I knew it
when I married him. He'd grown up in NH, so naturally he had a lifetime
membership in the Patriots Fan Club. I've always been a Seahawks fan. I've
never lived in Seattle, which makes it more interesting.
I picked them to be
'my team' when I was a teen, growing up in Missouri. I liked their uniforms.
Through the years I fell in love with their heart. I loved being a 12 who was
representing my team in the no mans land that is every state outside of Washington. I'm pretty thrilled that after all these years, they still have the coolest uniforms in the NFL.
Hubby and I made our opposite team loyalties work. We enjoyed our football Sundays. He did his best to catch
his Patriots, and I was giddy when my local television station would play a
random Seahawks game. We lived all over the United States, in the 25 years that
we've been married, and in no state was my team a priority. For our years in
New England, his team seemed to belong
to every state on the east coast. I was jealous.
We never had issues concerning our opposing teams because the Seahawks rarely, if
ever, played the Patriots. His team would have their runs of successes. Many playoff
games and Super Bowls. While my team struggled to figure out who we were. I
cheered for them anyway.
In our
frequent moves, we happened to move to the mountains of Colorado in 2011. We
were geographically closer to my team than we had been back in New York, but I
knew there was still no chance my games would ever qualify for 'regional
interest'. It was all about the Broncos, all the time.
Two years
later I got a new prosthetic leg - a Seahawks leg. Yes, I'm such a crazy 12
that I chose to have our logo plastered all over my artificial limb. I wanted
to take every step with my team.
You know
what happens next.
After thirty years of rooting for my Seahawks, it was
finally our turn. But the team we were facing was the one I had just landed in.
I lived in the beehive of fandom that is the Broncos. My Seahawks leg was not
welcome here. My go to line was, "Hey, I've been a Seahawks fan for over
30 years. No one cared until this year!"
After the thrashing
that was last year's Super Bowl, I tried to lay low for a bit, out of respect for
my heartbroken neighbors. I cheered on my own, in the privacy of my own home,
and clung to fan groups online.
Then came
another record breaking season. And, after much angst (and maybe just a few
voodoo trances flung toward the television) the Broncos fell out of the
running. Surrounded by my crestfallen neighbors in Orange, I literally breathed
a sigh of relief that Sunday.
Then came
the final games. I knew in my head, by studying the tables, that it was a
possibility, but until it got as close as a single game, I couldn't let myself
go there. There was no way hubby's lifetime team would face my lifetime team in
a Super Bowl. It just couldn't be.
Now here we
are. We celebrated that quarter century anniversary just three months ago.
We've had our ups and downs through the years, and we've made it this far with
plenty of days that still put smiles on our faces. But this game is coming up.
This game.
Our son,
seeing what the match up would be, his mom's team against his dad's, and
knowing we'd just had a milestone anniversary, texted us from his home in Kentucky.
"Well, at least you had a good run."
The hubby is
wisely traveling out of state this week for work. He's left me to obsess on the
fan pages, wear my blue and green gear (and leg!) every day, and just generally
be obnoxious as I celebrate my team. A team that is thrilled beyond words to be
playing in back to back Super Bowls.
Before we
know it, Sunday will be here. All the years of following our two teams,
supporting each other when teams would struggle, and rejoicing together when
teams did well, this day will come. After the wonderful naive years of being
able to claim our spouse's team as our own, we are on the opposite sides of the
field now.
Hubby will
be back in town Friday. On Saturday we'll go get our Super Bowl food supplies,
walking past the Broncos merchandise on clearance. Most likely we won't even
mention the game. There will be too much anticipation in the air, leaving no space
for words.
We'll get
out of bed Sunday. I'll click on this Hawks covered leg and don my favorite
Hawks shirt. He'll pretend he's not nervous. The perfect poker face. He'll take
his spot on the couch and I'll take mine.
And then we'll see what happens.
