My buddy Steve AKA LudwigsDrummer picks me up from the airport immediately after my plane lands. His timing was impeccable. I stick out like a sore thumb because I'm the only dude dumb enough to wear jeans and a hoodie in Phoenix. The Weather reports say it's 86 degrees out and for someone coming from New York City and Seattle, that's quite the difference. As I type this, it's 46 and blustery in Brooklyn. Man, do I miss Arizona already!
Now, I must say, I have been incredibly fortuitous on my travels so far. Not only have I been able to check out great, new places around the country, but I've met some incredible people along the way as well. Steve and his wife Jackie are two of them. These people took in a near stranger (Steve only having met me with the .Net crew in Houston before the Texans game), and fed me and gave me a bed to sleep on. Having slept at Sea-Tac already this season, and ready to one day have to do it again, you don't understand how much this means to me. Not only that, but there were Strawberry Margaritas and pre-victory cigars on deck as well! Are you kidding me?!
I experienced a taste of the good life, with great people to share it with. I one day hope to pay forward the kindness that was shown to me on this entire trip, starting back in Seattle. I honestly couldn't have done any of this without such amazing people. So thank you to everyone, I'll only try to repay the universe what has been paid to me. And that's that kindness and generosity do have a place in this world, it's not all terrible, no matter how it may seem when you see the people that do suck.
The title of this post is an ode to Steve's neighborhood. It looks like it's straight out of the show Breaking Bad, despite the show taking place in New Mexico. One of the things that amazed me about this game with the Cardinals was how cheap the tickets for the game were. I was able to purchase a ticket in Section 420, a pretty decent view actually, for $45. Turns out it's even cheaper if you look at the face value of the ticket, but you've got to expect people to make their money somehow. Still, at $56 with service charges and all, that's not bad for a nationally televised game. I spent $235 to get into the game against San Francisco in Week 2, so this was definitely a bit of a relief.
I thought I'd be able to sleep better the night before a game this time because the game was on a Thursday and not a Sunday. Maybe my body had become almost trained to Seahawks Sundays. That wasn't the case. My mind still drifted and I thought about all the scenarios, usually worst-case (I know, it's a bad habit that's starting to slowly die, unlike my nail-biting habit but that's another story for another time), and how the game was going to unfold. I was relatively confident about this one, about as confident as a Seahawks fan could be heading into a divisional road game on a short week. Still, I fought the demons and made it to next morning. Better known as gameday!
Steve tells me some awesome stories of Seahawks lore over a great breakfast for a weary traveler. His brother-in-law John joins us and I'm 100% positive that that man knows a hell of a lot more about the Seahawks now than he did two weeks ago. We're then joined by Steve's son's friends Tim and Jessica. They are huge Seahawks fans and seeing them decked out in full gameday attire no doubt got me hyped. Steve, Tim, and I get ready for the game with non-stop Seahawks talk. At one point, I was sent outside to retrieve them to come inside the house for some food... I never made it back. I failed my search and rescue mission. What can I say, I'm sorry. When there's good Seahawks talk I absolutely have to be involved or around it. Having been deprived of people to talk Seahawks with back home for so many years, I can't help it.
Off to the game we went, fully equipped with parking passes and a spot to tailgate with Jay, a friend of Steve's who's a huge (both literally and figuratively, dude is tall), Arizona Cardinals fan. Yes, they do exist. What's cool about Jay is that he and his buddies do tailgating right! I love their idea, they cook something from the opposing team's region that might be considered famous. On the menu for the night, Clam Chowder! I gotta say, Cardinals fans were pretty cool and didn't seem to mind hangin' out with some 12's. As more and more people began to show up, we started to notice something strange. There was a swarm of Seahawks fans headed towards us and it wasn't stopping! Everywhere we looked, Seahawks jerseys and 12 flags! It isn't until my buddy Jordan reminds me that UW is also in town playing Arizona State that any of this starts to make sense. I mean, there were strong showings in Charlotte, Houston, and Indy, but this was insane!
We head in to the stadium and after a quick tour, it was time to head to my seat up in the 400's. Steve, the lucky bastard, is sitting within spitting distance of the Seahawks bench. Not that he would ever do such a thing. As I get to my seat, I realize that while I'm technically there alone, I'm really not as I'm surrounded by 12's. There are a few Cards fans scattered around me, but the 12th Man is reppin' strong tonight. I think to myself if I've ever seen anything like this from the 'Hawks on the road and I can't come up with anything. Sitting directly in front of me are two Cardinals season ticket holders, from Budapest. Behind me, more season ticket holders, originally from LA. It is definitely true that Phoenix is a huge transient city as my buddy Jordan rightfully pointed out to me.
The game gets underway and right from the get-go you can tell that this game has a different feel to it. Tony McDaniel's sack on Carson Palmer kills anything resembling a Cardinals opening drive for a score and the Hawks eventually get the ball on offense. The offense's opening drive is a thing of beauty and is capped off by a vintage Russell Wilson moment. I feel like I'm watching Russell back in his college days as he rolls to his right and launches one deep for Sidney, who makes the solid catch for the TD. It's a thing of beauty.
The best part about that TD pass was the roar from the crowd immediately afterwards. It felt surreal. You just knew from that point on that the Seahawks were going to win this game and perhaps even dominate. Wait, what's that Marshawn?
The Seahawks continued to pour it on and soon most of the Cardinals fans were gone. The two sitting behind me were excellent sports and I had a great time talking football with them. They knew their stuff. Plus, they've been traveling the country checking out NCAA and NFL games, so they've definitely got my respect. The game was finally over and the Hawks had accomplished an impressive mission. 6-1 for the first time in team history, now it was time to celebrate such an occasion! As the game ended, there was a large commotion down by the field behind the Seahawks bench. When I looked to see what was going on, I could see that a large swarm of 12's were by the NFL Network stage, chanting and screaming in the direction of Michael Irvin, Steve Mariucci, and the rest of the crew. I tried to make my way down there, but stadium security decided to rain on my parade. Luckily, all of you that got to watch at home know what it was like, I don't have to tell you. If you somehow missed it, good thing everything is on the internet, so here you go...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5THVgAD2gXM
So with 6-1 in hand, the gang headed home. After an In-N-Out Burger and a few beers, it was time to get some rest. Steve, the champion of a person that he is, offered (regretfully, I'm sure) to drive me to the airport for my 5:45 AM flight. That meant being on the road at 3:30 AM. What a warrior! As luck would have it, I'm sitting next to another East Coast Seahawks fan, Robert from Pennsylvania, on the plane home. To make things even better, there's an empty seat in between us so we actually had some room on the plane! We talk Seahawks, Sounders, English Premier League, and life and before I knew it I was back home. Sort of. I was in Newark to be exact. I wouldn't get to go home just yet, as my flight landed at 2PM, giving me only 2 hours to get to work. Fear not, I made it in on time and I think the customers and my co-workers all knew that I was riding on the natural high of the Seahawks being 6-1, with legitimate championship aspirations.
I gotta say, I respect players and what they do so much more being on this qwest, errr quest. Sorry, it's another habit I have. Being at home this week was a nice change of pace from having to cram in work during the week and travel on the weekends. I was able to enjoy some rest and relaxation, hang out with my girlfriend and my friends, go out and do things, all while keeping my eye firmly focused on the prize. It was nice getting a bit of a breather but I'm definitely ready to hit the road again come Monday for the game in St. Louis. As luck would have it, there will be a World Series game in town as well. Sounds like a great time is waiting to be had. More importantly, you can almost taste 7-1, can't you?
