For anyone who has read this column, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of my favorite movies is Will Ferrell’s NASCAR spoof Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
In the movie, Ricky Bobby loses his wife to his best friend and former racing teammate after Ricky has a mental brake down following a crash. Fearing the worst, Ricky will often strip down to his skivvies, stop, drop and roll because he thinks he’s on fire. But he’s not on fire, he’s just stupid. Clearly unfit to race, Ricky’s wife leaves him for his buddy Cal so she can continue to lead the lavish life of a driver’s wife.
In one of my favorite scenes, Ricky triumphs over his inner demons and is back on the track. Cal, meanwhile, is trying to reconcile what he has done to his best friend during a mid-race conversation with his pit crew chief. The conversation through the radio head sets goes like this as Ricky Bobby is making his move on Cal:
Crew chief: Cal, Ricky's passing you.
Cal: Do you think Ricky is passing me in my subconscious?
Crew chief: No, he's actually passing you. That's happening right now.
Love it. And it’s my long-winded way of comparing the trajectories of Seattle’s two summer season sports franchises: major league baseball’s Seattle Mariners and the Seattle Sounders FC of the MLS. The M’s represent Cal, a slow, careful franchise wondering if they are doing the right thing and trying to figure out if they can milk any residual novelty from Safeco Field. The Sounders look like our hero, Ricky Bobby – taking the bull by the horns and pulling all the right levers.
In the Sounders first season of MLS play, the team has generated an unbelievable amount of buzz while selling out every game. They’ve met some of the demand for tickets by making a few thousand additional seats available. The mainstream newspapers and sports radio cover the Sounders like they would the NBA if it were still here. So thirsty for new Sounders angles, I listened to KJR’s Mike Gastineau interview the president of one of the soccer team’s fan clubs. And I was riveted! Seriously, I was, and I don’t even like soccer. When was the last time you heard a radio interview of a Mariners fan club president? You want to know when? Never. You'll never hear one. My friends and associates are not making plans to go the M’s game. They are trying to figure out how to get Sounders tickets. If they can’t get tickets, they settle for tailgating in the parking lot.
Our hometown nine, in the meantime, have been following pretty much the same script they’ve written for themselves over the last five years. An early season, swoon followed by three or four months of “evaluating” young talent for the future. While they've teased us the last week by taking a series from the Dodgers and a series from the Red Sox on the road, it still feels like past seasons where a 10 of 11 losing streak is in the offing. The most compelling and contrived story line lately has been Russell Branyan’s home run hang time. Tracking the ball like one might for an NFL punt, Mariners broadcasters can now manufacture excitement over an inane measure of power. “That ball was in the air for 6.3 seconds, wow!” Ugh.
In the movie, Ricky Bobby loses his wife to his best friend and former racing teammate after Ricky has a mental brake down following a crash. Fearing the worst, Ricky will often strip down to his skivvies, stop, drop and roll because he thinks he’s on fire. But he’s not on fire, he’s just stupid. Clearly unfit to race, Ricky’s wife leaves him for his buddy Cal so she can continue to lead the lavish life of a driver’s wife.
In one of my favorite scenes, Ricky triumphs over his inner demons and is back on the track. Cal, meanwhile, is trying to reconcile what he has done to his best friend during a mid-race conversation with his pit crew chief. The conversation through the radio head sets goes like this as Ricky Bobby is making his move on Cal:
Crew chief: Cal, Ricky's passing you.
Cal: Do you think Ricky is passing me in my subconscious?
Crew chief: No, he's actually passing you. That's happening right now.
Love it. And it’s my long-winded way of comparing the trajectories of Seattle’s two summer season sports franchises: major league baseball’s Seattle Mariners and the Seattle Sounders FC of the MLS. The M’s represent Cal, a slow, careful franchise wondering if they are doing the right thing and trying to figure out if they can milk any residual novelty from Safeco Field. The Sounders look like our hero, Ricky Bobby – taking the bull by the horns and pulling all the right levers.
In the Sounders first season of MLS play, the team has generated an unbelievable amount of buzz while selling out every game. They’ve met some of the demand for tickets by making a few thousand additional seats available. The mainstream newspapers and sports radio cover the Sounders like they would the NBA if it were still here. So thirsty for new Sounders angles, I listened to KJR’s Mike Gastineau interview the president of one of the soccer team’s fan clubs. And I was riveted! Seriously, I was, and I don’t even like soccer. When was the last time you heard a radio interview of a Mariners fan club president? You want to know when? Never. You'll never hear one. My friends and associates are not making plans to go the M’s game. They are trying to figure out how to get Sounders tickets. If they can’t get tickets, they settle for tailgating in the parking lot.Our hometown nine, in the meantime, have been following pretty much the same script they’ve written for themselves over the last five years. An early season, swoon followed by three or four months of “evaluating” young talent for the future. While they've teased us the last week by taking a series from the Dodgers and a series from the Red Sox on the road, it still feels like past seasons where a 10 of 11 losing streak is in the offing. The most compelling and contrived story line lately has been Russell Branyan’s home run hang time. Tracking the ball like one might for an NFL punt, Mariners broadcasters can now manufacture excitement over an inane measure of power. “That ball was in the air for 6.3 seconds, wow!” Ugh.
The M’s look a lot like the teams that I grew up watching in the 70s and 80s. Ugly baseball, but you could always count on getting a gimmicky giveaway item when you went to the Kingdome. There is lots of talk about whether or not you should believe in this team. My question is "believe in what?" That the M's are built to win the world series? Because, as fans, that's the only question we should be asking now that the Mariners are one of only three teams that have not appeared in the fall classic. The Washington Nationals and Texas Rangers being the other two. So, do I believe the M's are a world series team? No.
Do I have any hard numbers to prove that the MLS is overtaking the M’s? No, not really, but the Sounders are definitely a hotter commodity and the novelty of soccer isn’t wearing off. Things will only get worse for the M’s when the Seahawks begin training camp in a matter of weeks. A turnaround, if it happens for the M’s, will no doubt bring the buzz back to the ball park. After all, it is still the national passtime and soccer isn't quite mainstream yet. But until the day the M's begin to make a real run at it, they should take a look in their rear view mirror. That’s the Seattle Sounders passing you on the inside.
That’s happening right now.
1 comment:
Clearly unfit to race......
Car&Bike Race
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