海角大神

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area during the Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, and Steve Young glory years.

I now live in Seattle and am married to an intensely devoted Seahawks fan.

Do you see the problem?

Around here, when Seahawk running back Marshawn Lynch runs off left tackle, it can register on the Richter scale. No, seriously. More than once in the past few years, Seahawks fans at CenturyLink field have made so much commotion at big games that they were picked up on local seismic detectors.

Well, Sunday's NFC championship between the Seahawks and 49ers could be a full-on earthquake.

The teams are divisional rivals and apparently don鈥檛 like each other. The coaches haven't been overly fond of each other in the past. And both the Seahawks and 49ers are known for their old school, smash-mouth style of play that鈥檚 put them in good stead to win it all.

The spectacle of Lynch, aka 鈥淏east Mode,鈥� crashing up the middle into the likes of the 49ers鈥� twin hulks NaVorro Bowman and Patrick Willis is a mouth-watering proposition. Only the grittiest, gravel-gutted team will move on to the Super Bowl in East Rutherford, N.J., Feb. 2.

So I鈥檝e got my feet in both camps for this weekend鈥檚 game.

Well, OK, that鈥檚 not true. But I鈥檝e found that evenhandedly acknowledging the virtues of each team (while quietly rooting for my own) goes over much better at home than trash-talking the opposition like a free safety after he鈥檚 just blown up a wide receiver crossing over the middle.

I鈥檝e even told my wife that, though I鈥檒l be rooting for the 49ers this Sunday, it鈥檒l still be a nice consolation prize for me if the Seahawks win, because I know how happy it鈥檒l make her. And it鈥檚 true. Seattle鈥檚 never hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, and after coming so close against the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006, it makes you almost sorry enough for them to want it to go their way 鈥� 鈥渁lmost鈥� being the operative word.

I know the Seahawks have had a long and hard go of it over the decades. I remember as a kid how when I鈥檇 open a pack of football cards and find a Seahawks card, it was definitely one to pass over 鈥� a losing team with unremarkable blue jerseys. Up until recent years, it鈥檚 been the same story a fair amount of the time.

Then again, there was the 49ers鈥� exasperating defeat in the Super Bowl last year, coming just five brutal yards short. And that kind of makes you feel for the 49ers, too. Right? (Yes, this is the fan of a five-time Super Bowl champion complaining.)

Amid all the ado over how much the teams don鈥檛 like each other, it鈥檚 tough to know from the stands how much is heartfelt animus and how much is hype. Both teams get in their share of taunting and after-the-play celebrating. But that鈥檚 hardly unusual in the modern NFL. (Remember when players followed stellar plays with a simple trot back to the huddle and maybe a high five? I didn鈥檛 think so. These days, the 1980s feel like the Middle Ages.)

The fact that the Seahawks refused to sell tickets to people with California ZIP Codes when the few remaining ones went on sale last Monday didn't add any warm fuzzies. In any event, the crush of phone and online traffic left me ticketless, and the current 鈥渓ow鈥� price of $464 per ticket on StubHub will keep me on my sofa this Sunday, too.

But football is football, and there鈥檚 no doubt I鈥檒l be watching.

Just a few weeks ago, I traveled to see the last football game in San Francisco's Candlestick Park with my dad and brother, and it was something I鈥檒l always remember. When Bowman snagged the now-famous 鈥淧ick at the Stick鈥� to save the 49ers the embarrassment of potentially losing such a historic game, I and thousands of others screamed ourselves hoarse. I was slapping hands with my dad, my brother, the guy in front of us (who we didn鈥檛 know). It was great.

That is why I鈥檒l be watching Sunday. Maybe my team will win. Maybe my wife鈥檚 team will. Either way, someone鈥檚 going to be giving high fives and yelling until they鈥檙e hoarse.

I just hope it鈥檚 me.