Monday, January 20, 2014

Apparently The Seattle Seahawks & Their 12th Man Make A Nice Super Bowl Villain

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's sports columnist, Gil Lebreton wrote a column that showed up in this morning's Star-Telegram, titled Seahawks make a nice Super Bowl villain that I found amusing.

Part of what Lebreton had to say about the Seahawk villains....

Ladies and gentlemen, the Seattle Seahawks.

Most dislikable Super Bowl team ever?

A cheerleader head coach. That “12th Man” thing, clearly stolen from Aggieland. Five drug suspensions since 2011, and a sixth that was overturned on a wimpy technicality.

And in the early minutes following Sunday’s victory in the NFC title game, there was Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, the first postgame FOX interview ever to bite the head off a live bat.

The Seahawks also won’t have their notorious homefield advantage in the Meadowlands. Let me suggest that without the constant din of their home crowd — their so-called “12th Man” — the Seahawks on a neutral field would have lost either of their two final games. So there’s that.

Just as every Super Bowl needs someone to embrace (Manning), it also needs a villain.

Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for Richard Sherman and the Seahawks.

Well. Where do I start?

Every Super Bowl needs someone to embrace? And a villain? I did not know this. Who got embraced at last year's Super Bowl? Who was the villain?

Most dislikable Super Bowl team ever? Is dislikable a word? My spell checker is flagging dislikable as a non-word.

The 12th Man thing was clearly stolen from Aggieland? Didn't Aggieland embarrass itself with a lawsuit claiming Aggie ownership of the 12th Man concept? Didn't Aggieland learn from that lawsuit that the 12th Man concept is not unique to a relatively unknown Texas agriculture college?

I do agree that Seattle is totally overdoing the 12th Man thing. Does it not occur to anyone that giving your home team some sort of advantage by making so much noise it triggers earthquakes, while discombobulating your opponent, is sort of like admitting your team is not good enough on its own? That the team needs the constant din of a roaring crowd, like an additional 12th, player, to help the team win.

However, that rambunctious Seattle Seahawk crowd does make for an energetic lively scene, quite different from what one sees inside the Dallas Cowboy stadium during a Dallas Cowboy game.

The Seattle stadium itself seems to add a colorful element lacking in the Dallas Cowboy stadium.

Is it better designed lighting in the Seattle stadium that explains the difference?

Does the difference come from being an open stadium looking out on the skyline of downtown Seattle? While the Dallas Cowboy stadium looks out on nothing. Well, there is that Super Walmart.

Is it the "warm" feeling of the Seahawk blue color scheme, represented well by the ESPN graphic you see here, that makes the Seattle Seahawk stadium seem so much more appealing, to my eyes, than the sterile, bright silver and gray look of the Dallas Cowboy stadium?

Anyway, I guess I am betting on Denver to beat Seattle to win this year's Super Bowl, what with Seattle not having its 12th Man in the Meadowlands stadium.....

1 comment:

Steve A said...

All Seattle needs to win is to start burying collies in the end zone.