Los Angeles has been a thorn in Seattle’s side the past few seasons, but it rarely mattered in the big picture. That changed this season.
It wasn’t long ago that wearing a 49ers jersey prompted an instant heckle in this town. It’s not that other fan bases were necessarily welcomed, but San Francisco bred a particular level of ire.
There was the jostling atop the NFC West. There was the battle for Super Bowl rights. There was Sherman vs. Crabtree, Carroll vs. Harbaugh — the Space Needle vs. the Golden Gate Bridge. It was one of the more intense rivalries the Seattle sports scene has ever experienced, but it has since vanished along with the Niners winning ways.