Poll: The thing about the Seahawks that bothers Cardinals fans the most
Oct 20, 2016, 11:33 AM
A poll shows that Cardinals fans aren't big fans of Seahawks coach Pete Carroll but dislike 12s even more. (AP)
(AP)
Looking for the best way to fan the flames of the Seahawks and Cardinals rivalry: pit fans vs. fans.
That’s exactly what Burns and Gambo, on 710 ESPN Seattle’s sister station Arizona Sports 98.7 FM in Phoenix, appear to be doing ahead of Sunday night’s showdown in the desert by conducting a poll that asked: What bothers you most about the Seahawks?
What bothers you the most about the Seattle Seahawks?
— Burns and Gambo (@BurnsAndGambo) October 19, 2016
Results from 1,190 voters as of 10:30 a.m. Thursday: 37 percent picked “their fans” and another 27 percent chose “Everything 12th man.” That’s followed by “Pete Carrol’s gum smackin” (21 percent) and “Richard Sherman” (15 percent).
The poll itself confused 710 ESPN Seattle’s Mike Salk as he wondered why there were two nearly identical questions about the fans and only one about something pertaining to the game itself (Richard Sherman).
“Their fans and everything 12th man is the same thing,” he said. “They couldn’t come up with four things to hate about Seattle?
“It would be as if we did a poll about what do you hate most about the Cardinals and had: Bruce Arians’ hat, Patrick Peterson, a retractable field and a field that retracts?”
With the 49ers being less of a threat over the past few years, the Arizona and Seattle clashes have taken off in notoriety. That is thanks largely to the Seahawks’ continued dominance and the strong personalities and talent in the Cardinals locker room, led by head coach Arians. The rivalry hit its peak last season when the Cardinals overtook Seattle to win the division and bested the Seahawks at CenturyLink. Seattle returned the favor in the 2015 regular season finale, though, ripping Arizona 36-6 at University of Phoenix Stadium.
Seattle enters Sunday’s game atop the division with a 4-1 record while the Cardinals have surprisingly stumbled to a 3-3 start.
Why the 12s have been the focal point of dislike has been discussed in the past, but Salk still isn’t sure of the reason.
“What is it that is hateable about the 12th man and the fans here?” he asked. “They’re loud? They attend the games?”
Brock Huard suggested that the jealousy could be because of the Seahawks’ sustained run at the top. Salk didn’t buy that, either.
“When I got here in 2009, the team was coming off a 5-11 season and it was the loudest stadium I’d ever been to at that time,” he said. “So I don’t quite get the front-running aspect of it. The fans have been incredible since moving into CenturyLink.”
And, of course, Salk couldn’t help but leave a parting shot.
“The Cardinals are such a lame organization over their history that it’s hard to come up with things to truly hate about them,” he said.
