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| Macklemore raising the 12 flag on the Top of the Space Needle |
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| If you can't see this flag in Seattle you are not looking up. |
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| After the Seahawks narrowly defeated the San Francisco 49's in the last two minutes excitement in Seattle became more intense every day till the Super Bowl game. |
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| This guy flew the Flag Every Blue Friday, the Friday before every game. |
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| The Space Needle was a 12 man Beacon. |
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| The Seattle Science Center's Arches |
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| Downtown Buildings most with a 12 lighted up with office lights. |
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| Boeing was a solid 12 |
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| Thsi guy woke up one morning and created this with his chain saw. |
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| The Seattle Aquarium got creative, a Hermit crab preferred the Seahawk helmet over his other shell. He was given the name Marshawn Pinch |
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| 12 outnumbered the Bronco fans in NY by a wide Margin |
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| My students bailed on their sail lessons on super Bowl Day so I went for a single hand sail down Lake Union, the winds looked promising as I sailed off the dock but then they just died. |
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| The winds perked up after about 15 minutes and I sailed towards a race getting ready to start on the North end. I enjoy sailing through racers, I do not interfere and I stay out of the way but I am sure I make them think a bit. |
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| A really big mark for a small lake? |
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| This was my goal to sail under the George Washington Memorial Bridge at the Norhwest side of the Wasington Lake Channel, it took 1.5 hrs. hours to sail the 2.5 miles in a North wind. |
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| The Lake union Fuel Dock, I think it is the only fuel stop on the lake. |
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| Running back South downwind to the Center for Wooden Boats took just 30 minutes. I Should have just enough time to quickly put the boat away and get home for the Super bowl kickoff. |
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| I walked in the door just after the Seahawks scored the fastest score in Super Bowl History, a touch back in the 1st 2 minutes of the game. I did not know it at the time but every time the Seahawks scored they shot fireworks off the top of the Space Needle. They started conserving their fireworks since the Seahawks were scoring so much they did not want to run out. |
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| From where we live on 1st Avenue I walked South 1 block and East 3 blocks to 4th Avenue and this is as close as I could get to the street, about 10 rows back. I go t there about 10:30 am for the Start of the Celebration Parade that was supposed to start at 11am. People walking South toward downtown looking for some space to get closer to the street were greeted by throngs coming North who were doing the same.I decided to stay put |
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| A construction crew from that building under construction seemed to have erected their own viewing platform for the Parade |
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| The Crane operator straight up above those construction workers had a great vies and he must have a really good heater in that cab! |
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| This guy walked by 3-4 times and he got a huge welcome by all the fans, they called out "JESSE" but I don't know Jesse? |
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| Finally about 11:40 the Parade starts. From the first sight of the flag corp the noise rose to an incredible level and stayed there for the rest of the parade. |
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| About 10 of these buses followed the flag Corp next. You could not see in the dark tinted windows of the buses but the crowd went nuts anyway. |
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| My Favorite Seahawk, Marshawn Lynch, #24 running back was on the Hood of the First Duck with all the Seattle Sea Gals. |
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| The Seahawks Blue Thunder Drum Line works the 12 into a huge party. The feeling was absolutely incredible. You would have thought David had Just beaten Goliath and all the people could come out and live Free again. |
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| Pete Carroll and his wife, almost missed the shot trying to see through the crowd. |
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| Offensive Coaches |
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| Defensive Coaches |
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| Offensive Line and are The Broncos still considered the best NFL Offense? |
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| Special Teams |
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| Something about the Defensive Line, they dance more. |
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| Line Backers except for Marshawn who is on the Hood with the Seattle Sea Gals |
Check out this short clip of Marshawn Lynch on the Lead Duck with Blue Thunder:
http://youtu.be/qCAFpDpPbl4
Sometime you just happen to be in the Right Place at the Right Time
We are from Texas. Texas Football is Legandary, Friday Night Lights is every town in Texas supporting their High School team with high hopes for their best to make it to the Big Dance some day. My High School years were in Fort Worth, Texas so of course The Dallas Cowboys were the only team in the world and when I we were growing up they were always in the Hunt, in Fact they became known as America's Team. Tom Landry was a coach above all others. But that was then, the point being you can't escape Texas Football. Graduating from University of Texas The Longhorns are of course foremost in our football side of the brain. There are those other guys, you know, The Aggies, Texas A & M, and the ONLY reason I bother to mention them in this blog is out of respect to their 12th Man.
The 12's of the Seattle Seahawk's is a whole other dimension when it comes to the idea of a 12th Man. There are no words I could possibly write that cold help someone , who has not experienced this, understand the Phenomena of this powerful fan base in the entire Pacific Northwest. Due to a Lawsuit by Texas A & M protecting their rightful Name "The 12th Man" The Seattle Seahawk's agreed to pay for the right to use 12th Man in their games etc. But no one else has that right so every business or any other entity simply refers to the 12's hence the only thing you see on Seattle's 12th Man flag is a "12" and there is no reference to "The 12th Man" anywhere outside of the Seahawk's Organization. One exception is television sports news using the name but they are just reporting on the Seahawk's.
We arrived in August to Seattle so it has been a slow build becoming part of this city's frenzy about their beloved Team. The Admiral and I have loved watching their progress as they beat every team who came to Seattle. Our Son in Law is a 49er's fan and we learned how dedicated a fan he is to his Home team during the NFC title Game.. We could not join him though as we have no San Francisco sports blood whatsoever. We understand as being a Longhorn fan the last Three years has been pretty tough. Living in Seattle and just walking the streets with the 12's won us over. I mentioned to him that when the Seahawks defeated the 49er's for the Championship that it would be sad if the Super Bowl turned out to be a blow out and that the real Game was the 49er's and the Seahawk's.
I started out Superbowl Sunday with baby Drew and then I went down to teach some sailing lessons at the Center for Wooden Boats. My adult students had to be 12's cause they bailed. probably started their Super Bowl Party early so I decided to just go sailing for a couple of hours. I had a great time Sailing threw a Sunday afternoon race that was just a leeward/windward race and ended quickly, they wanted to be home in time for sure. I sailed on through the race so I could sail under the George Washington Bridge, you have to have a goal, something new each time you go out.The winds were not much at first but they built, it took an hour and a half to get to the bridge but the downwind trip back was just 30 minutes in subsiding winds...I crept into the dock and hurriedly put it away for a fast walk home.
There was hardly anyone on the streets so I knew everyone was already in front of a TV somewhere. I moved fast into the lobby of our condo building and I heard hollering and screaming and I knew the Seahawk's had already scored, I took the elevator up to the 12th floor and asked the Admiral Did they already score? I got there to see the replay...Holy mackerel in just 2 minutes?
We lived so close to the Victory Parade Route, I was not gonna miss it even though it was the coldest day of the year. I passed off Baby Drew to the Admiral and went home to throw on some more clothes. There were people everywhere walking towards the parade route. I had four layers of clothes on and found one of the few spots available on the sidewalk just 4 blocks away. The crowds mood was super high as they constantly broke into their Seahawk Cheers and screamed for anything that move on the parade route. Feet getting cold after about an hour of waiting but the excitement just kept building. Finally the parade started and it was nonstop noise and fun.I heard there would be an estimated 300,000 in the city for the parade.After the end of the parade passed by most of the people just fell in behind and joined the parade downtown to CenturyLink Field. I went back home and watched the whole thing all over again as it progressed downtown. Now they were saying 700,00 had showed up, that seemed more like it and by the 6:00 news they were estimating right at 1 million crowded into downtown Seattle! The entire population of Seattle is just 640,000. Every single hotel room in the city had been taken and who knows what else. That is just a fraction of the 12's in the PNW, they just happened to be the ones who made it into the city on a Wednesday. The whole parade was thrown together in just 3 days, no way did they realize 1 million would show up. No one was arrested, no problems of any significant kind other than a lot of people had to wait for hours to get a bus or some way out of the city when it was over. I am a certified 12 now and I can't wait to see this team play again. The magic of this team is all 2013-14 believe me but they had the magic that the Dallas cowboys and Tom Landry had back in the 70's. Owner Paul Allen, Pete Carroll and the whole Seahawk Organization has the right formula. It will be incredible if they can hold it together and make a second run. Every NFL City should have an opportunity to experience this kind of Football experience.The fact is that sometimes you just happen to Be in the Right Place at the Right Time.
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