Article:Dear Seattle: Your Bandwagon is Showing - A Hostile Hochuli Editorial

I hate the bandwagon. The bandwagon is the place for people who are too busy to really care about sorts and to only follow the “good” teams.

And that is why I am tired of living in Seattle. Okay, please Seattle, before you start attacking me and fire bombing my hummer (ticked you, I drive a Sentra…oh…damn…) just hear me out.

Back in 2005 the Seattle Seahawks had a few preseason games blacked out because they couldn’t sell tickets. I was able to purchase a “4-game” pack of tickets, and was also able to get tickets in the lower level of the South Endzone for less then $50.00.

Now, to get seats five rows from the roof of the 300 level at Qwest Field, you have to shell out $60.00 JUST for the Season Ticket holders. I’m guessing that the single games seats will be around $75.00. And with that, guys like me who had those packs, can’t even get in contact with the guy who sold me the tickets because I don’t want to drop $100.00 as a deposit so maybe 7 years down the road I can have a seat.

What happened? 2005 they went to the Superbowl. That’s right everyone realized they were finally good, and they decided that they wanted to be part of it.

But, Matt, you waited until 2005 to get your tickets. Right, because I was in college 100 miles away and couldn’t really explain that expense to the parental units.

You can also attach this to the Mariners, albeit on a different front. Baseball is much cheaper to see, yet there are 10 times as many games as football. I am more likely to go to eight games a year for the Mariners then I am to go to two NFL games. Plus, you can just walk up to get tickets to baseball games; no waking up early on a Saturday just to be told they sold out in 30 seconds.

You: That is a pretty pathetic reason to hate Seattle sports fans.

Matt: That’s right, so let me go a bit further. The Seattle Mariners are 3-5 because of the loss of J.J. Putz. With Putz they very well could be 6-2 or 7-1, due to the problems the Bullpen is having. They have had some struggles from the Offense, but the Starting Pitching has been much better then the M’s have seen in years.

Yet, what is the growing sentiment about the SoDo team?

That they are imploding. Really? We all knew that the Offense was going to be bad, we have no real upgrade from the team that ranked 7 th in the AL (14 th in MLB) last year in Runs Scored. That isn’t terrible, but it is just as mediocre as we all thought.

And who gets the brunt of this? Richie Sexson. Everyone wants to boo him because the guy is getting paid so much and not getting as many hits as we would like. But, booing him during the first series of the year? Guess what he is batting right now: .259 with an on base percentage of .412. What about Brad Wilkerson, the one off-season acquisition that the team made to “bolster” the offense? .095.

As of today: Richie has the sixth best average of any Mariner with over 10 at bats. DH Jose Vidro, C Kenji Johjima and Wilkerson all have lower averages. His one Home Run puts him tied for second on the team…the leaders all have 2. And to top it off, his 6 RBIs is second only to Jose Lopez’s 8, not to mention that he leads the team in OBP.

Yet, Richie gets the brunt of it. Fine, Seattle give him that; that is your prerogative. Does it help him hit the ball, though? No. It gets in his head. But, I have discussed that previous ( Booing Doesn’t Help) and it hasn’t done anything, so I give up on the booing.

What I don’t give up on, Sea-town, is your need to quickly jump ship. Yes, the team is 3-5, but that means there are 154 games left in which they can get back into it. Do you really think that the Orioles have the type of lineup to go 6-1 or that the Tigers are really 0-7 bad?

Let’s circle back around to the Seahawks. I don’t know if you know this or not but we have a running back by the name of Shaun Alexander under contract with the Seahawks. A few seasons ago Alexander was the MVP of the NFL and was the touchdown record holder. This is a guy who has been to three Pro Bowls, led the league in Rushing Yards, Touchdowns and Attempts. Here is a pillar to the community who has been with the team when the times were bad and now in the good moments.

Yet, the city of Seattle called for his head most of the 2007 season. Yes, his running style wasn’t working, but what do you expect when the guy has an injury and the team’s Offensive line is made up of pieces that don’t fit? Now the Seahawks have a few new guys on the roster and everyone is holding their breath for his release.

I have been critical of him as well but my point is this: Seattle, you are too quick to join the good and leave the bad. Myself included.

Maybe this is a problem in the fabric of “fanaticism” or maybe it is my imagination, but since I haven’t lived an in any other city that has a major sports franchise I can’t compare it, and since my imagination rules my life I can’t separate it from reality.

Don’t even get me started on the Sonics.

Am I wrong?