Is the Seahawks-49ers rivalry dead?

It wasn’t long ago that 710 ESPN Seattle’s airwaves were filled with talk of “I hate the Niners” and “I hate their fans,” and “the Forty-whiners,” and “Sherman vs. Kaepernick” and “Pete vs. Harbaugh.” As the Seahawks and 49ers prepare for their game tonight, some of the cast of characters have changed – most notably coach Him Harbaugh, who’s now at Michigan – and so has the hatred talk.

And it’s driving Mike Salk mad.

“This idea that it ended or any of that, or that you need Jim Harbaugh to make a rivalry,
that is an insult to the rivalry,” Salk said on Thursday’s show. “A good rivalry doesn’t die, it doesn’t go away. It may lie dormant.”

Salk said he’s hated the 49ers since childhood. Brock Huard, however, took a more practical approach, noting that the best rivalries are on the collegiate level, where the faces behind the uniforms consistently change but the animosity remains.

“I think it can be a little different in the NFL,” Huard said. “You kind of need the personality or the talent to fill some of those uniforms, be it on the sidelines or on the field, to really extend a rivalry.”

Huard pointed to the century-old rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox as one of the exceptions, with history and geography plus an immense amount of star power. He noted that while the 49ers were in their prime, the Seahawks were still in the AFC West.

“This was largely built on Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll, let’s be clear about that,” Huard said. “This one was really built on those two characters and one of them is gone.”

Thus started the debate:

Salk:: “Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick are not enough for you?”

Huard:: “Because Colin could be out of here after this season.”

Salk: “Really? God, you guys are pathetic. I can’t stand all of you guys who think that. Really? You’re just willing to let this thing go away and die?”

Salk added that a rivalry “is what you made of it” and that if Harbaugh leaving means Seahawks fans don’t despise the 49ers, then it was never a rivalry in the first place.

Salk: “You tell me, they beat you tonight and virtually end your season, you don’t come back with some hatred for the Niners?”

Huard: “Yeah, you probably would.”

Salk: “OK, then it’s not dead. This is the San Francisco 49ers.”

Huard said everything will likely change once people see the teams on the field.

“The reality will be at 5:30 tonight, and what are you going to feel?” he said. “Are you going to have some of that angst toward that franchise? Or is most of your angst somewhat inward at (the Seahawks)?”

If anyone needs any more motivation, if the Seahawks lose and fall to 2-5 overall, the playoffs might be out of the question. At 3-4, with a beat-up Cowboys team next on the schedule, the season is anything but over.

“This is as big of a regular season game as I can remember,” Huard said.

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