Sunday, September 15, 2013

Sorry For Footballing

I'm not an inherently competitive person (unless we are talking motion practice, in that case, "I'm gonna to rip your case apart element by element with my freakin' bad ass motion and persuasive case law!"). For example, in football, when I see a player on the opposite team go down, my first reaction isn't "oh yeah!"... it's more like, "why isn't anyone asking if he is ok?!"

And I have this weird thing for underdogs. I ALWAYS have to root for the underdog. I think it's due to the fact that I've lived in the Seattle area pretty much my entire life. Let's face it, when it comes to sports, Seattle doesn't have the best track record. I mean, we can't even keep a basketball team. Seahawks: until recently were a joke. And the Mariners.... oh man. So, I guess my love for underdogs comes from the fact that I've been rooting for underdogs my entire life.

Anyway, I'm not a huge sports person. When I started dating my husband, he would invite me to watch football with his friends. I tolerated it, mostly enjoying the beer and pizza and secret footsie underneath the coffee (beer) table. Football was too confusing. Too much counting.

That all changed last year during pre-season football. The radio people began to talk about this rookie kid who was too small to be a quarterback. Everyone was incredulous when it was announced that this rookie would not only make the cut, but be the starting quarterback for the Seahawks. Everyone was doubtful. They thought the coach was taking crazy pills. That's when I knew I loved Russell Wilson.

The more people doubted him, the more I loved him. And as he proved himself game after game, everyone's mouth's dropped open. And I loved him even more. I took so much pride in him it was as if I was the one who discovered his talent. I loved how he blew everyone's expectations out of the water. Not to mention, he's pretty much the cutest little thing you've ever seen on an NFL field.

But there was one small problem. I still knew nothing about football. My love for him relied solely upon what the radio talk show hosts said about him. So...for Russell, I did something I had not been able to do in the seven years that I had been casually watching football with my husband: I learned football. I learned the Seahawks. And all that learning was rewarded. Russell killed it last year. He tied Payton Manning for the most touchdowns thrown by a rookie. He lead the Seahawks into the playoffs.

But, the final game last year against the Falcons was what really clinched my new love for football (Russell Wilson). The game was so riveting and so intense. The Seahawks made a huge comeback the second half (it was so crazy that I swore it could have been a movie) and then just barely lost by two points. That day, my fate as a football (Wilson) fan was sealed. I believed in him when no one else did. And he made me proud! (I'm totally naming my next kid Russell.)

And that brings us to today. The Seahawks just creamed the 49'ers tonight. And now I have a bigger problem. What am I going to do when the Hawks dominate football this year and are no longer the underdogs? Gulp.

Oops. This post was supposed to be about my trip with the kids to a local dairy farm. Guess I kind of got a teeeny bit off topic.

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