I’m a nervous wreck.
View from the ‘Hawks Nest. Photo by coreanscribe.
My Seahawks are in the Super Bowl this Sunday for only the second time in their 38-year franchise history and I’m having a tough time dealing with the stress that comes with success.
I’m trying to enjoy it as much as I can. I really am, but I’m not used to all this winning.
The truth is I’ve enjoyed following this team this season; who knew winning could be so much fun (and stressful)?
I thought things really climaxed a few weeks ago when the ‘Hawks beat the New Orleans Saints, earning the right to host the NFC Championship Game. But, then, I got a phone call that even made this incredible season even more spectacular: I was offered a ticket to attend the game. Holy catfish! Chad, one of my best friends who lives in the Great Pacific Northwest, is a season ticket holder — in the ‘Hawks Nest — and saved a seat for (lucky) me.
The problem was I already committed to plans with my wife to spend the weekend in San Diego. Not a bad plan usually, but when your team is playing in the conference championship game, it’s not great. D’oh!
But, y’know what? My wife is wonderful. She understood how important this team and this season meant to me. So, she let me out of our plans and gave me her blessing to go north for the weekend.
I took one of the first flights out that weekend and went home to the NFC Championship Game that featured a tense, hard-hitting grudge-match against division rival San Francisco 49ers.
The walk up to CenturyLink Field Stadium. Video by coreanscribe.
It was the greatest sporting event I’ve ever attended. In the final seconds, with victory — and a Super Bowl berth — in the balance, cornerback Richard Sherman tipped the ball away for a Seahawks interception, sealing the Seahawks win and a trip to the league’s championship game. Sherman sent all of us in the ‘Hawks Nest into a state of euphoria; we went bonkers. We were all screaming, jumping for joy and hugging strangers and old men who smelled like beer. It was glorious. Thank you 12s for an experience I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
The 12s in the ‘Hawks Nest go bananas. Video by coreanscribe.
So, we’re now just a couple days away from the Big Game: Seattle versus Denver.
Nervous time. For real.
Go ‘Hawks!