In their deepest, darkest,
dankest pits of their souls, Volkswagen Beetle owners are sadistic, at least in
my opinion. They certainly don’t buy the cars for their looks, or color,
or amenities, or cost. No, I think deep down, they all purchase these cars for
the simple fact that they take great pleasure knowing as they putt-putt down the
road EVERY car that passes them is filled with young and old alike furiously punching
each other on the arms yelling “slug bug” (or punch buggy, or any
other regional variation). Sometimes I think the NFL management folks are VW owners
reincarnated.
On the flip side, NFL fans
must be fairly masochistic to follow the same teams, year after year, that wallow
in the realms of mediocrity. Much like the parents that teach their kids the
slug bug game. Sure, it’s pretty cute to have their little fists pounding
you at eight, but once they get into their teens, it can be jarring enough to
make you spill your latte. You only have yourself to blame, after all, you created
that little monster.
The one drawback of NFL
parity is that teams stuck in the middle seem to always be stuck in the middle.
Only the very bad or very good ever seem to become successful at any given time.
The reasons why are fairly subtle, but real nevertheless.
Teams that struggle year
after year with records of 7-9, 8-8 or 9-7 end up with average first round picks
simply because year after year they’re stuck at the middle of the draft
and unless they do something really creative like making trades to move up,
are doomed to stay there.
Welcome to NFL parity.
Lightning does seem to strike
occasionally, as last year’s feeding frenzy (due to the Viking’s
gaffe and the Seahawks picking up a top-10 pick in Marcus Trufant) showed, but
barring divine intervention, a middle of the road team gets middle of the road
draft picks. They are then stuck with trying to build a contender through free
agency, but as time has shown, free agency can quickly turn a team into a cash
strapped organization, with little to show for it.
Then, when teams do show
a glimmer of success, they are saddled the very next year with poorer draft
picks, more difficult schedules, and ballooning salaries in the FA market.
Such has been the case for
the Seattle Seahawks, for nearly 20 years. Oh, sure, other factors played a
part. Ken Behring’s threat to move the team to California (http://www.atg.wa.gov/trust/trustdocs/behring.html),
dropping Chuck Knox for Tom Flores, retirement of Steve Largent, Brian Bosworth
– ask any Seattle Seahawks fan and they can give you a blow by bloody
blow account of their suffering. But, the real culprit of their decades old
decline was Free Agency and the Salary Cap instituted in the early 1990s.
So teams like the Seahawks
are stuck with few choices. They can continue to fight against Free Agency and
hope to rebuild through the draft, but with mid-tier picks the chances of finding
the hidden nuggets of gold among the dirt is iffy. They can also blow it all
in a desperate attempt to buy a championship forgoing fiscal responsibility
in the future. Lastly, they can blow it all up, and start over with sound cap
management, excellent draft scouting, and solid coaching.
Now, the Seahawks have wisely
decided to pursue the last option, at the expense of playoff success. Since
Mike Holmgren has taken over the team there has been almost a complete turnover
in the roster and coaching staff, as well as many new front office additions.
They have slashed their cap woes, and finally have some players worth the salaries
they are paying them. Sure, there has been some real busts in the past five
years, including some questionable draft picks, but there has been enough gold
panned to see a glimmer of hope for the fans that perhaps yes, this year their
team can be real contenders for the crown.
And this Saturday, sitting
at the 23rd pick of the first round, Seattle can only hope that a couple of
shiny flakes can fall their way. It’s also a dangerous, precarious position
they find themselves in. They still need several holes filled at DT, MLB and
Safety, and little chance of picking up an immediate impact player at the spot
they’re in. Seattle has always tried to pick the best player available.
The times they have picked for need they have been burned, so don’t be
surprised if a completely unexpected player is chosen on Saturday. Last year
they picked a cornerback when every draft pundit had them picking up a defensive
tackle.
So, the next time your 8
year old’s bony knuckles slam into your bicep as they gleefully shout
“slug bug!” just take solace in the fact that there are some fans
out there that have had to put up with that sadistic behavior for decades.
Glenn Geiss writes a
column for Seahawks.NET every Thursday. Feel free to send him feedback at awpilot@wavecable.com.