(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
(to comment, click the green number to the right of the title above)
Sigh... yeah, I saw that too, Alan. Here's my position: SB XL will forever be my most painful sports-watching experience. I don't blame the refs or Jerramy Stevens per se; it was just kind of the perfect storm of shit being annoying (Super Bowl week) to shit going wrong (the game itself).
ReplyDeletePsychiatrists would want us to discuss the painful experience in order to better cope with our loss, but round this here Interweb our Seahawks Fans Anonymous meetings get dismissed as whining by people who are tired of hearing about the game. And they have every right to be tired of it -- who wants the same recycled bad news month after month?
If you're going to write Simmons, ask him about the 2003 Red Sox, and how long that pain lasted. Certainly longer than four months. Personally, I don't think it's worth your time.
Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance.
ReplyDeleteThese are the Five Stages of Grief as outlined by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross.
I think most Seahawks fans are either at the Depression or the Acceptance stage. But like most traumatic experiences, every time something reminds of of the event, we go through a mini version of the whole grief process all over again, and it's hard to control the ANGER stage.
Articles like this trigger that reaction, which of course trigger more angry emails from Seahawks fans, which of course, only serves to prove his point.
It's like the "do you still beat your wife?" question. If you attempt to answer it, you're admitting to the supposition, which is that you did or do beat your wife. The only real way to deal with a question like that is to ignore it...as painful as it may be.
Yes, if the Cowboys or the Raiders or the Patriots or the Packers ever lost a Superbowl with such one-sided officiating and ticky-tack calls, there would be a Congressional panel formed to investigate it.
But alas, it was just our beloved Seahawks who suffered the unfortunate prison gang-rape while being detained on a traffic ticket, so nobody (other than us) really cares.
To quote the Art of War (or Godfather I), "revenge is a dish best served cold", so we'll have to hope our boys can play their hearts out again, get back to the SB in Miami, and do what it takes to win the game - in spite of the refs.
We all know that the Seahawks had an opportunity to do exactly that in Detroit, but came up short. However, we also know that if even half of those ticky-tack calls weren't made, or half as many made against Pittsburgh, we would have won that game going away.
I'm going to burn some insence now and try to go back to my "happy place!"
The issue as I see it is in the original mailbag question. I didn't see the MMQB article, so maybe I just missed the premise. But who has been whining about the SB in the past few months, and certainly since the draft? Who has said anything about the SB in a real public forum? I don't know who John Gale from Albuquerque has been talking to but I haven't heard much of anything from Seahawk-land other than let's get 'em next year, and watch out for the Cardinals, since the end of February. And I'd like to think I stay in pretty close touch with Seahawk nation, such that it is.
ReplyDeleteI certainly have enjoyed a great many Bill Simmons articles but I do think his schtick is wearing thin, at least on me. ESPN has turned him into the print version of Jim Rome; an incessant ranter who is offers less and less in the way of actual insight. There's hardly enough room anymore with all the movie and Sopranos references. Disappointing but not surprising. It's what the industry favors, not to mention many of his legions of fans.
Incessant ranters always need a strawman on which to unleash one of those witty catchphrases (e.g., "Get over it!" or "Just shut up and play!"), which of course put those whiny, moronic fans/pampered, performance enhanced, GenX ball players/dunderhead commissioners, etc. in their rightful place... Dammit.
It's too bad too because Simmons is a talented guy but hell he may not have time for insight much anymore. Seems like managing his Iverson-sized SportsGuy posse is a full-time gig by itself.
i do blame the refs...why? they screwed us.
ReplyDeletelike alba said...couple of those 200 crappy calls avoided, and we win.
end of story.
Very thoughtful posts... all of you.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm in the acceptance stage. The Superbowl was a horror for me, personally. But what helped me to get over it was forcing myself to think of what an awesome year it was to be a Seahawks fan.
Think of hom many monkeys this team shook off it's back last year - there are a lot of things I hated the media for saying about the Seahawks - but they can't say them anymore. They ran through the playoffs like a juggernaut. They catch the football. They swept the Rams and the rest of the division. They stop the run. All of this makes me very happy, and it overshadows the pain of losing the Super Bowl, because I choose to dwell on the positive.
Sure, it sucks. But it's too painful for me to sit and dwell on it. It really gets me down if I do. So now I avoid topics in forums that are completely bent on this subject, how we got jobbed, pictures of the refs wearing PIT colors, Calvin pissing on a Steeler helmet, etc.
To be honest, I think expressions like this are actually a form of the anger or bargaining stage. It seems as though some are still bent on getting the trophy to Seattle, or at least put an asterisk by Pittsbugh's title. This is all part of hostile negotiation. And frankly, I'm tired of it. I'd much rather think of the even better season coming up.
If anyone is still hung up on the Super Bowl I believe they need to get a freaking life! I know I've made this point before, but it's just a GAME. I swear, if sports fans could get as riled up about injustices in areas of their lives that actually have true meaning, (such as the possible U.S. massacre of innocent Iraqi civilians, or growing AIDS epidemics and civil wars in Africa, and especially the wholly unacceptable violations of our privacy and civil liberties by our own government) this world would be well on the road to recovery instead of sinking into a Godless pit of crap.
ReplyDeleteBut instead we have folks (allegedly) still bitching about a fu(#ing football contest that happened almost four months ago. Sure, the officiating sucked and the Hawks could/should have won the game. I cannot deny that. As a Seattle fan I was indeed saddened--for 24 hours. Then I got on with my life.
Come on, people, would your personal existences really be that much better now if "justice" had been served and the Hawks had triumphed? I sincerely doubt it! All it would have done for you would have allowed you to brag, emptily, to your friends that a group of football players--(to whom you have no actual personal connection)--beat another group of football players--(to whom you have no actual personal connection.) Also, you would have the opportunity to spend hundreds of dollars (AKA your rent money, or future child's college tuition) on apparel trumpeting the fact that this group of football players beat another group of football players. What the hell good would that be, and how would it make you a better person?
I am sorry for ranting so, but I really hate how seriously people in the "civilized" Western world take their leisure entertainment, to the absolute detriment of caring about things that actually matter. Bin Ladin may (allegedly) be a murderous a-hole, but he has a good point in this regard. It's a game--enjoy it while it's on, reminisce about it afterwards, then forget it. (I think that's an exact quote from the man himself...) ;-)
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ReplyDeleteSuper Bowl XL was sickening and enraging, and absolutely was one of the top 20 or so worst-officiated major games in the last quarter century -- certainly one of the worst championship games. Simmons may not think so, but a whole lot of other writers thought so. As did a surprising majority of neutral viewers, if ESPN.com sports polls are any indication.
ReplyDeleteBut I agree that there's nothing to be done except compartmentalize it and look to the future. And frankly I'm surprised at how quickly most Hawks and their fans did get over it. There's no way holding on to it is going to improve anything at this point: not morale, and certainly not quality of play.
All teams have an annual meeting with officials from the NFL referees in the springtime, which is the forum in which Holmgren addressed his concerns about XL. It's almost inconceivable that he would have not spoken to them about XL when they visited. I'm glad he did.
Now everyone can get to work on '06, which I strongly feel is going to be a very rewarding one for Seattle.
If indeed it is Holmgren--not fans--who is still complaining about the Super Bowl, well, that's different. He has every right to care personally about it, since it's his team. Go Mike!
ReplyDeleteIf indeed it is Holmgren--not fans--who is still complaining about the Super Bowl, well, that's different. He has every right to care personally about it, since it's his team. Go Mike!
ReplyDeleteMy bad!
ReplyDeleteNo, wait... Blogger's bad!
I agree with most everything said here. I've let it go. I was mad about the game for about a week, but have sinced moved on. Afterwards when people ask me if I'm angry about it (this was a week later) I said I wasn't, and was actually proud of how the team played. I mean, look at the stat sheet, and we dominated. So, I was almost content with it. This struck the person I was talking to as odd. How can you take solace in the fact that your team played well, but didn't win in the Super Bowl?
ReplyDeleteSimple, you just do.
I think alba said it best. As a fanbase, we've moved on. We might still be a little miffed, but we've moved on. But, when you label us as whiners, and bring up the game, we can't just stand pat. We have to say something, and that just proves their point.
In this regard, we're in a no-win situation. If the Seahawks comment about the officiating, its labeled as whining. If we don't, the media will bring it up. Hence the bargain I make at the end of the post.
Alan, those are similar thoughts to those running through my head as I was just shrinkwrapping some wedding invitations (which is not my usual job description, BTW.) I was thinking how I am actually kind of glad the Hawks lost that game.
ReplyDeleteFor one, it's obvious they outplayed the Steelers, and would have won, despite the bad calls, if they had merely caught the damn ball. It must be a relatively hollow victory for Pittsburgh, knowing that they were beaten in every phase of the game save for big plays and penalty yards.
Another reason is that the Hawks--already one of the top-tier teams in the league--now have even more incentive to come out guns blazing this season. Had they won the game, I doubt their team resolve to win it all this year would be quite as high as it no doubt will be. Holmgren will have them fired up, no doubt. My only phobia for the upcoming season is that they will be too intense and peak too soon. However, with some new pieces on offense and defense I doubt that will happen; it should take some time for the units to gel, just like last season.
The last reason I'm glad the Hawks lost is that I have NEVER been a close fan of any championship team. I have no experience rooting for a defending champion, so my entire method of enjoying the sport would have to be altered. Any loss would be a little more dire, every win a bit less enjoyable. Anything less than a repeat victory would make the team's overall season seem like a disappointment. (I guess I'll find out what that's like after the 2007 season...) ;-)
(caught the damn ball and made some FG's.)
ReplyDeleteI'm sort of in the same boat. What am I gonna do if the Seahawks take home the trophy? I've always been an local fan first, and underdog guy second, which is why I've been a Seahawks loyalist for so long. What will happen if they dominate the NFL for a season? Will I delete the blog in vile disinterest? Will it trigger e a course of middle age crisis self abuse?
ReplyDeleteI'll figure that out after I'm through crying my eyes out, after watching ever one of Alexander's touchdowns, Peterson's sacks. Lofa's hits, Mack Strong lifting up the Lombardi trophy, Jones and Tobeck carrying Holmgren off the field, and Terry Bradshaw wiping the champagne off Hasselbeck's shiny soaked head 30 times on PVR.
I think I'll find a way to adjust. ;)
I really do think everyone has moved on. We played in Super Bowl XL and we were screwed out of winning, thats just the facts or the way i see it (which ever way you see it) . I don't bring up the Super Bowl except to say that we went to it and hope to win it this year. i truly believe we are a better team this year.
ReplyDeleteI think the national media just wants to label us whiners now cause i don't hear no one whining. Hey if they wanna keep bringing up Super Bowl XL go ahead i like the attention. Why is it that the Super Bowl losers are getting more publicity.
Besides Jeremy Stevens is the real reason to blame for the loss!!!
I just love pushing alba's buttons.
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ReplyDeleteOne more of them and Kyle gets punted. Pure trollism.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWatch your language, Kyle. This here site's for intelligent discourse and people of all ages -- throwing words like "Sk** Bay****" around will get you evicted most ricky-tick.
ReplyDeleteThat was a dumb post!
ReplyDeleteNot CC's, Kyle's.
ReplyDelete"they don't give points for yards"
ReplyDeleteTechnically true. Kyle, we bow in honor of your stupendous reasoning ability. You're hired! Report to our Bristol studios first thing tomorrow morning!
Whoa--leave the blog for a couple hours and a troll takes up residence! Kyle is correct in saying the Steelers scored more points. I neglected to define "points scored" as a "phase of the game." I was referring more to statistical categories such as first downs, turnovers, yardage, return yardage and the like. I don't think points are a "phase of the game," per se. Points, like wins and losses, are a result of various game phases, but not actual phases. Anyhow, I'm glad he found some humor in my post, even though I don't agree with the methodology he used in unearthing said mirth.
ReplyDeleteAnd who is he to say I haven't gotten over the game? I can play that game, too...
Kyle, you still haven't gotten over the way your mother used to spank you on your bare butt. "Harder, mommy!" you'd squeal with delight as the welts swelled and reddened. Flash forward a decade. Now, in the privacy of your darkened bedroom you channel those memories as you unmercifully flog your own posterior with a 18 inch length of rebar wrapped with barbed wire, all the while staring unblinkingly at the spattered Steve Nash poster on the wall. No, you don't think you'll ever get over those simple boyhood pleasures, nor do you wish to.
BTW, that latter personal attack bit was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, in case you couldn't tell. Just a facetious reaction to someone claiming they can read my mind.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteKyle,
ReplyDeleteRe: the Hasselbeck/Dilfer picture -- check out the post below this; Hass is clearly just keeping pace with Hasselhoff. Luckily Ben Roethlisberger has never taken a regrettable picture. The Bayless joke I made was a polite way of telling you that we avoid profanity on this site, something to which you stooped boorishly and unnecessarily.
A troll is someone who posts merely to be obnoxious to a site's regular users. I'm not sure if that's your intent, but you've done the equivalent of bursting into an AA meeting drunk and making fun of all the recovering alcoholics. Maybe one or two at the meeting have fallen off the wagon recently, but most of us are in different stages of recovery, most of us are healthy, but it still helps to talk about it. Either way, we don't need an uninvited drunk telling us how we're not getting better.
Anyway, you've done a nice job of fulfilling what I feared in Comment #1. I think your work here is done. Hold your head high; you've bested us.
Goodbye, Kyle! Looks like you got screwed! Quit whining about it already!
ReplyDeleteSometimes I love losing my temper. I should do it more often. ;)
there is a huge difference between being hung up on it and letting it affect your life...than being mad about it when it comes across your remind...or having a twitch in your face when a Steelers SB Champs commercial comes on. Its ok to be angry about that...honestly though, I dont see anyone making that a #1 factor in their life.
ReplyDeleteAnother words, I see Cit K's point, but I dont know who he is referring to. (your first post). Forgive me if im taking that TOO technical. Godless pit of crap? Barely could say it better. Im at the point of worrying about my soul more than anything.
We got screwed...we can be mad...but dont let it dwell on your life. I only dwell on it when football is brought up. I do take sports more serious than others because it kept me off the streets and helped me focus away from my parents divroce at the worst age to have one as a child---9 or 10...and yes, I got focused at a very young age, so if someone says sports are pointless, I take it personally...but yeah, it still shouldnt be the #1 thing. (my whole rant was directed at Cit K if his first post was towards me...all in good terms though) : D.
Hey, Alan, you won an award for this post!
ReplyDeleteAlan's Smarty
Man, things are looking up. Every year we get more black quarterbacks. According to a new statistics, over 50% of kids under five are "minorities" (that's in quotes due to the fact that there's nothing minor about us). Enrollment in the military by blacks is at an all time low (sweet). Everything is just so incredible, and my Seahawks are gonna win the Superbowl this next year. Barry Bonds passed Babe Ruth (who by the way was half black, just look at the nose and the lifestyle). Man, this is a memorable year, I'm over the Superbowl (finally), this is one of the best playoffs in the history of the NBA, and life is great. I love it. GO SEAHAWKS!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMan, things are looking up. Every year we get more black quarterbacks. According to a new statistics, over 50% of kids under five are "minorities" (that's in quotes due to the fact that there's nothing minor about us). Enrollment in the military by blacks is at an all time low (sweet). Everything is just so incredible, and my Seahawks are gonna win the Superbowl this next year. Barry Bonds passed Babe Ruth (who by the way was half black, just look at the nose and the lifestyle). Man, this is a memorable year, I'm over the Superbowl (finally), this is one of the best playoffs in the history of the NBA, and life is great. I love it. GO SEAHAWKS!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteLiqa - Man, thing MUST be looking up! Someone in here posted something very similar to that! ;)
ReplyDeleteNaw man it was me too. I posted under a new name, was tired of Liqa, but my post didn't show up so i thought it was because of the new name so i posted under the infamous Liqasto and I see that the old one worked after all, c'est la vie.
ReplyDeleteADP:
ReplyDeleteFor every generality there seems to be several exceptions, and you are one for my claim that a dedication to sports ruins one's chances at truly experiencing real life. No offense intended by my comments; as you all know, one of my biggest pet peeves is fans who are way too involved with their team of choice, to the point of illogically believing themselves to be part of the organization and becoming just as illogically emotionally entertwined with the team's fate. That's where I was coming from with my prior statements. I'm glad to have you as a 12SS teammate, and fellow Seahawk devotee. My passions for the club run a little shallower than yours, but as my friend Nathan Corvino used to say, "it's all good, from Diego to the 'hood."