I’m typing this post out Saturday night before the Seahawks second Superbowl in two year. The third their entire history.
I meant to write this for last Thursday, but I got sidetracked by my sudden fascination with Olympia history. So, on the Monday after the Superbowl, this may seem like the most irrelevant post ever.
And, first, before I launch into my main point, just a memory. I don’t remember the year exactly, but I do remember the feeling. I was a transplanted Seattle everything sports fan in Delaware. My family had moved there at the beginning of middle school. It was likely the best way I could exercise my feelings that I never wanted to move away from Washington.
But, whenever there was a Seattle team on cable sports or any national broadcast, I’d sit down and watch. I spent a lot of time trying to decide whether it was the Detriot Lions or the Seahawks playing. Those that remember the gray Hawks helmets will get that one.
Anyway, this particular game was a Monday nighter in Seattle. The era of Cortez Kennedy. Boy, they sucked. The announcers were disgusted. The Seahawks were really really bad. I mean bad.
But, I wanted to watch and the announcers openly grumbled why such a bad team would be featured in the national spotlight. I really just wanted to see the Hawks and the interstitial shots of Seattle.
Anyway, there’s my best (aside from making a 1995 Seattle Mariners scrapbook, also in Delaware) Seattle sports bonafide.
And, here’s my thought about all the new people who did not notice when Russell Wilson was drafted, but seem to know a hell of a lot about him now. To all the new fans of the Seahawks who will likely not pay much attention when they’re losing again. To everyone who owns way more Hawks stuff than me (one t-shirt vs. like 20 Sounders items).
To all of you (I won’t say bandwagoners) enthusiastic folks: Welcome. You are my people. You weren’t with me on that sad Monday night in Delaware, but you’re here now. And, that’s all that matters to me.
I kind of wrote about my feelings on this topic here. But, this what I’m writing now is more personal.
I will share one anecdote of new found fandom and then I’ll stop. One of my coworkers about 15 months ago could not care less about the Hawks. Despite living in western Washington for years, I suppose sports just isn’t her thing.
But, she is a writer. She tells stories for a living, so after slowly creeping into following the Hawks a little last year, this year, she’s thrown herself into it with a sudden fervor of the converted. And, the way she explains it is that the Hawks are like a really good t.v. show.
The games have a plot, they have emotional peaks. There are also interesting characters on the team that shape how the game develops. Quiet destroyer Lynch. Honorable leader Wilson. Wild genius Sherman.
And, in the manner that sports is really just entertainment, her entry into the Hawks is an honest one.
You may still have not a deep understanding of Seahawk history. Dave Krieg small hand jokes are lost on you, sure. But, you’re here. And, you came here your own way. In an honest way. So, thanks. Hopefully you’re here for awhile.
Leave a Reply