THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Big moment nears for Seahawks, journalists ... even cats

I’m nervous. 

Now, if you read this column at all regularly, you’ll know that those two words don’t make a lot of sense. 

In case you haven’t seen it, I wrote that journalists basically cannot be fans. 

We can’t wear Seahawks or Mariners hoodies, or put Gonzaga stickers on our cars. 

No Wazzu license plates (unless you’re a Cougar grad and your affiliation is mostly/only to do with that business degree). 

Are there exceptions? 

Sure. 

If you become so well known that you’re an actual celebrity, then fans WANT you to show off your alma mater or hometown — hopefully, even swooning over a game like this title bout on Sunday. 

For instance, Mina Kimes is the queen of sports journalists at the moment, and nobody complains about her allegiance to Seattle. 

In fact, it’s part of her gig. 

Mina can’t just duck out of a Seahawks championship game and do some routine sports chat with no mention of Sam Darnold — especially since current and former Rams are bullying their way on to every national outlet they can find. 

Go for it, Mina. 

Shout out for the Northwest! 

AS FOR the rest of us, the rule is common sense. 

I can quietly tell a few friends that the Hawks’ run to this conference title game is not only surprising, but exciting. 

Those aren’t exactly newsworthy statements. 

They’re facts, basic truths for every newsperson in the country to absorb and repeat. 

So, where does leave me? 

I’m like Mina’s cat in this whole carnival. 

It’s fine to howl, do triple jumps when Rashid Shaheed returns a kick, and scramble through the morning paper when it’s left on the carpet. 

In other words, I can have a lot of fun with all this hoopla, but I can’t buy in like it’s a serious investment. 

I’m just a cat. 

Oops! 

Just a newspaper columnist (who wouldn’t mind being a well-fed cat). 

As for a case of the jitters, I think thousands (millions?) of people in this part of the planet are entitled to be nervous. 

Hey, it’s true even for folks who aren’t diehard Seahawks fans. 

This is a hell of an event. 

Any time you turn on the TV and you’re seeing your (regional) neighborhood from the blimp, whatever’s going on is a big deal. 

Watching a shot from the blimp is the equivalent of hearing Jim Nantz say: “Hello, friends!” 

MY OWN place in the sports coverage world would take a serious jump if my own catchphrase caught on across the Northwest. 

What if regional NFL games opened with me saying: “Hit the starter button, Alice.” 

OK, maybe not. 

But a guy can dream. 

Even a journalist. 

Or a cat. 

My point here is that you don’t need Seahawks season tickets, or vow to watch every game streamed from Germany, or give up two hours for a podcast every day — all that to be part of this circus. 

Nope. 

If you want in, you’re in. 

And pretty much all locals are in, by definition.

You care who wins, because it matters to your neighborhood (regionally speaking). 

What do you do for a living? 

Sell water coolers? 

Fair enough. 

You’ll move more water coolers next week if the Seahawks beat the Rams, right? 

Oh, yeah. 

Almost EVERY business will get a spike if Sam Darnold connects with Jaxon Smith-Njigba for two or three game-clinching TDs. 

I’ve only been here for 10 years (or is it nine?) and my friends are a lot more fun when we see that JSN three-TD scenario I just typed out. 

No wonder I’m nervous. 

The Seahawks can make life a hoot for all of us. 

Even cats. 

Email: [email protected] 

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week, normally Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday unless, you know, stuff happens. 

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”