You fail to recognize the differences in the two situations. Natalie Maines made her comments during a Dixie Chicks concert. Without any disclaimers to the contrary, it was, in essence, a policy statement of that musical group. In fact, I believe her cohorts in the group backed her up.
Hassleback was acting as an individual, without sanction or cooperation of his team. They are free to issue a statement to the effect that his views are not that of the team or the organization. Had Hassleback voiced an endorsement of Bush during a game or a post game interview, I too would react negatively to his statements. To me, that's the essence of “shut up and sing”.
Now, I don’t really have a problem with the guy never wanting to buy his jersey, however petty and stupid that might be. But someone ending their support for the Seahawks as a whole is akin to a country music fan refusing to listen to ANY act of the Dixie Chicks’ record label. Kind of punishing the wrong people.
Right. Ten bucks says the guy was never a Seahawks fan in the first place.
For Hasselback to be equivalently compared to the Dixie Chicks, He would have had to have called timeout during the game, grabbed a mike, and praise the president, flip off anyone who disagreed, and the team would have to support him.