Happy unofficial start of summer! In other news, I HATE summer.
Sure, there are things I like about summer... going to see big, dumb, summer blockbusters in air conditioned movie theaters, watching baseball in my air-conditioned house, etc. But willingly going outside, and exposing myself to insects, sunburns and becoming a sweaty, uncomfortable blob of discomfort? No thank you.
I know most of you are in the Seattle area, where summer is more temperate and pleasant. Me? I grew up in the Tri-Cities, which meant enduring 3 Tatooine-esque months a year... Then I moved to the midwest after college, which was like buying a time-share inside of a fucking ceramics kiln. If I am doing anything outside besides moving from one air-conditioned building to another, I slather myself in near-toxic levels of deet and SPF 150 sunscreen.
Thankfully, the Seattle Seahawks aren't spectacular wusses like me. For a big chunk of their history, they held training camp in the desolate outpost of Cheney. Inaugural Head Coach Jack Patera famously (and stupidly) withheld access to water from the players on 100-degree days back in the 1970s, just to show that he was some kind of hard-ass. Thankfully nobody went Korey Stringer, and sanity prevailed in the 1980s when training camp was moved to team headquarters in Kirkland. Needing Eastern Washington votes for a new stadium, camp was moved back to Cheney in 1997.
This made it possible for me to watch training camp in person twice, in 1998 and again in 2006. Both trips were fun, but I'm glad it'll be in Renton from now on.
Summer's greatest sin is its lack of NFL football. Yes, we will have training camp and preseason games, but those are merely reminders that the game is meant to be played when the leaves have turned and the air is crisp... Few things seem weirder to me than football games played in sweltering, you-can-see-the-heat-in-the-air conditions. Plus, if anything noteworthy related to the Seahawks happens in the summer, it's almost always bad news (injuries, holdouts), or meaningless news (oooh! That ___________ sure looks good in these preseason games that don't count!)...
So I will spend the next three months cowering inside, with the possible exception of a trip to camp in Renton when I am out visiting Seattle for a friend's wedding in August. Each sunset will bring us closer to that inevitable and glorious beating of the 49ers on September 12... hopefully on an unseasonably cool and cloudy day, since I'll be there.
What do you think, sirs? Check out my home blog too: Dave Krieg's Strike Beard