In 2012, the Seattle Seahawks had a good season that captured my imagination when they almost-but-not-quite made it through the playoffs. As a result, I paid much closer attention to their games through the 2013 season. I was thrilled when they won the Super Bowl.
Throughout the 2014 season, I have made a point of watching as many of their games as possible. In one case, I was at an airport one Sunday and when a huge cheer went up from a nearby sports bar, I was compelled to ask another passenger scheduled for the same flight what the noise was all about. He beamed and reported that the Seahawks had just scored a touchdown. He also knew the score at that point, so I wended my way onto the plane anticipating that my team was on its way to winning that game, too. (Which they did.)
I approached the playoff games this season keeping my fingers and toes crossed that the Seahawks would again make the playoffs. (My fear was that this formerly fair-weather fan’s wishes would become the “kiss of death.” Thus, I have not mentioned the Superbowl to my friends and acquaintances who have another favorite team.)
In the interests of full disclosure, I admit to having been a nearly-rabid Cornhuskers fan when I lived in Nebraska. But how could I not, when they were winners in the day and everyone in our neighborhood sported team flags and other paraphernalia. While my son couldn’t be bothered, I usually repaired to the garden and listened to the games on a portable radio, cheering loudly after each touchdown. My cheers usually blended with those floating out the open windows of my neighbors until cold winter winds chased us all indoors to watch the game on TV with the sound muted, the better to hear our favorite radio guys calling the game.
Now I find we are going to the Superbowl, after a playoff game no one could have predicted. Perhaps that last 5-minute reprieve was the result of receipt of a late-Christmas present to me: a much-coveted Seahawks jersey with my favorite kicker’s number (4) on it. Hey Hauschie! Regardless of why they won or how much luck and prayers had to do with it, it was trilling to join others in that Woodinville lounge screaming our lungs out when we made it to the end of the game tied and then won in overtime.
You can bet I’ll be glued to the telly watching the Superbowl this year, too!
Go, Hawks!
