Super Bowl, Partie Deux
The day could have been a wash-out . . . hahahaha, it almost was!!
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go back a bit and do this right, shall we?
Game Day!! The Green Bay Packers came to town to play the Seattle SeaHawks for the National Football Conference Championship. And what an ugly, interception-ridden, penalty-laden game it was!! But, you know, the only score that counts is the one on the scoreboard when the final whistle blows and that one read, SeaHawks 28 - Packers 22.
And we were off!!
Quick!! To the Link!!
And Carol had on her new, home-made SeaHawks Tutu! Woo, woo!!
Ridin' the Link, this is our first view of The Emerald City. This was taken just a couple minutes before 1000. The weather wasn't cooperating well at all. The first large structure to the left is SafeCo Field, Home of the Mariners. You can just make out the arches for CenturyLink to the right of SafeCo.
If you pay attention, you'll see SeaHawks gear just about everywhere from the top of one's head in the form of caps, hats, crowns, Hawks and so on all the way down to the feet . . . firmly ensconced in these SeaHawk Neon Green Nike shoes . . . with blue and green, er, uh, thingies on them.
Hahahaha, SeaHawks Fans come in all shapes, sizes and pieces of clothing. But only two colors . . . and that's not optional.
The vast majority of the fans seem to favor the blue home jerseys, smartly accented with some other SeaHawks related apparel. Hahahaha, I could live the rest of my life in easy comfort just off the taxes collected on all this SeaHawks paraphernalia.
And, since we got off at the International/Chinatown Link Station, the Big Glass Box was the first thing we saw after crossing over the footbridge. I'm not a fan of glass structures but this one has some quality about it that I like. I think it might be the irregular shape. Regardless, there's something there.
It was cloudy but it wasn't really raining as we came across the huge parking lot in front of the Stadium. No, it was more like a mist. And it was pleasant enough for folks to stop and get themselves a picture . . . with the stadium in the background.
And they'd just opened the Stadium. The early-birds were arriving. The air was humming and the fans were excited!!
Gooooooo, 'Hawks!!
- The Road to Super Bowl, XLIX -
Hahahaha, it was a butt-ugly day but there was a potential for big things happening. Everyone had SeaHawks fever.
They had The 12 flags everywhere in the city . . . even at the top of the Smith Tower. Oh, the three floors of windows at the top? They're for the private apartment way up there on the top of the Smith Tower. How cool would that be to live up there, eh?
Do you remember the other day I talked about The 12 and its relationship to the team. I mentioned that the 'Hawks had retired the number 12 for their football jerseys in 1984. Well, here it is, displayed, along with the other retired numbers, in CenturyLink Field. I think this might be the only number of any NFL team to have been retired that belongs to the fans.
Fun Facts: See the one to the left? The Number 80. That belongs to Steve Largent, the only SeaHawk to be in the Hall of Fame (so far). Largent was a wide receiver for the 'Hawks for his entire 14-season career.
Championship, Baby!!
We could hear 'em well before we could see 'em. Blue Thunder was out and making a grand noise. Things were popping!! People were smilin' and laughin' and feelin' good.
Fun Fact: The SeaHawk's Blue Thunder is the heartbeat of the fans. This high-energy entertainment drumline was established in 2004. They perform throughout the stadium before, during and after games and also at special events and rallies.
It was a bit breezy, but M.J., the Crackerjack Q13 Meteorologist (aka Weather Gal), had told us that we could expect some pre-game breeziness and a misty kinda drizzle. And so far, she'd been spot on.
#sofar
Makin' a joyful noise to the SeaHawks!!
Then, unexpectedly, it began raining . . . not a drizzle. No, this was bona-fide, 100% big drop, gully-washing, drain-clogging rain!!
What the heck, M.J.?
So Carol and I retreated to a sheltered doorway in one of the buildings on Occidental to wait out the surprisingly large raindrops in relative comfort and dryness.
And then, to our amazement, it really began to pour.
WTH, It's Raining Doorway Selfie!!
We may not be elegant but we were relatively dry.
CB, with her cell phone.
The it began to rain and blow a bit harder.
And then it began raining and blowing even harder!! Hard enough, in fact, to break this poor fellow's sign warning all of us about The Wages of Sin . . . which is, no surprise here, Death.
Snapped that Bad Boy right in two.
What the, son of a . . .
But the increasing rain and wind didn't even put a dent in the marching order of Blue Thunder!! No, they kept on a-bangin' and a-clangin' and havin' a merry ol' time.
Meanwhile, back on the Mortal Sins front, his buddies rallied round him to help him out.
And the wind and the rain were picking up.
Which was making us very happy to be in our little sheltered doorway. Cuz the next thing we saw was the tent as it began to lift away in a very good impression of Auntie Em's house.
I thought it would go but, no. They had enough people there to reach up and hold it down on the ground. And they were holding on for dear life, too!!
You can see the rain has picked up, also. Those weren't the misty little droplets we normally deal with. Nosireebob, these were full-grown, put-your-eye-out drops!!
By the time the guys were getting a handle on the little tent, I noticed that the big tent, the one for the live band, was beginning to shake, rattle 'n roll.
I think one of the big pieces of equipment was knocked over and, for sure, the tent was beginning to strongly consider becoming airborne.
And, still, the fans kept on a-coming.
Whup!! Watch out, there!! Grab that &#(@%$ and hold on to it!!
Hahahaha, it was getting really wooly out there.
Watch out!! Man overboard!!
Against the wind, we were runnin' against the wind, we were young and strong, we were at the game and we were runnin' against the wind.
With apologies to Bob Seeger and the Silver Bullet Band.
It was a-pourin' and a-roarin' out there, and the amazing thing was that the fans still kept on walking. Folks were still strolling along . . . in the rain.
The only concessions they were making to the elements were bowing their heads and putting their hood up. And they kept on keepin' on.
They had two guys on either pole facing the wind holding this tent down while the others began quickly packing up the equiptment.
While, at the little green tent, things were getting a bit chaotic.
Rain? What rain?
I have to say that M.J. has a fine eye for great art, hence her selecting my pictures to put on-air for her "Viewer Photo" but, we were beginning to question her prowess as a prognosticator of fine weather.
This doesn't look like 'Breezy with some light rain', M.J. No, it doesn't.
#weatherreporterssuck
You got some 'splainin' to do, M.J.
Hahaha, things were getting desperate. I think they were offering people off the street money to help them corral this Bad Boy.
Surprisingly, the larger tents did OK. With a little bit of help.
But the green one . . . didn't fare as well.
Hahahaha, take it up with M.J., Man!!
This had to be the most popular pedi-cab out there today.
Meanwhile, back at the green, er, uh, former tent . . .
And still the folks kept on walking. And it was pouring pretty good right then, y'all.
Then this. I wanted to go out and help them somehow, but the only thing that would have helped would have been one of those pedi-cabs. There's something heroic about this man and his son slowly making their way to the game through the rain.
It wasn't until afterwards, back in the warmth and comfort of my Hole-In-the-Ground, that I realized this was the man whom we had met a couple months ago on the Link as we were traveling to a game. The older gentleman had served, big surprise, in the Marines and he and I talked about some of the places we both had served at, at different times, of course. He is a true World War II Hero.
And he's just as strong and durable now as he was then.
And his son held his hand and slowly walked along with him. There's a lot of love between them.
And the wind blew and the rain fell. And the people still walked. Honestly, I thought a couple of them would run, even just a bit. But, no, they walked on . . .
Sturdy NorthWesteners.
You can see how important this game is . . . the fans waited stoically in line to get in, out in the rain.
Meanwhile, back at the former green tent they had things in order and pretty much wrapped up. Hahaha.
There's the Big Glass Box and the Campanile at the train station.
And, over at the elevated pedestrian bridge, the folks kept on a-coming.
I imagine they sold out these ponchos pretty quickly.
Finally someone began sorta running. Almost.
Mind you, we were still trapped in the sheltered doorway waiting for the rain to let up, thank you very much, M.J. So my range of subjects is restricted and, therefore, a bit repetitive.
Sorry 'bout dat.
But you can see it was raining. A lot.
Hahaha, he was really leaning into it. The wind, she was a-blowin'. Hahaha, I don't think he was calling the wind, Maria.
And still the people came.
Umbrellas weren't a very good option. The wind was blowing the rain in at an angle. Plus, the wind was so violent that with every gust it threatened to rip the umbrella out of your hands or, at the least, to invert it. Plus, and this is the final nail in that particular coffin, no one likes it when you open an umbrella sitting in front of them in a stadium.
So the best thing was to get that plastic poncho that was now selling for just $14.99, plus the usual and necessary sales tax.
Then you could go out and ignore the elements like this fellow. Second time we've seen this fellow . . . and his little car.
Hahaha, see what I mean! Look at the far umbrella. Several of its spines are broken. These umbrellas were taking a beating.
Somehow I don't think that dog is having a great time.
Talk about some die-hard fans.
 |
| I'm telling you the weather report said light rain!! |
Hahaha, needless to say, both Carol and I were very happy for our little shelter and greatly enjoying the passing parade of thoroughly wet humanity.
Whoa, that umbrella is about to fold there, Bucko!!
And still it came down.
And that parade, it was entertaining.
It was a-pouring.
Then, a band came along playing a jolly tune.
These guys were good. A little wet and I question the kilt, but they sounded good.
But there must have been something magical in that music that they played for when they struck up a tune, the rain it went away.
Well, hahaha, at least it eased up, a bit.
And, finally, it started getting back to what M.J. promised.
And, magically, the City Tax Collectors, aka The Police, showed up, too.
Play on, Magic Musicians!! Play on!!
Hahaha, finally. We'd been in the doorway for half an hour when we saw our chance, and the lingering clouds, and made our break for home.
Hahaha, the other weinies like us came out, too.
And, amazingly, the crowds picked up!! What the . . . !?!?!
Go figure.
Hahaha, they're happy now, but give it a couple hours.
As we were leaving, we had to detour around this large pond of water. Hahaha, there was so much standing water that there was an eddy around this drainhole in the parking lot. There had been so much water in such a short time that the Seattle drainage system was unable to cope with it. Hahaha, Seattle's drainage system was unable to keep up with the rain!
And as we were leaving we ran into these happy souls. Hahaha, they'd be singing a different tune if they'd been here a half hour earlier.
Gooooooo, 'Hawks!!
It was like swimming upstream, or against the rip tide.
Hahahaha, Cheeseheads. They're a simple and comical people.
But, to be fair, I have been a Packers fan ever since the days of Jerry Kramer, Bart Starr, Fuzzy Thurston, Ray Nitschke, Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung. I've always been a Packers fan, as much as I could, through the years. In fact, I have a miniature Packers Helmet on display in the front room.
But, I've had so much fun rooting for the SeaHawks, I decided to root for them in this game. I wanted to see the 'Hawks go to their second Super Bowl in a row.
Evidently Carol and I aren't the only ones who can't afford tickets and go just for the pre-game fun. Hahaha, and I thought we were original.
So we headed back towards the Link. Hahaha, we'd watch the game from the comfort and dryness of our couch.
See the guy on the right, there? In the blue jacket. He and his child were riding the rails, so too speak. They'd stopped by to see the goings on at the game and were heading south towards SeaTac just to see what they could see. How do I know this?
Hahahaha, Carol. She can start up a conversation anywhere, anytime. And it leads to meeting some interesting and fun people.
He's from Colorado, been in Washington for 20 years now, and the two of them were just seeing a bit of the city. Plus they've not ridden on the Link all the way yet.
He's an independent contractor around UW. He said he gets all the work he can handle within one mile of his house. Either that's the truth or he doesn't want to come out and redo the kitchen ceiling in the Hole-In-the-Ground.
We had a good conversation with him while we waited for the next train.
The rain may have let up, but the wind was still blowin'. You can see this tall tree in front of the windows a-bendin' in the breeze, er, gale?
#dramaqueen
Ridin' the Rails Reflected Window Selfie!!
Hahaha, relatively dry and looking forward to little sausages dripping BBQ sauce while watching the Big Game on TV. We're outta der!!
Adios, Link Train. You can see the weather is getting ready to let us have it, again.
But we decided that, since we'd both been good we deserved a treat.
Quick!! To the Ghetto Safeway!!
And, look!! Even the Metro Busses are fans!!
Here's my treat!!
And here's Carol's.
Hahaha, The 12s are everywhere.
Looking back. This might be the best picture I have of the Othello Station.
But the clouds were gathering and so we did hurried home just getting back as it began raining again.
But not before this one revisited her childhood with a giant leap.
Hahaha, a tutu does that to a girl.
So far as the pre-game activities went, it was a bust. It was, however, exciting and fun and therefore worth it. I mean, how many times do you get to go to a National Football Conference Championship game and stand in a doorway out of the rain for a half hour?
Hahaha, it not only became a great story for the blog, but it also became a wonderful memory of our time.
I've often wondered about my reasons for taking all these pictures and making this blog and I think I finally have an insight into why. I just read an article about the efforts to restore several rolls of film that were taken during World War II and never developed. One line towards the end of the article spoke volumes to me. It summarizes how I feel when I take these pictures and create this blog. It ties in, neatly, to my sentiment in the paragraph just before this one about the day becoming a 'wonderful memory'.
Here's the quote by Photographer Levi Bettwieser, of The Rescued Film Project:
"The haunting photos have both historical and personal value . . . as each photo is a photographer's way of saying, "I exist, and these moments were important to me."
And that says it all. The blog says, for me, I exist and these moments are important to me.
Fun is where you find it, eh, don't 'cha know?
Hahaha, life is good.
Hooah!!
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