I grew up in Southern California, near the desert. It was hot and dry and brown in my home town. I hated it. I liked cold and wet and green. My dream home was Seattle. I loved visiting the city as a kid, and I wanted my parents to move us there. Well, that didn't happen, so I did the next best thing and became a Seattle Seahawks fan.
Now, this was 1976, the Hawks' expansion year. I was eight years old. I had just been introduced to sports by my dad. He had played football in high school, and he was thrilled that I wanted to watch sports with him (no one else in the family ever would). So when I became a Seahawks fan, he became a Seahawks fan, too. This was a pretty miserable team that first year; they won only twice (once to the other expansion team Tampa Bay and once to Atlanta). But they had two future stars on that team--quarterback Jim Zorn and wide receiver (and future hall of famer) Steve Largent.
Over the next decade, these two and the other members of the Seahawks would have plenty of downs but also a lot of ups. They had a winning record in only their third season, going 9-7. That season was special for me because I got to see a Seahawks game in person when the team played in San Diego. My dad and I drove down there and had a great time. I even got to insult the drunken Charger fans sitting right behind us (with their gigantic tubs of beer). Seattle lost that game and didn't make the playoffs, but it was a special memory all the same. It's the only pro football game I've ever attended, actually.
The Seahawks would make the playoffs in the early-'80s, when I was in high school. I remember the 1983 season well, when the Seahawks made it all the way to the AFC championship game. I was so excited and nervous before that game that I could hardly sleep. The game was in Los Angeles, and I remember that it was special because the game was a sellout, meaning I'd be able to watch it on local TV (most Raider games were not sellouts, so no local TV coverage). However, the Seahawks and then-quarterback David Krieg (along with rookie of the year Curt Warner) were overmatched and lost big, 30-14. I was so depressed after that game that I actually got sick and stayed home from school for a week.
Article comments
1 - Temple Stark
"Sadly, my dad could only make it through 29 of those years. He died last February, just missing out on the greatest season in Seahawks history"
A chill moment there.
A fellow Seahawks fan. Fellow long-time fan i should add. There have been painful moments. I was up touring around Qwest Field taking pictures around Christmas, just thinking "this is where it's been happening."
I've live-blogged the last two games at my site. even though I said I wasn't going to do it this time. But the win was so "shut-the-critics-up" dominant that I could do it without having to be stressed out of my mind.
I'm typing, with the Seahawks cap on my computer monitor at work.
Two weeks of critics eating crow. Gotta love it.
2 - Lyz
I'm glad your team is going to the super bowl. It's nice to see hard work pay off. But I'm not going to lie it will be one of the most boring super bowl's ever. All the Steelers will do is run the ball for the last half of the game.
Short and boring. Let's hope we get another Janet Jackson or else I will have eaten my weight in buffalo wings for naught.
3 - M.D. Sandwasher
Michael,
Definitely the best article I've read in a long long time. You honesty had me fighting back tears. As a Browns fan, I can only hope to one day feel the joy that you're feeling today. I'll be rooting for you and your dad Feb. 5th.
4 - zingzing
temple/michael--i live about 3 blocks away from qwest in pioneer square. it's been so damn loud during the games these past couple of weeks that you could hear the roar quite clearly several blocks north of my apartment... even in my apartment, with the tv blaring, the fridge "humming" and the waterfall outside my apartment falling, it was still ridiculous. go hawks.
5 - zingzing
just bought lunch... the lady who made me sandwich lives in redmond, some 17 miles away from the stadium. she said she could hear the crowd as well... which is either a lie, or a fantastic reality.
6 - Temple Stark
That's got to be another Redmond lie.
You live right near there in Pioner Square. fighting off the pigeon infestation? Very nifty. Pick up a Seattle Times for me today wouldja? My mom has the PI angle covered (they subscribe to that.)
Thanks. Temple., writer @ templestark.com
7 - chancelucky
when the White Sox won this year, I kept thinking about the Harold Baines, Bill Melton, Gary Peters, Pete Wards, Ken Berry's who had come before. Yesterday, I was also remembering the Jim Zorns, Kenny Easleys, Brian Bosworths :}
thanks for the reminder of how sports memories are tied so closely to memories of our dads for so many of us.
8 - The Theory
"But I'm not going to lie it will be one of the most boring super bowl's ever. All the Steelers will do is run the ball for the last half of the game."
Only if your concept of "good" is a lot of passing...
9 - Bennett
First, the Steelers came out passing, and showed a hell of a lot more that "just a running game". I think this has the potential to be the best Super Bowl in years, especially for those of who don't have a favorite in the game.
Second... ZingZing! Pioneer Square? Is there still a small oriental eatery on the northwest corner of the park? A place where one can order "Chicken Don"???
Oh the hundreds of times I walked there from my job in one of the offices on King Street, "extra chicken please!"
Good memories of one of the finest cities on earth!
I lived halfway up Queen Anne Hill, and biked to work, and home via Pike Place Market. Best food in the world.
10 - Bennett
And Michael, great writing. This post was a pleasure to read. Thank you!
11 - zingzing
bennett--there are 100 small asian eateries in pioneer square... i'm sure there is one there. or it could have closed, because there are 99 others to choose from. i am so sick of teryiaki. or however you spell it. ugh.
queen anne is a beautiful neighborhood. love it. seattle is definitely the most beautiful city i have ever lived in. i'd be hard pressed to name an american city that comes close to it.
i can imagine biking from q.a. to king street... but biking back? god, you must have had legs made out of steel.
12 - Scott Butki
Mike: Great writing. I knew you were a big Seattle fan but didn't realize you stayed home from school over it.
I was just reading the editor's picks for the week and did a doubletake when I saw your name.
13 - Scott Butki
Mike, read the
compliments on your piece here
As I read your piece I couldn't help thinking about my own late father and how we too bonded through football.
As you know I don't follow sports but when his
Univ of Michigan Wolverines went to the Rose Bowl we'd go and I'd be so excited to be there and seeing the joy on his face.
14 - Bennett
zingzing,
Biking back home in the rain hardened me. I do admit that there was a time or two when I rode along under the freeway until I got to the elevator that took me all the way up to Pike Place Market. Five floors of straight up with the bike, then a bit of shopping before the last grueling blocks. I was about halfway up QA hill. Great view of the city, the needle, and Mt Rainier on a clear day.
2 wonderful years of my life.
Salut!
Oh, you know what's really sad? They don't have Dungeness Crab on the East Coast.
15 - Scott Butki
Mike, I cheered for Seattle because of this column.
Alas...