Live your theology.

Ugh! What a bad few days it has been! Well, as far as trivial things that don’t really matter all that much goes.

1. Chris Snelling is traded.
2. The Seahawks get blown out at home by the 49ers. This season feels soo much like the Kitna years its not even funny. I forgot how much I disliked the feeling of football mediocrity.
3. A wind storm cracks my window & blows out my backyard fence (the one that shares space with the street).

Yeah, silly things to get worked up about in the big scheme of things – but enough to make me a little bit more gloomy than normal. I’ll come around though. Except on the whole Snelling thing.

Here are some random things I thought or experienced while watching the Seahawks squash the Raiders.

• The atmosphere at Qwest field is absolutely electric. The closer you get to the stadium, the more intense it gets. Fans start chants outside that continue in doors. You get a feel for the energy from watching on TV, but it’s much more intense when you’re there.
• If you watched the game on TV you might have seen the big, buff, green incredible Sea-Hulk. He sat the row in front of us and was a nice guy. ESPN had him stay close to field level during the first quarter to give him some camera time, but he finished watching the game from the top row with the rest of us for the end.
• Raiders fans, in general, are somewhat smelly and vulgar. And in denial about how horrible their team is.
• I can’t imagine how horrible traffic must be downtown when the M’s & Seahawks or Sonics & Seahawks are playing around the same time.
• It’s been a while since I’ve been immersed in such a large crowd of people – it made me think of just how many people are lost in the world.

• Non game-related lowlight of the game: When some liquored up Seahawks fan thought it would be a good idea to taunt some 12 year old Raiders fans sitting in the row behind him instead of the adult Raider fans sitting about. Brave guy & a jerk.
• Non game-related highlight of the game: When the season ticket holders sitting left of my brother let him have it & got him to clam up for the rest of the night.
• My ears were ringing when I left the game – it’s much louder in person.
• I tried to catch a glimpse of my friend Pat whenever Blue Thunder (the Seahawks percussion band) was on the big screen, but I didn’t make him out. Also, the cymbals sounded off-beat thanks to the time it took the noise to travel up to our seats. That’s the benefit of paying the big bucks for lower level seating – you can hear Blue Thunder better.
• Safeco Field was open for people to go in and buy some adult beverages before the start of the game. They had their sound system going and it was playing that Mariner highlight music interspersed with Dave Niehaus calling various M’s highlights. I found myself wanting to attend a baseball game instead of the football game, but I didn’t say anything out of fear of being stoned to death.
• Watching Jerramy Stevens drop that touchdown reminded me of the travesty that was Super Bowl XL, which in turn reminded me of various flu-like symptoms.

I had a good time. Thanks to my brother for bringing me a long. I also want to relate a fun story my wife Jenn told me on my return home. Caleb, my 2 year old son, was asking where I was (I went to the game straight from work). My wife told him that I was at the football game and turned it on. Caleb would point out various players and insist that it was me playing. Jenn let him know that I was only watching the game, but each time someone would run with the ball, Caleb would look at them and re-decide that they looked just like me and point ‘me’ out to his Mom. Fun times.

As promised, here is part two of my look at the MLB Divisional Playoffs.

YANKEES V. TIGERS

Rooting For: I’m not really rooting for the Tigers, I just don’t want the Yankees to win. However, game one starter Nate Robertson sports glasses just like Rivers Cuomo from Weezer. And sure enough, “there was the pitch, slow and straight, and all the Yanks had to do was swing and become heroes.” The Tigers don’t excite me much. I’ll stop writing about them now.

Rooting Against: The Yankees. There are so many reasons to do so. There’s the whole “a little more Evil than the Boston Redsox Empire” thing. Then there’s the A-Rod. Mostly, it’s because of one of the many baseball grudges I hold. I have a rule that whenever a team eliminates the Mariners from the post season that team is banned & hated for 5 years. I couldn’t stomach the Indians until 2000, and the Orioles were loathed until 2002. The Yankees knocked the M’s out of the playoffs in 2001, which would normally mean forgiveness going into the 2007 season. However, they were only a year into the ban they suffered for killing the M’s in 2000. That previous sentence doesn’t just erase itself. Therefore, the B-Bombers are on the outs until 2011. Obviously, Steinbrenner is devastated.

Rooting Against Exceptions: Chien-Ming Wang. First he’s from Taiwan, just like many of my favorite Star Wars action figures. Second, even though his name is pronounced ‘Wong’ I like to yell at him like Wang from Caddyshack. It makes watching a Yankees game so much more fun if you pretend Joe Torre sounds like Rodney Dangerfield: “Hey, Wang! Throw a strike!” Or after he wins you can pretend that Jorge Posada is saying “Way to pitch, Wang. Now I know why Tigers eat their young.” You get the idea.

Fantasy Spin You Don’t Care About: Only three Yankees were on the squad this year – Mike Mussina and Wang. Robinson Cano filled in at the end of the year, so he’ll get a ring for winning the fantasy world series too, but he wasn’t part of the core team. I only employed one Tiger with any regularity – Chris Shelton. He started off hot and then was dumped to AAA. Everyone was too smart to overpay for him in a trade. Maybe next year.

DODGERS V. METS

Rooting For: Generally there is always one series that I’m entirely apathetic towards. This is it. I like a lot of the players on both teams but no one enough to warrant pulling for exclusively. My brother’s favorite NL team is the Mets, so I may as well root for them on his behalf. If the Dodgers win, I won’t be crying. I probably wont’ cry no matter who wins throughout the playoffs but you never know.

Rooting Against: Another subway series. That doesn’t mean that the Mets have to lose (unless the Yankees advance all the way to the World Series – which is impossible since I told you yesterday that the Twins were winning it all).

Fantasy Spin You Don’t Care About: My team, Talkin’ Softball proudly employed Jose Reyes before he was cut after the Miguel Tejada trade and Nomar, but only while he was on his hitting streak. Here is the team photo:

It was close and it took several months, but the Seahawks finally got a win over at Ford Field. I’m psyched about the start of the Football season. I suppose I have to stop complaining about the travesty that was Super Bowl XL. Very well, I’ll speak no more of the horrible officiating, Ben Roethlisberger’s terrible QB rating (22.6!), and let’s not forget Matt getting flagged for blocking below the waist while trying to make a legal tackle. Ugh! I’m getting frustrated. Here’s my parting shot:

I’ve been running a mile each day to stay (get back in?) shape. My average time has been about 11 minutes, so maybe I should say I’ve been jogging a mile instead of running one. Anyhow, I don’t run on Sundays so I had a day of rest leading up to yesterday’s run. I had a bunch of energy and burned through the (very slight) hill that leads up to the half mile mark. I was able to keep that pace going through the run. Once I hit 3/4 of a mile I looked at my watch & saw that it had been about eight minutes. I had to sprint most of the last quarter mile but I finished at exactly 9 minutes.

A lot of people exercise for the health benefits it brings. Not me. I’m now one step closer to my goal of wearing shorts like the ones featured in the 1987 Slam Dunk Contest. Such would be my ultimate reward.