Back off girls, he's all mine!

Seahawk Blue Day
Would you purchase
an IRA from this man?
You would if you lived
in Seattle!

This is how my husband dressed for work today. Mike is a financial advisor, and being that it's a rather conservative industry, he generally dresses in a shirt and tie. His new company is a bit more casual, but a sport coat and dress pants are still the norm.

Tomorrow the Seahawks play their first playoff game. As today is Seahawk Blue Day, well, you can figure the rest out for yourself.

Mike is a huge sports fan. Not in a paint-your-face-wife-get-me-a beer-while-I watch-ESPN-on-my-300"-tv-all-weekend kind of way. But he has a true love of sports. And more specifically, a true love of Seattle sports. Mike has quietly collected every Sonic basketball card from 1977 to 1998. Mike still has his 25 year old Mariners baseball hat, that he use to wear on a daily basis when we met in college (he had to wear it every day because he was always late for work at his 8:00 print-shop job, 3 minutes from his dorm room). Mike was a Mariners fan when no one was a Mariners fan. Mike was going to the games when he was getting in for free. Literally.

In 1995 the Seattle Mariners made it to the playoffs for the first time in Mariners history. There was a one game showdown between us and the California Angels to see who got the last playoff spot. Mike took the day off work and went with his friend Steve to that game. When the Mariners won, Mike cried. Mike did not cry on our wedding day. Mike did not cry when our kids were born. But he cried when the Mariners clinched a playoff spot for the first time ever. And he carried that ticket in his wallet for years. He had no pictures of me in his wallet, but he carried that ticket. He and Steve then, somehow, bought Mariner playoff tickets and he attended every game. He went to a game on my birthday. And he went with my blessing because I knew that for him, this wasn't just hype. He is not a fair-weathered fan. Mike had truly been waiting for that moment since 1977 when he was 9 years old and the Mariners played their first game in Seattle.

Mike reads the sports page daily. He doesn't just read the fluff stories. He reads the stats. He knows the players. He keeps track from season to season. He watches the drafts. And he has strong opinions about issues that he has been following his entire life. He believes Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame. As well as Barry Bonds. Not because he loves gambling and steroids but because he believes these players have truly earned their spots, and my quiet unassuming husband can very passionately convince you of his arguement.

Two years ago a friend generously gave us tickets to the Seahawk playoff games. During the first game it rained. It poured. We sat in the freezing cold rain for 3 hours in the exposed end zone trying to eat our lunch before it washed away and Mike loved every single solitary second of it. Somehow I ended up with beer in my hood and peanut shells on the inside of my sweatshirt (and I didn't eat any peanuts) and my jeans were dripping wet, but I loved it because, again, I knew how much it meant to Mike to be there. It wasn't just that he was experiencing history. He was experiencing his history.

And that is why my husband is dressed like Norm from Cheers today.