I sensed that Marshawn Lynch was going to break a big run on Sunday. When the TV crew announced that the Beast wasn't starting because he had an upset stomach, I nodded and declared, "That's lucky."
My long-suffering partner rarely pays attention to my football games or to me when I'm watching them, but she noted my comment and judged it odd.
I do not generally regard nausea as beneficial for athletic performance. Intestinal distress is fortunate only in one specific case: when the ailing player is a Seahawk running back playing in Arizona.
I know this because I've seen it before. In 2005, I was in Sun Devil stadium when Shaun Alexander overcame a "tummy ache" and ran for 173 yards.
Alexander's ailment contributed to his struggles in the first half. He said, "Every time I got tackled, I felt like I was going to throw up or go the other way." (The latter would have been unfortunate in Seattle's all-white visiting uniforms.).
After making some halftime adjustments, Alexander told a teammate, "Hey, I feel a little lighter now. Watch me break the first run." And he did, taking the initial handoff of the third quarter 88 yards to the house. There was no Beast Mode in that sprint, and no need for it. Alexander shot through a nice hole opened by his all-world O-Line and then outran everyone to the end zone.
So, I knew that once Beast Mode conquered his own tummy ache, he was gonna go off and make Arizona nauseous.
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