| 01 November 2011
Every Tuesday, Brian Elsner (Wait For It Seattle) and I will be answering questions from readers. These questions will vary from sports specific to awesome specific. Keep them coming. If you have a question for us, go to the Facebook page of Wait For It Seattle or SeaTown Sports. Or leave us a comment here.
After listening to Colin Cowherd go on about East Coast passion for sports and slamming Seattle fans for not caring enough (and being to a number of Mariner games myself), are the Sounders the best fan group in Seattle right now? – Jared G.
Brian: This is a great question because I change my opinion on Seattle vs. the East Coast all the time. Generally, Colin Cowherd is correct. Yet there is a reason for the difference between East Coast fans having more passion than Seattle fans. First, the fans he references like the Red Sox, Yankees and Steelers are embedded with generations of families rooting for these teams. When Lincoln is my age, I bet you see a difference in the “care” of our fans. In fact, you already see it more. How many people were pissed when Griffey left? How many people are tired of Ichiro? How many people slammed the T-Jack acquisition? Tons and tons.
Second, the Mariners drew a lot of fans when they won, as do most teams. Between 2000-03, the M’s drew 40,000-43,000 fans on average (check the stats). They now draw 27,000 per game or so. For a comparison, the Red Sox drew 28,000 per game in 1996 when they were not a playoff team yet. They didn’t average over 30,000 until 1999 when they started to compete. This sold out every game mentality didn’t start until they began winning again. Let’s not pretend the Sox fans sold out every game when they weren’t competing for a playoff spot.
The Seahawks consistently sell out games and have the loudest home field advantage in the NFL so I don’t see a problem there (despite sucking for three straight seasons).
I will never say that Seattle fans have the same passion currently as East Coast fans, but I also won’t say that East Coast fans are die hard and always attend games. Pittsburgh Pirates? Same city as the Steelers. New York Mets? How about the Washington Nationals?
Finally, the Sounders are a different story. In many ways Jared is right – they do have the best fan base right now. They sell out every game. The fans are loud. They sold over 65,000 tickets to a regular season MLS game because it was Kasey Keller’s last. There are two factors for this ascension to fan greatness in Seattle. First, there is a community of soccer fans here who don’t really pay attention to a lot of other sports. They have been waiting to spend their money on soccer essentially (I would say the same in Portland). Second, people in Seattle like winning and the Sounders continue to win despite their playoff poopiness.
Kevin: Brian provided a complete answer, but I’d argue that the Seahawks have the best fan group in Seattle right now. If the Sounders start losing games and not putting together playoff seasons, I don’t envision them having the same amount of support as the Seahawks. While I worked for the Seahawks in high school, I was shocked to see the amount of people that still showed up to games and still supported the team so much despite their shortcomings on the field.
It may be the fact that football naturally has more fans than soccer, but when the Seahawks are competing, the whole city is involved as we saw during the Super Bowl run. I don’t think the city rallies around the Sounders as much as they would for the Seahawks if they were in the championship. The Sounders fan base has yet to prove that they can get more people that don’t like soccer to come to their games. On the other hand, the Seahawks have been able to cast a wider net over people that aren’t diehard football fans and still remain intensely passionate.
Talking about the Seahawks 2011 draft, potential Mariners free agent signings and our top three rappers of all-time after the jump.
Andy Dalton was a 2nd round pick in the 2011 draft (10 spots after Carpenter). Should Seattle have taken him over Carpenter? Or more generally should have Seattle picked a QB at all in 2011 draft? – Justin F.
Kevin: At the time of the draft, it still wasn’t clear whether Matt Hasselbeck was coming back or not, and most fans still had questions on whether Whitehurst could be an adequate replacement (including me) — considering these factors, I don’t think the Seahawks should have drafted a quarterback. I think the front office and Pete Carroll both believed either Hasselbeck would return or Whitehurst would pan out. Of course with hindsight bias, we definitely should draft Dalton, but at the time, no one had any idea how good Dalton or any other quarterback in the draft would be.
Brian: I think it is really easy to compare Carpenter and Dalton. In fact, I was doing it myself until I realized that we don’t really want Andy Dalton. The problem is that we don’t really like James Carpenter either. I don’t think there is a quarterback other than Cam Newton who the Seahawks liked enough to draft last year. And it is proving to be right. Newton is a franchise QB. Is Blaine Gabbert? Christian Ponder? Dalton? I don’t think so. I do think Matt Barkley is and he may be the guy they go after next year in the draft, even if it means trading up (I think it will be too hard to get to Andrew Luck).
I am not sure about Carpenter, but I am fine waiting for a franchise QB rather than an above average one. Think about it? Who was better in the game – Dalton or Tarvaris Jackson? Dalton on the season has a little bit better QB rating, but he will be their quarterback of the future. Would you want him starting for the Hawks for the next six years? I don’t think you win a Super Bowl that way.
Who are the three free agents you want to see the Mariners go after this off season or the three trades? – Anthony D.
Brian: Tough question. I start and end with Prince Fielder. I wrote a column in the middle of the season about why this makes sense and I still believe it is true. He changes everything for the M’s. I would also add a cheap end of the rotation starting pitcher and trade some of the outfield depth for another decent bat (better than Casper Wells or Trayvon Robinson). MLB Trade Rumors has Fielder going to the M’s so that is exciting although it means nothing at all.
The caveat is that Jack Z is unpredictable. No one would have guessed the Mariners could trade for Cliff Lee a couple years ago. He seems to have the ability to pull off some pretty awesome trades, so if that is the case, let’s get Joey Votto!
None of the other free agent names excite me after Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder.
Kevin:
- Let’s get Joey Votto. Read USS Mariner’s reasoning here.
- Let’s sign Jamie Moyer. He can still pitch, and the Mariners are in need of a backend rotation starter. Plus, everyone loves him and it’d be a crime to let him retire somewhere else. He won’t drink soda pop and sleep in the clubhouse during the games either, so any concerns about him being clubhouse cancer like that Griffey guy are thrown out the window.
Who are the top three rappers of all time? – Kari L.
Brian: Awesome question. My answer will be much better than Kevin’s because he is a young pup and knows nothing of true hip hop. The list must include (no arguments allowed): 2Pac, Biggie, Mos Def, Eminem, Jay-Z, Nas, Common, Rakim, Method Man, GZA, and Snoop. This does not include groups of course which would obviously include A Tribe Called Quest, Outkast, Public Enemy, Wu Tang, and the Beastie Boys.
Yet if I had to narrow it down to the top three it would be 2Pac, Biggie, and Jay-Z. The first two will not find many “haters”, but I don’t include them simply because of their legacies caused by death. 2Pac could go from songs like “California Love” and “I Get Around” to the more hard “Hit Em Up”. Biggie just slayed whenever given a chance. His lyrical skills were absurd. Jay-Z will get the most pushback, but he has endured over the years. Think about how many hits he produced and how good his last album was – he stands above the wore down Snoop and the inconsistent Nas in my opinion.
Kevin: You don’t give me enough credit for my musical prowess. No. 1 Jay-Z, No.2 Biggie No. 3 Tupac in that order. Jay-Z is so good because he’s been around so long. You’d think his material would get old after he raps about his initial street life…but no. He has churned out album after album in the 2000s and they continue to be quality listens. The Black Album and Blueprint are two albums where each song is a hit, hard to find those these days. Did I mention all of his raps come from the top of his head? The dude doesn’t even have to write down his lines. TALENT. Biggie gets the nod at No. 2 because he simply put together the best lines of any rapper. Ever. “Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis ,When I was dead broke, man I couldn't picture this”…you finish the rest. Tupac could go hard, but his socially conscious music also set him apart; Changes and Keep Ya Head Up are two songs that are played the most on my iTunes.
Who would win 1 on 1 basketball between Kevin and Brian? – Tom M.
Kevin: Is that a question? Obviously I would win. If Elsner tells you he beats me all the time, simply disregard that claim and remember that I am LETTING him win. I feel bad; he’s already a father and a teacher so he doesn’t have time to work on his jumper like me. Add on to the fact that he didn’t achieve much athletic success in high school —though I’ll give him credit for his coach’s tennis award — I just feel bad, so I let him win. The last time I did beat him, he blamed his loss on an injury that I inflicted on his right thigh. Cry me a river.
Brian: Hilarious answer by Kevin. This is such a great question because Kevin and I played 1 on 1 eight different times last summer. Kevin won a single game. Once. And yes, he charlie horsed me to win it. There are rare occasions when I am the superior athlete to another person. In this case, it is true. Kevin couldn’t come close to stopping me. I posted him. Shot jumpers over him. Drove by him, absorbed contact and still finished plays.
The best part? You don’t have to play defense on Kevin. He has the ugliest jump shot I have ever seen. It is a cross between Bill Cartwright and Benoit Benjamin.
Kevin: I don't know what he's talking about. Check this follow-through out:
--Kevin Cacabelos (
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