It's pretty common for me, during my daily commute to work, to listen to sports talk radio and hear quite a bit of repetition of subject matter as the radio hosts try to fill up air time. Last week, the conversation that arose over and over again was whether the Seahawks would be better off winning their last game of the season, against the Rams, and thus earning a play off spot, or losing the game and consequentially gaining a higher first round draft pick.
Of course, these conversations predominantly ended with a strong chastisement upon anyone who would suggest losing the game would be better for the team. Most people find it sacrilegious - altogether, downright against the code of fandom - for a fan to hope that his/her hometown team would lose any game.
In general I have never really followed the code of fandom. I dare anyone to suggest that I don't love my northwest teams. I love them to death, in fact. But I guess you could say that I just care about my teams in a much different way than most fans. Going into this game against the Rams, I felt very skeptical about the prospect of us going to the playoffs. Honestly, why would I want to see the Seahawks make a lame duck playoff appearance? Thus going down in history as the worst team to ever win an NFL division (as Bill Parcells once said, "you are who your record says you are"), just so they can presumably be embarrassed in front of the home crowd by the defending Superbowl champs? Whether it be a gimpy Hasselbeck or an inexperienced Whitehurst under center, I was not feeling enthusiastic about going toe to toe against Drew Brees in front of a nationwide audience.
To me, ending this season at 6-10, one win better than last year, and focusing on building for the future through the draft sounded like a much smarter option. I have always been the type of fan who would prefer my team take a long term approach in an attempted rise to dominance rather than squeak undeservedly into the playoffs. I wanted to see them get perhaps a top 10 or 11 pick and get either a QB or a big-time pass rusher, depending on who was available at that spot. This was my attitude coming into the game against the Rams.
But that all changed once the game actually started. Who am I kidding? I can't seriously watch my Hawks and think, "boy, I hope they lose." The minute I saw Whitehurst step onto that field, I was pulling for him. And the way he started things off on the first drive, he got everyone in the stadium believing in him. Early on, you could tell that this was a different Seahawks team than the one that got blown out repeatedly in recent weeks against San Fran, Atlanta, and Tampa. By midway through the first quarter, they had me exclaiming, "FORGET THE DRAFT! SEA! HAWKS!!"
All of the story lines in this game were great. Charlie managed the game with composure and maturity. The defense played with a chip on their shoulder. Russel Okung played the whole game on two bum ankles, knowing how desperately thin on the line his team would be without him. And the greatest story line of all? WE ACTUALLY RAN THE BALL IN THE SECOND HALF, rendering NBC's stats about the 32nd ranked rushing offense utterly useless.
So, I stand corrected, talk radio. I couldn't root against my team, and in all likelihood, no true fan ever could. Not in their heart of hearts, anyway. However, this situation still leaves us with the dilemma of being an overwhelming underdog at home while the national daily ridicules our dubiously historic status as the first sub -.500 team to make the playoffs and discusses whether or not we should even be allowed into the tournament (a stupid discussion, no doubt, but one that lingers on relentlessly).
The Seahawks indeed face a great challenge ahead of them this Saturday. But I cannot think of a better way to redeem all of the blowout losses as well as their embarrassing place in the history books than to take out the world champs with nobody believing that you can. You better believe that the Seahawks will have a chip on their shoulder this weekend, just like they did this past Sunday night against the Rams. But unlike the game against the Rams, I will be coming into this one knowing that this is an important one for them to win. And not only that, but their recent performance makes me think we can actually pull it off. So here it is, for all of you cynics out there who are just like me: FORGET THE DRAFT, THE MEDIA, AND THE HISTORY BOOKS! SEA!!! HAWKS!!!
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