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Two weeks ago I wrote a post concerning the Seahawks NFC Championship win and how much I love our team in general. Last night I watched the Super Bowl game with as much anticipation and excitement as any Seahawks fan. I was decked out in my team apparel, and I was excited to be a “12.” I was a dedicated 12 yesterday, and today I still am!
Once again it wasn’t our very best game. Both teams brought skill, spirit, and strength to the game. Both were also lucky at times. We had to really fight to gain ground against the Patriots, but, as we often do, we took the lead in the second half. Then, with only seconds remaining on the clock and within three yards of the goal line, Super Bowl victory seemed within our grasp. In that moment a decision had to be made whether to pass the ball and hope it reached its intended receiver or whether to hand off the ball and hope Marshawn Lynch successfully carried it across the goal line.
I think everyone watching the game expected we would go “Beast Mode” and give Lynch the opportunity to carry the ball across the line. I know I did. I am sure I was as shocked and surprised as everyone else when we chose to pass the ball and the pass was intercepted. It’s hard to go from Super Bowl Champions to second place in the blink of an eye like that, and yet it happens. No matter what we did, it could have gone either way. Unfortunately, it ended with that interception and the events that followed.
I didn’t like the way the game ended. I didn't like the fact that we lost. To quote Russell Wilson, I hate losing. I didn’t care for the unsportsmanlike conduct – the pants-dropping gesture or the punch thrown or the brawl in the end zone and the penalties incurred. I think the Hawks can and should be better than that. But as a team, I still love them! I love the fact that the Seahawks didn’t give up. They played as a team, they played through pain and injuries, and they played to win. I know, they are paid well to play well, and so they should. But they have something special both on and off the field, and I love them for all that they do. I love them as a team, I love the players for their commitments to causes outside of themselves, and I love them for the men and leaders they are as well as those they hope to be when football is a part of their past.
I not only love the Seahawks, I love business. There's a connection between the two – strategy, team effort, planning, purpose. I hope to learn lessons from this game that I can apply to my business as well as others’. And, as I said before, when it looks like I’m not winning I hope I don’t lose my vision. I hope I don’t make excuses, and I hope I don’t give up. I intend to push through and play well, and I hope you do, too. And speaking of winning, of course there’s always next year!
GO HAWKS!!!
