Ah, Seattle.
Home of the 12th man in Football.
Home of the Mariners, where one pitcher has his own section of fans.
Home of MLS's Sounders.
Home of no NBA teams since 2008.
Seattle is one of the towns who has a constant buzz about their teams. They are the city who cheered so loud during a football game, the nearby university (U of Washington) registered a 3-point earthquake. This is a city that has Mariners memorabilia everywhere, even during these last few leans years. There is still Supersonics memorabilia around this city even after being abandoned nearly four years ago. Sorry, Oklahoma City, I grew up in one of your suburbs (Mustang), but I will never root for your Thunder, the team that used to be the Supersonics. In a time where so many NBA teams are so mismanaged and so many fans need to dredge care out of Give A Fuck Bay in order to even care about the local NBA team, the NBA pulled out of a city that genuinely cared about their team.
There is a proposal in Seattle to build a new stadium. SafeCo Field is state of the art and friggin awesome! QWest, now Century Link (the Clink) are state of the art. And now the city of Starbucks and Microsoft takes aim at once again getting an NBA team. Or possibly an NHL team, or, heaven forbid, both. But Seattle is still classy. They've been the jilted lovers. They don't want to take another city's team. The downside to that is that, after the recent lockout, the operating losses for mid-and small market teams (seriously, if you can't manage to make money in American sports, for the love of God, never breed), and the low attendance for teams, it is highly unlikely that Stern and company are going to be in any shape for expansion.
Right now, the NBA owns one of its own teams (don't get me started on Stern's meddling in the CP3 trade) in the New Orleans Hornets (who packed up and ran out of Charlotte in 2002). Since New Orleans did just trade CP3 (the fact that they did isn't what gets my hackles up, but that Owner's Monkey Stern blocked the trade because Paul would have gone to a major market, only to trade him to the same major market, just another team) the Hornets have gone way downhill. Since they won against Linsantiy and the Knicks on Friday, the Hornets are all the way up to 7 victories. Attendance is down because their best player is now the LA Clippers best player. New Orleans is riding high on the successes of the Saints, but with no baseball, New Orleans would feel the hurt of going back to being a one sport city. They would also be one of the cities to have two NBA teams leave (the Jazz moved to Utah in 1979 because, you know, when I think Jazz, I think Utah).
Another possibility of a team for Seattle is one that has practically moved out of their stadium and turned off the lights already--the Sacramento Kings. What could be better for King County than to have the Kings play NBA ball in Seattle. If Sacramento doesn't build a new stadium, the Kings are gone. They almost moved to (you guessed it) LA (Anaheim) putting 3, count 'em 3! NBA teams in the LA area! And Owner's Monkey Stern has already all but signed off on it. Sacramento hasn't been relevant in the NBA since the Clinton administration. But they suddenly have a core of young talent (if they can afford to pay them once their rookie contracts are up) to build on. If the Kings are already gone, then why not go to King County, Washington? They want a new stadium, Seattle is building it. They want a new city that is growing despite the economy? Seattle is still booming away.
My trip to Seattle this month was strangely subdued. This was my second time into the town when there were no major sports going on. The first time, I didn't know enough about the pulse of the city to be able to tell. But this time, after visiting the city during the height of baseball season last June and baseball/football last September, Seattle felt more subdued. People were excited about seafood and Pike Place, which are normal tourist busy points. The area was buzzing about a recent visit by Andrew Zimmer and Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel, which had aired the week before my own trip. But the stadiums were still. The Sodo district (where all three current Seattle teams play) was quiet. There was a Presidents of the United States of America concert, but even that was downtown. Key Arena was silent. The nearby Space Needle and Experience Music Project being a bigger draw.
There are always things to do in Seattle. But when the sports are done, there isn't a unity that comes with the support of a team. There isn't a feeling of citywide celebration, even being there on the weekend before Mardi Gras, that comes with a sports team when they are bringin it. Seattle is one of the cities that needs, needs needs sports year round. Right now, there is nothing between January NFL and St. Paddy's day when the Sounders start up again.
Move the Kings, move the Hornets (and for the love of God, rename them), or resurrect the Sonics, but bring the NBA back to Seattle.
And, as always, send Stern packing.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
More Karma (?) in Sports...Beware Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc
Bill Belichick has lost another Super Bowl. That means he is now 3-2 as a head coach in the Big Game. He is 0-2 since SpyGate.
Gregg Easterbrook who writes Tuesday Morning Quarterback, one of my regular weekly reads during the football season, here, links SpyGate and Belichick's Super Bowl losses to the Football Gods raging against him. They rage because he has never admitted that it was outright cheating, but only a "misinterpretation of the rules."
There is a correlation between the two. Before SpyGate, Belichick was undefeated in the Super Bowl. But is it Karma and the Football Gods catching up to him that has put the Patriots at home while another team gets a NFL Championship Parade? I would suggest several other factors before crediting the Football Gods.
Disclaimer: I actually do believe in Karma. I invoked the Football Gods during the final rivalry game of U of I and Boise State when BSU was still throwing long bombs despite being up by five touchdowns. They lost to Nevada two weeks later and also lost any hope of playing in a major bowl game. It serves them right. But was it an angry Football God that made their kicker miss two easy ones?
On to Belichick. There are several other reasons why Belichick hasn't won the big one since SpyGate. Think about it, he was nigh unstoppable before they caught his cameraman...could it be because he HAD A CAMERAMAN ON THE OPPOSING SIDELINES?!?! And now he doesn't and he isn't unstoppable.
Belichick is a very good coach. He is intense, knows how to draft (or at least knew), and studies more than just the other team's players, but also coaches' tendencies as well. He plain outfoxed Fox in the first Denver meeting. But he hasn't done a lot of innovation lately. He is the IBM of the NFL (mmm, alphabet soup). He has stopped innovating. He throws different defensive looks at teams, but most teams have realized he doesn't have a dominant secondary anymore. They've realized he's stuck with an aging pass rush, too. New England's defense was among the worst in the NFL. But it's offense could carry it...against poor teams. Of the teams that New England beat in the regular season, only one finished with a winning record. Teams with decent defenses knew that Brady was going to drop back and pass...and pass...and pass. Name a starting running back for the Patriots...John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt BenJarvis Green-Ellis? 667 yards rushing...sandwiched in the rushing leaders by Cam Newton (706) and Tim "Oh Dear God, Let's Not Keep Talking About Him" Tebow (660). Green-Ellis, New England's leading rusher was down there among the quarterbacks, running quarterbacks to be fair, but still quarterbacks. Teams knew what the Patriots were going to do. The teams that beat them, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and New York (twice), had defenses good enough to stop Brady. In the playoffs, the Ravens (who should have beaten the Pats if not for a shanked close field goal) also had a defense good enough to stop Brady. In the second half of the Super Bowl, the Giants were in nickel almost the entire time. How do you beat a nickel or dime? You rush. This is one case where a quarter rarely beats a nickel. Coughlin knew Belichick despised the run this year. He dared him to run. Belichick didn't/couldn't.
Belichick's former drafting greatness has fallen by the wayside as well. With the notable exception of Rob Gronkowski in the second round in 2010, he hasn't drafted a star or diamond in the rough in years. New England had a raft of first round draft picks and has another two in the upcoming draft. But they haven't been making headlines with their players. Belichick has even been credited with a few busts in recent years.
Another reason for the lack of trophies in Foxborough for the past 7 years could also be that the NFL is a copycat league. The wildcat has come and gone. We are again in a spread offense and running quarterback phase (Cam Newton meet Randall Cunningham). The NFL caught up to Belichick. They figure him out. Drew Brees had more yards passing than Brady did this season, even though both broke Dan Marino's single season record. In a game of Tecmo Bowl (1991 NES video game, for those of you not familiar) pass wacky offenses could work. Some teams didn't need running backs. Run heavy teams could also work. But that was a video game. If a team never rushes, they face a secondary that gets coverage sacks, like a few we saw Sunday. If a team is run heavy, they wind up facing seven or eight men in the box, like New England did to Denver during the regular season and playoffs. It became obvious that Belichick's innovative offense was pass wacky. Coughlin is a good enough coach to see that and plan for it. The Giants have a good enough defense to follow through on those plans.
Yeah, there might be some modicum of karma in sports. But don't assume for a minute that that was the only reason New York was victorious Sunday.
Gregg Easterbrook who writes Tuesday Morning Quarterback, one of my regular weekly reads during the football season, here, links SpyGate and Belichick's Super Bowl losses to the Football Gods raging against him. They rage because he has never admitted that it was outright cheating, but only a "misinterpretation of the rules."
There is a correlation between the two. Before SpyGate, Belichick was undefeated in the Super Bowl. But is it Karma and the Football Gods catching up to him that has put the Patriots at home while another team gets a NFL Championship Parade? I would suggest several other factors before crediting the Football Gods.
Disclaimer: I actually do believe in Karma. I invoked the Football Gods during the final rivalry game of U of I and Boise State when BSU was still throwing long bombs despite being up by five touchdowns. They lost to Nevada two weeks later and also lost any hope of playing in a major bowl game. It serves them right. But was it an angry Football God that made their kicker miss two easy ones?
On to Belichick. There are several other reasons why Belichick hasn't won the big one since SpyGate. Think about it, he was nigh unstoppable before they caught his cameraman...could it be because he HAD A CAMERAMAN ON THE OPPOSING SIDELINES?!?! And now he doesn't and he isn't unstoppable.
Belichick is a very good coach. He is intense, knows how to draft (or at least knew), and studies more than just the other team's players, but also coaches' tendencies as well. He plain outfoxed Fox in the first Denver meeting. But he hasn't done a lot of innovation lately. He is the IBM of the NFL (mmm, alphabet soup). He has stopped innovating. He throws different defensive looks at teams, but most teams have realized he doesn't have a dominant secondary anymore. They've realized he's stuck with an aging pass rush, too. New England's defense was among the worst in the NFL. But it's offense could carry it...against poor teams. Of the teams that New England beat in the regular season, only one finished with a winning record. Teams with decent defenses knew that Brady was going to drop back and pass...and pass...and pass. Name a starting running back for the Patriots...
Belichick's former drafting greatness has fallen by the wayside as well. With the notable exception of Rob Gronkowski in the second round in 2010, he hasn't drafted a star or diamond in the rough in years. New England had a raft of first round draft picks and has another two in the upcoming draft. But they haven't been making headlines with their players. Belichick has even been credited with a few busts in recent years.
Another reason for the lack of trophies in Foxborough for the past 7 years could also be that the NFL is a copycat league. The wildcat has come and gone. We are again in a spread offense and running quarterback phase (Cam Newton meet Randall Cunningham). The NFL caught up to Belichick. They figure him out. Drew Brees had more yards passing than Brady did this season, even though both broke Dan Marino's single season record. In a game of Tecmo Bowl (1991 NES video game, for those of you not familiar) pass wacky offenses could work. Some teams didn't need running backs. Run heavy teams could also work. But that was a video game. If a team never rushes, they face a secondary that gets coverage sacks, like a few we saw Sunday. If a team is run heavy, they wind up facing seven or eight men in the box, like New England did to Denver during the regular season and playoffs. It became obvious that Belichick's innovative offense was pass wacky. Coughlin is a good enough coach to see that and plan for it. The Giants have a good enough defense to follow through on those plans.
Yeah, there might be some modicum of karma in sports. But don't assume for a minute that that was the only reason New York was victorious Sunday.
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