Feburary 2, 2014
Everyone was screaming their faces off, both Seahawks and Broncos fans, as Steven Hauschka kicked off to Trindon Holliday. Super Bowl XLVIII (that's 48 for any non-Romans) was under way.
And that was the last time Broncos fans had anything to cheer about.
Seriously. From the very first play, when the Broncos couldn't even execute a basic snap and the ball went out of the end zone for a safety, everything went the Seahawks way...all the way to a 43-8 victory. The Broncos only score came when it was 36-0, so even then there was nothing for them to cheer about. I could write a billion words about the game and the experience of being AT the Super Bowl to see my Seahawks win their first Championship ever, but I will spare you. In the end, we paid a lot of money to see one of the most lop-sided Super Bowls in history, and until next season kicks off, I will be replaying each score, each big play, each high-five with my friends, and forgetting all the painful losses and seasons since I was a baby. This was really the best day ever (except if you're a Broncos fan, or a neutral fan who paid a lot of money to watch a "good" football game, which it wasn't). I'm trying my best not to sound like I am rubbing it in the faces of any Broncos fans, because really I'm not. But I can't promise I will be successful.
Has your team ever won a sports championship? Whether it be the NBA Finals, World Cup, or College Football championship, I had never cheered for a team that won a National (or "World", as we sometimes like to call it) Championship game. Teams have gotten close in my time ('96 Sonics and '05 Seahawks both lost in the finals), our WNBA team has won (but I didn't follow them, except that I used to have a crush on Sue Bird), and the Huskies shared the title in 1991 (but there was no satisfaction of winning the Championship game). When the Sonics (RIP) won the title in 1979, I wasn't old enough to know what was going on. The Mariners haven't even come close. So I didn't know what it's like to support a Champion. And I'm tired of my teams not winning. We sit through every season wishing and hoping, watching a lot of mediocrity, just putting up with it, because that's what we Seattle fans know. Just once I'd like to say that my team won. And of course, it would literally be a once in a lifetime opportunity to be there when it happens. And it finally did. Now I'm greedy, and now we need to win EVERYTHING.
When I was planning my trip to Hawaii, I wanted to stop by Seattle and NYC on the way back to Poland, and luckily the flight prices to do this were not very expensive. In September 2013 (the beginning of football season), there was some talk that the Seahawks were Super Bowl contenders (but when does that ever mean anything?). The Super Bowl was going to be in NYC for the first time ever, and JUST IN CASE, I planned the trip to be in NYC during the big game. Just. In. Case. And it turned into an great decision (and not a jinx).
After we won the NFC Championship (which we watched in Hawaii and I made Igors learn all the rules), the excitement grew as we knew we'd be in NYC to watch the Hawks play. Even though I am a big fan who has watched (at least on TV) pretty much every game since I was born, I actually didn't immediately buy tickets to the attend live in NYC. It took a combination of many things before I woke up one day and said "Yes, I'm going". The night before I decided to get a ticket, I actually went to bed thinking "I have better things to spend $2,000 on, I'll just watch it on TV at Mike and Patty's". Then I had some crazy dreams, and woke up convinced I needed to go to the game. It was something like in Back to the Future, when George McFly is visited (by Darth Vader from the plant Vulcan) in the middle of the night, convincing him to ask Lorraine to the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, or else he'd melt his brain. BJ, Byron, Kevin, and a bunch of others convinced me to go with them, since they all bought flights to meet up in NYC. We were able to get tickets for less than I thought, thanks to a friend (originally tickets were in the $2000-3000 range, which we avoided). But with a face value of $1,000, it was still quite expensive (we paid more than face). And for that much money, we were going to enjoy every single minute of it.
When Percy Harvin took the second half kickoff for a touchdown, making the score 29-0, victory was firmly in hand and I realized "yea this is worth it".
12 must have been a magic number, as during the Super Bowl, we scored points exactly 12 seconds into both the first and second halves, which never happened before (and is extremely difficult considering the rules of who gets the ball to start each half). And obviously, the number 12 represents us, the fans of the Seahawks.
Obviously the game itself was awesome, and it was so great to share it with so many friends from Seattle. They thought it would be super cold and snowy, but actually it was so nice that I didn't even wear a jacket. We lost our voices (for days), and our hands hurt from so much high-fiving. For days after the game, I watched highlights, replays, and analysis on TV, the victory parade (and I might have shed a tear when Russell Wilson carried in the Lombardi trophy after the team introductions). Doug Baldwin and Kam Chancellor were my favorites, but Percy Harvin, Golden Tate, Russell, Richard Sherman (Igors bought his t-shirt), Bobby Wagner, Earl Thomas, Michael Bennett, and others....there are so many good players, and of course Malcom Smith winning MVP. Maxwell will be good too. It was really nice to see Broncos so gracious after the game - Knowshon Moreno came up to Sherman to congratulate him - I liked him after that. Sherman didn't say anything rude, unlike the 49er game, and paid tribute to all his teammates. Oh, and I'm never washing my Russell Wilson jersey.
Besides the game, it was great to see my NYC friends (Mike and Patty were great hosts as always, this time in Long Island City), and amazing that so many Seattle friends came out to the game. We ran into a lot of friends at the game that we didn't even know would be there, including my old work softball team buddies sitting behind us in the stadium, and I saw a friend from high school on the bus home from the game that I hadn't seen in years. He told me he reads this blog in between flying F-18s fighter jets (seriously that's what he does), so what's up Poth!. By the way, paying $50 for the exclusive bus to and from the game, was another wise idea, rather than taking public transportation (which supposedly took hours).
The game was so great that everything else afterwards seemed kind of blah. After the game we tried to go to a Seahawks bar to celebrate (Central Bar), but we were so tired from cheering our faces off, and the bar wasn't letting people in, so we just went to a quiet place down the street. After a couple celebratory drinks, we all went home early. The high didn't wear off though (it still hasn't) as we kept reminding ourselves of the victory. The next night a few of us went to the Nets basketball game, which seemed super boring compared to winning the Super Bowl. I especially didn't want to be too happy about the game since Joey (a Broncos fan) also came with us. Sorry Joey. But it was still good to see him.
Schwartz and her friend Jami came out to NYC from Houston as well, and we hung out around the city. Their last night they took us to a gay bar where the patrons sing Broadway tunes all night. It was pretty fun and interesting, except for when some guy's crotch "accidentally" kept rubbing up against my legs. Yikes.
I also got to see a lot of my old PwC training crew for happy hour. George, Saj, Dan, Justin, Annie D and a bunch of others met up near the office after work, just like the good old days. It didn't end up at Karaoke and Chicken and Rice at 4am like it used to, but considering half of the crew has kids at home now, it's understandable.
I think Igors enjoyed his first time in NYC, getting in a lot of sightseeing, and a lot of Asian food (it was my big craving so I dragged him all over Chinatown and Korea town). He got sick of it eventually, as you can imagine.
More than 2 months after the game, it's still awesome to think about it. The Seahawks are a victim of their own success, since many of their free agents have scored big contracts with other teams. But it's nice to see the true fans wishing the players well, thanking them for being sports heroes to us, rather than criticizing them for leaving. We understand this is part of the game, and we believe in our team management to keep re-stocking the cupboard. Now that our expectations are so high, and we know that it's possible, I just hope we aren't disappointed if we don't win Super Bowls every year. Or we could just go ahead and win the Super Bowl every year.
Check back next year to find out.
Everyone was screaming their faces off, both Seahawks and Broncos fans, as Steven Hauschka kicked off to Trindon Holliday. Super Bowl XLVIII (that's 48 for any non-Romans) was under way.
And that was the last time Broncos fans had anything to cheer about.
Seriously. From the very first play, when the Broncos couldn't even execute a basic snap and the ball went out of the end zone for a safety, everything went the Seahawks way...all the way to a 43-8 victory. The Broncos only score came when it was 36-0, so even then there was nothing for them to cheer about. I could write a billion words about the game and the experience of being AT the Super Bowl to see my Seahawks win their first Championship ever, but I will spare you. In the end, we paid a lot of money to see one of the most lop-sided Super Bowls in history, and until next season kicks off, I will be replaying each score, each big play, each high-five with my friends, and forgetting all the painful losses and seasons since I was a baby. This was really the best day ever (except if you're a Broncos fan, or a neutral fan who paid a lot of money to watch a "good" football game, which it wasn't). I'm trying my best not to sound like I am rubbing it in the faces of any Broncos fans, because really I'm not. But I can't promise I will be successful.
Seriously, I'm not trying to rub it in
Has your team ever won a sports championship? Whether it be the NBA Finals, World Cup, or College Football championship, I had never cheered for a team that won a National (or "World", as we sometimes like to call it) Championship game. Teams have gotten close in my time ('96 Sonics and '05 Seahawks both lost in the finals), our WNBA team has won (but I didn't follow them, except that I used to have a crush on Sue Bird), and the Huskies shared the title in 1991 (but there was no satisfaction of winning the Championship game). When the Sonics (RIP) won the title in 1979, I wasn't old enough to know what was going on. The Mariners haven't even come close. So I didn't know what it's like to support a Champion. And I'm tired of my teams not winning. We sit through every season wishing and hoping, watching a lot of mediocrity, just putting up with it, because that's what we Seattle fans know. Just once I'd like to say that my team won. And of course, it would literally be a once in a lifetime opportunity to be there when it happens. And it finally did. Now I'm greedy, and now we need to win EVERYTHING.
When I was planning my trip to Hawaii, I wanted to stop by Seattle and NYC on the way back to Poland, and luckily the flight prices to do this were not very expensive. In September 2013 (the beginning of football season), there was some talk that the Seahawks were Super Bowl contenders (but when does that ever mean anything?). The Super Bowl was going to be in NYC for the first time ever, and JUST IN CASE, I planned the trip to be in NYC during the big game. Just. In. Case. And it turned into an great decision (and not a jinx).
After we won the NFC Championship (which we watched in Hawaii and I made Igors learn all the rules), the excitement grew as we knew we'd be in NYC to watch the Hawks play. Even though I am a big fan who has watched (at least on TV) pretty much every game since I was born, I actually didn't immediately buy tickets to the attend live in NYC. It took a combination of many things before I woke up one day and said "Yes, I'm going". The night before I decided to get a ticket, I actually went to bed thinking "I have better things to spend $2,000 on, I'll just watch it on TV at Mike and Patty's". Then I had some crazy dreams, and woke up convinced I needed to go to the game. It was something like in Back to the Future, when George McFly is visited (by Darth Vader from the plant Vulcan) in the middle of the night, convincing him to ask Lorraine to the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, or else he'd melt his brain. BJ, Byron, Kevin, and a bunch of others convinced me to go with them, since they all bought flights to meet up in NYC. We were able to get tickets for less than I thought, thanks to a friend (originally tickets were in the $2000-3000 range, which we avoided). But with a face value of $1,000, it was still quite expensive (we paid more than face). And for that much money, we were going to enjoy every single minute of it.
Hawks in NYC
Some adopted Hawks in NYC (we don't even know the guy on the left)
12 must have been a magic number, as during the Super Bowl, we scored points exactly 12 seconds into both the first and second halves, which never happened before (and is extremely difficult considering the rules of who gets the ball to start each half). And obviously, the number 12 represents us, the fans of the Seahawks.
12s before going in the stadium
Here we go 12s!
Obviously the game itself was awesome, and it was so great to share it with so many friends from Seattle. They thought it would be super cold and snowy, but actually it was so nice that I didn't even wear a jacket. We lost our voices (for days), and our hands hurt from so much high-fiving. For days after the game, I watched highlights, replays, and analysis on TV, the victory parade (and I might have shed a tear when Russell Wilson carried in the Lombardi trophy after the team introductions). Doug Baldwin and Kam Chancellor were my favorites, but Percy Harvin, Golden Tate, Russell, Richard Sherman (Igors bought his t-shirt), Bobby Wagner, Earl Thomas, Michael Bennett, and others....there are so many good players, and of course Malcom Smith winning MVP. Maxwell will be good too. It was really nice to see Broncos so gracious after the game - Knowshon Moreno came up to Sherman to congratulate him - I liked him after that. Sherman didn't say anything rude, unlike the 49er game, and paid tribute to all his teammates. Oh, and I'm never washing my Russell Wilson jersey.
Winners!!
On such a high, even still!
Besides the game, it was great to see my NYC friends (Mike and Patty were great hosts as always, this time in Long Island City), and amazing that so many Seattle friends came out to the game. We ran into a lot of friends at the game that we didn't even know would be there, including my old work softball team buddies sitting behind us in the stadium, and I saw a friend from high school on the bus home from the game that I hadn't seen in years. He told me he reads this blog in between flying F-18s fighter jets (seriously that's what he does), so what's up Poth!. By the way, paying $50 for the exclusive bus to and from the game, was another wise idea, rather than taking public transportation (which supposedly took hours).
Ran into Blair, whose dad is CFO of the Broncos (sorry guys)
The game was so great that everything else afterwards seemed kind of blah. After the game we tried to go to a Seahawks bar to celebrate (Central Bar), but we were so tired from cheering our faces off, and the bar wasn't letting people in, so we just went to a quiet place down the street. After a couple celebratory drinks, we all went home early. The high didn't wear off though (it still hasn't) as we kept reminding ourselves of the victory. The next night a few of us went to the Nets basketball game, which seemed super boring compared to winning the Super Bowl. I especially didn't want to be too happy about the game since Joey (a Broncos fan) also came with us. Sorry Joey. But it was still good to see him.
Schwartz and her friend Jami came out to NYC from Houston as well, and we hung out around the city. Their last night they took us to a gay bar where the patrons sing Broadway tunes all night. It was pretty fun and interesting, except for when some guy's crotch "accidentally" kept rubbing up against my legs. Yikes.
I also got to see a lot of my old PwC training crew for happy hour. George, Saj, Dan, Justin, Annie D and a bunch of others met up near the office after work, just like the good old days. It didn't end up at Karaoke and Chicken and Rice at 4am like it used to, but considering half of the crew has kids at home now, it's understandable.
Happy hour, just like 7 years ago (except we go home early now)
I think Igors enjoyed his first time in NYC, getting in a lot of sightseeing, and a lot of Asian food (it was my big craving so I dragged him all over Chinatown and Korea town). He got sick of it eventually, as you can imagine.
More than 2 months after the game, it's still awesome to think about it. The Seahawks are a victim of their own success, since many of their free agents have scored big contracts with other teams. But it's nice to see the true fans wishing the players well, thanking them for being sports heroes to us, rather than criticizing them for leaving. We understand this is part of the game, and we believe in our team management to keep re-stocking the cupboard. Now that our expectations are so high, and we know that it's possible, I just hope we aren't disappointed if we don't win Super Bowls every year. Or we could just go ahead and win the Super Bowl every year.
Check back next year to find out.
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