The Seahawks are big national news these days for all the wrong reasons: Golden Tate, Leroy Hill, and Pete Carroll. Here is one pretty extreme view of what Carroll’s future with the NFL should be. Let’s get on with the World Cup, where the only controversy is, um, the new ball. More on that later.

Breaking into a store and stealing donuts at 3 a.m. isn’t something you hear about well-educated, well-heeled people doing every day. But it does happen, as we now know. But it should be comforting for Seahawks receiver Golden Tate, who did this the other night, to realize that more than half of internet citizens who have weighed in on this find it not to be illegal, unethical, tactless, uncivil, or boorish behavior, but a harmless prank.
What is bothersome about this isn’t that Tate, who was said by an employee of the store to have been drunk, couldn’t resist his cravings at 3 a.m., but that he demonstrated an unbelievable level of aloofness toward respecting other peoples’ property. So to all you apologists out there who want to offer up the rationalization that this is a kind of immature indiscretion that any ordinary young person might do, I offer you instead one more NFL player for whom, he thinks, the rules don’t apply. Golden, I know the snack machines in Morrisey Hall weren’t that great, but they did the trick at 3 a.m. Wonder what would have happened back on campus if you’d broken into one.

The Supreme Court (SCOTUS) today sided unanimously with an apparel maker that it is illegal for the the NFL to enter into an exclusive contract with one apparel maker. Basically SCOTUS said that the exclusive contract the NFL entered into with Reebok was wrong, because it destroys competition.  This should result in lower cost clothing merchandise for your favorite NFL teams, because each team will be able to negotiate contracts with as many apparel makers as they like – who will in tern compete for your dollars.  Competition both on field and off is good for fans.

Speculation running rampant over Roethlisberger trade and impact on teams, including the Seahawks who have top-10 picks. It is not at all likely the Seahawks would be a trading partner, but any deal among those top-10 teams would impact the Hawks.

The NFL owners passed a new overtime rule, which will allow both teams a chance to score, unless the first score is a touchdown. It’s better than nothing, but still doesn’t satisfy the main problem: there are three phases to the game. Offense, defense and special teams. With the current system, the performance of all three phases was reduced to only two – defense and special teams – for a team losing a coin toss and giving up a score of any kind.

The new rule will allow both teams an opportunity to play offense if the team that receives the kickoff scores only a field goal, rather than a touchdown. The new rule defies logic, but given that many players were content with the current system because it reduced their risk of fatigue-induced injuries during a prolonged overtime period, it’s a step forward.