never give up hope

[makena]

I don't post much... but I love the hawks and love reading all of the comments you all post here. I don't find myself posting all that much because I chat with Yoder on the phone before and after every Hawks game and we breakdown every angle about the Hawks current situation... But there has always been this feeling about being an old school hawk fan...

And I think think this narrative by Aaron Levine about the Hawks performance against the Vikings speaks to how I feel sometimes:

".I keep going back to one of the Seahawks recent mottos: “Leave No Doubt 24/7.”

Here’s the thing though: The Hawks, in fact, leave doubt sometimes. But most importantly, they – and we as 12s – never give up hope.

Let’s be honest: You couldn’t have scripted three more emotionally draining playoff games than the ones we’ve witnessed dating back to the NFC Championship Game. But what we learned last January at CenturyLink Field certainly applied on Sunday: That the Seahawks might be down - they might be on the verge of elimination - but until the final whistle, they’re never out. And while seeds of doubt might be firmly planted in all of our minds, it doesn’t mean we give up our faith in this team.

The root of Pete Carroll’s optimism stems from his belief that regardless of how dire a situation may be, something good is always around the corner. And that’s exactly what happened today.

For three quarters, the execution wasn’t there, and as we warned against last week, the Seahawks were beating themselves. Even after a fourth-quarter comeback and a valiant effort to take the lead, the Vikings were still on the cusp of advancing. That doubt, which had slowly crept into our psyche the entire day, was ultimately at a fever pitch.

In that moment, all that binds Seattle’s cause together is hope. A belief. A glimmer of faith that it might just fall our way. Today, it did. And now, that hope lives on for another week.

Next Sunday, the Seahawks have another chance to leave no doubt. They have a chance to make a statement like the one they made in Arizona last week, and a chance to avenge that October loss to the Panthers. But if and when things get dire, I hope we’ve all learned not to jump off the ledge - not at halftime, not at the end of the third quarter, and not even if the opposing team has a chip shot field goal to win.

In the end, all the preparation and execution sometimes only gets you 99% of the way.

So yes, the Seahawks have given us reasons for doubt. But until the very end, we’ll all undoubtedly still have hope."

[RiverDog]

Nice post, Mak.

Several of my fellow Shacksters raised some eyebrows when I announced that I had taken down my 12th man flag after that embarrasment of a game vs. Arizona (it was right before Veterans Day, so wanted Old Glory up there anyway). But it wasn't because I lacked hope. I'm always hopeful, or else I wouldn't bother watching the games. I took it down as a demonstration, showing them that I had lost my patience, that they need to get their act together. And guess what? It worked. Starting the next game, we went on a 5 game winning streak and #12 is proudly flying over the River Dog Man Cave.

[Zorn76]

Great post, Mak.

In a way, you and Yoder are like Paul Allen himself - you don't chime in often but you definitely have an eye on the operation, and we're all glad that you do;)

[obiken]

I don't post much... but I love the hawks and love reading all of the comments you all post here. I don't find myself posting all that much because I chat with Yoder on the phone before and after every Hawks game and we breakdown every angle about the Hawks current situation... But there has always been this feeling about being an old school hawk fan...

And I think think this narrative by Aaron Levine about the Hawks performance against the Vikings speaks to how I feel sometimes:

".I keep going back to one of the Seahawks recent mottos: “Leave No Doubt 24/7.”

Here’s the thing though: The Hawks, in fact, leave doubt sometimes. But most importantly, they – and we as 12s – never give up hope.

Let’s be honest: You couldn’t have scripted three more emotionally draining playoff games than the ones we’ve witnessed dating back to the NFC Championship Game. But what we learned last January at CenturyLink Field certainly applied on Sunday: That the Seahawks might be down - they might be on the verge of elimination - but until the final whistle, they’re never out. And while seeds of doubt might be firmly planted in all of our minds, it doesn’t mean we give up our faith in this team.

The root of Pete Carroll’s optimism stems from his belief that regardless of how dire a situation may be, something good is always around the corner. And that’s exactly what happened today.

For three quarters, the execution wasn’t there, and as we warned against last week, the Seahawks were beating themselves. Even after a fourth-quarter comeback and a valiant effort to take the lead, the Vikings were still on the cusp of advancing. That doubt, which had slowly crept into our psyche the entire day, was ultimately at a fever pitch.

In that moment, all that binds Seattle’s cause together is hope. A belief. A glimmer of faith that it might just fall our way. Today, it did. And now, that hope lives on for another week.

Next Sunday, the Seahawks have another chance to leave no doubt. They have a chance to make a statement like the one they made in Arizona last week, and a chance to avenge that October loss to the Panthers. But if and when things get dire, I hope we’ve all learned not to jump off the ledge - not at halftime, not at the end of the third quarter, and not even if the opposing team has a chip shot field goal to win.

In the end, all the preparation and execution sometimes only gets you 99% of the way.

So yes, the Seahawks have given us reasons for doubt. But until the very end, we’ll all undoubtedly still have hope."

Thanks guy, That was inspirational, we could all use a little more faith. Especially Me!!

[RiverDog]

Great post, Mak.

In a way, you and Yoder are like Paul Allen himself - you don't chime in often but you definitely have an eye on the operation, and we're all glad that you do;)

Great analogy, Zorny.

Their limited participation also has the effect of making them very objective should a dispute break out, such as whether or not to ban Futureite, of which IMO they got it right when they decided not to.

[Hawktawk]

Sitting in the bar watching the game I was calculating how much time we had as they lined up for the FG. I knew the game was on life support but the Hawks cant be killed with conventional weapons.
I definitely had the thought it could be blocked or missed but I was thinking more about a Lockette return with the kickoff into the wind and a completion, clock the ball or get out of bounds and bring in the German assassin for the GWF.
I just never felt it was over and I never do because it never is. This is an amazing team. Its like I died and went to Hawk Heaven in 2012. There hasn't been a putter around in the garage or mow the lawn game in over 4 seasons. Its always entertaining, too entertaining like last week sometimes.
What an awesome time to be a Seahawks fan....

[Vegaseahawk]

Hope springs eternal in the 12's souls....
Mak mentioned being an Old School fan, well most of us can relate. My memories of the old Hawks grow foggier with each passing season. But that's because of my advancing age....I think.

[makena]

Speaking to being an old school hawk fan. I was going to through some pictures and ran across some photos of the Hawks playing the Chiefs back in the Kind dome era. Here they are!

[RiverDog]

Cool photos, Mak!

I have attended many Seahawks games in the old Kingdome (along with many Mariners, Sonics, and HS football games). In the mid 80's it was the place to be and Seahawks tickets were a highly valued commodity. I lived in Moses Lake at the time and split season tickets with a friend of mine. There was an owner of a bar that used to sponsor bus rides to and from the games. Man, those were some fun trips! The time just flew by.

I can remember watching a MNF game from the comfort of my home during that period of time. As the network cut into their live picture of the Kingdome, the crowd was just going bezerk, and I thought "Oh crap, they already started the game, we ran the kickoff back for a touchdown, and I missed it!" But what had happened is that some enterprising Seahawks fans had caught a seagull, spray painted it in Seahawks colors, attached a long banner to it that said "Go Seahawks" and released it just prior to the network cutting into their live feed, and like it was choreographed, the seagull flew in a circular orbit around the 300 level and the fans went ape chit.

The next morning, the tree huggers were out in full throat, highly offended by the inhumane treatment of this rat with wings.

Not that today's Seahawks games aren't as fun... they are, and we have a far superior venue than that big cave we used to play in. Nevertheless, those games from the 80's were classics!

[SalmonBB]

Never!

GO SEAHAWKS!!!

[EmeraldBullet]

I have such fond memories of the King Dome. I literally cried when they imploded it. I was only in elemtary school, but I skipped school that day and prayed the explosives would fail because I loved that place. Now I know how much better the clink and the safe are, but those memories cannot be replaced. Thank you for those pics Mak!!! : D

[Hawktawk]

The first game I ever attended was vs KC in the King dome. I dont recall the year,sometime in the 80's. It was Boz's first year. All the Knox heavyweights were there, Easley , Nash, Green ,Bryant.Krieg at QB,Warner at TB, John L at fullback, Largent wide. Todd Blackledge was the QB of the Chiefs. Boz sacked him and hit him so hard and high that his helmet popped off and he had a bloody nose. A KC reciever was coming across the middle and the ball was out in front. He saw Easley coming and got alligator arms but Easley laid him out anyway. I could hear the impact in the stands. If I recall the Hawks won 17-10 or something like that. Great memory....

[yoder]

Bump! Just for the subject line alone!

[Seahawks4Ever]

The first game I ever attended was in the Kingdome against the Buffalo Bills. O.J. was coming off an injury and since it was a blow out he didn't get in to the game. My dad passed me the binoculars and I spotted Simpson by their bench all by himself sitting on his helmet.

We won something like 56-6, it was just me and my dad, my older brother didn't get to go. My dad only had two season tickets back then and most of the time he (had) to take Ole Turkey-Neck or in other words the evil step mother. She didn't care for the Seahawks she just wanted to horn in on our time with our dad.