150 Comments
User's avatar
Seaside Joe's avatar

It's my birthday today. i'm 43. Here's all I ask from you in return:

How old are you (if you care to share) and what's something we don't know about you like a fun fact?

Shaymus McFamous's avatar

52, fan since 1980, and my wife, Jennifer, is the lead singer in a rock band called Jen&Tonic that I run sound and lighting for. I get to sit in to sing a couple songs each gig, and they are EPIC! Happy belated birthday, merry Christmas, and happy holidays!

https://www.facebook.com/jentonicalbanyga

Roger Woitte's avatar

Happy Birthday 🎂

Steve's avatar

Happy Birthday!! I'm 59 served is the US Army, was a high lead logger, and have been a middle school science teacher for 29 years.

Rusty's avatar

Thanks for your service Steve.

Dewhub's avatar

Happy Birthday!! I'm 49 years old. My fun fact is that I just reconnected with my high school sweetheart after 30 years and we are living happily ever after. (She is Riverside Kay for you SSJ fantasy players!)

Chris H's avatar

Happy Birthday Ken!

I'm 63 years old. I don't know if I have too many fun facts. I play guitar as a hobby, and try to model my playing style to James Taylor. If I pick up the guitar and play a song, there's an 80% chance it will be a James Taylor song, which is unfortunate because his songs are not the easiest to sort out.....at least if you want to play them like he does.

I'll be 64 in less than a month. Every birthday I test to make sure I can still to a 200lb deadlift, a 200lb squat, and a body weight bench press. Last year I had no problem with the deadlift and the bench, but the squat was a bit more of a challenge. Hopefully I'll be able to keep those standards for another birthday. It's going to get harder and harder.

Rusty's avatar

I’m totally impressed with your fitness level.

Paul G's avatar

Happy Birthday!

I’m 70. Fun fact: I wish I were 43!

Seriously, how about this: I grew up a mile from the main gate of the largest ranch in the United States.

Seaside Joe's avatar

Wow! Must be a big ranch!

Paul G's avatar

Bigger than Rhode Island, or so were told!

https://king-ranch.com/

Mark Edwards's avatar

Hey hey! I'm 45 and a half.

And I'm afraid to say that I was responsible for the initial usage of 'Freed From Desire' as a chant at sports events, which has now become ubiquitous, especially in soccer.

Sorry about that.

Seaside Joe's avatar

If you're going to have a claim to fame, that's not a bad one to have.

IdahoFred's avatar

Is this like a record for one thread? Plus there related comments that should have been part of this thread.

Charlie Gage's avatar

Happy Birthday, Ken. I'm 87 years old and am a veteran of the Air Force, a retired Firee Fighter of 33 plus years, twice widowed and have two amazing daughters.

Seaside Joe's avatar

Thanks! Great to have a vet like you here in the chat every day Charlie!

Rusty's avatar

Thanks for your service Charlie.

Charley Filipek's avatar

Yes, Thanks, Charlie ! for Your service to Our Country & for Your Fire Fighting service.

JR Richardson's avatar

HBD, I'm 48, Was born in a hospital in Wa State that doesn't exist anymore. Metaline Falls.

Seaside Joe's avatar

Haven't heard of Metaline Falls. Population 272 according to Google.

Grant Alden's avatar

But seriously, folks. Having argued that JS should fix the damn’d problem and draft Zabel or whatever IOL they believed best in R1, I’m delighted it’s turned out. For the team, and Zabel. Ever the pessimist I picked ‘em to go 12-5. They have very much exceeded expectations.

Danno's avatar

They haven’t exceeded my expectations just yet. They need one more win. They might need 2 more for the one seed.

Charlie Gage's avatar

They need two more wins to meet my expectations at the beginning of the season. Guess I'm an optimist.

Danno's avatar

Indeed, I do believe you had it right!

Stephen Pitell's avatar

I am a 74 year old semi-retired fisherman and widower, bridge player, living in Bremerton. Congratulations young man. Keep your body strong and your teeth clean.

Seaside Joe's avatar

Thanks, Stephen!

Danno's avatar

Awww, shucks, for all these years I’ve been keeping my teeth strong and my body clean. Now you tell me. My first good friend in Seattle was a retired fisherman from Ballard. He was a very big reason I became an ardent Seahawk fan.

Stephen Pitell's avatar

Well, Danno, we live just a ferry ride apart. Living downtown sounds fascinating. I grew up on Queen Anne Hill and was connected to the boats down Gilman road from me. Our next door neighbor was the skipper for a fisher processor for King crab way back in the 50's and his son became a part owner in a halibut schooner. I am a troller (not trawler) and we are the "gentlemen fishermen" and we fish like most sports fishing with herring sometimes (though never for me) and artificial bait on leaders and with sharp hooks. But farmed Atlantic salmon has created a glut on the market which affects our Coho (silver) price. They give us about $1.75/pound in 2024 . When I began fishing diesel fuel was 50 cents per gallon and Coho was $1.75. That was 1976, almost 50 years later.

Danno's avatar

Fishing is hard work. Especially in some of the weather we get. I’m a big fan of wild caught. I get my fish at Pure Food Fish in the Pike Place Market. Judging from the price I have to pay per pound, the fisherman are not getting their fair share.

Stephen Pitell's avatar

You are correct, retail prices have gone up and fishermen have gotten near zero of that increase. Just like the farmers before us.

Danno's avatar

The rich getting richer on the backs of the workers.

IdahoFred's avatar

BEGAW!

Happy, happy, BIRTHDAY!!!! After 2482, I don't think we have done this before? Did Clark get you a present?

How old am I? Older than you but younger than Danno.

Fun Fact: next month I am going to a chili cook off. Please keep my secret, I am going to make an Asian themed, spiced chili that no one else will think of.

Danno's avatar

You’re only as old as you feel.

Charlie Gage's avatar

Depends on who you feel.

Charlie Gage's avatar

Of course, if you feel someone in depends you are probably that old.

Danno's avatar

I’ve heard that, but my niece is staying with me, so I’m going to pretend I don’t know what you mean.

Stephen Pitell's avatar

You are only as old as your spine's suppleness.

Danno's avatar

Get into those yoga and Pilates classes.

Stephen Pitell's avatar

Tai Chi is really more of what I want, but I have yoga positions that will absolutely cure future headaches. Ask and I shall reveal to those in need.

Danno's avatar

I haven’t had a headache since my divorce. ;)

Candy Hughes's avatar

Happy birthday again this year, I'm currently a 'vintage record' ( 78 ) hold a license for both powered aircraft and sailplanes, have cheered the Seahawks since the beginning, attended same high school as Steve Largent (Putnam City), same college as Pete Carroll (University of the Pacific)

Seaside Joe's avatar

Woah, that's quite a connection for both the HS and the college of two Seahawks legends!

Candy Hughes's avatar

And also love cats, have Siamese siblings as house cats and a pair of bonded feral barn cats in the hangar

Scott M's avatar

Happy birthday brother!

Grant Alden's avatar

66, mostly retired music critic, now bookseller. Fun fact: I saw Neil Armstrong walk on the moon in Portuguese. Spent that summer in Lisbon.

Danno's avatar

What kind of music did you critique?

Grant Alden's avatar

Came up during grunge, shifted to what we called alt.country. Patron critic of lost causes.

Paul G's avatar

I ❤️Jason Isbell.

Danno's avatar

I love music. Most genres. As long as it’s good. I go to quite a few shows here in Seattle. It’s a great music/arts town. Is your bookstore in Seattle?

User's avatar
Comment deleted
Dec 21
Comment deleted
Grant Alden's avatar

Eastern Kentucky.

Grant Alden's avatar

Oh, and happy birthday. Day after my late stepmother’s.

Gary Williams's avatar

Happy Birthday. I am 75 retired born and raised in Port Orchard, WA, currently living in Veneta, OR. I play in a 70's cover band with my wife of 46 years and two fellow members all in our 70's.

Dutcher's avatar

Happy b-day! 59, GenXer. Seattle born. Pro bassist.

Bryant's avatar

Happy Birthday! 68 years old here, Seahawks fan from day one. Unknown fact: Bobby Bowden was my Sunday School teacher when I lived in West Virginia while he was the head coach of the WVU Mountaineers.

Seaside Joe's avatar

Interesting! Not as many division I coaches doing double duty these days I guess.

Gavin's avatar

Happy birthday! Woo HOO!

I’m 58 years old. When I was younger, I met a living God in Japan. I got to meet the sumo wrestler Akebono. As a Grand Champion, he is literally listed amongst the gods of the Shinto religion. He was born Chad Rowan and is a native Hawaiian. He was a great guy.

Seaside Joe's avatar

That's awesome!

AJ's avatar

Bit late to this post but happy birthday. I'm 18. Would very much surprise me if I'm not your youngest subscriber.

I won't lie, I've always felt a bit out of place reading the discussions here and some of your guys references. Part of why I've never commented despite reading since 2022 (jeez. Time flies since covid). Not for my generation, lol. Sports discourse has moved to Instagram, Musk's Dungeon, etc. Nobody really cares about analysis anymore besides the true nerds. It's all just raging about fantasy points and clickbait hot takes. Which in moderation is still pretty funny but I appreciate what a change of pace this newsletter is.

Especially with the rise of AI slop "articles" from SI and ESPN and such, it feels good to support someone's hard work and passion. And seeing people being caring and civil to each other over the internet warms my jaded old heart.

Begaw, I guess? Still don't quite get it. But yall don't get 6-7 either so we're even.

IdahoFred's avatar

AJ, Welcome to the Group/Chat/Channel/or whatever this is. Good to see the next generation of Seahawk fans. Please feel free to start or join in any discussions. We welcome hearing your opinions and ideas. You are correct, I have no idea what 6-7 is. You have a jaded old heart already?

AJ's avatar

Mostly tongue in cheek :). Though it's certainly depressing where this world is going.

Seaside Joe's avatar

Wow, I am really happy you chimed in today, AJ! That's one of the things I love about Survivor, is you get people from different generations who have to work together towards a common goal. Your input is not just welcome here, but valued being from a completely different POV than a lot of others here. Whenever you feel like chiming in that is!

I actually think "6-7" is a good analogous example of "begaw" as I don't think there is a meaning. It's just Begaw!

zezinhom400's avatar

Happy birthday man!! 🎉🎂

I’m 69 and a Hawks fan since the beginning

My main hobby is I still race cars, although at this point a great win for me is being older than the sum of the others on the podium 🤣

https://imgur.com/a/WD0EZOF

Don Ellis's avatar

I have to say, your race car is a beauty.

zezinhom400's avatar

Thx Don! Yeah being first race group at some of these tracks (that one was VIR) makes for some great photo ops!

Seaside Joe's avatar

Woo! Sounds exciting!

Donnie's avatar

Happy birthday! I turned 44 in October and ran my first 50k earlier this year. My record before that was a 5k.

Seaside Joe's avatar

Damn! That's awesome!

Stephen Pitell's avatar

Thanks for sharing your outrage. We all feel it. But didn't he give up two sacks in the last game?

Seaside Joe's avatar

That was a wrinkle that got past me when I wrote this, otherwise I would've included it. So the update to allowing a sack is certainly warranted, but I would still write the statement that he a) was a big reason for Seattle's win and b) his good outweighs his bad same as people overlooking a WRs dropped passes or a RBs poor blocking, etc.

Charlie Gage's avatar

The John Gruden statement, about the no sacks allowed, was made before the game.

Sea Hawk Run!'s avatar

The Rams literally sent every kickoff to the end zone, because they knew their coverage was so bad. Myers forced returns, because we wanted the chance to stuff the returner and recover a fumble. As I recall, their returner muffed two catches and he was lucky that they bounced back into his hands.

I hope ST dooms the Rams this year.

On Zabel, he often plays great. Sometimes he makes a mistake and is quick enough to recover. Frankly, there have been some fails, but they haven’t been costly. (Yes, luck is important for guards too.) First sack on Thursday night. He was the best possible pick for the Seahawks, no question.

Frankly, I think our moderate running game is keeping him from getting votes. If K9 were having a Shaun Alexander year, Zabel would be getting more recognition.

Charlie Gage's avatar

Rams fired their ST coordinator after the game.

Sea Hawk Run!'s avatar

Yes, they did. 😁 I question whether that will help. Can the new ST coach teach and install a new approach overnight? Will it just be more chaos? Will blame and resentment bloom? I think it’s too little too late. Expect things to get worse before they get better.

Don Ellis's avatar

I like to think our last match with the Rams was the beginning of a Rams meltdown.

Danno's avatar

Zabel’s best years are sill ahead of him. His recognition is an inevitable force they will have to recon with!

Sea Hawk Run!'s avatar

Absolutely! The OL is the number one area where the unit improves with experience.

Ray's avatar

80 years old, and learned to juggle with three stolen pool balls.

The Rams just fired their ST coordinator, and I think it's all SSJ's fault.

Interesting, is that the linked article called the "Zachward" pass / 2 point thing, Controversial, when in fact, there is absolutely no controversy. The rules were misunderstood, perhaps, but no controversy.

https://www.fieldgulls.com/seattle-seahawks-news/158279/seahawks-win-costs-rams-special-team-coordinator-chase-blackburn-fired

Seaside Joe's avatar

If you're gonna learn to juggle that sounds like a great way to get started.

John A Irvine's avatar

I just saw that for the first time in 9 years Sean Whiney Butt McVay has fired a coordinator mid-season. The special team's coach.

I seem to remember a stretch during the Superbowl years that 3 or 4 head coaches got fired after getting killed by the Hawks.

In any case it makes me smile because FTRs.

Again, happy birthday and thank you for the best newsletter available at any cost.

Russ Deniston's avatar

Preach it, Brother!

Sigh. Hopefully word of mouth picks up some steam soon….

Seaside Joe's avatar

Let's hope!

Don Ellis's avatar

It's a sad day when Tyler freakin' Shough rates higher in the odds than Grey.

I am a Grey Zabel believer, as I am sure we all are. Grey Zabel will be what Steve Hutchinson should have been, IMO... A Seahawk HOF NFL Left Guard.

Blair's avatar

SSJ,

I am an original season ticket holder74 yrs old. Never have I felt we have had a better or more cohesive team. Happy birthday to you my young scribe. I have a son your age who is now a season ticket holder and a huge fan of the Seahawks. Two things will take this team to the Super Bowl, Stout, solid, relentless, unforgiving, Defense. And a cool, calm, collected, Offense that lets Sam be the Best QB that he can be. We showed that we can win big games on Thursday, and from here on out all of are games will be Big, Hopefully they keep there wits and play smart , solid, confident football. Its never been a better time to be a Seahawk Fan

Seaside Joe's avatar

Well said, Blair! Thanks!

Stephen Pitell's avatar

My brother had original season tickets in the Kingdome on about the 40 yard line but in the second level tunnel. I am 74 and my brother would have been 76.

John A Irvine's avatar

I am a 64-year-old fellow Sagittarian (Dec. 4). Happy birthday Sir.

Fun fact let's see there was the one time I had sex with oh no wait wrong newsletter.

OK seriously my dad was in the Air Force, so I was born in France. I have a brother born in Florida one in Texas and a sister born in Colorado. Dad born in Oregon, Mom in Florida and we all call Washington home.

GO HAWKS!!

Seaside Joe's avatar

Wowzers what a left turn! haha!