Field Gulls
For Seattle sports fans, many have felt the frustration of east coast bias, especially with sports. Just look at recent examples of Leonard Williams not being a Pro Bowler in 2024, Kenneth Walker and Tariq Woolen both barely losing Rookie of the Year honors to New York Jets’ players Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner in 2022, Russell Wilson receiving no votes for MVP in 2019, and even in baseball with Aaron Judge barely beating out Cal Raleigh for AL MVP in 2025.
Well Seattle fans, the east coast bias returns this weekend with the Seattle Seahawks vs. Los Angeles Rams game receiving far less TV spotlight than it deserves. This time, even the national media is recognizing the bias. Despite the game being one of the most hyped games this season (largely due to the 7-2 records and pure dominance by both teams), it is not being given the treatment as the biggest game, even of this weekend.
FOX is not sending their number one crew (Kevin Burkhardt/Tom Brady) to Los Angeles. Instead, Burkhardt and Brady are going to call the Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings game, while FOX’s number two team of Joe Davis and Greg Olsen will call Seahawks vs. Rams. Earlier this week it was discussed why Seahawks-Rams cannot be flexed to a prime time position, and why it will have to stay in the 1:05 pm PT window. However, FOX could have easily sent their top crew to call the “DVOA Bowl” (the Seahawks and Rams are the first and second ranked teams in the advanced metric “DVOA.”)
This decision to make Bear-Vikings “America’s Game of the Week” and send the number one crew there is facing criticism from people online. The shade from FOX doesn’t end there. Only the Pacific Northwest, Los Angeles area, and parts of northern Appalachia and northern Florida will get Seahawks-Rams.
Perhaps these scheduling decisions are not an example of east coast bias. This author may just be looking for an indirect way to complain about Cal Raleigh no-MVP decision last night. Regardless, even this scheduling mess-up is being noticed nationally. Perhaps that won’t be a bad thing either. If the Seahawks lose, the loss may not be as center of mind for most of the country. If the Seahawks win, then they could potentially still be seen more as underdogs, rather than if they won in front of a primetime audience, or the majority of the country.
Regardless, time will tell how this Seahawks team will do. Seahawks fans alike will take a victory over the Rams, even if the game was played in the middle of the night (kind of like that Week 7 Houston Texans game).
