What does baked crow taste like?

Anyone have a recipe for crow?

Do you bake it or fry it?

Is it dark or light meat?

Is it tough or tender?

What side dishes do you serve with it?

What about wines – red or white? Or would beer be more appropriate?

Is crow filling or does it leave you craving for more? I’m about to find out. I’ll be eating crow all this week. And I’ll be eating it with a smile because the Seahawks are in the NFL playoffs.

As you may recall, my cohort John Sleeper and I took contrasting views on whether the Hawks would make the postseason in columns published a week ago. Sleeper said they would, I said they wouldn’t.

I wrote that they had as much chance of making the playoffs as Saddam Hussein does of becoming Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. Watch for him on the cover of Time’s end-of-the-year 2004 edition.

And keep a lookout for Rick Neuheisel’s book on ethics. And don’t think new Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi is done dealing. Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr. will surely resurface in Seattle before spring training. And Joe Lieberman and Al Gore are destined to bury the hatchet – and not in one another’s head. And, oh yes, about George Bush’s running mate. Goodbye Dick. Hello Hillary.

I’m gonna love the sound of crows cawing in the morning.

With turkey, there’s always enough left over for sandwiches and soups. I take it you’d have to cook up a whole bunch of crows in order to have any leftovers.

By the way, does anyone know what the tastiest part of the crow is? And please don’t tell me it’s the tail. I don’t need that.

What we all do need, though, is for a Seattle team – professional or collegiate – to go deep into the playoffs.

The Mariners have failed us the past two years by not even reaching the playoffs. The Sonics fell short a year ago. The Husky women’s basketball team got into the NCAA playoffs in March, but bowed out after one game.

Then we have the Neuheisel thing that’s been hanging over the area like a dark cloud for months, the Dr. Feelgood scandal, the firing of UW softball coach Teresa Wilson, the mediocre showing of the Husky football team, the ousting of Mike Price as Alabama football coach and … enough already.

All in all, it’s been a bad year for our sports teams and personalities. And it looked as if it would continue over the weekend with the Seahawks being denied a postseason berth for the 14th time in 15 years.

Then the unimaginable, the incredible, the unbelievable took place. Everything that needed to happen – and there was a lot – for the Hawks to sneak into the NFL tournament … happened.

They win a road game for the first time since the second week of September, not only that, but they beat a San Francisco 49ers team that had lost only one game at home all season. And they do it after falling behind 14-0.

Then on Sunday, as if the football gods were looking down with pity on Seattle fans, saying, “nobody should suffer this much,” several Christmas gifts arrived belatedly at the Seahawks headquarters in Kirkland.

The Dallas Cowboys, looking nothing like a playoff team, lost to the New Orleans Saints. And somehow Cowboys coach Bill Parcells restrained himself from choking anyone.

The Miami Dolphins beat the New York Jets. And if Mike Holmgren is the nice guy we think he is, he’ll send Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt a bottle of fine wine. And the Cleveland Browns defeated Cincinnati, ending the Bengals’ – and ex-Seahawk quarterback Jon Kitna’s – season.

Just like that, the Hawks were in. And you figured it would come down to the Green Bay-Denver and Minnesota-Arizona games.

Maybe their luck is starting to turn.

I’m happy for Holmgren. I don’t know if there was any chance of him being fired if the Hawks didn’t make the playoffs because you never know about NFL owners. I think it would have been a mistake if Paul Allen had fired him because I think Holmgren is a good coach and he’s got something going with this team.

I’m happy for Mack Strong. The big fullback’s spent his entire career in a Seahawks uniform and he’s been in one playoff game. Strong’s a good man, still a solid player after 11 years in the league, and for him to get another shot at the playoffs makes me feel really good.

I’m happy for Gary Wright. He’s not a player, he’s not a coach, he’s a guy who’s been in the Seahawks organization from the very beginning, serving in various adminstrative positions. Gary’s one of the good people on earth.

The Hawks will be back on the road for their first playoff game, only this time they’ll go with some confidence. I’m not predicting how far they’ll go – my prognosticating days are over … until the next time – but I will say this: I think they’re going to be a very steely opponent.

Well, gotta go.

Have some recipes I’ve got to check out.