Becoming the 12th Man
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| Corey striking a pose. Only 94 steps to go! |
As I sat there trying to absorb it all, I came to a realization. I was really enjoying this! It was Sunday and alongside the massive fanfare, build-up, and hoopla expected of such events I found myself fully engaged in what might be considered the greatest spectacle of the American cultural experience. That’s right we were at a professional football game. Go Seahawks!
I might be considered a strange lass in the fact that, although I played sports including a little football in my high school days I never got into following any college or pro sports after that in any way. Playing sports is fun. Watching sports on T.V.…meh.
We don’t have cable, dish, or direct T.V. at home and haven’t for years but even when we did I never found sports interesting enough to follow. I always ended up flipping to some cooking show or the history channel much to the chagrin of my family. I’m kind of an anti-T.V. guy now. I find it to be an incredible time-suck. Without crawling too high on my box of soap I feel that life is too short to be spent on a couch absorbing and observing other people’s creativity and work in lieu of making my own. I am reminded of Pink Floyd’s timeless lyric “52 channels of shit on the T.V. to choose from…to choose from….to choose from.” I know....strange lass.
Although for me T.V. is out, one would have to be dead or in a coma to not be aware of the degree to which pro sports has embedded itself into the very fibers of the collective American psyche. Sometimes I am amazed at how pro football, in-particular dominates the news feeds all year long, even in the off season. You can’t escape it. Many of the my friends and family are devout football fans and some are even fantasy football gurus as well. As an observer from the outside of this“football mania” I realize that I can’t identify with it much but I can appreciate it for what it is. Football makes a lot of people happy. Football is entertainment.
69,000 people packed Century Link field on this fine Sunday afternoon including my kids Corey, Hazelee and my wife Tamra. My lovely and kind hearted wife was the chief facilitator of this whole vacation including the Seahawks tickets. Although only five rows of seats were higher than us we couldn’t have be happier or more engaged. I was surprised how well we could see the game from so high up.
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| My lovely wife |
As it turned out the Seahawks handily dispatched the Cleveland Browns much to the dismay of the the few and proud dog pound members (Brown’s fans) in attendance. One of them was seated next to Corey and was wearing a full Brown’s superhero suit including a cape. Each time they scored a touchdown (once) he would throw fake 1 dollar bills into the air with his right hand and hold up real twenties with his left. I think he left with a lot of money in his pockets.
Truth-be-told it was an amazing spectacle to behold: the deafening roar of the crowd (12th man), the multiple jumbo-tron screens, the amazingly talented blue thunder band, the beautiful cheerleaders in their little Santa outfits, the incredible food and beer…and yes the talented professional athletes putting it all on the line made for a memory not soon forgotten. Great entertainment. Nothing on T.V. could possibly be this good.
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| On the train going to the game |
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| Century Link |
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| Pre-game hair coloring |
