As a ten-year-old growing up in Kelowna, Ryan Strachan remembers being entranced by the only football team on the very few TV channels available.
That team was the Seattle Seahawks and from that year forward, Strachan — a popular 17-year educator at RC Palmer secondary — fell head over cleats in love with the ‘Hawks.
In the following 31 years, Strachan has become a ‘Hawks season ticket holder, started up the Canadian-Seahawks website for fans north of the Border and has a shrine at his RC Palmer desk dedicated to his team.
However, like most football fans, armchair or avid, Strachan had resigned himself, due to the prohibitive costs, to watching the TV when the Seahawks take on the Denver Broncos in Sunday’s Super Bowl in New Jersey.
That was the case, until a few of his former RC Palmer students, led by Aran Hare, took to Facebook and Twitter over the weekend.
“I texted a few people on the weekend to say it was my dream to go to the Super Bowl, but I couldn’t afford to go on my teacher’s salary,” said Strachan, RC Palmer’s strength and conditioning coach, hockey program co-coordinator and social studies teacher.
“But then I got a text from a few of the students I used to teach and coach, saying they were trying to raise some money to send me to the Super Bowl. I thought they were joking.”
They were not.
By the end of Sunday, armed with a jar stuffed with five, 10 and 20-dollar notes, one of the RC Palmer Alumni, Aman Bindra, gladly handed over the funds.
“I was totally blown away by their generosity; quite incredible,” added Tsawwassen resident Strachan, who was speaking to the News while packing his bags for the red-eye flight to New York Wednesday night.
“I was planning to watch the game with my wife in Library Square downtown, but I guess I’m going to the Super Bowl now.”
Too nervous to even ponder the score in Sunday’s big one, Strachan said, “I can’t even think about it. I just hope we win, I don’t care by how much.”
Meanwhile, all kinds of Seahawks paraphernalia has been flying off the shelves at the local Jersey City in Richmond Centre, as Richmondites join people from all over B.C. jumping on the ‘Hawks’ Super Bowl bandwagon.
And many restaurants and bars in the city, such as Original Joe’s on No. 5 Road, are expected to be full from 3 p.m. on Sunday as the clock ticks down to the big kick-off.
“We’ve already got some big table reservations and I’d be surprised if we’re not close to full for most of the afternoon,” said manager Ken Grant.
“There’s a lot of hype around this one and we’re expecting a very busy day.”
The Seahawks have only ever been to one of the previous 47 Super Bowls, in 2005, but lost.
Despite an impressive season, they will be going into Sunday’s game the slight underdogs to the Broncos, who are the bookies’ favourites.
More than $100 million alone is expected to be gambled in Las Vegas on Super Bowl Sunday, along with billions of dollars worldwide.
Meanwhile back in Richmond you can check out a YouTube video of some passionate fans who have made a Katy Perry parody song
