The Big Green House

Monday, October 13, 2003

 

Further adventures with testosterone and cheap beer

Through a series of events, circumstances, and coincidences that would be far too exhausting to attempt to relate to you here in any semblance of coherence, I went to see the Seahawks play the 49ers last night with the father of an ex-girlfriend. (And right up front I�m going to say thank you to Science Girl for refraining from throwing cutlery at my head when the idea was first floated. Ain�t she a good sport, ladies an� gennelmen? Give the li�l lady a big hand!)

The last time I saw the Seahawks play, it was not long after I�d moved here. They were playing at Husky Stadium because the tiles lining the roof of the Kingdome were falling off. The Hawks were soundly beaten by the Chargers, who I believe went on to win the Super Bowl that year. One of the nice things about Husky Stadium is that if the game stinks, you can look out over Lake Washington at the boats, puffy clouds, ducks, etc. That�s how I spent most of the fourth quarter of that game, as I recall. Since the game took place on a college campus, there were no beer sales on the premises. Let me repeat that: professional football with no beer.

Last night�s game was a little different.

Our seats were in the corner of the north end zone. (In the second picture here, we would have been in the right-hand side of the first deck, directly behind the end zone.) If I had to characterize the crowd, I�d have to say that it was decidedly working class.

Before anybody jumps down my throat, let me remind you that I consider myself to be decidedly working class, as well. I�ve spent a lot of my adult life working in places like warehouses and, um, other warehouses, with folks like those who were in attendance at the game. (Sorry, I didn�t get to see who was in the luxury boxes.) Some of the guys I�ve worked with over my checkered career have been fairly smart people, doing what they could to provide for their families. Some of them have been decent enough guys who just weren�t all that clever. Many, however, were what I�ve heard described as �willfully ignorant�. OK, I have described them that way myself. These guys think Tom Leykis is the pinnacle of erudite social commentary, they wish they were as �witty� as Howard Stern, and they�d vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger in a heartbeat � if they ever voted at all. The thing is, if you take the first two groups and liberally apply alcohol, you often end up with the third group. Not always, and not in every case, but often enough to make it noticeable, anyway.

And that�s who showed up last night: regular (almost entirely) guys who, through the magic of Coors Light, became raging belligerent assholes. Seriously. I expect the hometown fans to give the visitors a little good-natured shit, but this was pretty ugly. Seattle has a rep as a very polite town, and on the whole it is just that. So I was a little taken aback when the cretin in front of me began the old �San Francisco = faggot� routine before the first quarter was over. Maybe I just need to get out more.

I�d been a little conflicted as to which team I should root for; I�ve been in Seattle long enough to, as Science Girl put it, �go native�, yet I spent my formative years in the Bay Area. (That I spent them as a Raiders fan is not important. Raiders owner Al Davis finally pissed me off enough to drive me over to the Niners, which was somewhat akin to the local leader of the Knights of Columbus suddenly converting to Judaism.) Given the mood of those around me, I thought it would probably be easier all around if I went with the home team.

Anyway. The Hawks actually looked pretty good in the first half. The offense was very sharp, and the defense pretty well shut down the Niners completely. This was something of a shock. You have to remember that the last time I followed football with any kind of regularity, the 49ers ruled the universe and the Seahawks were everybody�s favorite doormat. Times change. The score at the half was 17-3 Seahawks.

After halftime, though, it was kinda like old times. It was as if the Hawks only had so many good plays in them & had used up the game�s quota in the first half, �cause boy they sure did suck in the second half. Poor execution, stupid penalties, etc. The Niners were only too happy to take advantage of the apparent collapse, pushing the score to 19-17. A missed point after touchdown, a fumble by Garrison Hearst, and a Seahawk field goal with three minutes and change left were all that saved this one for Seattle.

Oh, and Terrell Owens? Meh. He could just as easily have stayed home and gazed in adoration at the life-sized poster of himself tacked up on his bedroom wall for all the difference he made in this game. San Francisco should be grateful that this particular tumor will be a free agent & thus someone else�s problem next year.

bmarkey 10/13/2003 08:43:00 PM