Former Seahawk Alvin Bailey shows ignorance while dissing Seattle fans

Former Seattle Seahawk Alvin Bailey took to Twitter to throw insults at Seattle Sonics fans. Let’s just say it didn’t go well for him.

Sometimes, we let athletes and celebrities get away with saying things that “normal” every day folk like most of us simply can’t. They can be brash, opinionated, even obnoxious and still get a free pass because of how much we revere what they do on the field, or the movie screen, or wherever.

But sometimes, foot gets inserted into mouth so deep that no amount of backtracking can take back how bad that person made themselves look.

Such is the case with former Seahawk offensive lineman Alvin Bailey.

Bailey, an Oklahoma native and thus a fan of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, was understandably ecstatic after his team advanced in the playoffs with a decisive series-clinching win last night over the San Antonio Spurs.

It all started innocently enough, with Bailey simply celebrating the blowout win:

But then a Seattle fan jumped in and changed the entire course of the narrative:

And that’s when Bailey went all uninformed and dumb, and made it personal:

This is when the conversation took an abrupt turn, and I couldn’t help but jump in. You see, I have no problem with homerism. I’m a die-hard fan of my teams, and I have noooooooo problem talking smack when “my team” beats “your team.” But when good-natured ribbing over sports….. SPORTS….. turns personal, it’s different. And in this case, I was offended by Bailey’s complete ignorance over the matter.

The implication that the city of Seattle “couldn’t support” our basketball team is just…..plain……wrong. And inherently dumb. The Sonics were a vital part of the sports landscape here in Seattle, and while attendance had dipped during the bumbling reign of owner Howard Shultz and GM Wally Walker, there was a long and storied history of sellout streaks and a rabid following. Think the Thunder would still be selling out their arena if they slipped to being a lottery team?

If you compare the eight years the Thunder have been in OKC with the best 8 years of Sonics attendance (which is the fair comparison given how good the Thunder have been since moving) you’re talking about a difference of roughly 1,000 fans per game.

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But consider:

• Chesapeake Energy Arena holds about (wait for it….) 1,000 more fans than Key Arena.
• The Thunder are the one and only major professional sports team in their metropolitan area.

You simply can’t dismiss those points.

Furthermore, outside the numbers, anyone who actually followed what happened knows this was about a pissing match between a bitter city government and a naive and greedy owner who was out of his league. But I’m not here to rehash SonicsGate. Bailey’s complete lack of knowledge and understanding was plain for all to see.

It was at this point that I had to get involved, and it quickly got stupid:

**SIDE NOTE: Seriously though…. “get off my timeline” is the lamest Twitter come back of all time, isn’t it? The reply feature is there for a reason. 

That was it from Bailey’s side, but in all my frustration I couldn’t resist this……

Petty? Yeah.

Childish? Probably.

But remember, this was a guy who last year tweeted that there were “31 other cities” he would rather be in. He got his wish.

Bailey spent the rest of the night laughing off his comments and accusing Seattle fans of being overly sensitive, but in the process made himself look even worse. Check out his timeline for the full accounting.

The good news? Well, apart from the fact we don’t have to worry about Bailey showing up to training camp 30 pounds overweight any more? There are some athletes who know how to conduct themselves even after they’ve moved on from one market to another.

This was the response from Bruce Irvin, who recently left the Seahawks and signed a lucrative free agent deal with the Oakland Raiders:

Next: May 12 a key free agent date

Now THAT is a guy who “gets it.”