Fuzzy Seahawks Memories: Seahawks 31, Rams 16 (11/13/2005)

Y'all remember this game, I'm sure. Shaun ran wild in the cold November rain and the Rams were rightly fustigated. But for me, just seeing the game involved some serious drama.

In the academic racket, you gotta go where the jobs are, and a lot of those jobs are in places you don't really want to be. I mean who WANTS to settle in a tiny town hours from the nearest Target store voluntarily? Coming out of grad school, beggars can't be choosy though. You're lucky to get INTERVIEWS, let alone jobs, so you jump at any potential offer of gainful employment.

I snagged an interview at a school in the "Witness Protection" region of Nebraska, and while my pregnant wife wasn't very psyched about the idea, it beat getting a job at Nationwide Insurance. One big problem: they wanted me to fly in on a Sunday. During football season. Fuck.

I'm not a complete peanuthead... I wasn't about to turn down the interview. But there was no gorram way I was going to miss a Seahawks game, particularly one against the Rams. I made sure that I booked the earliest flight possible on Sunday. I pored over gribblenation's NFL TV coverage maps. I called the TV station in the town I was headed for to make sure they would be airing the Seahawks game. I got a couple of my friends to text me updates on my cell phone until I got in front of a TV, and I packed my Beck jersey.

When we got to the hotel, I told my handlers that I needed to "unwind after that flight." They told me to meet them in the lobby at 6 pm local time for dinner, so I turned the game on just as the Hawks snuffed STL's harebrained fake FG attempt.

I paced around that room for two hours, enduring a late comeback spasm by the Rams and nervously watching the clock... Imagine a guy in a shirt and tie, dress pants, dress shoes, with a Hasselbeck jersey on top of that... My plan was to strip off the jersey and head to dinner as soon as victory was assured, and jusssst in time SA galloped for six to lock down the win.

In a VERY good mood, I might have had one beer too many at dinner that night... and the next day during the interview, I probably blew it when I described my classroom style as "talk show host." The happy ending is that I'm not exiled to the forbidden zone of Nebraska, furthest from the bright center of the galaxy... and the Seahawks won. :-]