Though down by four-points with 1:06 remaining in Super Bowl XLIX the Seattle Seahawks had the game in hand.
“First and goal!” With the ball on the New England five-yard-line.
Four chances to go five-yards and win the game! And give the Seahawk’s their second consecutive Super Bowl title.
On the first play from scrimmage, Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, nicknamed “Beast Mode” for his ability to run over defenders, got four of the five yards the Seahawks needed.
One Yard
Seattle fans raised the retractable roof at the University of Phoenix Stadium, now State Farm Stadium.
That night my fiancée Gaetana, “The G!” as her son Michael refers to her, had “Patriots-8 and Seahawks-4” in the Super Bowl pool at Fifty-Coins. The local sports bar THE G and I frequented at the time.
With the score standing at New England 28 and Seattle 24 Guy was in the money.
But THE G had no reason for optimism. With :26 seconds remaining in the game there were few who believed that Lynch would need more than one of the three downs he had, to score the winning touchdown. He had been nearly unstoppable all yeah having rushed for over 1300-yards and 13 touchdowns during the regular season.
Guy understood that this game was going to be :26 seconds too long to make her "win" to hold up.
She watched her $2500 slip away.
In a move which has been called the “worst play-call in NFL history,” rather than handing the ball off to Lynch for near-certain victory, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll instructed his quarterback Russell Wilson to throw a pass.
Regret, was instant.
THE intercepted pass costing the Seahawks, winner of the previous year's Super Bowl, a spot among football’s elite! Only seven teams have ever won back-to-back Super Bowls.
Forgotten to most in the history of that game is that the unlikely ending made my fiancée, who was merely my girlfriend at that time, $2500 richer.
In the excitement or receiving Fortune's kiss, Guy promised use the winnings throwing the family a night we will never forget.
But I can’t remember what we did.
The paint dealers I speak with tell me that they can’t remember a time when it was so challenging to operate retail paint stores. Shortages in material make it necessary for dealers to spend hours working the phones to procure products. A dealer telling me this week that he won a 2000-gallon sale based solely on availability. A (nearly) open-ended specification to brand. The purchasing decision based solely on availability.
And this dealer unloading trucks himself. Unable to hire people due to a labor shortage effecting his region.
Like this dealer, I never minded unloading the occasional truck. As a small dealer, it was part of the job. But when my counter is busy and I need to procure 500 gallons of Block Filler and everyone is out, it’s not a particularly efficient use of executive time.
Y'all are not doing a good job of making me miss the job!
If you have not had a chance listen to or watch my pod and vlog cast with Ash Ebbo of Clement’s Paint in Austin, Texas and Pamela Sholtes of HPP Industrial in Louisville, Kentucky, it's not too late! Listen as these two AllPro members share their experiences as dealers and as lady-dealers in a channel still dominated by men.
You can listen to me with Ash and Pam in all the usual places: Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts or my own site. If you have not watched an episode please do! Join the (small but growing) army who are watching on my site or on my YouTube channel.
