July 31, 2011

"I'll bring us through this. As always. I'll carry you - kicking and screaming - and in the end you'll thank me."

I hate change. In my personal life, I crave routine and continuity- When I am knocked out of my comfort zone, I can barely continue functioning. For fuck's sake- A HUGE reason I am obsessed with the Seahawks is the thread of routine and continuity that they have provided to me since I was 8 years old.

So it is wrenching to me to see Hasselbeck basically sent away and Tatupu cut- I hate it. But do you know what I hate even more than change? Losing. Unfortunately, Tim Ruskell was a too much like me as a GM- Attached to veterans and taking half-measures in an attempt to extend the shelf life of the comfortable status quo. Like The Narrator in Fight Club, he, like myself, was a slave to the IKEA nesting instinct.

Then Mr. Allen hired Pete Carroll. In his first year one the job he made 300 roster moves, cut or traded multiple high-priced entrenched veterans, and along the way won a division title and a playoff game... To paraphrase a line from Fight Club: You had to give it to him: he had a plan. And it started to make sense, in a Pete Carroll sort of way. No fear. No distractions. The ability to let that which does not matter truly slide.

The team, as it previously existed, has been blown up. It hasn't been pleasant or pretty, but here we stand a year and a half into Carroll's reign with another banner waiting to be hung from the Seahawks Stadium rafters, and now better (and far younger) than we were before he came along and shook us out of our collective complacency.

I'm not thrilled that Matt Hasselbeck has been replaced by Tarvaris Jackson, but with the improved offensive talent surrounding him now, T-Jack doesn't have to be an All-Pro for the Seahawks to succeed. Really, he just needs to be as good (or a bit better) than Jon Kitna was with the Seahawks from 1997-2000. We don't have fond memories of Special K, but he WAS 18-15 as Seattle's starting QB. We just need T-Jack to be an average NFL QB- If he's any better than that, we'll certainly repeat as NFC West Champions.

I don't like seeing Lofa Tatupu leave either, but now Hawthorne gets to slide into the middle, where he excelled while Lofa was injured in 2009. We might not be done making moves at LB, but even if we are, I think we'll be alright with a starting trio of Curry/Heater/Hill.

Change is scary, but I have no doubt that at some point, we will look back and see this as the early days of a Seahawks golden age. These are exciting times to be a Twelve- Who knows what's next (hopefully a trade for Osi)? I for one can't wait to find out.

What do you think, sirs?

1 comment:

Dennis said...

Great article, I say keep writing more. There are too many sports writers that think the same which is bandwagon, small minded. I too have learned not to jump the gun with Pete and john. I actually think Pete might be a genius at football and a expert in recruiting. I would love to read something about brandon browner I think everybody is missing out on a early story of potential stud..check him out and yes he is a seahawk.