Here We Go !!

       GO HAWKS !!

I've been wanting to do this for awhile. Finally decided to get er done.

I'm gonna use todays post to lay the groundwork and then go from there. I have been a resident of Eastern Washington (State) for 54 years. Coincidentally, I'm also 54 years old. I've been a Hawk fan since day one. Their day one, not mine. When they came into existence in 1976, all allegiances were changed.

Up till 76, I had been a fan of the hated San Francisco 49ers. Mostly because, as we got into middle school age, my friends and I each had a favorite team. One guy was Cowboys, one liked the Rams, Vikings and so on. Not sure why I picked the Niners, may have been the QB at the time, John Brodie. Either way, that was my team. Even had a full uniform.

So when '76 rolled around, and the Hawks began play, I just thought it natural to jump the allegiance to the 'local' team. The '76 season, the Hawks were in the NFC, but it was kind of a expansion (baby) step. Same with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who also started in '76. In '77 the Hawks were realigned into the AFC west, which was good for me, as the Niners were NFC. That way I could still have them as my favorite NFC team, while the Hawks were my favorite overall team. Make sense ?

On a side note here, It  really surprises me how many people consider that bandwagon jumping. ?? Was I supposed to stay with the Niners, even with a brand new team in my state ? I'm just baffled by this. But I digress. Everything was great on the fandom front. Could have a real interest in two different teams on any given Sunday. Being west coast, we got a lot of the Niner games, so life was good. With the exception being, the Niners of the 80's & 90's were pretty good. The Hawks on the other hand, had some bleak decades. 1988-1999 were extremely tough times. In 83 we got to the conference championship, and ,made the playoffs three more times in the 80's. But after winning the division in '88, but losing to the Bengals in the divisional round, the Hawks wouldn't smell the playoffs again until '99.

Then my worst possible scenario unfolded prior to the 2002 season. In '01 the Hawks had played their games in University of Washington's Husky Stadium while their new home was being built. Originally Seahawk Stadium, then Qwest field, and finally Century Link Field, or  the Clink, the new home was a beauty. Probably one of the top three at the time. The problem, at least for me personally, was that, with the addition of the expansion Houston Texans, the NFL decided upon realignment. The Seahawks were placed back into the NFC West. NO !!! Both my favorite teams, in the same division ? Playing two times a year ? What would I do ?

The regular season matchups were hard to watch, but the Hawks and Niners have only met once in the playoffs since the Hawks were moved back into the NFC('13 conference Championship. Sherm's explosion). By coincidence or whatever, beginning in about 2005, the fans of the Niners, not the Niners themselves, made it a LOT easier to dislike the team. That, coupled with the fact that the Niners were pretty bad for most of the first decade of this century (playoff drought '03-10). It didn't take long for me to lose interest. Then in 2011, '12  and '13, there was change. Change for the better. Not as much for the Hawks, as we didn't make the playoffs in 2011 (only time in last six seasons!!#GOHAWKS), but the regular season games were becoming quite the event. I heard a lot of talk about how this could easily become the next big rivalry in the NFL. In 2012, '13' and '14 (ehh-Niners dropping FAST) these games were always prime time, national TV, and, YIPPEE !! mostly won by the Hawks. The Niners went to Super Bowl 47 (losers !!!) and the Hawks went to 48 and 49. We all know what happened there, more on that in another post.

After we beat them with a last second tipped interception in the NFC Championship in January of 2014, the Niners have been on a straight free fall. I personally think putting everything on Kaepernick, when he was still so new, was a huge mistake. They should have kept Alex Smith, and then going through coaches like water doesn't help. That also is another story for another time.

With the Seahawks winning Super Bowl 48, and then getting to 49, they have become one of the elite teams in the NFL. And in my opinion, still are.

I believe it starts and stops with Pete Carroll and John Schneider. They seem to have a way of finding 'their' type player. Mostly late round, quick learning (smart) players. Take DangeRuss, I've been saying since halfway through his rookie year (2012) that he had, in my opinion, the best hat holder of all the young QB's. He just has a way. Hard to explain, but I see him as close to another Montana as we've had. Not physically, but what's between the ears. He doesn't get rattled, or make many bad decisions(SB 49 aside, and that's another post). Coaches started him slow, and didn't ask him to do too much. You could see it in the middle of his rookie year, he just sort of "got it", and started playing phenomenally. Just remember, throw out the last :31 against Atlanta on Jan. 13, 2013(way too many 1's & 3's there.??), and the Hawks are in three straight Conference Championships. Russell did everything he needed to do to win the Falcon game. The defense just relaxed after the amazing comeback. Down 20-0, go ahead 28-27 with :31 left. With :13 left, Atlanta kicks a FG. We lose 30-28. But the feeling after that game was different. We had gotten to the edge, with a ROOKIE QB. A bunch of the Hawks mentioned that moment AFTER winning SB 48, and the 'feeling'.

It has been a special four years with this incarnation of the Seahawks. Having to replace the O-line pieces, and a little thing called Beast Mode this year will be tough. Can Rawls be the man ? Looked real good before getting hurt, but that was only nine games. I believe, with the pieces we have in place, we'll be good enough to win it all this year. Just gotta start faster. Can't be .500 after six or eight games. Again, a lot is going to depend upon what kind of protection we give #3 with the O-line, and a lot of changes on the defenseive front seven this year as well.

Ok, that is enough for today. Hope to update this quite regularly. With mini camps here, the OTA's, then training camp and pre-season, there should be enough to write about.

I'm very open to suggestions (keep it clean!) on substance and critique of writing. I'm assuming you can  leave notes here, but if anyone would like, you can send me an email at lwilbanks7@charter.net  Thanks for reading, and GO HAWKS !!!