While I’m very concerned about the environment, I grew up riding motorcycles and fixing up cars—I still get a hard-on for the growl of a naturally-aspirated V-8. If you need to win me over, get me a ’69 Camaro SS and I will be putty in your hands. I also like doing outdoor things: raising animals, chopping wood, growing garden crops, building contraptions, etc. And most on-point for this particular blog post, I like sports. Manly sports! Namely, basketball and football. I like to think I’m as passionate about the Sacramento Kings and San Francisco 49ers as any drunken soccer hooligan anywhere in the world (likely not, but I like to think it). And if you think I’m not qualified to write about sports being a spec-fiction author an all, then I’ll point to the precedence George R.R. Martin has established—that guy bitches about the lousy New York Giants and Jets all the time, and I still love him, so here I go, even if I'm not a millionth as successful as him….
This post is dedicated the 2013 NFC Championship game. It hurt to see the 49ers lose—hurt real bad—but I am proud to have watched the 49ers play valiantly and, more importantly, to have played with class. They won road playoff games in frigid Green Bay and sports-rabid North Carolina, and the the way they rallied in Seattle after Navarro Bowman’s injury was inspiring. Did the vaunted Seattle “12th Man” presence, along with 4-6 blown calls by the officials and a staunch Seattle defense, lead to the 49ers offense making critical mistakes? Yes. I won’t dispute that. Did the 49ers have ample opportunity to win the NFC Championship game but fail to execute? Yes.
I’m not calling shenanigans (because let’s face it, I’ve seen [and wept, and broken defenseless lawn furniture] for seeing way more poorly officiated NBA playoffs games where the Kings suffered). I'm not bitching about that. What I can’t swallow, though, is the new-wave narrative Seahawks fans are pushing. This Cinderella story. This David vs. Goliath B.S. that somehow the Seahawks represent all that is good in sports and that they embody the small-town, hardworking American spirit. Take for example this B.S. propaganda.
It’s simply incorrect. I’m not saying guys like Russell Wilson (and probably the vast majority of the guys on the Seahawks) aren't stand-up citizens. I'm not saying that SF receivers Anquan Boldin and Michael Crabtree don't talk a lot of smack. Rather, I am saying that just because Seattle is a small market, hipster-friendly team, it doesn't mean they are the right team to cheer for. Indeed, in the spirit of standing up for the righteous cause, here’s why the 2013 Seattle Seahawks narrative we've all been fed is a bunch of B.S.
Quit drinking the Kool-Aid, Seahawks supporters! You’re rooting for an evil flash in the pan (note I didn't say “evil empire” because, let’s face it, the Seahawks have won zero Super Bowls—count em, zero!—compared to the 49ers' five):
And here's my sources:
http://www.nflpenalties.com/index.php?&year=2013
http://www.csnnw.com/blog/blazers-talk/nba-owners-vote-keep-kings-sacramento-despite-paul-allens-vote-seattle
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10160700/brandon-browner-seattle-seahawks-suspended-indefinitely
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5cztgIDrfk
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/richard-sherman-says-half-league-takes-adderall-143837265--nfl.html
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/407209-why-you-should-be-scared-of-pete-carroll
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9748887/san-francisco-49ers-owner-turned-franchise-stadium-espn-magazine
That's all for tonight. Go Broncos!
-Garrett Calcaterra
Come on! They lost the Sonics, give them something.
ReplyDeleteThey do have something: two pro sports teams. Yes, they got hosed losing the Sonics, but that didn't make it okay to then go ahead and try to steal another city's team (a city without any other pro teams, mind you). And let's not forget, before the 49ers resurgence in recent years, they've had a longer drought in success than the Seahawks, who were last in the Super Bowl in 2005 (compared to the 49ers last appearance in 1994). I rooted for the Seahawks in that Super Bowl, but I can't root for these Seahawks. They're classless, unsportsman-like thugs, and have been all season. You'll note I didn't write anything about the 49ers losing in the Super Bowl to the Ravens last year, or losing to Giants in the NFC Championship game two years ago. Those games were equally gut wrenching. Losing to the Seahawks this year is just so unpalatable because Seahawks fans seem to think it's okay to root for a bunch of thugs, just like they think it's okay to steal another city's basketball team. Seahawks the new Raiders?
DeleteI realize the game was yesterday and you're still bummed. But this "classless thugs" narrative is the one that has to go. Every team has players with troubles with the law. (I mean, you're the one that mentioned the Ravens.) Aldon Smith, for example, had well-publicized troubles including felony gun charges. Mussleman was arrested twice, I believe, for DUI and Mario Elie too when he was an assistant coach. Kings players from C Webb to Cousins (who also has the most technicals this year) have been accused of classlessness and suffered from legal trouble. So please don't cherry pick Seattle incidents and pretend like there aren't examples on every team.
ReplyDeletePaul Allen aside, nobody on the Seahawks team had anything to do with the Kings potential move. Don't conflate two very separate things.
In short, I'm really happy that a team with a strong defense and mobile, gritty QB has a chance to beat Peyton Manning. I would have rooted for SF if they'd won, but they just weren't as good.
The unsubstantiated vilification of the Seahawks does no good for nobody.
Of course, every team has troubled players, but Seattle is different. I've watched them a lot this year and their entire team is plagued with an unsportsmanlike disdain for their opponents that goes beyond simple trash talking, and it all starts with the head coach, a guy who's biggest problem with Richard Sherman's post-game tirade was that Sherman wasn't thinking about the "well-being of the team."
DeleteAs I said, the 49ers playoff losses the prior two years were just as painful, if not more, and I didn't call shenanigans then because the Ravens and Giants showed respect for the game and their opponents. This has nothing to do with the freshness of the loss, and everything to do with this false narrative a lot of Seahawks supporters throw out there, that the 49ers are the bad guys, and the Seahawks are the good guys.
So yeah, not vilifying the Seahawks so much as having a little fun and calling those fans out. Let's face it, it's just a game--our modern form of gladiators really, so no one expects any of these athletes to be choir boys. But still, if a team is gonna win by acting like they're competing in Wrestlemania 25 instead of a football game, let's call them for what they are.
It seems like you're mainly mad at Sherman. That's fair--he's a polarizing figure. I thought this was a pretty interesting take on him though. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/isaac-saul/what-richard-sherman-taught-us_b_4631980.html
ReplyDeleteYeah, I saw someone post that on FB. Interesting points the author brings up, but here's my thoughts, dutifully copied and pasted from that FB post. Thanks for your opinions on the matter--they've helped me work out why the Seahawks sit so wrong with me...
DeleteI’m calling shenanigans on this artticle. Yes, I’ll grant you racist individuals might use this as an example to further their ignorant views, but it’s nowhere close to as damaging as racism we see in other realms of pop culture. And let’s be clear, just because Sherman is black, intelligent, charitable, and has brought himself up from humble beginnings, it doesn’t mean we can’t call him out for being an asshole when he’s indeed being an asshole. There’s a fine line in sports between having the confidence/bravado necessary to function at your peek physical level and becoming arrogant to the point where you disregard the code of honor in the game. Sherman’s behavior goes beyond simple in-game trash talking. His big play came with 22 seconds left in the game. After that, the Seahawks still had to run the clock out. With the remaining 49ers’ timeouts, a good five or more minutes of real time went by before Sherman got in front of the camera—plenty of time for him to cool off—yet he still went on national television and proceeded to have his personal tirade. This goes against the unwritten sportsman-like code of ethics in sports. Athletes understand this. Sports fans understand this. That’s why it has nothing to do with Sherman being black, and everything about him being a punk. In my opinion, and I’ve seen a lot of Seahawks games this year, the bigger problem is good ole lovable Pete Carroll, the guy who’s created a team environment where this sort of arrogance is encourage and rewarded on the Seahawks roster. This is why sports fans hate the Seahawks: they’re becoming the new Raiders, but that’s okay I guess—the Raiders are pretty shitty these days and the NFL needs some new bad guys to pit the wholesome Peyton Mannings against.
And yet the fact that you originally said "thug" and not "asshole" is rather telling, is it not?
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't think Sherman is the problem. I agree with what you said earlier--all teams are gonna have hotheads and guys who have a hard time reigning it in. You mentioned Cousins on the Kings. There was Rasheed back in the Jailblazer heyday. The 49ers currently have Anquan Boldin. These type of guys oftentimes are what you need to give you the edge to go to the next level, but they become thugs when the head coach and team culture fosters an unsportsman-like environment. Think the 90s Knicks and Charles Oakley maybe. That's why I can't stand the Seahawks, because Carroll has allowed the culture to proliferate. Granted, it's all very subjective, but I see the Seahawk culture as purposely thugish to give themselves that extra edge they need to win. It works, but I don't like them for it.
Delete(And I re-read my previous comment. Not sure if it came across as being snarky, but I wasn't being sarcastic when I said thanks for your comments. I really mean it. It's been a good conversation on what makes a team a sentimental favorite vs. a sports villain. Seahawks certainly aren't the most egregious sports villains, not by a long shot, but I didn't like the narrative so many Seahawks fans were pushing that the 49ers were the villains, not after the redemptive journey the 49ers have had since the dark days when DeBartolo had that big bribery scandal back in the 90's. If you haven't read it, that last ESPN article I linked above is really fascinating.)
It's a fun conversation, and maybe my being away has prevented any of that narrative from reaching me. Being one of the few people who grew up equidistant from Seattle and SF, I have always liked both teams. From my perspective, calling either team the villains seems silly but like I said I might not have a handle on the narratives.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I'm kind of bummed that Peyton Manning will win again. (And he will, on a controversial PI call late in the 4th). As a Montana fan, you should be rooting against Peyton, right?