Self-fulfilling prophecy

Crazy loss the other day, but these things happen in football and in life, yeah?

Being in Seattle for the entire week, I've been able to enter the mind and the Psyche of the true Seattle sports fan. All of that hope, belief, and pride in the college navy, wolf grey, and action green has quickly turned sour and in it's place... misery and self-fulfilling prophecies. People referencing Mutombo and the Nuggets beating the Sonics and the 84' Hawks' similar ending to that season. As an outsider from New York City, it amazes me when I compare this mindset with that of a Yankees fan or a Giants football fan. Literally the exact opposite. Those fanbases are generally indifferent during the regular season, but then 100% confident when it comes to "crunch time".

What I'm wondering is how this mentality trickles down and is perceived by the team. Hopefully they aren't listening to talk radio or reading the papers or watching local sports TV because doing so would probably result in a few guys heading for the Aurora Bridge and calling it quits.

Luckily, this team is led by two of the most positive and uplifting men in all of sports. This is where Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll have to rise up and lead the way and everyone, including all of us, must follow. What's happened in the past in this city is just that, the past, and it has no bearing on this year unless we allow it to. If we continue to dwell on it, then we will create all kinds of pressure and crappy energy that will fester like a boil until it all finally explodes at the CLink on Sunday in a nasty mess. If they played the game tomorrow, can you imagine the atmosphere in that stadium? Any Rams first down would be met with sucking of the teeth and a "damnit, insert name here, get your head out of your ass!" or something of the sort. God forbid the Rams score first, the place would be on mass suicide watch. We might even boo our guys off the field again at the half (that was an embarrassment the other day.)

Seattle, get your minds right. All year we've talked about how this team is different and even when they've barely snick by the likes of Houston or Tampa Bay we've talked about how any win is a good one in the NFL. The Cards are a tough team, we've seen that before, and they match up well with us, so a defeat was definitely always possible. Take some time with the Holidays coming up to get your minds right. Let those good feelings of watching happy kids tear wrapping paper to shreds put your nervous, negative energy to bed once and for all. I know some will say it's impossible if you're truly a diehard but if we keep the self-fulfilling prophecies going sooner or later we'll end up just like Cleveland and never win anything forever.

I took a walk through Discovery Park yesterday and it helped get my mind right. I thought of what a great, beautiful city this is and how amazing the journey has been and how great the people have been. I don't want to remember this season, this city, or it's great people as helping play a hand in a vicious, never-ending cycle. They say, "don't get too high after a win or too low after a loss." Coach speak for sure, but definitely true, and somewhere after that Saints game and after this Cards game, we lost our way a bit. Let's all get back to focusing on the goal at hand and being the best fans in the league and helping our guys get there. They need our support and our belief now more than ever, not the belief that this will end the way it always does in Seattle sports... in abject misery.

Seattle's first Super Bowl victory was never going to be easy. I've always known this. The going has now gotten tough but that doesn't mean we get going and that doesn't mean we stop caring so that the eventual letdown doesn't hurt as much. No. This is where we get tough and earn everything!

GO Hawks

Good post. Although I am annoyed by this loss I am not freaking out - we are still an incredible 12-3 with a chance to clinch everything on our home field vs. a sub-.500 team on Sunday.

The biggest concern right now is the offense which is stagnating at the worst possible time. i think our defense will be absolutely stifling in the playoffs and hopefully the refs will let us play more and not call all these BS penalties.

I still believe in this team and I have a ton of confidence in #3 in January - but the sad truth is that the NFL playoffs are 'one and done', and the best team doesn't always win.

It it not time for this fanbase to melt down at all right now, that can wait for if we lose on Sunday and drop to a wildcard. now that would be a total disaster but I don't see it happening.

NYCoug":3rtg79x5 said:

This is where Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll have to rise up and lead the way and everyone, including all of us, must follow.

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That is why they were both the first ones to arrive at the VMAC at 4 in the morning yesterday.

Great post.

Yeah Jon, it's true that this is the worst time for the offense to hit a wall but this team has been resilient as hell all season long. Something tells me that #3 will pick himself up off the ground on Sunday, numerous times, and gut one out to get us goldfields. I doubt it'll be pretty, but that's not the name of the game. I like the fact that this team has to earn itball the way to the last second of the season. You're right, the best team doesn't always win it all in the NFL, it's usually the toughest. Luckily, we are both.

Even if the unspeakable did happen and things didn't work out on Sunday, I'd still believe in this team winning it all. They've overcome adversity amazingly this season and I don't believe for a second that they're going to stop that belief. Factor in #3 and this team will always have a very real chance of hoisting the Lombardi.

But I'm not gonna think like that. This team rises to the occasion and makes Kellen Clemens hate life on Sunday. I'm hoping Tavon Austin doesn't kill us in the slot, but other than him, our defense should be well-equipped to shut STL down. Like Scottemojo pointed out, our guys have to be ready for some trick plays from Jeff Fisher, but we should be on point and ready to seal the deal.

I think the defense plays even better than this past Sunday and leads the Seahawks to a tough, gritty victory that refills the bandwagon and gets everyone on board for the playoff run. Playoffs start this Sunday, in my mind, one game at a time and let's let the magic year continue.

Decades of conditioned disappointment in Seattle sports isn't easy to overcome. It's simply an easier coping method for many Seattle fans, myself included, to expect the worst to happen so the inevitable letdown is slightly less traumatizing, and also so we can then be pleasantly surprised on the rare occasions that the worst doesn't actually happen.

SeatownJay":2vim6yzz said:

Decades of conditioned disappointment in Seattle sports isn't easy to overcome. It's simply an easier coping method for many Seattle fans, myself included, to expect the worst to happen so the inevitable letdown is slightly less traumatizing, and also so we can then be pleasantly surprised on the rare occasions that the worst doesn't actually happen.

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X...

Somebody get this guy a public pulpit! I mean a real one, not one in cyber space.

+1 Nicely said.

Sack up 12.

grizbob":1oh1bvvt said:

SeatownJay":1oh1bvvt said:

Decades of conditioned disappointment in Seattle sports isn't easy to overcome. It's simply an easier coping method for many Seattle fans, myself included, to expect the worst to happen so the inevitable letdown is slightly less traumatizing, and also so we can then be pleasantly surprised on the rare occasions that the worst doesn't actually happen.

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X...

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You sir nailed it. Seattle is dying for a championship and this is probably the first time the Hawks were favored to win it all going in to the season. I think it's easier to cope with losing when your team already has one a championship like the Yanks or Giants. The offense sure picked the wrong time to slump so I think many are sweating bullets that the big Seattle let down might happen with this team, the fear that we've come so close but couldn't seal the deal

SeatownJay":mmwq1pka said:

Decades of conditioned disappointment in Seattle sports isn't easy to overcome. It's simply an easier coping method for many Seattle fans, myself included, to expect the worst to happen so the inevitable letdown is slightly less traumatizing, and also so we can then be pleasantly surprised on the rare occasions that the worst doesn't actually happen.

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My feelings. 37 years of Seattle sports fandom, always rooting for the home team takes a toll.


Nice post btw!

The 12th Man loves it's team, but it also must be the most pessimistic fanbase in the entire NFL. You come to expect to be disappointed. It's a coping mechanism

NYCoug":889palg9 said:

.............Seattle's first Super Bowl victory was never going to be easy........

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As proven by the 49er game last night, the Seattle Seahawks get no help from the football Gods, ever. The Seattle Seahawks always have been and always will be required to earn every last ounce of success they are fortunate enough to experience. It would indeed make a Superr Bowl victory that much sweeter because our team will not only have to overcome an opponent, but likely a couple of poor calls to go against them as well. The only question is, will I EVER get to experience that sweetness? I'm 57 and not getting any younger. Radish is in his mid-60s I believe. DrDiags like a year older than me. There are others here and in Seahawks Nation in the same boat. We've seen a lot of close but no cigar so forgive us if we need to take at least one step back to preserve our football hearts.

NYCoug":ibysbkls said:

What I'm wondering is how this mentality trickles down and is perceived by the team.

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You mean like the 100th monkey theory? Some sort of psychic osmosis? Some supernatural effect causing the team to f'up a season?

Naw, it's more like "the boy who cried wolf syndrome."

Perspective. I was pretty disgusted fresh off the loss (and the vino probably didn't help) but two days later and I am already over it and ready to beat the Rams to claim HFA and the division. It actually feels like it was meant to come down to this. We had to beat the Rams at home a few years ago to win the division and we'll do it again. I simply cannot see this team losing back-to-back divisional games AT HOME. The Cardinals HAD to have that game to stay alive where the Rams have nothing to play for but the spoiler. I don't see that being enough. What's RW's record again off a loss?

We missed ya at Temple!

This place has definitely helped me keep things in perspective and losses just don't sting as much anymore. Not because I just don't care but because I've seen what this team is capable of when faced with adversity. You can't show me a more resilient team in the NFL. If you would've told me we'd be sitting at #1 with a 12-3 record and a chance to clinch HFA on Sunday, I would've been ecstatic.

hawksfansinceday1":qo88cauu said:

I'm 57 and not getting any younger. Radish is in his mid-60s I believe. DrDiags like a year older than me. There are others here and in Seahawks Nation in the same boat. We've seen a lot of close but no cigar so forgive us if we need to take at least one step back to preserve our football hearts.

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So you're telling me all we need is for all of you old farts to kick the bucket, then the rest of us can move on from this cursed existence? I KID, I KID!

Great post, David. I feel you on all of that. But as a lifelong Seattle sports fan, I also 100% understand and feel all of the nervous energy that's been coming from the site the past couple days. Negativity guards us against setting ourselves up to be let down. It's in our blood, it's in our DNA. Even if the team was undefeated going into the playoffs or Super Bowl, I'd have a nervous feeling in my gut until the game was over. I seriously wanted to scream at the guy who made the Dikembe Mutombo post today. You really think us Seattle sports fans need reminding of this?!?!?! (deep breathes. exhale. go to your happy place, Jordan.)

Ok, where were we...

Where I think a lot of people went wrong was getting too far ahead of themselves way too early. I'm not saying that they shouldn't have had Super Bowl thoughts. But at a certain point it went from Super Bowl hopes to Super Bowl expectation. And with that, you create and build an unrealistic perspective and unreasonable ability to deal with adversity (IE a home loss to the Cardinals that didn't exactly end your season). I've been bothered by the overall tone of the city the past month of expecting the Super Bowl. All of my family and friends who aren't even that big of fans have been acting as if it was just a countdown. The Super Bowl isn't a right of passage. It's something that must be earned. We've seen the stats about how little the #1 seed means in terms of making it. We've seen year after year of huge upsets in the playoffs. Why should we expect to get it so easy? Of course, with our HFA, us getting the #1 seed is a bigger deal than for most. But it's not a free pass to New Jersey. It still has to be earned.

I am just as nervous as most about next week. But I am still confident in our team taking care of business. I can't see them losing back to back home games with so much on the line. And if they do, then I guess HFA and the #1 seed wasn't all we cracked it up to be.

Nothing worth having in life is easy to attain. Otherwise every would have it. The same is true for everything we as Hawks fans desire. Buck up, guys. Playoffs start next Sunday.

Go Hawks.

Super stoked for this team and all the fans. Losing is part of the equation, but to see or hawks come this far is pretty sweet. I look back on the past few years and even farther, and then think we have so much to be thankful for. What a journey. Our past is our past, no time but the present. The good memories outweigh any negatives in my book. Love our hawks!

Aros":1aves9bv said:

Perspective. I was pretty disgusted fresh off the loss (and the vino probably didn't help) but two days later and I am already over it and ready to beat the Rams to claim HFA and the division. It actually feels like it was meant to come down to this. We had to beat the Rams at home a few years ago to win the division and we'll do it again. I simply cannot see this team losing back-to-back divisional games AT HOME. The Cardinals HAD to have that game to stay alive where the Rams have nothing to play for but the spoiler. I don't see that being enough. What's RW's record again off a loss?

We missed ya at Temple!

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I missed Temple too! I was just there and one of the bartenders is blaming me for the loss for not showing up. Jordan and I got a little carried away tailgating with an old friend of mine and ended up leaving ourselves no time to swing by Temple. The whole day just had a weird vibe. I feel bad I didn't get to hang with you and your buddy. Super cool dude, tell him I said Happy Holidays and that he'll have to swing by before/after a game before the season ends and you've both got a drink coming your way from me. You gonna be there this Sunday Todd? I'll make sure I'm there.

And great post too. This past Sunday was brutal, no doubt, but like others have pointed out, this team has dealt with adversity tremendously throughout the year. I love the fact their leaders (Pete, Russ, and Earl) are there trying to lift their teammates up, stay positive, and stay calm when everything around them is chaotic. This type of positive outlook is what got them there in the first place, and it's the typw of mentality that will get them through this cloudy time. Allowing the negative energy of a scorned, battered fanbase (understandable as it is) leak through and mess with their focus can only have catastrophic consequences.

If the people posting on this board for the last two days are any representation of the fan base as a whole, then this city does not deserve to even sniff a championship. Hopefully this team will accomplish more than what these whiners deserve.