As a Seattleite, I’m embarrassed by the Seahawks’ behavior

What can I say about the embarrassing way the Seattle Seahawks finished their losing effort that hasn’t been said yet?

In case you missed it or you are not a sportball fan, a quick set up: It was a hard fought game, but the Hawks were going to lose with about a minute left in the game. The Jaguars got into their victory formation which, as the name implies, is a special  formation used to run time off the clock and seal the win.

The Seahawks defensive line bombed the victory formation, got into a fight, had an ejection, and nearly went into the stands to fight a fan. It was pathetic.

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What a missed opportunity for these professional athletes to show all the people that look up to them how to lose. Winning is easy. Losing, not so much. Some of my best life lessons were losing at sports.

Don and I went to the same high school. He was three years ahead of me. Up until I hit the varsity squad, our school was a  perennial playoff team. There were many kids that got college scholarships to play ball. That’s just the way it was. There was lots of winning.

Then a new high school opened up and split my class into two. Half the kids went to the new school and half stayed behind. Needless to say, our football team was not a powerhouse anymore. We started to lose. We didn’t make the playoffs. I felt like my birthright was stolen from me.

I wanted to lash out at the end of games. I wanted to hurt someone because I was mad and embarrassed. I wanted to jump into the stands and show the hecklers that I was a tough guy. But I didn’t because I had a coach that drilled it into me that losing is part of the game.

Losing right was more important than winning.

I believe the real reason that people around the world love sports is that it’s the one place where a person is truly going all out. It’s the one place in public view where it’s all on the table. Raw effort and emotion and desire. It’s all there. Human beings holding nothing back. It’s intoxicating to be a part of.

It takes a lot of courage to put yourself on the line like that. To give it everything you’ve got, and then to lose at the end. It’s not easy. When you want something that bad, and the competitive juices get flowing, it’s difficult to maintain control.

When you are worn down and spent physically and emotionally, I believe that’s when your true character shines through. Yes, losing sucks. But when the other team lines up in the victory formation: that’s it, you’ve lost. Losing with class and dignity shows more about the person you are than dumping sports drink on your coach after a win.

I’ve been proud of the way the Seahawks have represented our city, but I was embarrassed to be associated with that behavior yesterday. Maybe I misjudged this team after all.