Emotion Defeats Analysis After Hawks Loss to Bears

UPDATE: Gore out three weeks for Niners.

Immediately following the Seattle Seahawks loss Sunday against the Chicago Bears, head coach Jim Mora stepped to the microphone at the press conference and excoriated place kicker Olindo Mare so fully that “Pardon the Interruption” made the outburst one of the top sports topics of the day. Locally, Seattle Times staff reporter Danny O’Neill published a story under the premise that coach Mora may cut Mare because of his two missed field goals Sunday. The only reason the Mare story has any “legs” at all is because of the media. Meanwhile, legitimate points of consternation from Sunday’s game fly under the radar.

Of course, Mare’s two missed field goals hurt badly Sunday. Both were make able kicks and were preceded by good holds and solid snaps. He missed twice and he hurt the team’s chances of winning badly in the process. The irony of losing by six points must be nearly too much to bear for Mare. However, he’s a veteran kicker, he’s one of the best of the last decade and he’s the only kicker on the roster. Kickers are indeed a dime a dozen – but not so for good kickers. Mora exploded emotionally when he was asked about Mare’s performance by Ian Furness, a personality on KJR 950 radio in Seattle, mostly due to the fact that he was barely able to catch his breath following the game before he had to appear in front of a microphone and sports journalists.

Because Mora responded so forcefully (with an obscenity to boot) and emotionally at the presser, talk radio in Seattle and, presumably, around Washington was filled with breathless discussion about the merits of Mora’s statements. Meanwhile, given a few hours to digest a hard-fought loss, Mora largely backed off his comments last night following “Sunday Night Football” on NBC and then completely – and predictably – changed his tune today at his afternoon presser. The term “media generated controversy” fits perfectly in this instance. Mare is the Hawks kicker, will be the Hawks kicker for the foreseeable future and no amount of “media generated controversy” will change that. It did allow for a few hours of easy sports talk, though.

So, instead of breaking down more worthy happenings, like Seattle’s inability to consistently convert on third-down or David Hawthorne’s admirable play throughout the game filling in for Lofa Tatupu, fans had to put up with a “media generated controversy” that had nothing to do with improving the Hawks on the field. Thank you, Seattle sports media, for following an entertaining story rather than a useful one.

Tags: Danny O'Neill, David Hawthorne, Ian Furness, Jim Mora, Lofa Tatupu

Anton

Anton Northwood is a Seattle resident who spends much of his time working on the Eastside.

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