After Marshawn Lynch went passive-aggressive, Pete Carroll went active-aggressive, then Doug Baldwin and Richard Sherman went Beavis and Butthead in attacks directed against the mother ship, the NFL. All in a short week of preparation for the game against the villainous arch-enemy that must be rooted out of its new, alien home bunker.
Question for the Seahawks: How do you find time to alienate the known football world and still work up a mad-on for the 49ers?
They play the 49ers at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in Santa Clara, a much-anticipated moment on the national sports calendar that is threatened to be an oh-by-the-way episode in the cartoon life of the defending Super Bowl champions.
The Seahawks have lost five in a row on the road against the 49ers, who are actually more desperate to win this game than the Seahawks, simply because they have to split the season series with Seattle to stay alive in the playoff hunt, and winning at the Clink in three weeks is a low-percentage wager.
Despite the game’s portents, the Seahawks have, coincidentally but undoubtedly, pissed off the league.
The string of provocations began Sunday after the Seahawks beat Arizona when RB Marshawn Lynch, who wants to be Teller in a Penn world, decided to mock the NFL and the $100,000 fine it laid on him by giving non sequitur answers to post-game questions. The full YouTube video has passed 300,000 visits and has become a national talker.
On Monday, in an episode you might have missed, coach Pete Carroll on his weekly radio show on ESPN 710 uncharacteristically went off on officiating. As he did in his days with the ultra-successful USC program, Carroll suspects there is a built-in bias against successful teams because the penalty disparity is, to him, otherwise inexplicable.
“I have had it about up to here with this penalty situation and the way it’s gone,” said Carroll, whose point is buttressed by the fact that the Seahawks have been flagged 88 times (for 670 yards) this season compared to 48 (396) for the collective opponents, a disparity that leads the NFL. “There is nothing I can do about it, but they just won’t call penalties on the other guys, they just won’t do it.
“When an (opponent) steps forward at the tailback position and our players point it out, and (officials) say ‘No, no, no, he did not simulate a start,’ they decide not to call that.”
The rant came after the NFL admitted to him that in the previous week’s loss in Kansas City, the crew of referee Bill Leavy (you may remember him fondly from Super Bowl XL), failed to call pass interference when a Chiefs defensive back bumped WR Doug Baldwin on a fourth-and-goal pass into the end zone. The penalty would have given the Seahawks first-and-goal at the 1-yard line in a game they lost 24-20.
Meeting with reporters Monday, Carroll, attempting to avert a fine, tried to tone it down. A little.
“I think it’s interesting — fascinating,” he said. “When we won the national championship (at USC) the first year, the next year our opponents were penalized the least — for the next four years. That’s all I’m going to say about that.”
But he was thrilled to have been asked about the disparity.
“Yeah, there is quite a gap between what they’re calling on one team . . . really glad you brought it up.”
Then on Tuesday came the comedy twins, Sherman and Baldwin. Props to them for creativity and some classic Stanford smart-ass in their attempts to point out hypocrisies by parodying the league’s stances on the Lynch fine, player safety and sponsorship products.
But for some whose eyes rise above sports to, for example, the ongoing tragedy in Ferguson, MO., casting NFL players as victims rings a little hollow. And for those still focused on sports, the league is an easy target, but its positions on the issues were largely reached via collective bargaining with the players union.
The revenues the league gets for Thursday night games and from sponsorships is, like nearly all revenues, shared with the players, which make stars such as Sherman and Baldwin wealthy.
For Seahawks fans, they fairly can ask: How about you guys spending your creative energy on beating the 49ers instead of picking fights that can only make things worse?
The NFL has been mum on consequences for these episodes. But given rules and precedents, it seems just a matter of time (and the holiday) before fines are handed down. The consequence for the Seahawks is not about the fine money; it’s about the frequency of hassles.
As defending champs, the Seahawks are already a competitive target by opponents. They don’t need to make the bulls-eye bigger and easier to hit by publicly mocking (Lynch, Sherman and Baldwin) the already hypersenstive NFL or implying conspiracy among its officials (Carroll).
The Seahawks may be dead-right on their principles. But the league’s executives and field officials are human who think they are right too. Whatever the Seahawks think of the rules, the bosses have the rulebook on their side.
As with previous off-season penalties levied against Carroll for too much practice during practice, he shouldn’t be tempting the NFL to set up a satellite bureau in Renton to play gotcha with the repeat offenders.
The object here is winning games. Anything that detracts would seem to need setting aside until the off-season. The Seahawks were masters a year ago at minimizing distractions. Now they are creating their own.
Isn’t playing two division games in five days against the NFL’s best a sufficient challenge?
Prediction: Seahawks 8, 49ers 5.
The Seahawks will get two 50+-yard field goals from Steven Hauschka and a safety after a Jon Ryan punt backs up the 49ers to their 2-yard line. Niners coach Jim Harbaugh orders a seven-step drop for a shot by QB Colin Kaepernick. He is sacked and knocked out of the back of end zone by LB Bruce Irvin, who is plunked by bricks of brie thrown by angry 49ers fans. Lailonni Ballixxx getting pounded hard Mouth Fuck and Black Cock Inserted Deep Hot Naked Teen Chatting On Webcam Tattooed skinny teen gets screwed hard Veronica Rodriguez fucked after deep throat Hunk is stimulating babes needs with his rubbing Sporty MILF Gets Gangbanged Busty Jasmine Black tertures tattooed Paige Delight https://www.pornjk.com/tags/xxnx/ Natural titted blonde gets fucked and creamed Sexy chick having a meaty cock for her twat Natalie gets pussy pounded by huge cock Horniness groundbreaking study Cute teen Alex Mae punished and smashed Two Horny Girls Making Out Beautiful Kharlie Stone bangs in her tiny pussy
Besides a field goal, the only 49ers’ score is a safety when LB Aldon Smith tackles Russell Wilson after foiling the read option for the 11th consecutive time. “Hard-count that, you little s—!” Smith is heard to say on a sideline mic, apparently discussing the NFC Championship moment when Wilson drew Smith offsides on a fourth-and-seven at the 49ers 35-yard line, giving the Seahawks a free play that became a touchdown pass to Jermaine Kearse that decided the best game of 2013.
Retorts Wilson: “I understand your point. Thanks for sharing.” Smith draws an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for punching. And missing.
7 Comments
i’d respect sherman and baldwin more if they called out the nfl’s cross-branding with the us military in its endless war after the military assassinated pat tillman to boost war ratings for shrub bush and darth cheney. but, hey, that’s just me and it’s still military awareness month in the nfl so wear your officially licensed camo hoodies and learn more about us wars in yemen, pakistan, north africa, and so many other cool places.
Hear, hear! Eloquently stated, sir. This really pisses me off. People want their athletes to shut up about politics, yet have no problem with pro-war propaganda being jammed into their brains by sports leagues.
Enlightening piece , Art. Did Seattle piss off the NFL before the 2005 Superbowl?It sure looked like it in the poorest referee job rendered since pro football started requiring you wear helmets during a game. I hope we dont get another one of those against the Santas on T~Day night also coincidentally on National TV. You know?New stadium~must win and all that rot that the NFL Drama whores love to cash in on.
Attack against the Mother ship?Is that why Sherm was breathing in and out like Darth Vader? I half expected him to break out into a nostalgic rendition of Weird Al Jankovics “Yoda”….(with lyrics)Remember if you kill him (Yoda~NFL) then we will be all annoyed”…cuz the NFL is where their money comes from as we all know, Sherm.
The verbal Lambasting-It did pretty much amount to pelting a tank with rocks. Whatever is in that mother ship?Evil NFL has control of the “force” and our band of good guys…. I just hope the faction of people across the country that were calling Richard a thug after his verbal assault after the NFC Championship game reduced a Crabtree to a pruned tree? Those #25 aggressive verbal skills also can dish out the humor when called upon.His next cut out should be Marshawn Lynch.
Maybe its exactly what the NFL wants. Skyrocketing ratings might ensue for this one.
Go Hawks!
To quote a great player from another contending team, “R-E-L-A-X.”
Everybody just relax. However debatable the content of their antics, I personally am happy to see these guys’ precocious personalities come back out to play. If you ask me, it’s this brashness that has been missing for most of the season. I don’t think this team gets its groove on by keeping quiet.
So, I don’t care if they egg houses or go streaking through the quad with bull horns, a month ago all one could read about the Seahawks was what a dysfunctional hole their locker room was. Seems pretty damn solid right now. Thank heaven they came out of their coma. Go Hawks!
Art, I’ve got to roll with Matt on this one… no laughter at the dinner table and you damn well better eat every pea on your plate, doesn’t work for me. “Smells like team spirit”, to quote a local band, while not quite peeing on the mothership and zebras wingtips, they all made their point. And, I seriously doubt any of it kept them from reviewing the play book. The ‘distractions’ don’t require the time and planning for the invasion of Europe. Given how evenly matched (at this point) these teams are I look forward to a very competitive game with everyone geared to go and the score about as you projected. Go Hawks!
This will be the first time the Hawks will have played in the 49ers new stadium. I’m wondering if this will be when they’ll break their 5 game losing streak to the 49ers on the road? This is almost like a neutral site and i question how comfortable the 49ers are there when they’ve had so many turf problems. The defense is as healthy as it’s going to be and Beastmode is ready to go. This game will come down to Russell Wilson for the Hawks to win.
I would guess its as simple as this…the 49ers arent as good as Seattle… this isnt the Redskins or a mediocre Saints team they had to deal with. Seattle is better and SF in all likelihood will be staying home from the play offs this year.