Seattle Seahawks and Old Women: Panther Kittens

Contributed by Kathe Frahm

The old women are happy. They are just waiting for their boys to drop Cam Newton, in his tracks. The last time the Hawks beat this team, Newton made a real display of arrogance the old women found excessively annoying. True, the Panthers had won 5 of their last games, but the old women couldn't wait for Russell, Chancellor, Wagner and Kearse to give them a football clinic.

One old woman bet the others Newton would challenge Richard Sherman and throw to his side of the field. They know QBs avoiding Sherman is a sign of respect and his ability to make big interceptions. Richard picked him off. The forced fumbles also made the old women scream. Kam Chancellor's 89 yard TD interception and 2 leaps OVER the Panther's line to block field goal attempts for some old women were the highlights of the whole year. They do love showmanship and they got it in this game.

Russell is confident and calculates in split seconds that his receivers are where he wants them to be. Some favorites of the old women are Luke Willson and of course their Marshawn. Luke has so much fun when he gets to into the end zone. Marshawn is the one Hawk nearly all the old women would want on their side in a fight. They marvel at his power to just keep going and his way of dragging any team's defenders with him.

So many of their boys have shown great talent and courage in this season. Last year even the most faithful of Hawk fans went into this part of the play-offs with a certain dread and fear of failure. The old-timers were promising a Hawk melt-down. Like always. Not so many naysayers this year. Watching Pete Carroll shepherd these remarkable young athletes to a winning season, has been a wonderful way to spend game day together, eating junk food and working to out scream each other.

The Green Bay Packers are not a team to take for granted. Even injured with an calf strain, their QB Aaron Rodgers is worthy of respect. RB Eddie Lacy is said to be fierce much like Marshawn, but may be limited in play due to a bad knee.

One of the old men called an old woman sick because she said all their boys have to do is aim for Rodgers' bad leg. You'd think he had learned that the blue-tinted pin curl and fluff disguises the fierce "just win" competitor inside.

Sometimes the old women ask each other why these beautiful young men, their team, are important to them. They have had heroes in the past. Famous people, men and women, moved through their lives. Now, the sheer fun of winning almost all the time fills a need to claim some ownership of accomplishment. A small thing, but important just the same.