The most tired rallying cry in sports is that “no one believes” in an athlete’s team. It’s no longer just the long underdogs who try to gain leverage from the “us against the world” angle.
If you needed any reminder just how overused it is, check out Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin after yesterday’s NFC Championship Game.
Yes, no one believed in the defending Super Bowl champions. No one believed in the impossible-to-beat-at-home team playing at home. That’s probably why the Seahawks were 13.5-point favorites against the Carolina Panthers and 8-point favorites against the Green Bay Packers yesterday.
Talk about a completely lack of respect.
Was Baldwin purusing social media at halftime? How else would he know what the amorphous “media” thought was going to happen? And further, what could they be expected to think with one team up 16-0 and the other looking like hot garbage?
That’s another thing that annoys me about the disrespect card.
Don’t want people to chatter about how you might miss the playoffs? Don’t start 6-4. Don’t want people to logically assume you’re going to lose a game you’re trailing 16-0 at halftime? Play better in the first half.
Sweep your side of the street before ascribing a blanket opinion to another entity.
Baldwin also took aim at Deion Sanders after the game because just, you know, enjoying the victory would have been stupid.
Man. A lot of anger up there in Seattle.
It’s at this point that I should probably say I’m picking New England to win the Super Bowl. God knows the Hawks need all the bulletin board material they can gather.
[H/T: For the Win]