Some Thoughts on the Super Bowl and the U.S. Failed State

It was a rough night last night. A die-hard Seahawks fan, I kept waking up in the middle of the night with a thought as large as a billboard painted on a downtown high rise filling my head, "Why not run Lynch?" With less than a minute to go in the Super Bowl, the ball on the Patriots one-yard line, the Seahawks had three downs to let Beast Mode punch it into the end zone. Then, inexplicably, a pass play over the middle was called. Undrafted cornerback Malcom Butler jumped it, bumped in front of Ricardo Lockette and intercepted Russell Wilson. After a fight breaks out during New England's kneel down, game over. Patriots win.

I've seen Pete Carroll's explanation of the play call. He stands by it; says it made sense since the Patriots had their run-stopping defense on the field. But why throw such a risky pass, one where Russell Wilson is basically tossing the ball into the middle of the scrum? It was a shocking, appalling decision, one that is going to haunt the team for a long time. In that one play Carroll and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell cost the Seahawks not only back-to-back championships, but first-ballot Hall of Fame status to Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson.

Such a gaffe will follow the Seahawks all off-season. More than likely, it will take on a Fisher-King-like status for the players, a wound that won't heal and that will poison the franchise. Winning is mental and so is losing. Ask Tom Brady. It could be a long time before Russell Wilson gets back to the Super Bowl.

A gloomy silence descended upon my neighborhood. Where last year there were drunken cries of ecstasy, car honks, spontaneous rallies on Broadway following Seattle's shellacking of Denver; this year there was a funereal stillness and weighted hush. I put away the leftovers of my Super Bowl meal (Thai red curry with coconut milk, tofu, zucchini and potato) and went to bed a little after 7:30 PM.

Once there I realized that really the Seahawks loss was poetic justice. After improbably defeating Green Bay in overtime of the NFC Championship, they shot themselves in the foot in the Super Bowl. The offense blew it, but it was really the celebrated Seattle defense who couldn't stop Brady in the red zone in the fourth quarter that cost the Seahawks their second championship. Seattle's one red zone stop -- Jeremy Lane's interception of Brady in the first quarter -- is probably the real reason the Seahawks lost. Lane injured his wrist running back the interception, and Brady ended up skewering his replacement, Tharold Simon, for the rest of the game. Simon gave up two touchdowns, one the game-winner to Julian Edelman. So, as I say, some poetic justice.

I tried to take my mind off the game and fall asleep. I thought about a story, "G.O.P. Campaigns Scramble to Add Romney Donors," by Nicholas Confessore that appeared on Saturday. It used to be that campaign stories having to do with a presidential race were about building organizations in early primary and caucus states like New Hampshire and Iowa; that, and positions on issues and policies, and maybe endorsements. Now it is about who has the most bundlers and billionaire donors. Issues are an afterthought. The voters -- their desires -- aren't even mentioned. This is what it has come to post-Citizens United, and we pretty much have grown to accept it.

The position of this page is that such a situation cannot be maintained for too much longer without a serious shock to the system. The planned Netanyahu appearance before Congress in March is one indication that the system is breaking down. It is completely unprecedented for Congress -- in this case, Speaker of the House John Boehner -- to invite the leader of a foreign country, Israel, to address it against the wishes of the White House.

If Netanyahu goes ahead with the appearance, it will be something of a soft coup. Congress will establish the precedent that it can conduct its own foreign policy separate from the executive branch. The issue at stake here is no less than a war against Iran.

In "A Strained Alliance: Obama-Netanyahu Rift Grew Over Years," by Peter Baker and Jodi Rudoren, Richard Haass, head of the Council on Foreign Relations, acknowledges that Netanyahu, who knows U.S. politics very well, has written off Obama:

Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations and a former senior State Department official, said it looked like Mr. Netanyahu has concluded that he would rather take his chances with the Republican Congress even at the expense of his already tense relationship with Mr. Obama. 

“I really do think it represents a strategic calculation that from Israel’s point of view, this president and this White House have essentially been written off,” Mr. Haass said. “Particularly since the midterm elections, they have made the calculation that to the extent possible, they will use Congress as the channel to conduct their relationship.” 

Efraim Halevy, a former head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, said that calculation was made clear in December when Israel offered no public support for Mr. Obama’s decision to resume diplomatic relations with Cuba, a move he attributed to a desire not to alienate Republicans. “Israel is now placing its bets on one side of the aisle,” Mr. Halevy said. “I think it’s a mistake.”

Israel is not even bothering with the White House anymore. Obama is the lamest of lame ducks. When NBC's Savannah Guthrie chatted yesterday with Obama in the White House kitchen prior to the Super Bowl, he looked like a guy merely marking time getting ready to clock out. Pale, frail, juiceless, Obama delivered his lines as if he didn't care whether people believed them or not. He'll probably maintain a residence in Chicago and one in Hawaii once he closes out his term, free to read and write and watch his daughters marry and raise families.

In the meantime, things will continue to deteriorate in the United States. Dollarocracy will reign supreme. Voter turnout will continue to drop as income inequality soars. Eventually, actively fighting wars in too many countries -- Iraq, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Ukraine, Yemen, Venezuela, you name it -- will be the country's undoing.

Richard Sherman-Inspired Family Feud

I thought it would be illuminating to include an email exchange with my father having to do with the Richard Sherman affair. I am sure this kind of back and forth is going on throughout the country. My father, who ran the half-mile for San Jose State in its track-&-field heyday, is a longtime 49ers fan who had been drifting towards the Seahawks because of my being a Seattleite and a big fan of this Pete Carroll team. (Also, check today's column by the Gray Lady's William Rhoden, "Seahawks’ Richard Sherman, Like Cornerbacks Before Him, Plays Man-to-Man and Goes Toe to Toe".)

Father: Just returned home from S.C. Watched game. You were right. Palesa's emotional body is even more sensitive than my own. We tuned in at the end of the second half, but it was too much for her, so we decided to wait until the end on the fourth quarter to resume watching. It was quite the dramatic ending. Fine! As I said, "May the best team win". We turned off the Sherman thing. Palesa was offended, as was I. No Postmodern rationalization can excuse it. This is perhaps a reaction to my exposure to English education -- Sport, the games of Gentlemen, the refinement of the code of Knight/Kinghood. I'll not wear my Seahawks cap again. Thug, Hitler, Bush, Ghetto talk, gangsterap all go together, ugly. Dredlocks (Rastaman/Higher Man), his sham. Caught on the stage, an arena, Hernandez, bully Dolphins, now this NFL gutter. Forgive me. Not for me! I'm leaving the area. One last gesture, Go Denver! It pains me to say so, Elway, Manning. I hope Seattle eats it. All my love, dad. . . see how the ugly lingers, Aesthetic=beauty. Remember Marley, "College and University graduating thieves and murderers"? Just goes to show our most prestigious (Sherman & Stanford?) educational institutions fail to pass on the importance of Character, and in this case, that Sport is the arena of Gentlemen. All my love, dad 

PS He regrets it even now I bet. If he needs ablution send him down here. I could work it out.

Son: White privilege, Dad, that's what I hear coming from you.

How come you're so offended? Of all the things to be outraged by? All Sherman said was he was the best. And guess what? He is the best cornerback in the league. No question.

I suppose you would have preferred to have the usual bromide of God and country and "Aw, shucks, the 49ers played like champions" served in loving spoonfuls to you in your televisual habitat. If you think Michael Crabtree somehow personifies the English Christian gentleman, you should scan the Internet more often. Fiat lux, baby,

Father: No. Its not about that. Its about ugly. Nobility in victory, not false modesty, but yeah it was a hard played game -- period? So Crabtree got to his football ego. He is still a man. But what is a Man, each, individual man, answerable to no one but himself -- and his God, Perfection, which he will and must answer to some day. He offended two innocent bystanders (Palesa & me) by his vomit of glorified, self exaltation on the NFL stage. I like a good sporting event, well played, hard played. I have no time for that self indulgent trash talk. Its not about Crabtee. Its about Sherman. Its about Sports. Its about Nobility of each and all. As Marley would say, The Rastaman, the Higher Man. And I would add the Buddha Land. Don't give me that gangster talk thing. Noble is Noble. Beauty is beauty. But beautiful body, athleticism, where is it without the spirit of nobility? Where is the beauty in the victory just so difficulty achieved? Silence and victory is sufficient for those who aspire to true victory. To show a dispirited, ugly heart is embarrassing, so two innocent spectators pulled the plug on him. No time for that in our world -- too offensive, in an offensive age. No more NFL for me, no more Seattle Seahawks. I've got to part ways with you on this one. Ugly is ugly, and he was the face of the ugly. What can the internet teach a man in his heart. dad

Son: All I'm asking is that you be a good Buddhist and inquire why it is this so offended you -- don't the Buddhists have a thing about reacting? -- and possibly it offended you -- entertain the possibility, Dad, read your first message -- is that it has to do with racial stereotypes. Tom Brady can chase an official off the field after a game, cursing him for a non-call that would have helped the Patriots beat the Panthers, and no one calls him "classless" or a "thug." This just happened a month or two back. Jim Harbaugh can harangue and grimace and wail and act like a toddler on the sideline -- a one man Greek chorus -- and no one calls him classless and makes demands for "Nobility."

Yet you stick a mic in Sherman's face down on the field adrenalin rushing right after he wins a championship game and despite the fact that he doesn't curse or really say anything offensive people are outraged and can talk of nothing else.

My position is that it struck a nerve in a supine, pacified, televisually hypnotized populace and that nerve was white privilege. We don't want an angry black man on our sacred screens. Gandhi, MLK Jr., Bob Marley, Mandela only, please.

I wish you luck in finding your "Higher Man" in the English Premier League. Adios, king.

****

Huffington Post put up audio this morning corroborating Richard Sherman's version of events that all he said to Michael Crabtree was "Good game." Also, here's a good story from yesterday's Huffington Post.

Seahawks Win Wild Card Game

A word of praise for Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch and the rest of the Seattle Seahawks.  To go on the road and win a playoff game after being blown out in the first quarter by the Redskins says a lot about this team's mental toughness.  Zach Miller had a big game too at tight end.  RG3 was badly hurt and played at half-capacity and Alfred Morris who was able to single-handedly batter Dallas was held in check after an initial burst of productivity.

The Falcons will be tough in their home dome.  But who can bet against Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch?

Seahawks Read Option Source of Strength

The bizarre aspect of fan psychology is that I only feel intense emotion when the home team is losing.  When the Seahawks are winning and winning big it's no big deal, the status quo, just another day at the office.  The last two weeks the Seahawks have scored 50 points -- 50 points so far in the 4th quarter against Buffalo; 58 last week against Arizona.  Rather than study every snap, as I usually do, I tended to chores in the kitchen.  If the game is remotely close, or even if Seattle is being demolished, I will watch every play.  What does this say about being a devoted fan?  That one can never come out ahead.  It's either emotional devastation or business as usual.

That being said, I do think the Seahawks have made a quantum leap in the right direction.  It was the Chicago game and the success Russell Wilson had running the read option.  It was a question I had earlier this season.  Why wasn't Pete Carroll running more option plays?  Well, now -- look at the first half of today's game -- the Seattle offense is foremost Russell Wilson running the read option, and every other set -- spread formation, the I -- second.  And this is as it should be.  You keep the ball on the ground, Marshawn Lynch still gets his yards, but Wilson can also complete passes to his receivers.  San Francisco is also now primarily a read-option offense with Colin Kaepernick at quarterback.  We'll see how the 49ers do tonight against New England.

The Seahawk defense looked a little soft in the first half against the Bills.  But they've had to fill holes in the secondary.  Then in the second half they put the game away by generating several turnovers.  Earl Thomas hit paydirt with a dynamite interception and long return.

I'm starting to believe we can make a run in the playoffs.  The 49ers next week at home will tell a lot.