Sherman just said he is very optimistic about his appeal...

Well, if that's the case, he broke the rules and is now flaunting the fact he beat the rap on a technicality, I want him to STFU more than ever. There is nothing admirable about cheating and it sends the wrong message to the impressionable.

Yes, I'm serious. I'm no choir boy, I will break one rule or another by lunch tomorrow, but I'm not going to scream about it from the roof tops or rub anyone's nose in it either.

We have a good thing going in Seattle, we don't need the refs, NFL, whomever after us any more than they already are. Don't applaud such behaviour, then be surprized when calls don't go our way. Yes, he is a big name, but he's not bigger than the NFL.

Yeah, I don't like him calling out the NFL on live TV. We don't need another XL.

But nobody was calling out the NFL before XL... and we still got... XL. So, why should he be quiet?

HawkWow":36o4m4d8 said:

Well, if that's the case, he broke the rules and is now flaunting the fact he beat the rap on a technicality

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No....he has consistently denied the allegations, now he is saying, here, her is the proof that I am innocent, they messed up the chain of command and therefore the results are invalid.. That's what I take from it.

Jazzhawk":ukul2i5h said:

HawkWow":ukul2i5h said:

Well, if that's the case, he broke the rules and is now flaunting the fact he beat the rap on a technicality

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No....he has consistently denied the allegations, now he is saying, here, her is the proof that I am innocent, they messed up the chain of command and therefore the results are invalid.. That's what I take from it.

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Understood, I was responding to a previous poster that (basically) said he believed Sherm was guilty, but going to get off, and is now giving the finger to the system. Others thought that was some kind of cool as well. I disagreed with that.

The XL example was spot on. It don't take a Stanford grad to understand things can be made uncomfortable for us. Lets win a title then these guys can pop off all they want thereafter.

The last thing I want to do is be argumentative after a HUGE Seahawks win, but I'll reiterate my point that before XL our team was walking the line. Nobody was out of step, or bad mouthing the league, or taunting its Golden Boy QBs, and we still got hosed in XL. So why would Sherman talking now make a difference? Our fear feels more like superstition than anything real.

I think our team has earned a reputation as a young, loud, brash, nasty team. Sherman is a leader of this team. He sets the tone. By talking he sets the tone and the rest of the defense takes note. It's what has created the massive amount of swagger this team has, I want Sherman to talk, I want Sherman to embarass people, it's what he does best. IMO, SHerman should tell the whole world about it.

Buncha chicks on the same cycle...

HawkAroundTheClock":38yvwuqq said:

The last thing I want to do is be argumentative after a HUGE Seahawks win, but I'll reiterate my point that before XL our team was walking the line. Nobody was out of step, or bad mouthing the league, or taunting its Golden Boy QBs, and we still got hosed in XL. So why would Sherman talking now make a difference? Our fear feels more like superstition than anything real.

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You're right, other than Stevens, we were a very respectable group (and still got hosed). I mean no disresepct here, but using such logic is like saying, I got hit by a Kam truck (lol) while walking on the sidewalk, so from now on, I might as well walk on the freeway.

I just think it's better to not rile these aholes. As you suggest, they have it in for us already. BTW, I think the teary-eyed retirement of "the face of the NFL", Jerome Bettis, playing his final game in his home town, played a role against us in XL. I could be wrong.

HawkAroundTheClock":1thlw8lf said:

The last thing I want to do is be argumentative after a HUGE Seahawks win, but I'll reiterate my point that before XL our team was walking the line. Nobody was out of step, or bad mouthing the league, or taunting its Golden Boy QBs, and we still got hosed in XL. So why would Sherman talking now make a difference? Our fear feels more like superstition than anything real.

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I am so with you on this. Walk the line, and get hosed in Super Bowl XL. Better to create drama and *interest* by arguing and posturing. Remember 44 Boz Inc. selling 10,000 "Ban the Boz" T-Shirts to Bronco fans? The NFL is an *entertainment* product. They are competing with other programming, including the reality TV schlock. Sherman is creating great drama for the NFL, that stands a good chance of *IMPROVING RATINGS*. It doesn't matter whether people agree or disagree, like, or dislike Sherman, as long as they pay attention and WATCH the games, comment on the NFL and ESPN forum threads, etc.
By this same reasoning, the NFL would WANT the Seahawks and the Packers to meet in a playoff game, with the storyline of the Packers "avenging" the "Fail Mary" defeat.

So Sherm, keep running your mouth and calling out the NFL. Thank God you're not toeing the NFL line, and if we make it to the Super Bowl this year, the chances of getting jobbed are much smaller than before XL. The NFL made the storyline on XL all about "The Bus" and how he needed a championship to complete his career. I don't even recall any storylines from the Seahawks side that the media pushed.

This year, in a Super Bowl, there should be plenty of storylines. Russell Wilson, rookie quarterback, with the opportunity to make history. Sherman, is he or isn't he cheating, and the NFL was forced to delay rulings until after the playoffs due to legal/procedural issues. The more storylines there are about the Seahawks that grab national attention, the less likely we'll get jobbed. So Sherm, yak it up, dude! Trash-talk those nasty mean old NFL fogies, Goodell and Co!!

HawkWow":12l7uket said:

You're right, other than Stevens, we were a very respectable group (and still got hosed). I mean no disresepct here, but using such logic is like saying, I got hit by a Kam truck (lol) while walking on the sidewalk, so from now on, I might as well walk on the freeway.

I just think it's better to not rile these aholes. As you suggest, they have it in for us already. BTW, I think the teary-eyed retirement of "the face of the NFL", Jerome Bettis, playing his final game in his home town, played a role against us in XL. I could be wrong.

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I was posting just as you were writing this, didn't see your post first, and all I could recall, storyline-wise from XL was the "win a title for the Bus" angle the media played. So two of us independently mention that as the dominant media storyline going into Super Bowl XL. ESPN's writeup of the game starts like this... "The Pittsburgh Steelers were the overwhelming sentimental Super Bowl XL favorites, both here and in Las Vegas, but for better than three quarters, the Seattle Seahawks had Pittsburgh engaged in a serious football game." The reason Seattle lost the game... lack of compelling storylines to counter the "Win one for the Bus" angle.

OK, not the real reason Seattle *lost* the XL game, but the reason we got crappy reffing that contributed. The real reason for the XL loss was lack of depth in the defensive backfield, and the 3rd-string man-off-the-street Free Safety Etric Pruitt who got burned for the Steelers two big-play touchdowns, the Willie Parker run, and the Antwaan Randle-El pass for a TD. Yeah, both TDs, same dude burned. We got "Next man up" under Carroll, so that won't be happening. Second reason Seattle loses, Hass throws a bonehead pick in the Red Zone after the bogus holding penalty. We've got RW as our QB, and he would be very unlikely to make a play like that.

But I digress. Sherman needs to keep talking and creating drama and interest, so the Seattle storylines are at least as interesting and compelling as their opponent's. The other smart thing the 'Hawks could do, if they make the Super Bowl, would be to find a way to independently trot out Holmgren, where he isn't under team employ, to talk about the biased and poor officiating in XL, and raise the storyline, "will Seattle get an even break from the officials in this Super Bowl." We found out in XL that the NFL has more in common with WWE than we thought. So let's have multiple interesting storylines.

This is what he actually said. Its on NBC Sports.com. When asked about his opinion on winning his appeal? Word for word.

"I'm incredibly optimistic. They broke rules that you can't break. And ummm unless they just you know say they can break rules and you know suspend me than we should be fine."

@&$! the league. The league is retarded.

olyfan63":1na6202m said:

HawkWow":1na6202m said:

Sherman needs to keep talking and creating drama and interest, so the Seattle storylines are at least as interesting and compelling as their opponent's. The other smart thing the 'Hawks could do, if they make the Super Bowl, would be to find a way to independently trot out Holmgren, where he isn't under team employ, to talk about the biased and poor officiating in XL, and raise the storyline, "will Seattle get an even break from the officials in this Super Bowl."

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That is a fascinating idea. Just take it to 'em. Play the media game and play it so well the league has reason to drum us up the way they did Bettis. Only our storyline is the beginning of something big rather than the end of a career. Very clever.

JSeahawks":2c7h1g7j said:

I cant believe Pehawk's too much of a puss to fly out to New Jersey. Someone take away his man card.

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J you ignorant slut :mrgreen: I'll be at McDonalds on St George Blvd at 6 am :lol: really couldn't help myself

Seems like we'll hear one way or the other before noon today.

Goodell is a loser.

HawkWow":66v8jeto said:

Sherm is arguably my favorite player. Believe me, I want to be wrong, but aside from all of the "that's just him" commentary here, how would you explain, or rationalise his comment "the league can break rules but players can't"? (para-phrased). That is the 'in the heat of the moment, eurphoric from the win' comment that is the source of my uncertainty. How does that translate to..."I did nothing wrong"?

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Ok what he really said was "they might SAY they can break the rules and players can't and still suspend me, but I'm optimistic. They broke the rules...etc etc etc..."
That might not be 100% exactly right but its way closer the tone than what you've been implying.

Any news on when is the most likely time we will hear the outcome of his appeal?

"face to face" is code word for bumping uglies