Weekend Sports Wrap-up

"Sam Slides," by Seattlest Flickr contributor wedgwoodblog

A few years back, we braved a soccer match between two top flight teams in Buenos Aires. A 'super-classico' as they call it. Barbed wire and riot police ringed the field and more than once a cannon was fired. The tension was palpable. Early in the match, the visiting goalkeeper was hit in the head with what the papers later reported was a keychain. Bleeding, the goalkeeper was stitched up on the sidelines and his head was wrapped up Frankenstein style. Later, with the game scoreless, the visiting team was awarded a penalty shot. The coach waved at the goalkeeper, and as the home crowd lost their collective minds, the goalkeeper trotted down, took the shot, scored, then proceeded to jog back to his net, flipping off the crowd the entire length of the field. He spent the rest of the night tucked under his goal, with a big grin, we imagine.

This episode came to mind over the weekend as Seattlest watched the Husky-Notre Dame game this weekend. Some people questioned our civility when we characterized the Irish as "obnoxious". Please. What the hell is Charlie Weis doing going for it on fourth-and-19, when they are up by three touchdowns? Sure, everyone makes a mistake. But Weis opted to go for the first down on fourth down more than once, all with big leads. Once is a coincidence, but three times is, as Warren Moon's attorney can attest, a developing trend.

Equally disheartening was the crowd's reaction. Not a peep was heard, which causes us to wonder why the 30,000 fans even bothered attending the game. If you aren't going to stand up for your team when they are being intentionally humiliated, then when are you going to get riled up, Husky fans?

The coaches and the players are required to show up on gameday. They have paychecks and scholarships at stake. But why would thousands of people make the effort to travel down to Montlake, go into the stadium and then sit there and not raise a stink when the visiting coach is obviously rubbing it in. We don't get it.