A Grip on Sports: Should we call it Terrible Tuesday or something different after the Seahawks decide to cut ties with Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner?
A GRIP ON SPORTS • What will you remember from Tuesday? Another West Coast Conference basketball tournament title for Gonzaga? Actually two of them? The Sounders 3-0 victory in the CONCACAF quarterfinals against Leon? Something else?
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• We jest, of course. Sure, those on-court (or pitch) triumphs will resonate for a while. Maybe even up to a week. But what happened in the Seahawks’ offices yesterday will reverberate throughout the region for years to come.
Russell Wilson. Traded to Denver. Bobby Wagner. Released.
The end of a decade of brilliant and mesmerizing play on both sides of the ball. A sudden, gut-wrenching, staggering end at that.
“What the frack?” is the only correct response. If you gave up using bad words for Lent. Otherwise, knock yourself out.
Sure, we’ve been reading about the chasm between the Hawks and Wilson for a couple years. Long enough, actually, that such chatter, and the ensuing denials from both sides of the abyss, had become something akin to background noise. There would always be this sort of tension, it seemed, until Wilson’s contract needs made it impossible for the quarterback to remain in Seattle.
Next year seemed to be the drop-dead date. Except it wasn’t.
The Broncos are for sale. They look to be a quarterback away from making a splash in the AFC. They were willing to mortgage their future to raise the price of the mortgage needed to buy the team. Hence, a whole bunch of draft picks, a trio of players and a willingness to say yes combined to ruin the Northwest’s Tuesday.
Except that wasn’t all. With the quarterback gone, why spend a whole bunch of money on the quarterback of the defense? As in the neighborhood of $18 million? Even in Seattle, that’s an expensive locale for a player who will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. The team told Wagner, quite possibly the best linebacker in the NFL for the past decade, he was being released. You don’t want to restructure your contract? OK, thanks for your service. Good luck. And, by the way, leave your keys on the table.
March 8, 2022 is a day that will go down in ignominy in this region. But should it?
You could make an argument the Hawks could (and should) have held on to Wilson for next season (and some have). Then make a deal. But what if he’s on the downside of his career? (Spoiler alert: he is.) And what if he wasn’t all that good this fall? Would he have commanded the draft haul they received this week?
No one will ever know. Wilson may be rejuvenated in the Mile High City. Have a great season. Maybe two. All while the Seahawks flounder. Such an outcome will be used to justify any “they-should-have-waited” arguments.
Any fish-like flopping became even more possible with the late-night news Wagner won’t be coming back.
As good as Wilson has been (and any quarterback who leads a franchise to their first, and only, NFL title is really good) over the years, Wagner always seemed more of the heart of the team to us. Maybe because he would have flunked any drama class taught by his offensive counterpart.
The Legion of Boom received all the ink as the Hawks rolled to consecutive Super Bowls, but Wagner’s skill set helped them thrive. His speed in pass coverage, his unerring open-field tackling, his intelligence and anticipation, all were unmatched. Even after the secondary devolved into a less-talented group, the 31-year-old Wagner dominated. And did it all while asserting a sense of community that didn’t seem fake in any way. He was genuine and genuinely committed to improving whomever and whatever he came in contact with.
He will be missed. As will Wilson, certainly.
The kings are gone. And no one knows when Seahawk fans will be able to find new kings to follow.
Man, we hate Tuesdays.
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Gonzaga: OK, we loved what happened Tuesday in Las Vegas. Early in the afternoon, the women played what may have been their best game of the season and for the second consecutive time upset top-seeded BYU in the WCC tourney finals. Jim Allen was in the Orleans and has this game story and a piece on tournament MVP Melody Kempton. … Tyler Tjomsland has the photo report, including the obligatory confetti angel shot. … Tyler also stuck around for the nightcap, in which the Zags pulled away to defeat stubborn Saint Mary’s 82-69. … Jim Meehan has the game story, something he’s delivered from Vegas for more than a decade. … Theo Lawson caught up with Vegas native Julian Strawther after Strawther’s outstanding game in the finals. … Theo also has the difference makers. … Colton Clark covered the all-tournament team headlined by MVP Andrew Nembhard. … Dave Boling has this column about what the win means. … We watched from home and documented what we observed in this TV Take. … The folks in the office have this recap with highlights. … We can pass along stories with more of a Saint Mary’s focus as well. The Gaels are still headed to the NCAA tourney. … The Zags more than likely clinched the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAAs again.
WSU: The Cougars take over Las Vegas today when they face California in the Pac-12 tournament’s first round. Colton will be there and he has this preview. He also mentions Michael Flowers (second team) and Mouhamed Gueye (all-freshman team) were the only WSU players honored by the conference. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college basketball, the men’s tournament starts today. And Jon Wilner picks every game in the Mercury News. … He also looks as the coaching hot seats. … Champion Arizona dominated the conference awards from player of the year to coach of the year. … Arizona State has received a boost from an unlikely source. … Will Utah make some noise this week? Probably not. … Oregon State would love to upset Oregon today just to end its losing streak. Both teams are struggling. … Washington has a puncher’s chance to knock out some one. … In football news, the Oregon secondary is undergoing some change. … Finally, we are going to miss reading John Canzano in the Oregonian. But we know where to find his thoughts. He’s started a website.
EWU: Ethan Price came from England to Cheney and shined. So much so, he was named the Big Sky’s freshman of the year yesterday. Dan Thompson has that news as well as more on the conference’s basketball awards.
Idaho: The Vandals upset Southern Utah 77-64 and moved on to the women’s semifinals. … Around the Big Sky, Northern Arizona defeated Montana. … Top-seed Idaho State lost to Northern Colorado. … Montana State moved on to face UI with a 81-60 win over Weber State.
Whitworth: The Pirates are looking for a new women’s basketball coach.
Seahawks: We had our thoughts on yesterday’s blockbuster news from Seattle. But they pale in comparison to those of the folks who covered Wilson and Wagner over the years. Dave Boling was one of them. And he has his thoughts on the Wilson trade. … There are other columns, sure. And analyses. And stories from here and there.
Kraken: After signing Jared McCann to a five-year contract extension yesterday, Seattle went on the ice and lost again, this one 6-4 at Toronto.
Sounders: If one starts a two-match series at home, it behooves one to win as convincingly as possible to move on. The Sounders did just that in CONCACAF quarterfinals against Leon on Tuesday night, rolling to a 3-0 victory that could have been even more lopsided. Score one goal on the road and Leon will have to score five times to win.
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• The Seahawks were going to trade Wilson sooner or later. Or he was leaving as a free agent. They received four potentially impactful draft picks for him, which is good. Now they have to make the right decisions, which is hard. Will they? That’s the billion-dollar question, isn’t it? Until later …