The 12th Mike?

Seahawk owner Paul Allen is known for his technology skills, but would he pipe in crowd noise the way TV comedies have laugh tracks? Why would he have to? The Seattle Times reports that an unnamed NFL team has accused The 'Hawks of using canned crowd noise. Speculation that the team was the New York Giants seems to be validated in this column by New York Daily News beat writer Ralph Vacchiano who wrote the following in his column
The Seahawks, of course, wouldn’t be the first or only sports team to try a trick as pathetic and weak as pumping in artificial crowd noise or even amplifying their own crowd with microphones and speakers (as anyone who has ever been to a Devils or Nets game at the Meadowlands arena can attest). A quick survey of the Giants’ locker room turned up similar complaints about Buffalo, Green Bay and Minnesota. And sitting in the high press box in St. Louis, it’s pretty clear that crowd noise isn’t all real.
What makes the Seattle situation more comical (at least to me) is the way the team celebrates their fans and the noise they create - and the way the fans revel in their own “greatness.” They’ve taken the “12th man” thing to a whole new and ridiculous level. During the season last year, a big flag with the No. 12 on it flew on top of the Space Needle in Seattle. Despite terrific and very marketable players like Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander on the team, the No. 12 Seahawks jersey was one of the team’s hottest sellers. Some of them actually sell with the word “FAN” or “12TH MAN” where a player’s name would normally be.
Hell, they even retired the No. 12 in honor of their fans back in 1984!
Honestly, I expect the biggest cheer coming out of Qwest Field on Sunday afternoon will be something like, “Yea, us!”
And if that cheer sounds a little robotic … well, now you know why.
The Seahawks play the Giants this Sunday.