The outside observer might look at the Seahawks vs Cardinals match-up Sunday and politely hold back a yawn. Or maybe not hold back a yawn.
One team is 4-11 and coming off an emotional win last Sunday over the New York Jets and the other is 8-7 having clinched the division weeks ago only to falter badly in recent games.
So what’s the point? Who cares?
Let me start with who cares. Every player on both teams with an eye toward his NFL future care. Every player on the Cardinals who finally won the NFC West only to face the possibility of heading into the playoffs with an 8-8 record.
Who else cares? Every Seahawk player who’s wondering how different things might have been if close losses to Arizona, Miami, Washington, San Francisco and New England had gone the other way. Every Seahawk player who’d love to finish a disssapointing season with a three game winning streak. Every Seahawk player who’d love to send coach Holmgren out with a victory and every Seahawk player who’s starting spot for next season is not carved in stone.
“Right now people say we don’t have a lot to play for. In football terms we don’t, we’re not going to the playoffs but we have a lot of things other than that, pride for next year coming off a strong win so there are a lot of reasons to try to get a win,” said fullback 
Safety
“Just to show these guys that this division’s still ours, at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about, to show these guys, you might have won it but this season we split it, you took one here and we’ll get one there.”
Who else cares? All the coaches on both teams who thrive on winning because it’s in their soul and because it’s better for their NFL futures.
The fans care because the offseason is a long one and they’d love to be able to carry a three game win streak into dreams of greater things to come in 2009.
So if you’re east of the Mississippi I can’t blame you for not caring. But if you live in either Washington or Arizona, coach or play for either team, or follow either team week in and week out, you care about the outcome of Sunday’s game. Add it all up and Sunday’s Seahawks versus Cardinals game is a pretty big deal.
Coach gets new Harley
The Seahawks final practice Friday was also coach Mike Holmgren’s final practice as head coach. He’s always joked about riding off into the sunset on his motorcycle and now the players chipped in to make sure that happens. They pooled their money and bought coach Holmgren a 2009 Limited Edition Screaming Eagle Harley Davidson motorcycle with all the accessories needed for a long trip.
“I had no idea,” said coach after posing on his new bike with coaches and players.
“They told me Bobby Engram wanted to talk to the team after practice and I thought he was going to give a pep talk. This is very special.”
On the motorcycle itself, Holmgren commented, “This has everything on it. You can take a long trip on this one.”
