Dry Up Those Wet Blankets

Where I grew up (Southwestern Virginia), your Sunday agenda was always set. Church, followed by either football or NASCAR on TV, depending on what time of the year it was. I remember fondly sitting with my Dad and watching his heroes Paul Hornung and Johnny Unitas play.

Back in the days when I was a kid, long before cable, Dish, or Pay-Per-View offered all sorts of choices, each NFL team was assigned a certain region of the country for television coverage. Our team was the Pittsburgh Steelers. And what a great time that was to be a Steelers fan. It was the era of Gerela's Gorillas, the Steel Curtain, Franco's Italian Army, and four Super Bowl championships.

After college, I moved to the Washington, DC area right in the middle of the Redskins dynasty. I got the chance to attend many home games at RFK Stadium. What a venue that was! The fans were reminiscent of college football fans. That whole area lived and died by the Skins. The day after a loss, there was a palpable depression in the air. After a victory, especially a Super Bowl, there was a euphoria that united everyone, black or white, rich or poor, Democrat or Republican. I got the chance to participate in two Super Bowl victory parades, in 1988 and again in 1992.

After moving to the Northwest a decade ago, it's been a difficult sports adjustment for me at times. The Mariners, Sonics and Seahawks have all been very frustrating, flirting with success, but never able to seriously contend for a championship. I attended arguably two of the greatest Cougar games in history: the 1998 Rose Bowl and the 2002 overtime win against USC. But there have also been the disappointing seasons like the last couple of years.

But I can tolerate all that. It comes with the game. What I don't understand, however, is the type of person that the upcoming Super Bowl has put into the spotlight: Homo Seattlicus. Like this dope for example.

You know what I'm talking about. The uptight, killjoy, negative, self-important, gloomy, no sense of humor, elitist, arrogant, academic, tree hugging, preachy blowhards (yes, we have some examples of the species over here as well, fighting against the evils of "global capitalism")

My advice to all of them is: LIGHTEN UP!!!!!!!!!

And by the way GO HAWKS!!!!