-Michaels match at the 1997 Survivor Series? Let's face it, that was just a lousy Super Bowl -- the officials stunk, but so did both teams. Deep down, the Seattle fans know that their team didn't do enough to win that game. You guys should be worrying about more important things -- like figuring out what the HELL is going on with Felix Hernandez.
I'm sitting here at my computer, reading that part I put in bold over and over again, and wondering two things.
1) How can a man be such an idiot and get paid to write a sports column? I think this is a good time to remind people that he's proud of the column he handed in drunk.
2) How can I write him and not make all Seahawk fans seem like conspiracy theorists?
(Confession: I like Simmons, he's probably one of my favorite writers. Very biased most of the time, but when he's not writing about the Patriots or Red Sox...that one column per year is great.)
A third question then pops into my head as I'm formulating this...can a person say that a game was one of the worst officiating jobs ever, and not blame it on his team's loss? The answer is, of course, yes.
I'm not going to go over the calls because we know what they were. There's no sense in talking about individual calls. (though, in the post below this one, I have to give props to the Hass hitting so hard he gets a penalty. If it were award giving time, that line would probably get an Extremely Corney Bronze racecar.) However, let's consider this singular statement.
After the game, almost universally, the national media was very critical of the officiating. On every program, and nearly ever columnist admitted that the officiating was at the very least, a bit odd. Even my good pal Skip Bayless ripped into the zebras.
So, the ball is in your court, Mr. Simmons. If the officiating garnered that much reaction from the national media, how does it not even crack your top-100. And, further more, if it had been your beloved Patriots that had been on the recieving end of those screwjobs, where would the game rank? First? Would you create another level of losing in your pantheon?
Personally, I don't think Seahawk fans blame the officials for the loss. there are some that do, but the Seahawk fans that know football know that while the calls made it harder to win, we still should have done it. It boggles my mind how we lost this game. Won the turnover battle, gained more yards, and held the ball longer. We missed the big play. there were clock management issues. We know that. We did after all watch the game.
We'll grumble about the officiating. It was, after all, bad. But, please don't confuse that with blaming the loss on the referees. The Seahawks have enough trouble getting national attention, we don't need to be painted as whiners.
So, I'll offer a truce to the national media. Stop bringing up the officiating when talking about this game and we'll let it go to.
After all, this time of year, we have a lot of complaining in regards to the team that plays across the street.
(Thank you for letting me rip into Simmons. And sorry to bring up a sore subject, but something had to be said.)
Alan
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With his lower center of gravity he has the abillity to sneak in low and behind a reciever to snatch the ball from the waiting recievers fingertips without the unsuspecting offender even knowing he has been there before its too late and Lofa has disapeared down field. At 238 pounds, Tatupu has the power of a big RB when he has personally turned the defense into his offensive playground. Give Lofa the ball and fun things happen.
“Middle linebacker is like the quarterback of any defense, and for that responsibility to be put on a rookie is something very rare in this league. What makes it even better is that most times coaches just put them out there and say, ‘Go make plays, don’t think too much.’ Lofa’s whole game is about thinking, then reading and reacting. He’s handled that better than any young player I’ve seen in my career.” 
“His presence has been huge,” Michael Boulware said. “Like I said earlier in the week, he is the reason USC probably lost the National Championship game this year, and the reason why we are here. It has been amazing how he has stepped into a leadership role and been able to make the big plays and keep everyone calm. He has been a big asset to this team, and even in the locker room his whole spirit has been awesome.”
