The stupid thing is, I don’t even LIKE football. I’ve never been able to understand how any mom or dad could sit and watch their beloved kid getting mashed like that. They must be tougher than me.

And pro sports? Meh. Occasionally the supreme grace of the athletes or the adrenalin of a close game can cause me to forget my cynicism about the whole nasty nexus of money and steroids and over-hyped, under-educated teenagers that forms the base of the pro sports pyramid…but only occasionally.

So how can I be so damn proud of the Seattle Seahawks?

[IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE here for those who know me well enough to be asking  at this point, “Hold up–she’s a complete Carolina Tarheels nut. Where does she get off complaining about the ‘nasty nexus’ of anything sports-related?”

My response: No comment. But it’s the Tarheels–they’re different. If God is not a Tarheel, why’s the sky Carolina Blue? I do see your point. Collegiate basketball fans, like, well, any fans, are not rational beings. Now may I continue?]

As I was saying: I’ve never cared for football, I’ve never cared for pro sports, therefore I’ve REALLY never cared for the NFL. But this weekend’s matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and the watchamacallems, the San Francisco Gold Diggers, has me quite excited.

My raised pulse has nothing to do with football. OK, it has a little to do with football. I’d like to eat Marshawn Lynch’s arms for lunch. (Actually just one arm would do fine. For me and about a dozen of my girlfriends. Have you SEEN his arms??)

(orig. image courtesy fansided.com)

Really, though, I’m just excited for the city. Seattle is not a sports town, historically. It’s not really an anything town, historically, unless you want to go way back to 1919 and the International Workers of the World (only successful General Strike in US history! Go Wobblies!) Yeah, it’s famous for grunge, and expensive coffee, and more recently, public pot-smoking. But those interests leave a lot of folks out in the rain. (Ooh! Seattle weather pun!) Nothing brings together folks from ALL walks of life better than a winning sports team.

That folks-coming-together part? THAT I like.

I love seeing Facebook pics of northwestern friends, far from home, still gamely decked out in Seahawks blue and green.

I love all the media chatter about which city is better, Seattle or San Francisco.

(Orig. image courtesy city-data.com)

I love chatting with people in the market about Seattle’s killer defense.

I love reading that Seahawks fans are the loudest in the world.

I love seeing other folks’ eyes light up when I mention Marshawn Lynch’s arms…or the rest of him, for that matter.

So call me a fair-weather fan if you want. When it comes to football, I fully admit that’s true, despite the lack of any fair weather in last weekend’s victory over the Saints.

But when it comes to bringing people together? I’m ALWAYS a fan of that.

How about you? If you’re a fan, is the civic pride aspect of your fanaticism important to you? If you’re not…how DO you put up with the rest of us?