I’m on to 2015. As are the Patriots and I would bet the Seahawks because free agency begins soon and they’re behind in their meetings and that’s followed by the draft. Both teams have some contracts to work out.
But I can’t resist: so basically some Seahawks fans are such poor losers they need to write letters complaining about a victory parade? Well, in an era when every molehill is made into a mountain … can’t resist poking: maybe if you had more victory parades … because this was number 9 for Boston in the last 14 years, 4 Patriots, 3 Red Sox, 1 each for Bruins and Celtics. But then Boston actually has a team in all those sports. Outside of the run by the Yankees through the 50’s into the 60’s (all by themselves), that may be the best overall stretch ever.
I have to say that the mood here in Seattle is not all gloom and doom. People still wear their Seahawks Friday best, cars still have their flags up, and last night the Needle was still lit with the team colors. After talking with my classmates I got the impression that the major downer was not the Superbowl loss but rather the end of the football season!
Some of you really don’t get it: we’ve lost 2 Super Bowls on 2 plays, including one that prevented them from going 19-0. Get that? 19-0. It took a catch off the top of a helmet on 4th down but it happened. And we put up with all the gloating that came after and all the crap about “the Patriots never won anything after Spygate” even though their winning percentage went up and they went to 4 straight AFC Championships. We lost the AFC Championship Game in 2005-6 when we couldn’t get convert a 4th down with a 2 point lead. We respect the Giants and hate the Colts. The Giants were competitors. Some of them gloated but hey they won and that comes with winning. The Colts. Don’t get me started on the team that whined about too much contact for their delicate offense.
The Red Sox lost the ALCS when bleeping Grady Little left Pedro Martinez in when everyone else in the region knew he had nothing left. Everyone knew. People were screaming at the ballpark to take him out. I knew people who couldn’t get out of bed the next day. That’s after the guy forever known as “bleeping Bucky Dent” lofted a short fly ball that completed the Red Sox collapse to the Yankees a generation earlier. The Red Sox lost for 86 years and we’re only a few hours away from NY with its 28 championships. A standard piece of advice to people moving to Boston was, “128 is 95 and don’t root for the Red Sox because they’ll break your heart.”
The Bruins lost the Finals in 2013.
The Celtics lost in the Finals in 2010.
We know what it’s like to lose in heartbreaking circumstances so when people start up about “bad sportsmanship” because of a banner or sign at a parade, I have to laugh because you really don’t get it at all.
Maybe I should write an open letter to the fans of the Seahawks about what it’s like to win and lose as a fan. We’ve had plenty of experience doing both.
The Patriots team didn’t print the shirts or the poster Edelman was waving. Those things were handed up from the crowd, and everyone knows Boston fans are that way. There would be no Sherman sign saying 'You Mad Bro?" if he hadn’t done it first. There would be no sign with Sherman holding up 4 fingers with ‘how many rings for Brady?’ on it if Sherman hadn’t been taunting the score of ‘2’ ‘4’ (or was he taunting Patriot’s number 24 when the safety got beat?) during the game.
I think the Seahawks have been pretty cool about the razzing. It’s part of sports. I do think the ‘pooping on the ball’ taunting during the game and the last fight were pretty bad and fines ridiculously low to be meaningful.
I was just telling my son how it must have been difficult watching the Super Bowl (at his fraternity in Pennsylvania), as he was probably the only Seahawks fan in 500 miles. He said, “Are you kidding me? There were tons of people there rooting for the Seahawks. Not because they are Seahawks fans, but because they hate the Patriots.” When I asked, “Why, are they real jerks?” Answer, “Oh yeah…”
The Pete Carroll article was interesting. Everyone has different ways of dealing with crap. Belichick would most likely have just said “I thought it gave the team the best chance to win” and internalized it all, whereas Carroll needs to get it out and talk about it.
Ha! I heard they were trying to figure out a way for the NFL to get more female fans. I tell you, that’s the secret. Nice looking guys wearing those tight football pants? Bingo. We don’t care what they do with the football when the game isn’t going, whether they curse at each other or play nice. Who cares about what gestures they make? The NFL should really be paying close attention to this thread, they might learn something.
Same here in NorCal. I had thought people around here would root for the Patriots because the Hawks and Niners are divisional rivals. But no, what I heard repeatedly was, “I’ll root for anyone against the Patriots.”
“Same here in NorCal. I had thought people around here would root for the Patriots because the Hawks and Niners are divisional rivals. But no, what I heard repeatedly was, “I’ll root for anyone against the Patriots.””
I was in Oakland and San Francisco the first part of this week, and everyone I talked to was disappointed about the game. I didn’t ask why, but I thought it was odd, since the Seahawks knocked out San Francisco, figured they wanted tham to lose. Now I know why.
