Winless In Seattle
Steve Sauro
Elliott SmithFace of the Franchise
August 26th 2011 21:01
:
Who's the man?
I'm a lifelong Seahawks fan.
I've been a Seahawks season ticket holder since the 2005 season. (Side note - I feel I'm personally responsible for the 2005 Super Bowl run because of this fact)
As a result of those two above statements - I've had my fair share of game tickets pass from my hand to the ticket taker at the gate of the Kingdome, Husky Stadium, Seahawks Stadium and Qwest Field. I didn't expect the experience of the newly named Century Link Field to be much different.
Then the season ticket package came about a week ago.
Upon opening the tickets - the very first thing I noticed was the generic team logos that graced each ticket face. Hawk's logo, opponent's logo. That's it. I can't say with 100% certainty that the tickets haven't featured players before, but I can tell you that at least in the last 6 years - save for one or two here and there - they all have.
I guess I should have noticed things were starting to change last year. The tickets still featured pictures of players for the most part - but things like Tamia the Hawk, Blitz the mascot, the 12th Man Flag and Pete Carroll started to creep in there. There was even one player on a ticket that my group literally spent two and a half quarters debating on who it was - so much so that we even went and bought a program to compare faces...
To this day you still can't convince me 100% that it was Roy Lewis - which was the eventual group consensus. Seriously - no way that says "Lewis" on the jersey. My guess is Golden Tate, but even that isn't a sure thing...
I'm not saying I 'look forward' to seeing players on the tickets, or that I'm bummed out that they aren't on them. But my concern/awkward feeling reason became apparent when I tried to answer this question:
Why don't the tickets have pictures of players on them?
Answer: Because who on this roster would you put on them?
Let alone - what 10 guys would you pick to fill the 10 tickets? (FYI - I think it's complete and total BS that as a season ticket holder you have to buy the 2 pre-season games at full price... but that's a different story for another time)
Hasselbeck, Lofa, Walter Jones, Marcus Trufant, Sean Alexander, Mack Strong, Hutch, Tobeck, Lawyer. Hell, I even remember Darrell Jackson and Bobby Engram on tickets.
I tried to rationalize.
I tried to come up with one person.
I couldn't do it. For every person I nominated in my head for a 'featured on the ticket' picture - I could find three or more reasons for them not to be on the ticket.
Forget the tickets for a second. Here's the real kicker in this whole rant - seriously, stop reading right now and try to pick a guy you'd name the 'face of the franchise' for the Seattle Seahawks.
Bet you can't do it.
Russell Okung? Glass. Earl Thomas? Possibly, but way too early for that. Tavaris Jackson? I threw up in my mouth when I realized that he was an honest contender. Marshawn? Aside from one run - what else? Aaron Curry? Right. Hawthorne? Possibly.
Told you that you couldn't do it... And that scares me. How about you?
I've been a Seahawks season ticket holder since the 2005 season. (Side note - I feel I'm personally responsible for the 2005 Super Bowl run because of this fact)
As a result of those two above statements - I've had my fair share of game tickets pass from my hand to the ticket taker at the gate of the Kingdome, Husky Stadium, Seahawks Stadium and Qwest Field. I didn't expect the experience of the newly named Century Link Field to be much different.
Then the season ticket package came about a week ago.
Upon opening the tickets - the very first thing I noticed was the generic team logos that graced each ticket face. Hawk's logo, opponent's logo. That's it. I can't say with 100% certainty that the tickets haven't featured players before, but I can tell you that at least in the last 6 years - save for one or two here and there - they all have.
I guess I should have noticed things were starting to change last year. The tickets still featured pictures of players for the most part - but things like Tamia the Hawk, Blitz the mascot, the 12th Man Flag and Pete Carroll started to creep in there. There was even one player on a ticket that my group literally spent two and a half quarters debating on who it was - so much so that we even went and bought a program to compare faces...
To be fair its' a training camp/practice photo with no number, and the guy was splashing himself in the face with a hose on a water break...
I'm not saying I 'look forward' to seeing players on the tickets, or that I'm bummed out that they aren't on them. But my concern/awkward feeling reason became apparent when I tried to answer this question:
Why don't the tickets have pictures of players on them?
Answer: Because who on this roster would you put on them?
Let alone - what 10 guys would you pick to fill the 10 tickets? (FYI - I think it's complete and total BS that as a season ticket holder you have to buy the 2 pre-season games at full price... but that's a different story for another time)
Hasselbeck, Lofa, Walter Jones, Marcus Trufant, Sean Alexander, Mack Strong, Hutch, Tobeck, Lawyer. Hell, I even remember Darrell Jackson and Bobby Engram on tickets.
I tried to rationalize.
I tried to come up with one person.
I couldn't do it. For every person I nominated in my head for a 'featured on the ticket' picture - I could find three or more reasons for them not to be on the ticket.
Forget the tickets for a second. Here's the real kicker in this whole rant - seriously, stop reading right now and try to pick a guy you'd name the 'face of the franchise' for the Seattle Seahawks.
Bet you can't do it.
Russell Okung? Glass. Earl Thomas? Possibly, but way too early for that. Tavaris Jackson? I threw up in my mouth when I realized that he was an honest contender. Marshawn? Aside from one run - what else? Aaron Curry? Right. Hawthorne? Possibly.
Told you that you couldn't do it... And that scares me. How about you?
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Comment by Elliott Smith