Husky Football From Another Perspective

As you may have noticed, lately the Good Guys have been trying to give you some other aspects on sports besides just numbers and speculation.  I think that emotion is what gets overlooked in the Seattle sport blogosphere more than anything and we’ve been delving into that a little more lately (all the while trying to throw some factual things out there).  This piece was written by my sister, Rachel Long, who also wrote the gymnastics post for us.  It gives us another side of Husky football that we usually don’t cover.  Enjoy!

I don’t really have a lot of business writing on a sports blog. My brothers are way more qualified than I am to tell you what you need to know about Seattle sports. I’m not Matthew with his intelligent way of looking at the world and sports and his great gift of writing them down in a way that makes you look at things in a new, beautiful way.  I’m not Andrew with his ever-growing knowledge of football and baseball and his insight into how things are and how they should be.  I’m just their sister.  Dragged along for the ride much of my childhood to sports games until I decided it would be better to join in then to fight. So I’m not here to provide any new information or to predict the weekends scores, I’m just here to give you a little glimpse of the world through my purple and gold tinted glasses…..

I was having a sad day. One of those lay in bed till the last-minute, not get excited about anything, just counting down the minutes till I can go back home and lay on my bed again days. Then I checked my Facebook and got a notification saying Andrew had written on my wall. Not expecting it to change my day, I clicked on it and it read “Hope you are wearing your purple!”

See it is a tradition with us that the week before Husky football starts we wear purple every day. Now, truthfully, I had forgotten this morning. In my haze of not wanting to start the day, it didn’t happen to cross my mind that in five short days I would be sitting watching the Huskies take the field. But I did have purple on. Maybe it was my subconscious reminding me, maybe it was a coincidence, maybe it was that on bad days my purple husky sweatshirt makes me feel better-whatever it was I was sitting at work fulfilling the tradition.   

Now, I know many husky fans but I don’t know a lot that are as intense about it as my family. I may have learned it from my Dad and brothers but now I’m right there with them.  I can’t name every single player of the Huskies like my brothers could, though I can name a lot.  I can’t tell you all the stats and the depth chart for every position and I can’t tell you every single recruit. But I love Husky Football.

I love the echo of barking across the stadium as the Dawgs run out of the tunnel. I love the lights illuminating the field during a night game. I love the feeling in my stomach when the huskies are driving to score for the win. But most of all, I love that Husky Football brings back the feeling that sometimes I have been missing lately- Hope.

Anything is possible on game days. Hope hangs in the air and as I walk into the game, I wonder what amazing moment might happen that I will talk about with my family years down the line. Every kickoff just might be the moment when we run it back to score.  The next play could be another Kasen Williams hurdle over the head of a defensive player.  It might be the day that we beat USC and rush the field finally
getting the feeling we had waited through empty years for. Something could happen that I never imagined.

Husky Football has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. Fall Saturdays are for Husky games, whether sitting at the stadium yelling at the field or sitting on the couch yelling at the TV. These Saturdays are not just about sport for me but about family. I feel connected to my dad, like we can share something and he can understand me. I get to see my brothers when usually the Cascade Mountains separate us. Every thrill of the game and every disappointment, I get to share with the people who I am closest to. And sharing this makes me feel even closer to them.

This Saturday will be a little different. We won’t be taking the bus across the bridge to Husky Stadium and we won’t be able to look back at the lake during the game. Captain Husky won’t be around to lead cheers in the third quarter and things might feel a little weird.  But, it will still be Husky football and that is enough.

Because for me, that four hours of Husky football is an escape from real life. With my brothers and Dad by my side, the huskies on the field, and Seattle in the back ground, life just feels perfect. It is rare for me to stop worrying and just be in the moment. However, from the moment I leave for the game to the final play, I am able to just be there. I can forget work, and home and all the things I have to do the next day. I can forget why I happened to be sad this week. I can remember that sometimes life is perfect and sometimes there is reason to keep hoping.

So, back to my sad day….. Honestly, it really didn’t get a lot better but something did change with Andrew’s facebook message. When I looked down at my purple sweatshirt I remembered what this Saturday brings. It brings Keith Price and his joy lighting up the field. It brings the Husky marching band and their crazy pregame rituals. It brings high fives with all the fans around me when the Huskies make a big play and it brings the ear-splitting barking by husky fans on a third down.  Mostly it brings a hope and a happiness that I forget how much I miss until that first Saturday of Husky Football. And that is enough to get me through this week.

Go Dawgs.

Rachel Long