Bronzed!

Over on the Ultimate Seahawks Fan blog, there was a contest to decide the top 5 Seahawks blogs on the internet- And this humble site came in a very respectable 3rd.

I want to thank all the readers out there who have supported this thing- From those who have been following along since I started back in January 2008, to new readers who might be here for the first time. I would still do this if no one was reading (I have to), but knowing that there are like-minded people out there who enjoy reading my stuff and (sometimes) agree with my point of view is unbelievably gratifying.

I started this blog mainly out of anger and frustration. I used to contribute regularly on a Seahawks message board, but was kicked off for what I thought was a trifling offense. Once I got over my hurt feelings... OK, I DIDN'T get over my hurt feelings- I just channeled them into "I'll show those fuckers! I'll start my own Seahawks blog!" Thus, Dave Krieg's Strike Beard was born.

I was very fortunate to catch the attention of John Morgan over at Field Gulls in the blog's early days. Morgan liked my stuff, prominently linked me on his much more popular blog, and even allowed me to contribute content on FG until he left for greener pastures.

This blog was born as an outlet for my Seahawks passion and for my desire to write regularly- Thankfully, from spending 28 years closely, obsessively following this team I've built up a reservoir of knowledge and experience that others have found useful and interesting. I'm 36 now, but I'm still that 11-year-old back in the Tri-Cities defending my Seahawks from schoolyard taunts and insults during recess. On a DEEP level, I take criticism of the Seahawks as PERSONAL criticism, so I have always venomously attacked those who attack the Seahawks. This blog is an extension of that impulse- I am fortunate to be intelligent and knowledgeable enough to skillfully destroy your typical knee-jerk Seahawk hater, and that is something I never tire of doing.

Just this past week a student of mine went "PFFT" when he realized I liked the Seahawks. I asked him why he reacted like that, and replied "because they're terrible." I asked him what team HE liked and he said "Cowboys."

Then I LAUNCHED into this exaggerated, childish pantomime of Tony Romo dropping the snap in the 2006 Wild Card game, which made him reply "that kinda pisses me off." I simply said "well, it kinda pisses me off when you tell me my team is terrible."

Professional? Um, no. But THAT'S how much I love this team.

I see my role in the Twelve Army as part Seahawks Historian, part Seahawks Propagandist. That has a negative connotation (for obvious reasons), but in this context I think it's something we need- I won't just make shit up about the Seahawks, but I will take all the information available and give it the biggest pro-Seattle spin I possibly can. We are the fans of a team consistently treated with neglect, ignorance and hostility by outsiders- We also have to deal with having a cancerous fifth column of negative, defeatist, cynical "fans" in our midst. So yeah, I feel like part of my job is boosting the morale of the Twelve Army to something above a suicidal level.

The great thing now is that we have this vibrant, healthy, growing community of Seahawks bloggers- They're ALL over there in the blog roll, but I want to give special recognition to Hawkblogger, Field Gulls, and Seahawks Draft Blog. Those are the ones I read most frequently, and worry the most about differentiating myself from. In addition to the all blogs, we also have such a great horde of Seahawks fans on twitter- That has really enhanced MY experience as a Seahawks blogger and fan more than anything over the last year or so.

I'm going to keep doing this indefinitely- It's turned out to be a big enhancement to MY overall experience as a Seahawks fan, and I hope some of y'all feel the same way about this little blog. Thank you for reading, and spread the word.

What do you think, sirs?