Notes from a 12 Woman

I have been resistant to football my entire life. My father–who played college ball–had to endure the nonchalant expressions of two daughters before he finally got the son that understood the joy of touchdowns, interceptions, and tailgating.

To his credit, my father still took me to Husky games. He was convinced that his “concern rays”—those rays that all sports fans exude that have been known to influence a game’s outcome—would infect me too. I had never seen him like this; early September transformed him in to a raging lunatic, gesticulating at the TV and ranting about the #*$(&*(@ Oregon Ducks. Not only was I impervious to his “concern rays, ” but I blamed football for stealing my dad away from me. (I finally got him back in January after the football mania subsided and he regained sanity.)

In high school and college, I had male friends and boyfriends patiently explain the game to me and quiz me: “What is a first down?” and “How many yards is a football field?” They groaned when I inevitably answered with “a tackle?” and “how long is a yard again?”

Imagine the irony when I discovered we had acquired a football book, entitled Notes from a 12 Man: A Truly Biased History of the Seattle Seahawks. As the publicist at Sasquatch, I am to be the champion of the book and the author, largely responsible for its commercial success. No pressure. Upon my introduction to the author, Mark Tye Turner, I felt that I should apologize for my lack of football knowledge and general ignorance. But as I read through the book, I found myself INTERESTED in what he had to say. He made football funny, informative, and approachable—something that I could get behind and something that I could become INVESTED in. As the book hits stores this week and football season begins anew, I’ve found myself embracing it, anticipating it, and realizing that maybe…I’m my father’s daughter after all.

Meet Mark:

SoDo Sports
September 8, 6pm

Elliott Bay Books
September 11, 7:30pm

Hawk’s Nest Bar and Grill
September 11, 9pm

Seattle SoDo Costco
September 12, 1pm

Tune In:

KZOK-FM Radio, The Bob Rivers Show
September 8

KING-TV
September 9

KISW-FM Radio, BJ Shea Morning Experience
September 10

KCPQ-TV, Q It Up Sports
September 10

710 ESPN Radio, The John Clayton Show
September 12

Mark Turner online:

http://marktyeturner.com