Our new QB! I will admit this to y'all, at the risk of eroding my street cred within the 12 Army: As long as the Seahawks are decently competitive and entertaining, I'm a pretty happy fan. If Seattle was mathematically alive going into the week 17 every year, I honestly wouldn't have much to complain about.
I know that the idea of going between 7-9 and 9-7 every year sounds like torture to a lot of you (as well as sounding a lot like the vast majority of franchise history), but I have a highly developed ability to flat-out lie to myself about the Seattle Seahawks. No matter how solid the evidence is to the contrary, as long as the team is still mathematically alive, I'm still DEEPLY emotionally invested.
Even in a year like 2004 or 1999, when it was clear to any well-informed observer that the Hawks had ZERO chance at winning it all even if they stumbled into the playoffs, I told myself "hey, they could still get hot and go on a Cinderella run! I don't want to miss that shit!"
How is this relevant? Folks like John Morgan over on Field Gulls make a pretty compelling case that the Carroll Administration couldn't pour Jones Soda out of a pair of football cleats if the instructions were written on the heels. It's absolutely possible that the next couple of years could be a Flores-worthy death march of crappy, crappy football from our Seahawks.
But to paraphrase a Fox Mulder line, I HAVE TO believe. It's not that I think we should all shut up and never criticize the players, coaches, or management... It's more that the idea we are doomed to fail is too depressing and morale-crushing for me to accept.
So until proven otherwise, I have to believe that Pete Carroll is Chike Knoxgren. Until a big-ass pile of defeat and degradation smothers me, I have to believe that Charlie Whitehurst will kick more ass than Beef Supreme.
Who's with me?
9 comments:
I applaud your optimism. I too would love to make lemonade out of what seems to be an blizzard of lemons. Hopefully, Carrol is the talent scout in Seattle as he was with USC and John Schneider can build a team of talent that he did in GB. Maybe he can be promising as Zduriencik is looking to be with the M's. However, I disagree with you on your optimism for seasons of mediocrity. I grew up with mediocre 8-8 and 7-9 Seahawk teams through the 80's and 90's. All that got us was middle of the draft picks. What we need is our version of the Cowboys who built a dynasty off of Hershal Walker. Maybe we should sell our 6th for a couple 2nds and 3rds. Maybe we should build a team the old fashion way (through the draft) and lay off of the often disappointing free agent market. I am willing to stick through it for a couple of years if it brings us another Super Bowl with refs that actually throw penalty flags and not terrible towels. So I beg Seattle management. Please don't throw away our picks like garbage for free agency garbage. Lets concentrate on the draft and build a line so we can protect #8 and maybe he can make Whitehurst worth a damn.
I applaud your positive attitude but I refuse to sit through another decade of mediocrity. I did it through the 80's and 90's of muddle-middle picks because we consistently missed the playoffs at 9-7, 8-8, and 7-9 seasons. This left us disappointed with 15-20 pick year after year. Lets take these picks and spend them wisely and build a good team through the draft. We need the Seattle version of 90's Cowboy dynasty built off the co-tails of Hershal Walker.
I will be willing to sit through another season or two of crap if I see improvement and potential. If Carrol becomes Erickson 2.0, I will strangle someone. At least we have a Paul Allen and not a Ken Behring nowadays.
This 7-9 and 9-7 talk will only get us the middle of the draft year in and year out. This sounds like the post-Knox and pre-Holmgrem Seahawks. I hope these years to follow aren't the Flores and Erickson 2.0 years. Please, Seattle management, build this team through the draft and quit rolling our dice on free agency science projects.
Im with ya!
Great post! Can we all at least wait a while and watch these guys suck before we proclaim they do! I have trust, I have faith, and I have the will to peel myself off the ground after being run over by an another administration of suck. I love this team dam it!
Sign me up Captain!!!
Fantastic post. I couldn't agree more. Besides, I believe people with the pedigree of Carrol and Schneider deserve some benefit of the doubt until proven wrong. It may seem odd, but - as you stated - I HAVE TO BELIEVE
BTW, didn't 9-7 win the NFC West a lot of the time for the past decade?
I will happily endure a few entertaining 7 to 9 win seasons on the way to establishing a dynasty, as mid-first round picks in the hands of good talent evaluators have a way of turning into gold, or getting swapped for gold.
The moves being made so far are allowing role players on a 5-11 team to walk and become backups on other teams, although losing Burley hurt a little. So it don't hurt much.
And people that like to freak out about firing everyone and then freak out when new concepts and personnel are brought in to replace the ones that weren't working (see emails from Republican National Committee) can just suck it!
How about we evaluate the moves by watching the results on the field before we decide everything sucks. Thank you, Mr. Steffes, for the voice of reason once again.
Anyone else remember that Mr. Awesome Matt Hasselbeck rode the pine for years in GB, and that Steve Young was captain of a bunch of 5 win teams in Tampa-at-Bay before he rode the pine in SF and didn't start until he was over 30?
I'm with you. And I know EXACTLY how you feel. It's like you're using my own words to express it.
Even after we lose the last game to eliminate us from the post season, some odd little bit of me is certain that some technicality will crop up and the powers-that-be will throw out the jury's verdict and we'll win, regardless of what the scoreboard said when I clicked off my TV and start my customary Cool down Walk around the block before I try to interact with my family.
YES! Every season is a new season with new possibilities and new hope. "Any Given Sunday" is every Sunday! And I know for a fact that a superior team can lose to a miserable pack of slugs if the ball bounces wrong a couple of times and the refs go blind or are bought off (no, I'm not still bitter about a certain sporting event from Feb 5, 2006!). So even if we are having a rough go, and we have some unstoppable juggernaut that we have to travel eight time zones to play, I know that it could happen!
Hope springs eternal every spring, and this spring is no different!
I don't just long for mediocrity, but I actually enjoyed it when it was happening. I don't think that's what Carrol is shooting for though. I think he's doing a complete rebuilding and that means overhauling the whole roster, ridding ourselves of everyone mediocre and stockpiling compensatory picks and future picks. We're not going to be winning this season. We're going to be drafting Jake Locker next year.
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