Non-sports fan says Seahawks fever ‘pure torture’
Jan 27, 2014, 10:43 AM | Updated: 11:38 am
You can be certain avowed football hater Christopher Sterling of West Seattle was not among the thousands of Seahawks fans who lined streets Sunday to cheer the team as they headed to the Super Bowl. (AP)
(AP)
While most of Seattle and the surrounding areas are swept up in Seahawks fever, Christopher Sterling wants no part of the 12th Man.
“There is no interest in football at all. I’ll be honest with you, there is no interest in sports, period. When stuff like this happens, it’s torture. It’s pure torture,” says the West Seattle man, who works in tech support for a big area technology company.
Sterling relishes his role as an outcast. As over 85 percent of all the viewers in our area tuned in to watch the Seahawks win the NFC Championship over the 49ers, he was watching the latest episode of The Kardashians, instead.
“I tweeted ‘it’s been on like 25 minutes and it’s so good. Is anybody else watching?’ And everybody else thought I was crazy because it was right when the game was ending, I think. They didn’t like that at all,” he laughs.
Sterling’s dislike has hit new highs the past several weeks as the frenzy over the Seahawks has reached unprecedented heights. He says he finally boiled over when cars stopped up a downtown street to take pictures of a large 12 light display on the side of a hotel.
“They were so excited that they saw the 12. And I’m like ‘oh my gosh, get in your car and just move so I can get where I’m going.'”
Sterling’s workers have long since stopped trying to convert him.
“They know it’s just not going to work. At work, people avoid talking about sports and especially football with me,” he says. “It’s just a game. I don’t care if they lose or win. Nobody’s dying. I cannot comprehend the amount of craziness people are going through for this.”
Sterling isn’t content to just ignore what’s going on. He’s recently started antagonizing friends and family alike on social media. And he’s getting plenty of heat after taking some shots at Russell Wilson’s professed faith and talk of his religious beliefs.
“My brother-in-law even unfriended me on Facebook, and I don’t know if he’ll ever talk to me again,” he says.
Suffice it to say, Sterling isn’t likely to get any Super Bowl party invitations. But he doesn’t care. He’s already volunteered to work next Sunday so his co-workers don’t have to. And he’ll happily enjoy watching the Kardashians on his DVR when he gets home.
