Keith Jackson Taught this Millennial to Love Football

About one year ago we lost Craig Sager. I know that there is some crazy stuff going on with his will right now, but that doesn't discount the fact that he was one of the best basketball analysts and reporters that we have ever seen. I still miss his sideline interviews. This weekend we lost another great sports broadcaster. Keith Jackson passed away on Saturday at the age of 89.

Keith Jackson, in every way, was more important to me as a broadcaster than anyone ever, including Sager. The reason, Jackson is the first announcer that I can vividly remember hearing and enjoying. He always seemed to call the Rose Bowl, and most importantly for me, pretty much all of Michigan's football games that were televised on ABC. As I child I can remember hearing him say his patented, "Whoa Nellie!" during many Michigan games. He is one of my first memories watching Michigan football with my dad. He is right up there with Bo Schembechler. Not in terms of importance, but significance.

As I said, he was always calling Michigan games and the Rose Bowl, and when he was announcing, Michigan seemed to be a regular in the Rose Bowl. I used to get the pleasure of hearing him call anywhere from 3-6 Michigan football games a year, and he was great. I mentioned the "Whoa Nellie!", but he wasn't just a catch phrase guy, he knew the game and knew it well. He helped me to understand football. He, not as much as my father, but still, helped me understand how important Michigan football was/is.

It wasn't just Michigan, Jackson knew every team, and knew them well. He could tell so many stories about so many different teams. He was very well versed in college football. The man was a genius broadcaster if you ask me. He could break down film before it was en vogue to do that. He could rattle off the names of former greats at specific schools without needing to take notes. He remembered important dates in college football better than anyone else. But above all, he was a joy to listen to.

I wish we had more announcers like Keith Jackson nowadays. I know this sounds weird coming from the millennial, but Jackson is the best football broadcaster ever, at least for me. He was soft spoken yet brilliant. He did have the catch phrase, but like I said, he was so much more. He understood the game better than his colleagues. He was most certainly more respected than his colleagues. He was one of the few people that Schembechler would actually talk to. That's a huge deal for a guy like Schembechler. I'm sure the same can be said for Woody Hayes, John Robinson and any other coach from the Big Ten, and back when he was calling games, the Pac 10. He was the guy that these coaches wanted to talk to. When he would call the games I can remember my father pointing Jackson out specifically as the only announcer he liked. I am now the same way. When I watch games now, I either complain about who is calling it, or mute the game and listen to music while I watch. I never, ever did anything like that with Keith Jackson. He was must listen when he was on a game. I prefer Jackson to a guy like John Madden. While I kind of enjoyed Madden, and even Summerall to a certain extent, they were nowhere near the talent that Jackson was.

To prove how great Jackson was, he made me tolerate Dan Fouts. Watching the NFL playoffs yesterday, with Fouts calling a game, I was enraged at his total lack of knowledge. Then I remembered that he used to be the color guy with Jackson, and I was amazed that he used to not bother me like he did yesterday. That is strictly due to the brilliance of Keith Jackson. Even after he retired about a decade or so ago, I still watched old games on ESPN Classic that he would call just to hear his voice. The fact that he is gone now makes the people currently calling games that much worse. They will never live up to the excellence that Jackson brought to the game.

The closet we have to a Keith Jackson is probably Kirk Herbstreit, and he is way, way, way behind Jackson's greatness, and will never achieve the respect or accolades that Jackson did. The NFL announcers are even worse. Morons like Cris Collinsworth, Al Michaels and Tony Romo wish they were 1/100th the announcer that Jackson was. I am really going to miss Keith Jackson. He gave me so much joy. He was the last great college football announcer. We will never have another person as awesome as he was at calling games. I hope wherever he is now he is chatting it up with Pat Summerall and Howard Cossell. That would be ideal.

Rest In Peace Keith Jackson. You will be greatly missed.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. 

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Let Me Respectfully Explain Why Your Team Stinks: Ty's new hatred for the Seattle Seahawks

It is insulting when you call me a Seahawk

There are some teams I really, really dislike.

Today, I'm going to go back to my irrational hatred for a football team. In two previous blogs, I've written about my irrational hatred for University of Missouri college football and the Los Angeles Clippers from the NBA. Today, I turn my attention to the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks. Good timing to, since the season started last night and truly gets underway on Sunday. The Seahawks are the first team I'll be writing about, under my irrational hatred blogs, that have won a championship. They won the Super Bowl two years ago, and played in the Super Bowl last year. They should've won that game, but I'll get to that later. Missouri football hasn't won anything of importance in over 50 years, and the Clippers have never won anything important ever in their history.

So, let's get to what I hate about the Seahawks. First, there was a time, about 10 years ago, when I actually rooted for the Seahawks in the Super Bowl. They played the Steelers, a team that will be talked about in this discussion at another time. That version of the Seahawks were coached by former Packer coach Mike Holmgren and had Shaun Alexander. I actually, kind of, liked this team. Shaun Alexander was my number one pick in my fantasy draft that year. I also liked the fact that they were a quiet team. No trash talk, no media stuff, they just went out and played football.  By the way, the Seahawks won that Super Bowl. The history books have the Steelers as the champs, but the refs screwed the Seahawks and the NFL and ESPN needed a redemption story for rapist Ben Roethlisberger.

Right after that season, I kind of forgot about the Seahawks. They were mediocre for the next 5 to 7 seasons. Then, they won, what was at the time, the worst division in football, the NFC West with a 7-9 record. This was three or four seasons ago. That was Pete Carroll's first season as head coach. Not only did they win that god awful division, but they went out and beat the New Orleans Saints in the Wild Card game. In typical Saints fashion, they had to go on the road to Seattle, Seattle won the division so they got home field, and the Saints couldn't stop the run. Go back and watch all the missed tackles on what is probably Marshawn Lynch's most famous run.  

It is after this Wild Card win and their subsequent draft  where my hatred for the Seahawks began. They started to pump their chests and say how great they were. Excuse the shit out of me, but you assholes backed your way into the playoffs that season and beat the Saints when everyone expected you to. This attitude is indicative of their head coach. Pete Carroll is a douchebag. This is the same guy who called out Mark Sanchez in front of the media when he declared for the draft. Sanchez was his quarterback at USC, they just came off a Rose Bowl win and he didn't have another decent QB on the roster. So, instead of doing what college coaches are supposed to do, support their players decisions and dreams, he acted like a dumped girlfriend. What makes this even worse, Carroll left USC within a year after Sanchez left for the NFL. Why did he care so much? I'll tell you why, he's a prick that whines like a baby when he doesn't get his way. Let's not forget how much of a cheater at USC he was. He bought Reggie Bush's family a home and a car. He had so many recruiting violations against him that, had he stayed at USC, they could've gotten the death penalty. So, he bolted for the NFL, and you'd think his cheating would stop, but nope. The Seahawks are one of the most suspicious teams in the NFL. Be it fighting between teammates in the locker room or steroids or even players using Ritalin. All these things, with the exception of the fighting, is against the rules. Does the NFL or Pete Carroll or Roger Goodell do anything about it? No, they're all too busy attacking the Patriots for under inflated footballs and stuff that happened almost a decade ago. Pete Carroll also made the worst play call ever during last year's Super Bowl. How do you not hand the ball off to Lynch on the goal line?! That call proves your ignorance and arrogance. I was elated you lost the Super Bowl in crushing fashion. You're an idiot Pete Carroll and  I hate you.

I mentioned the draft also as a reason why I hate this team. They undercut other teams and under pay their rookies. They seem to get pretty good players at a super cheap salary. How on Earth does that happen. Guys like Michael Bennett, Doug Baldwin and the majority of their offensive line are really underpaid. Marshawn Lynch is the best running back in the league right now, and they just gave him a multi million dollar extension last year. Their best secondary player, Kam Chancellor is willing to sit the whole season because, for football players, he's criminally underpaid. Richard Sherman is due for a huge raise, but will he get it? Probably not because they just gave Russell Wilson a HUGE contract.

This brings me to another big, big problem I have with the Seahawks, Russell Wilson. This guy is the most corporate, robotic piece of human trash I could ever imagine. He shows no emotions, unless he's talking about God. Let's get things straight too, he's a mediocre QB at best. This team didn't make it to two consecutive Super Bowls because of Russell Wilson, their defense and Marshawn Lynch carried them. But, you turn on ESPN or the NFL Network, and he's mentioned in the same breath as Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and old timers like Warren Moon and Fran Tarkenton. I'd take all those QB's over Wilson in a second. He's got little to no touch on his throws and he's going to get killed running the read option. He's a tick better than Colin Kaepernick, and that's not a compliment. The fact that the Seahawks gave him Aaron Rodgers money is going to cripple this team in the long run. Instead of paying the players that got them to the highest point in football, they paid a sub par QB a shit ton of money.

All his God talk needs to stop. When he first got in the league, players from other teams, it's been reported, said that he slept with their girlfriends while they were still together. That's not good in God's eye Russell Wilson. Also, if there is a God, he doesn't give a shit about you. You are the least of his problems. He's also totally sleeping with current girlfriend, musician Ciara. Nobody buys your guys bull shit. Russell Wilson is also known for clashing with teammates. He ran Golden Tate and Percy Harvin out of town. He tried to get the front office to trade Lynch in the middle of last season. Screw you Russell Wilson, have fun winning 6 or 7 games for the rest of your career. And, nobody outside of Seattle likes Marshawn Lynch or Richard Sherman. The hatred for Lynch isn't as bad for Sherman, Lynch pokes fun at himself, but his whole attitude towards media and people outside of his circle is stupid. Quit trying to be the Rasheed Wallace of the NFL. You're not as charasmatic as Rasheed Wallace. Richard Sherman on the other hand, boy the hatred is strong. Sherman is the best cover corner in the league, but he needs to stop talking. You went out and got into a fight with Skip Bayless. I can't think of a more douchey fight. You're a Stanford grad Richard Sherman, you don't have to constantly go on TV and tell us how smart you are. We know you're smart. You're also a bad sport. You lose with no dignity, and when you win, I close my ears because I can't deal with your mouth. You're like a conservative republican. You think you're correct because you're the loudest. Just shut the hell up and go out there and play football. You're a good enough football player that you don't need to run your mouth. Also, nothing made me happier than when Russell Wilson threw that pick and your smile turned to a frown. It was euphoric for me to watch you lose.

Seahawks fans are pretty ridiculous too. As I said earlier, you guys just recently became good. Before this success, I didn't know one single Seahawk fan. Now, they're coming out of the woodwork. If that's not a bandwagon fan, I don't know what is. You guys are the 21st century Dallas Cowboys. By this I mean, your fans are bandwagon fans and people that don't like you, HATE you and your fans. I hate all these actors and comedians, that I enjoy, are pounding the drum for you all over social media. Comedian Nick Thune, who I think is great, acts like there's no other team in the NFL. Or, when he does talk about a team not called the Seahawks, that team is a cheater and all their fans suck. Come back to me when the Seahawks are also rans in two years and tell me that you're still a fan. Chris Pratt, the biggest star right now and one of my favorite actors, is all over social media with his Seahawk love. Where were you five years ago?! I didn't hear or see you pumping up the Seahawks. You were like a ghost, but now that they're good, you're all over the place talking about Seahawk love. I bet the two of you couldn't name the starting QB the year before Matt Hasselbeck took over the job. You guys probably loved Hasselbeck when he was your QB, but now, you probably tell other people that he's a joke and shouldn't be in the league. I've got news for you guys, your QB's have never been elite.

So, these and many, many other reasons are why I loathe the Seahawks. It's a new hatred, but it's very strong and will only get stronger. Screw you Seattle Seahawks and screw your "12th" man bull shit. No one cares.  

You will be irrelevant in two years.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and co-host of the X Millennial Man podcast. His love for Michigan Football is much greater than all of his hatred combined (please Jim Harbaugh, start winning soon). Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.