New Emerald City Swagger Editor – Paul Novak

Dec 23, 2012; Seattle, WA, USA; General view of the downtown Seattle skyline before the NFL game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

First and foremost, I want to say, “Hello.”

Emerald City Swagger is one of the newest additions to the Fansided family of sports blogs. It’s surprising that it took this long for the greatest city in the Pacific Northwest, and let’s face it, probably the entire country, to get a site dedicated to each and every major sport in Washington State.

I have been writing about Seattle sports for some time now and the passion for the Seahawks, Mariners, Sounders, Huskies and other local teams is still as strong as it was when I decided to create my own blog, Seattle Sports Central. Ultimately, that private and experimental site led me to this great opportunity with Fansided. Although I will be shutting down SSC and leaving years of hard work, long nights and sleeplessness to focus on making Emerald City Swagger the most respected “local” site of the network, I couldn’t be more excited for the journey ahead.

Growing up in downtown Seattle just a few miles from the Kingdome was as good as it gets. I can honestly say that my very first sports memory was likely the most legen, wait for it, dary Seattle sports moment to date. “The Double.” After watching Griffey slide feet first across the plate, popping up off the dirt with his arms raised straight up in the air and being mobbed by his 1995 Mariner teammates I was hooked. It was the sports equivalent of love at first sight. The crowd could be heard from the Kingdome all the way to my apartment window. Since then, no teams based outside of the Emerald City have shared my heart.

Name: Paul Novak

Favorite Current Athlete: Russell Wilson

Favorite Former Athlete: Ken Griffey Jr

Favorite Sports Movie: Mr. Baseball

When not watching or writing about sports: I stockpile seasons of television shows and watch them in one sitting. Rather than watch 8-24 episodes of my favorite show stretched out over multiple weeks, I like to watch them as if they were one long movie. LOST took me less than a week to go from the pilot to series finale.

Random Fact: An army veteran who served five years as a Military Policeman including a tour in Baghdad, Iraq. Expert marksman with both the 9mm and .40 caliber pistol. So be careful with some of your comments! Just kidding. But seriously…