Field Gulls: FanPosts

Football Logic: 101

2009-11-21T02:52:56Z

For those that have studied debate, it can be frustrating to entertain arguments that contain fundamental logical errors. Once understood, these fundamentals provide very tight structural frameworks for logical thought formulation. Debating those without this fundamental base, can be an exhausting excersize; however, the subtleties contained within the definitions of logical fallacy can be equally as frustrating to those without the base of knowledge to work from. At times, it appears that the other party is simply debating to hear themselves argue. It often comes off as "logical snobbery".

This Fan Post is simply meant to be a reference (I admit I dusted off some of the old college texts for accuracy and have various tidbits from that manuscript scattered throughout). I won't pretend to know any more than the next guy that has studied the topic, but I figured it would be a good idea to create some material which all Field Gulls could access when formulating arguments. When applicable, I have attempted to tie these thoughts back into real world NFL examples for clarity.

Some Basics

In short, a logical fallacy is an error of reasoning. These errors are broken into two different groups (formal and informal fallacies).

A. Formal Fallacies (deductive) are your "air-tight" arguments. With a well formed formal fallacy, it's impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be false. Any deductive argument that fails to meet these qualifications is fallacious. Here is a classic, well-formed example with an NFL twist:

All Seahawks are NFL players.

Matt Hasselbeck is a Seahawk

Therefore... Matt Hasselbeck is an NFL Player.

B. Informal Fallacies (inductive) lend support to their conclusions, but don't establish with 100% certainty that their conclusions are true (even with 100% true premises). The following would be a fallacy:

Every Superbowl Champion has had a positive regular season turnover ratio.

Therefore... next years Superbowl Champion will have a positive RS turnover ratio.

All inductive arguments deductively invalid. The premises of an inductive argument do not entail the truth of the argument's conclusion, and so even the most solid inductive arguments fall short of deductive validity.

Fallacy Classifications: There are 17 basic types of logical error broken into 3 classes. There are many variations and sub classes of fallacious reasoning, but this should provide a good foundation.

CLASSIFICATION 1.

Logical Fallacies of Relevance:fail to provide adequate reason for believing the truth of their conclusions.

A. Appeals to Force: Occurs when someone in a position of power threatens to bring down unfortunate consequences upon anyone who dares to disagree with a proposition.

"Either you agree with me on the Gus Bradley hiring or your banned from commenting on Field Gulls"

In this case, authority, or position of power, is never grounds for logical truth.

B. Appeals to Pity: Is exactly the opposite of an appeal to force. It occurs when a commenter points out negative consequences of not agreeing with their opinion.

"See?... this is why I never post on Field Gulls. Nobody ever understands me. I will stop visiting this website."

C. Appeal to Emotion: Relies upon emotively charged language to arouse strong feelings that may lead an audience to accept its conclusion.

"Tim Ruskell is an antiquated relic, that rode the coat tails of a Tampa Bay Juggernaut that was already set in motion. He is an opportunist and is ripping the sinews of the Seahawks soul apart."

The problem is that although the fiery language of the premise can create strong feelings in many members of its intended audience, even an overwhelming support of those feelings has nothing to do with the truth of the conclusion.

D. Appeal to Authority: the opinion of someone famous or accomplished in another area of expertise is supposed to guarantee the truth of a conclusion.

Tim Ruskell believes that Colin Cole was worth the money and he's the GM of an NFL team.

You have never been in a Front Office of an NFL team, so I think Ruskell knows more then you.

This is a very common logical fallacy to fall into. Even in areas where someone may have special knowledge or skill we cannot accept the word of an individual as proof of anything. NFL execs are proven mistaken all the time. Their testimony is inductive evidence but never deductive proof of the truth of a conclusion.

E. Ad Hominem (personal attacks): Is the exact opposite of appeal to authority. This occurs when we are encouraged to reject a proposition because it is the stated opinion of someone regarded as disreputable in some way.

Tim Ruskell believes Kelly Jennings was a good draft pick.

Tim Ruskell was wrong about Brian Russell.

Tim Ruskell was wrong about Colin Cole.

Therefore...Tim Ruskell is wrong about Kelly Jennings.

F. Appeal to Ignorance: proposes that we accept the truth of a proposition unless an opponent can prove otherwise.

Brian Brohm has never succeeded in the NFL

Therefore... Brian Brohm cannot succeed in the NFL.

Obviously the absence of evidence against a proposition is not enough to secure its truth. What we don't know could nevertheless be so.

G. Irrelevant Conclusions: Can be very distracting as an argument. This fallacy tries to establish the truth of a proposition by offering an argument that actually provides support for an entirely different conclusion.

The Seahawks don't have a good running game.

NFL teams need good offensive lines to have good running games.

Therefore, the Seahawks should draft offensive linemen in the next draft.

Here the premises might support some conclusion about NFL running game success in general, but do not secure the truth of a conclusion distributed between all the factors that contribute to a good running game (OL, RB's, Blocking scheme).

CLASSIFICATION 2.

Logical Fallacies of Ambiguity: are errors in reasoning that arise from the imprecise use of language.

A. Equivocation: Stresses the use of an ambiguous word or phrase in one of its meanings in one of the propositions of an argument but also in another of its meanings in a second proposition.

Colin Cole is heavy.

What is heavy cannot be easily moved.

Therefore... Colin Cole cannot be easily moved.

B. Accent: is one of my favorites, and can be very subtle. The fallacy of accent arises from an ambiguity produced by a shift of spoken or written emphasis.

Matt Hasselbeck didn't throw many interceptions today.

Therefore... Matt Hasselbeck usually throws many interceptions.

Here the premise may be true if read without inflection, but if it is read with heavy stress on the last word seems to imply the truth of the conclusion. Sneaky debaters can get away with murder on emphasis alone and always fall back on the validitiy of an un-stressed context.

C. Composition: involves an implication of some feature to every individual member of a class (or part of a greater whole) to the possession of the same feature by the entire class (or whole). Basically this is an improper generalization.

The Seahawks offense is clicking on all cylinders and well organized.

Therefore... the Seahawks coaching staff is well organized.

D. Fallacy of Division: involves an inference from the attribution of some feature to an entire class (or whole) to the possession of the same feature by each of its individual members (or parts). Similar of course to the Fallacy of Composition except in reverse.

Feature Running Backs are in decline in the NFL.

Minnesota Vikings use a feature back system.

Therefore... the Minnesota Vikings are in decline.

The important part of this fallacy of division is that even though something can be truly said in general of a whole group, it does not follow that the same can be truly said of any of its individual parts.

CLASSIFICATION 3.

Logical Fallacies of Presumption: fail to provide adequate reason for believing the truth of their conclusions.

A. Fallacy of Accident: Tries to tie statements that are true as a general rule, into far more specific examples.

Quarterbacks are more important than Running Backs.

Mike Teel is a Quarterback

Adrian Peterson is a running back

Therefore, Mike Teel is more important than Adrian Peterson.

The truth of a general rule leaves plenty of room for exceptional cases, and applying it to any of them is a logical fallacy.

B. Converse Accident: Using a specific case that is unusual or atypical in some way, and then attempting to derive from this case, the truth of a general rule.

Matt Hasselbeck is bald and an excellent passer.

Therefore, bald quarterbacks are excellent passers.

It should be obvious that a single instance is not enough to establish the truth of such a general principle.

C. False Cause: Infers the presence of a connection between two events simply because the events appear to occur in correlation.

The Seahawks wore thier throwback uniforms on Sunday.

They went on to win the game.

Therefore, the Seahawks won the game because of the throwback uniforms.

D. Begging the Question: Is using your conclusion within the premises for that very conclusion. Sometimes known as circular logic as well.

"Since good draft picks must be strong steady leaders that produce on the field, it follows that Aaron Curry cannot be a good draft pick."

This argument is formally valid because it is impossible for their conclusions to be false if their premises are true. This is often a sticking point in an argument in that the conclusion cannot be false; HOWEVER , the real problem is that there is absolutely no support for their conclusion which has already been accepted without proof from the outset.

E. Complex Question

The fallacy of complex question presupposes the truth of its own conclusion by including it implicitly in the statement of the issue to be considered:

Do you expect the Seahawks to draft OL or DL? Either way, your admitting they are going to blow the pick.

Final Word

The definitions contained within should be correct and I have attempted to double check all my analogies for accuracy as well. Maybe if John has some time he can check and make sure I haven't overlooked something.

Hope this helps somebody.... sometime.

The Official Fantasy Football Thread – Week 11. The place for fantasy talk, thought, questions and general fantasy ranting.

2009-11-20T20:23:30Z

Here at Field Gulls we’ve had discussions on just about every aspect of football, including having discussions about when we can or should have discussions about Fantasy. Well, this IS the place. You can, if you must, add fantasy talk in additional game threads, but be warned, someone may be watching, and they may be mocking. Here, you have free rein to talk your team’s reign or your rain of injuries.

Something to note, and this should be a true football fan’s golden ticket when it comes to heaven and hell and the voiding of the warranty on your soul.

The first rule of Fantasy Football, you do NOT root for players against your favorite team.
The second rule of Fantasy Football, you do NOT root for players against your favorite team.

On this site, never cheer vocally against the Seahawks due to your fantasy roster. Statements like, "Well, at least I have Larry Fitzgerald on my fantasy team" (if) he was scorching the Hawks will unleash the hounds of hell upon you. Please don’t be that one bastard playing the "Don’t Come" line at the craps table. Not only will you bring bad mojo to everybody, but you’ll likely get verbally harassed, if not banned. You are a Seahawk fan, you are not "that guy" you are one of OUR guys—so act like it!

Rants and Ramblings.

I have a confession to make. I might not be the best person to be giving fantasy advice. I haven’t won a fantasy championship in three years. I feel a little like Dan Marino in around ’85. You know he believed he was going to make it back to the promised land and win one, and he never again got close… Speaking of which, don’t you feel a little like Dan Marino is about to wrap his isotoners around someone’s neck the next time they mention how great a leader and winner and talented of a quarterback is Ben Roethlisberger?

However little I’ve won recently, I do believe I put together good teams. I think my rationale is sound… it’s just… the luck part of fantasy football and poker seem to fall away from me.

Fantasy football is an endeavor in hope, and all you can do as fantasy GM is put the best possible pieces together and pray they stay healthy and perform up to expectations. Well, isn’t that interesting. Sounds a little like the same thing that a real GM has to deal with. So the next time you have some commentary about Ruskell’s inability to put together whatever aspect of the Hawks you find lacking, ask yourself this—are you in first place in your Fantasy League, a place far more inherently easy to win than the NFL? If not, perhaps your methodology for expectation in the Hawks is a little off base, eh?

Let’s talk a little about "Luck" as it pertains to fantasy football. I completely believe there are times where you make your own luck, but we have to be cognizant that there are times where things just break bad. One team in my keeper league has ZERO luck. Two weeks ago, he made a blockbuster, trading Matt Forte for Roy Williams, a 2nd round pick, and a RB outperforming Forte with a less attractive contract, Ronnie Brown. One week later, Brown goes down, lost for the year to injury. This is the 2nd time this has happened to him, as two years ago he traded for Cadillac Williams the week before he blew his ACL. Guy just needs to stay away from ex-Auburn teammates when trading for running backs.

I’ll be sure to let you know if he trades for Brandon Jacobs, since Jacobs started his college career in that same Auburn backfield…

Continuing on the "luck" tangent, listen to this team, in a .5 ppr 10 team league. (PPR= Point Per Reception)

QB - Carson Palmer, Matt Ryan
RB - AP, Ray Rice, Kevin Smith, Steve Slaton (and a recently picked up Larry Johnson on a flier.)
WR – Greg Jennings, Anquan Boldin, Percy Harvin, Nate Burleson
TE – Dustin Keller (just picked him while dropping a fading Todd Heap)
K – Stephen Gostkowski
D – Cincy.

Looks pretty good, right? Great RB’s, a solid QB, talented WR’s, best kicker in the game and a top 5 defense.

Yeah, well, I’m 4-6 and in 8th place. How is that even possible, that this team can be below .500 and on a three game losing streak?!? 6 teams make the playoffs, just have to hope I can get hot and pull an NC State tourney run. Survive and advance, survive and advance. The league playoffs aren’t until week 14, but mine start this week. Hope my team gets the memo.
---

The Picks.

The YOU IDIOT start from last week: NYJ D vs. Jacksonville. Apparently I didn’t get the memo that the NYJ D hasn’t done anything since about week 5, and Jacksonville has done nothing but get better offensively since the shellacking our Hawks put on them.

Dump of the Week: NYJ D. They’ve gone down hill from a modest to solid start, to a matchup start. Now with only Buffalo and TB left as potential matchup starts, there are better week to week D’s available. Let them go and don’t pick them back up!

The "You’ve got the touch" Reach Start of the Week: Beanie Wells against St. Louis. If you are ever going to start him, St. Louis is the team to do it against. Otherwise, might as well shelf him the rest of the way.

The bad idea play of the week: Hate to say it, but it’s our boy Matt Hasselbeck. Minnesota’s given up a ton of passing yardage this year, but most of it has been mid to deep routes, not check downs. For Matt to have a big game, his wide receivers are going to have to kill it in the YAC categories. Not to mention we’re at Minny, which means snap count/audible issues and of course, Jared Allen coming around the corner hard and fast. Not good.

And, because someone commented in a thread a while back that AP might be primarily a product of his line, not that he is a great back, but only that he is "pretty good" or some such. Here is a first half of 2009 highlight reel in HD. Guy is crazy good. Check 1:42 for a little Pittsburgh beat down (how can that NOT make a Seahawk fan happy, even if it wasn't our guy handing out the beat down.

We get to watch the best back in the league this week… may the Hawks contain him.

Post Your Hawk: Week 11

2009-11-20T15:52:57Z

Man, is this game gonna be fun, or what? Favre. Peterson. Harvin. Rice. Shiancoe. Hutchinson. Allen. Williams. Williams. Man, are we fucked or what? The Seahawks are gonna need some fancy moves to stay in this one. Like this guy:

I'm actually going to go with Deion Branch in this game. The Vikings are 31st in DVOA against "other receivers". 6 catches, 115 yards, 1 TD. Seahawks lose in a laugher of a game, 35-10.

Video Preview: Seattle Seahawks at Minnesota Vikings

2009-11-20T07:28:14Z

We have a flashy opponent this week.

So far this year we've been a little less flashy.

Brett Favre = attention slut. But a really good one.

Hopefully AP doesn't do this to us. But he will.

Housh seems to realize that he may have made a mistake. But thats ok - I love him.

This is going to probably be the result.

Putting a bow on the Hutchinson debate for hawk fans

2009-11-20T01:24:35Z

The sad truth hawk fans, no matter how much you imagine Hutch is a hall of fame player and a playmaker and a flashy player with mean streak, if he had signed an extension with this team we aren't in the position to say we'd be a good running team with him. He had attempted to negotiate during the 2005 season with John Clayton reporting that he was asking for around 8 million a year with a bonus that was hefty. The Hawks declined knowing they had some more needs.

Another reason I look at the Hawks hesitation to sign him to big money is the condition of the offensive line. Robbie's sudden retirement which was fast approaching, Walter turning 32 and Chris Gray one or two years from retirement. When you look at Hutch's game, he's clearly awesome down field, but scouts had effectively said against big tackles he tended to struggle to generate push. He struggled against Dallas and the Steelers, and the Redskins when they ran a 5 man front in the NFC championship game. He never allowed penetration much in the run, but also was rated a C- by most scouts in the league, especially against stunts or twists in pass protection Sounds like an 8 million dollar guard to you right?

The problem with the Hutchinson debate is he's always had some kind of serious talent around him that helps him do what he does best and that's charge down field and slam linebackers into safeties, but in the event he didn't or couldn't do that, the running game often stalled in Seattle, Alan Faneca or Larry Allen were better fits as crushers, guys who could open holes at the line of scrimmage consistently Hutch at the time wasn't capable of that.

So in the end, at best we franchise him and had one more year with his skill set. Then lose him, or we sign him to a big deal and let Alexander Walk, Tobeck retire, Gray get old and Walter become an injury aged tackle. I don't doubt Hutch's total skill set, I just question his skill outside of 2006 where he's clearly above everyone else in skill set and the pressure is on him to succeed.

We can argue leadership, or semantics, but in the end, The franchise tag simply adds one and done, and the 8 million dollar salary says we want to be able to keep a young team, or line together, which Seattle didn't really have.

Off Topic: Best Sequels, Worst Decisions and Plans for 2010

2009-11-19T22:29:16Z

I think maybe the last off topic was too broad. Here's my attempt to narrow it a bit, but other topics are welcome.

Best Sequel: Streeet Fighter II: The first Street Fighter was clunky and unresponsive. Even a tournament level SFII player would struggle to perform a simple hadoukon. By comparison, the second SF was tight, responsive and revolutionized arcade fighters. When I was very small, I could go to Fun World in Nashua and the line for SF and SF Championship Edition would be 10+ people long. If you won, you stayed, and the feeling of beating opponent after opponent was thrilling.

Worst Decision: I attended a party at my friend Stacy's apartment in Portland. She buffered social groups; one I was close with, another that hated me. I showed up early with my then girlfriend and it was dead, dead--just the four of us. So a friend of an enemy and friend of Stacy's took out a bottle of absinthe. It was supposedly imported by my then mortal enemy. I took long swigs in petulant disbelief.

Four hours later I came to yelling across a city street at my girl friend. I remember, mid-yell, stopping and asking her what the hell was going on. I still remember nothing from those four hours.

2010: Pavement reunion and Sasquatch. "Cut Your Hair" expanded my musical taste as a teenager and Pavement to this day is one of my favorite bands ever. I saw the Pixies reunion. I will see Pavement.

Alright, I Officially Hate Adrian Peterson.

2009-11-19T19:05:15Z

In case you're wondering, yes, Adrian Peterson appreciates having former Seahawks guard Steve Hutchinson on his side. Enough so that the Minnesota Vikings star running back laughed Wednesday when asked about that situation when speaking with Seattle reporters.

"You should see me right now," Peterson said in a conference call from Minneapolis. "I'm doing a dance because we've got him and ya'all don't.

"He's the ring leader of this offensive line. It's still funny to me how you let this guy go. He's a leader, he gets the job done. He's a beast, that's the way I explain how he is on the field."

Here's the link to the article.

And then of course there is Housh all but admitting he should have gone to Minnesota. Link.

Ask the Daily Norseman

2009-11-19T15:43:50Z

Hey everyone, Eric here, a co-writer over at the Vikings' SB Nation blog the Daily Norseman. I thought I'd stop over to see if you guys had any questions about Sunday's game from a Viking fan's perspective. It can be about specific players both old (Favre) and young (Harvin), strategies, tendencies, or just about anything else that's on your mind. Me and the other writers (and probably a few regular DN commenters) will check here periodically throughout the next few days to give you some feedback. I'm hoping for a good, hard-fought, injury-free game on Sunday--but before we get started, I have a question for you:

Poll

How do you see Sunday's Seahawks @ Vikings game going?

The Two 1st-Rounders in 2010

2009-11-18T17:32:54Z

Let's assume for the sake of argument that Seattle finishes 6-10 and Denver finishes 9-7. That implies draft positions of maybe 10th overall and say 19th overall.

Given that we are springing leaks all over the boat, why not try to trade one of them down for quantity in the 2nd and 3rd rounds? This presumes that a ton of quality juniors come out this year to avoid a sharply lower rookie pay scale in 2011, such that a 2nd or 3rd this year is a little more talented than that in a typical year.

Mora's Presser and General Feelings Towards Our HC

2009-11-17T06:11:15Z

Initially I just wanted to link the Presser and discuss Mora's comments on the officiating. (Here is the link, comments start at ~6:50). He gets a little spicy (justifiably so) and I thought the way he addressed the Fitz mask-grab and the NFL's handling of disputes were pretty funny.

Then, I thought it might be interesting to gauge the community's feelings on Jimmy Mora. Not just whether we like him or not, but how people think he is doing, his attitude, and his overall handling of the team. We have probably the most intelligent Seahawks blog on the intertubes (take that for what it's worth) so this could generate good discussion.

Personally, I like Mora. He has had a few coaching bumps (4th down in Lions game, balling on Mare, etc.) and sometimes I think he sets himself up to get picked on by Officials with the way he undiplomatically treats them, but as a whole I like the way he coaches and his direction for the team. Will he be our coach for years to come? I don't know, but I would to hope so, for the continuity factor if nothing else.

What do you fellas think?

Paul Allen Diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

2009-11-17T00:56:55Z

Link

Not the greatest of sources, but there you go. ~~I hope this is misinformed.~~ CONFIRMATION LINK

Allen beat Hodgkin's Lymphoma back in 1983 with the help of chemo and a marrow transplant. Here's hoping he can do it again. I'm not well versed in the differences but I do know that Hodgkin's is one of the most curable forms of cancer. Non-Hodgkin's is a little worse as far as I can tell, but still beatable. Hopefully it was detected early.

Field Gulls Mod-enforced Rules and Standards

2009-11-16T23:57:13Z

The following is the final set of rules and regulations decided upon by the community of Field Gulls.

Zero Tolerance

Abuse of the following rules will lead to immediate banning, possibly without chance of reinstatement.

Sexism, Racism or other Bigotry: MTV raised you right. You know better than to use "gay" in the pejorative. Cull the sexist, hate-filled slang from your vocabulary or expect an immediate ban.

Name Calling: Except to call Scruffy "Lance". He likes that. This has never been a problem here, but for the sake of comprehensiveness, let it be known that name calling of any kind will not be tolerated.

Spam: One and you're done.

Hoaxes: False headlines used to capture attention will be rewarded with a deletion of the post and a banning. Misreported news of any kind is not allowed.

Standards

Mods will enforce standards through a three strike system: correction, warning and finally banning. Mods will not punish innocent errors, but habitual abuse.

Links: A link must be provided for all news and quoted material.

Spelling and Grammar: The readers of Field Gulls are Field Gulls. Therefore you are held to basic editorial standards. Commenters must attempt proper spelling and grammar within the best of their ability. Many internet browsers have a spell check included.

Subject Line: The subject line is the small box above the body of a comment. SBN software requires this box be used. Use it.

Reply: The reply button is below and to the right of a posted comment. It's a wonderful organization and communication tool. Use it.

Site Etiquette

Site etiquette is to be enforced at the moderators discretion. It is a catch all for behavior not explicitly covered by the above rules that can be abusive to the site, those who contribute to the site and its readers.

Belligerence, Fault finding and Trollish behavior: Rudeness can be couched in the nicest words and divisive and destructive commenting can be framed as civil discussion. Persistent negative comments, thread-jacking, fault finding, petty correction, stubborn ignorance or illogic, meanness, calls to perfection, refusal to drop an argument, unfounded claims of prejudice and other acts of self-importance will be dealt with on a case by case basis.

Respect the moderators.

Never root against the Seahawks.

Fantasy discussion is for the weekly fantasy post: Fantasy comments outside of the post may be met with sarcasm.

Rosterbation: Fanposts containing logical, supported and novel roster moves are accepted, even endorsed. Fanposts that propose farfetched trades, signings, schemes or that endorse exhausted topics (ie Michael Vick, Mike Holmgren, the officiating of Super Bowl XL, etc) are not allowed.

Chat Speak: Acceptable in moderation, but "+1", "LOL" and "roflcopter" should not be stand alone comments.

Julius hospitalized with broken ribs, bleeding lung

2009-11-16T03:54:23Z

Damn.

Seahawks RB Julius Jones has bleeding in his lung stemming from a broken rib and was kept at an Arizona hospital overnight.

Nov 15, 2009 - Seahawk's RB Julius Jones left the game against the Cardinals' early with an apparant rib injury. The Seattle Times' Danny O'Neil reported that Julius Jones has suffered a broken rib and would be kept overnight in an Arizona hopsital for observation. Then at 7 p.m. PT, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that the situation is even more serious:

Seahawks RB Julius Jones has bleeding in his lung and was kept at an Arizona hospital while team returned to Seattle.

Pray hard for our running back.

A.M. NFL Game Thread

2009-11-15T18:03:40Z

Have fun! :) This post has to be at least 74 words long. That is a lot of words. Words, that I haven't really thought of. Except Go Redskins! and Go Bengals! Whooo-Hooooo. Yea, baby! It's on. Is that enough, Mr. SBN settings-man? 1-2-3 4-5-6 7-8-9 10-11-12. Man, 74 words takes awhile. I didn't really want to have to do all this. Maybe enough now?

Deon Butler, future #1 receiver in Seattle.

2009-11-14T22:44:47Z

I think sometimes a gift or ability is so subtle, it is often overlooked, or so rare it's hard to not want the flashy more visible abilities as comfort for the "Talent:" argument of your fanbase. It is even a rarer situation to have a shot at a player with rare gifts combined with the flashy ones.

I watched clips of Deon Butler after we picked him on draft day. I was so amazed. Not for his flashy speed or quick 1st to 4th gear acceleration but because he reminded me of someone, Darrell Jackson. Deon Butler had the same natural burst on the snap that left him a step ahead of defensive backs. Darrell Jackson wasn't flashy and didn't have brilliant speed, but his burst off the snap got him open against some of the most talented corners in the league. I think Deon Butler's skill set leaves him with the chance to be a great receiver at the number one spot in that mold. (hold your drops comments)

Darrell Jackson only weighed 194 lbs for most of his career, so the idea that butler needs to be so much bigger to avoid jams is a worry for worry sake. My case and point is the game against the Redskins in the playoffs in 2005. The Redskins wanted to run exclusive press coverage against the Seahawks receivers because they were playing a five man defensive line to stop the invincible run attack. Shawn Springs a big corner and superb athlete at the position could not keep up with Jackson's first move the entire game and only managed to jam him legitimately twice, most times his reactions only allowed him to get one hand on D-jack and then he was always in the trail position by nearly 2 and a half steps.

If you watched Jimmy Smith, Jerry Rice, Torry Holt. They all had this simple great burst off the snap.There are some other factors, but this burst at the snap means he's ahead of every db on most plays. I know it seems too simple, but if Deon Butler can be taught to harness this gift he has a career catching 72-yard slants for touchdowns and chances to set Seahawks receiving records for years to come.

The Official Fantasy Football Thread – Week 10.

2009-11-14T22:34:24Z

The place for fantasy talk, thought, questions and general fantasy ranting.

This is a new concept to be put out weekly. This week being new, it is coming later than ideal due to the late thought of creating it.

Here at Field Gulls we’ve had discussions on just about every aspect of football, including having discussions about when we can or should have discussions about Fantasy. Well, this IS the place. You can, if you must, add fantasy talk in additional game threads, but be warned, someone may be watching, and they may be mocking. Here, you have free rein to talk your team’s reign or your rain of injuries.

Something to note, and this should be a true football fan’s golden ticket when it comes to heaven and hell and the voiding of the warranty on your soul.

The first rule of Fantasy Football, you do NOT root for players against your favorite team.
The second rule of Fantasy Football, you do NOT root for players against your favorite team.

Never NEVER EVER cheer against the Seahawks due to your fantasy roster. My personal rule is to avoid as much as possible acquiring division rivals, or to avoid playing them against the Seahawks if reasonably possible. Statements like, "Well, at least I have Larry Fitzgerald on my fantasy team" (if) he was scorching the Hawks will unleash the hounds of hell upon you. Avoid playing those guys. I have Boldin in one league, Beanie in another. Both will be sitting this week on principle. I suggest, STRONGLY, that you do the same. But if you don’t, please don’t be that one bastard playing the "Don’t Come" line at the craps table. Not only will you bring bad mojo to everybody, but you’ll likely get verbally harassed, if not banned. You’re a Seahawk fan, you aren’t "that guy" you are one of OUR guys—act like it!

Weeks 8-10 are the “Moving Weeks” of fantasy football.

If you don’t know what your team looks like at this point, you probably never will. If you are out of it now in a keeper league, time to start trading for next year, and if you’re in it time to become a buyer, selling your team’s future soul for a chance at a trophy right here right now. In playoff leagues, teams are jockeying for position and starting to look at matchups for those playoff weeks while thinking of trades. Heroes, and goats, are created right here and now.

These are grave times we live in friends, and a fantasy championship cannot be achieved for anyone without the absolute fullest of dedication, a commitment to excellence in waiver wire scouring, and a steady hand when making the big trade, and of course, a great deal of luck.

By now, studs and frauds have been discovered or discarded. Yes, Mike Sims-Walker is a viable option and near must-start. No, nobody knows what the hell happened to Jay Cutler OR Matt Forte. And, of course, the one owner in your league holding out for Beanie Wells to “put it together” is just gonna have to wait at least one more week. Oh, and Steve Slayton, I’m talking to you. STOP FUMBLING!!!! I need your production, dammit. On top of that, some asshat picked Moats off the waiver wire by iphone before I could get to a computer. Kurt Warner? START FUMBLING!!! You’ve looked just a little too good so far, and if the Hawks are gonna make a serious run, Natty Matty Beer Bong needs to get on the field and help the Hawk cause.

Personally, I have two leagues I “care about” due to actual money being involved, and one that is all about the pride, in the NFC of the FieldGulls Invitation League. The interesting thing about these three leagues is that I’ve never seen fantasy leagues so wide open. I want to hear from you on this, because I don’t know if this is just my leagues, or all leagues, but there are a lot of teams still in it.

In my keeper league, 7 of the 10 teams are within two games of first place. This has completely restricted trades, as nobody can decide if they are a buyer or a seller, and the three teams out of it are so gawd awful, about the only thing they can provide is a blueprint for what NOT to do when rebuilding a team. I’m surprised none of them have changed their team name to “Mangini’s Weinies.”

In my yahoo league, one team is 7-2, two are 3-6, and the rest are all either 5-4 or 4-5. Six teams get into the playoffs, so not a single team is out of that league. And in the NFC, there are eight teams in it and four teams making plans to watch the college basketball. If they’re making plans to watch the NBA, may they join David Stern in the afterlife.

A couple notes from my league matchups.

The Marv Albert “YESSSSSSS!” Star of the Week: Drew Brees vs. St. Louis.
Too bad it’s the other guy’s QB. Sigh.

The Anakin Skywalker “NOOOOoooooOOOO!” Sit of the Week: Jay Cutler.
I know, I’m cheating. But this was also the guy I went against, and he sat Forte to play Cutler. I’m now ahead Zero to -8, and haven’t used up any players yet. Gotta love it!

The "You're Crazy Man" Start of the Week: Devery Henderson vs. St. Louis.
He’s a big play guy playing a weak pass defense in a game that should get out of hand pretty early. Look for something like 4-115 with 1 TD. Considering I have Andre Johnson and NYG Steve Smith on the bench, I’ll take any WR help I can get this week.

So here it is all. A thread for fantasy talk. Have at it, this is open season on all things fantasy football related. And no, Erin Andrews does not count as football related.

Off-Topic Fanpost For The Weekend

2009-11-14T00:10:10Z

So we're going to borrow a page from sister-SBN blog Lookout Landing and try something new here at Field Gulls. This is your Off-Topic fanpost, where you can discuss topics that are outside of the scope of the Seahawks and football in general.

Normal commenting rules apply here in the OTFP. Keep in mind that this isn't designed to be something akin to Twitter or Facebook. This is a place where you can bring up interesting things to discuss and share, rather than informing us that you're eating a sandwich on your patio in the rain. Here's an example of what's cool and what's not:

Not cool:

Scruffy: I'm eating a sandwich!

Getting better:

Scruffy: I'm eating a sandwich! Who likes sandwiches?

Cool:

Scruffy: I just finished off a tasty turkey and provolone sandwich! Any suggestions on what other sandwiches I should look into next?

Try to keep Seahawks news out of the OTFP and give them a fanpost of their own. Other than that, have at it. Make sure your comments are appropriate and don't violate any of the commenting rules here at FG.

Sometimes I'll post a series of questions in the OTFP that you can answer if you'd like. Here are some questions!

What video game consoles do you currently own?
What's on your list of video games to purchase in 2010?
Skiing or snowboarding?
Book recommendations?
Movie recommendations?

One more note - A new Off-Topic shouldn't be started until this one falls off the front page or it reaches over a 1000 comments.

Cards Blog "Who would you take from the Seattle Seahawks?"

2009-11-13T23:23:30Z

Interesting article/discussion over at the Cards SBnation blog.

Aaron Curry - This has to be one of the easiest picks, as Curry's only in his rookie season and has played very well so far. He will develop into a leader on the defense, and has a wide enough skill set to blitz, stop the run, or drop in coverage. Should one of our aging linebackers(Okeafor, Berry, Haggens) leave or retire, Curry would be a great replacement.

Check it out and see what other players they've noticed.

Updated: An Experiment in Blog Management

2009-11-13T22:14:42Z

Update: I will keep this discussion open until Monday of next week. At that time, we will settle on some final guidelines, many of which we have mostly pinned down, and then I will write them up and keep them stuck to the fanposts section.

A huge thanks to everyone that has already participated.

. . .

This is an experiment. I am attempting it because something very exciting happened to me last week. I have been coy because I had not yet signed the contract, but I was contacted about writing a book. Big picture, that's great, wish fulfillment, etc. Small picture, I am going to be insanely busy the next few months.

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Field Gulls. I love the community, but not all of it. I love building the community, but not policing it. Prior to Field Gulls, I had no experience running a blog or building a community. I appreciate that people have been patient with my missteps.

Over the next few months, something is going to have to give. I will not have time for my wife, my writing, moderating Field Gulls and my new project. That means I want to step back some from moderating. I typically read every comment posted, if not right away, eventually. That is time consuming to say the least.

Part of my problem is that I have never known exactly what set of rules to enforce. If you have policed a community before, you know that sometimes it's a matter of context and gut feeling. That causes conflicts, but it beats mindlessly enforcing rules.

This post is a departure, something I hope will free time for me without hurting something I love. I want to introduce the moderators and then ask that everyone involved with Field Gulls contributes to an agreed upon set of standards. I want to know what you like and dislike about Field Gulls and what you think can be done to improve it.

Shrug: Shrug isn't around too often, but he's the OG of Field Gulls. Shrug started Field Gulls and I joined as a writer. His standing is the same as mine.

Scruffy Lefty: Scruffy is one of the original fifty or so commenters. He has mod powers, manager powers, etc. and does the Video Preview and occasionally some graphic stuff we work on together.

Christian: Joined with, around or maybe even before Scruffy. Christian offered to help out. He's a mod, but I gather very busy.

BrianL: Brian is a mod. He has been around Field Gulls and Lookout Landing forever. Brian also handles some news when I am away.

abender20: abender wrote daily content for Field Gulls before he started post-graduate work in Chicago. abender occasionally writes content and is a mod.

Phildopip: I asked Phil to join us as a mod because I've known him in some capacity for years and trust his opinion. He is the newest mod.

Johnny Peel: I asked Johnny to join Field Gulls as a writer because I respect his talent and voice. He mostly writes, but has other privileges.

Doug Farrar: Doug is way too busy for Field Gulls now, but wrote for us in late 2008 and leading up to the 2009 draft. It's been a while since we've exchanged emails, and he has his own Seahawks enterprise now, but Doug has honorary status and retains all privileges. He loves the word 'linebacking'.

Other posters and commenters have been around forever and enjoy respected status. Like any community, you earn your way in. Nothing will turn people off faster than a new member that is belligerent or bossy or asinine or stubbornly ignorant. In some ways, this site runs itself. In most ways, it does not.

I want Field Gulls to be welcoming but not stupid, and that's a struggle. I would like to get everyone involved, readers, commenters, new people, mods, writers, etc. Help me make Field Gulls better and easier to run.

Post Your Hawk: Week 10

2009-11-13T15:46:37Z

So, yeah. That Detroit game wasn't what we were expecting, was it? And the return of my pessimism was justified by how the Hawks played last Sunday. I think after this week's game, I'm going to need to do some drugs to medicate the pain:

I'm expecting the Seahawks to get blown the fuck out. But I'm going with Jordan Babineaux. 5 tackles (1 for loss), 1 pick, 1 forced fumble. Seahawks lose 34-6. Yuck.