Pay No Attention To Reality

There's an AP story today about Shaun Alexander getting booed in Seattle, and expressing frustration in their blowout win over the abysmal Rams.

The story is, of course, nothing you didn't know if you had been paying attention to the Seahawks-Saints SNF game two weeks ago -- unlike, say, Al Michaels, John Madden, Cris Collingsworth, Bob Costas, Peter King, Sterling Sharpe, Tiki Barber, Keith Olbermann, Kate Hudson, Eddie Albert, Charles Nelson Reilly, Marv Albert, Adam West, and the Dancing Sideline Reporter Furries in the NBC broadcasting blimp... but here's the really fun part about it.

Watching Mike Holmgren stand up on his walrus flippers and defend the player that, um, he replaced with a back-up in the short yardage carries.

Shaun Alexander seems to be the lightning rod and I am here to tell that there are times that there is nothing there. ... He has been a little unfairly criticized in my opinion.

Nothing, as in nothing left to the burst of this 30 year old RB? Nothing, as in nothing to recommend him getting the ball instead of Maurice Morris (3.9 ypc) or Leonard Weaver (5.7 ypc), both of whom beat out Alexander's robust 3.4 yards per carry average?

Hang on, the lying gets better. Someone in the press gaggle must have thrown him a mackerel.

We are not blocking very well at this particular point. That must improve. We've been forced to analyze it because of people -- you guys, our families, everybody -- what they say is 'What's going on with Shaun?' because Shaun is the MVP, Shaun's a great running back. I'm here to say for Shaun, there is not a lot (of room) there. And we have to be better at that. We have to fix that.

Um, your MVP, if a .500 team can be said to have an MVP, much in the same way that a terrible division still has to has a champion, is Matt Hasselbeck. The AP piece also mentions, but does not quote, Hasselbeck saying that the running game is stalled even in practice, when no one is tackling. Think about that for a little while. It's the football equivalent of a Zen koan.

Now, the Seahawks have a bye week, and after that, they've got the fairly generous Browns at home, who won't have a bye. If you own Alexander in your roto league, you're probably going to want to ride out the bye and probably cash in on the Browns not being able to tackle a half-speed broken down old runner. Hell, they did sign Jamal Lewis in the off-season.

But if The MVP comes up small again, it might be time to invest in Morris or Weaver, though with Mack Strong being done, maybe this team just doesn't run the ball worth a damn at any point. Or, if you don't like being told that what you are seeing and hearing in the games is real, ear plugs and salt water for any Holmgren press conference...