Sarlacc83
Active member
My travelogue from Portland to Seattle.
First, no pictures, because my wife decided not to bring the camera from the game. Which is sad because a new friend has been a season ticket holder since the Kingdome days and gave me his tickets which are on the 40 yard line in section 108. Aweeeesome.
--- Saturday Travelogue --- skip if you don't care unless it's about the Hawks
Our journey started on Saturday. We dropped off our young'in at the grandparents at 9:30, then hit the road for the uneventful 3 hour drive. We arrived at the Hampton near Queen Anne Hill, and, to our delight, found out we got a free upgrade to a suite with a balcony. Not exactly the world's great view, unless you have a fetish for Shell stations, but appreciated nonetheless.
My wife wanted to be touristy, so we walked the 7 blocks to the Space Needle. Pretty decent day to go up there if you like feeling the tower sway beneath your feet, or if you prefer gale force winds that make you wonder how long before someone's phone gets blown off to the Sound. (I was rooting for this to happen, by the way.) My wife's enjoyment assured for the time being, we continued our afternoon by visiting the Fremont district to grab chocolate from Theo's and dinner at Brouwer's. Unfortunately, the tours for Theo's were full, revoking my wife's enjoyment for that hour, but dinner was excellent - taking us back to our time in Belgium. (Though my stoofvles were more savory whereas the Belgian beer stew tends to be sweeter on the Old Continent...and in my recipe.)
The clock started ticking down to our return to the hotel to watch the Sounders - Timbers match ( I talked about trying to get tickets; I was rebuffed), my wife and I stopped at Fremont brewing to test the waters. An interesting garage housing a brewery that underwhelmed me a bit by its lack of atmosphere. The Sister DIPA was good, however, with a texture I can only describe as crunchy.
Back to the hotel to enjoy the win by Portland. Again, wish we'd joined the 1000 fans who made the journey up from Portland, but life is often a missed opportunity.
Bedtime.
-- Sunday. Hawks time ----
My first confession is that I have not been to a Seattle game in years. I want to say it hasn't been since 2004 against the Rams because of college, money problems, and a general missing out of various opportunities. Forgive me Paul, for I have sinned.
Now, even though my wife and I stayed just north of downtown, we set off for Tukwila at around 9:45 in order to take the Light Rail back to the stadium. We figured it best to be closer to Portland and also to avoid the general mess of post-stadium traffic after the game. Which turned out to be quite prescient given OT and the fact all Hawks stuck around until the FG went through the uprights.
The general atmosphere around the stadium and on the lightrail tended towards optimistic, if not exactly sweeping in its euphoria. In fact, as I started to catalog out what I wanted to write, it struck me how little fanfare I noticed. Playing Tampa Bay will do that to a person, I suppose. A good bowl of gumbo and a meeting with my parents (I gave the tickets I purchased to them since I received my new ones for free) got us close to game time and amped up my excitement for the game. I don't have the ennui the rest of you do. :thirishdrinkers:
In through the cattle sorting zone and around the stadium, and we are at our seats. And they are fantastic Almost close enough to yell at Schiano, but not quite close enough for get him to fight me so that I could get on TV, then sue him. I feel like this was a reasonable fantasy. Either way, my friend put me up to it. I tried.
The invasion started. Red jerseys made their way one by one until they formed a vocal contingent who apparently forgot their team sucked. Good for them, really. Though, they had definitely gotten their fill of the booze.
Now for the football theatrics. Cheerleaders and blaring music and Blue Thunder and entrances. Notice of the day's festivities revolving around the 1983 playoff team. (I was 4 months old when that historic run happened, so watching that footage and seeing those players in person at half time did me good.) Yay?
The game starts, and well, everyone knows it was a disaster at the beginning. It sucks, too, because the Kearse fumble happened so close to us that I could only watch in horror as the ball comes out in an arc while Jermaine grasps at it like it's a fish in a stream. The Buccaneers fans are besides themselves, mocking Seahawks fans and hollering it up. Fair play, for the most part. It also took the crowd out of the game, but even then, I don't think people got up for Tampa Bay. It didn't help that everyone in the stadium watched ETIII take away the pass to get it called back, and then the refs proceeded to ignore holding calls in the open field. I'm not usually able to track penalties during a live game, so there were some egregious misses. Fortunately, Russ throws the slant to Kearse who takes it home, and then it's half time at 21-7. Also, the first half takes forever. I know that watching football live is a different, but there are so many damn delays. It's terrible.
The crowd is restless, though I feel a sense of calm. As much as I can, at least. I can't believe the Buccaneers came out with any sense of heart. I commented to my wife that with all the trick plays in the game, Schiano's trying to save his job with this last ditch effort. The Bucs are 0-7. They'll revert. However, the TB fans are whooping it and crowing about how on Thursday night, no Tampa fan ever sat down. (I assumed this was BS, since TB got blown out, and they were likely in their cars by the 4th quarter.) I did shout that they were 0-7, and then the Bucs fan in front of me gives me the classic "We have a Super Bowl ring". Good on ya, buddy. You're going to regret saying that.
So I hope. The defense starts the second half like they did in the first. Except they finally figure out how to stop the giraffe quarterback. I can feel the swell coming. Touchdown on the read-option. FG. We're 7 behind. The 4th quarter is going to be all Seahawks all the time. Glennon starts to dive at the slightest pressure.
And it is. Except for the damn red zone interception. I mean, the defensive stop is inevitable. But it would have been after Seattle scored the TD if the offense/Bevell don't screw the pooch, and then we wouldn't have had to endure overtime. Oh well. Stop. Drive. Touchdown, Seahawks! I ask the Super Bowl fan how his Super Bowl "ring" helped on the Baldwin score. He doesn't answer.
Final drive. Damn, did it feel like the end of games last year. Except Glennon goes belly up. Schiano abandons the run. It's overtime, and your team sucks. Seattle has all the momentum. The Bucs fans are stunned when the Seahawks absolutely dominate their team as it should have been. There is nothing to say - people who get kicked in the nuts at least wheeze so this is worse. 0-8 hits them so hard when Beast Mode rips their defense a new one. Game over. Let's go home. I get a few chants of 0-8 at Super Bowl Super fan and we're off to the cattle march. Chants of Seahawks resound. It's like the first half never happened, though we got to enjoy the largest Seahawks comeback to this date. Paul Allen's SUV drives past with a police escort and he gives us a wave. I get to enjoy the march of joy.
I really hope I can corral playoff tix for those seats if my friend doesn't want them.
TL;DR: Quit being lazy.
First, no pictures, because my wife decided not to bring the camera from the game. Which is sad because a new friend has been a season ticket holder since the Kingdome days and gave me his tickets which are on the 40 yard line in section 108. Aweeeesome.
--- Saturday Travelogue --- skip if you don't care unless it's about the Hawks
Our journey started on Saturday. We dropped off our young'in at the grandparents at 9:30, then hit the road for the uneventful 3 hour drive. We arrived at the Hampton near Queen Anne Hill, and, to our delight, found out we got a free upgrade to a suite with a balcony. Not exactly the world's great view, unless you have a fetish for Shell stations, but appreciated nonetheless.
My wife wanted to be touristy, so we walked the 7 blocks to the Space Needle. Pretty decent day to go up there if you like feeling the tower sway beneath your feet, or if you prefer gale force winds that make you wonder how long before someone's phone gets blown off to the Sound. (I was rooting for this to happen, by the way.) My wife's enjoyment assured for the time being, we continued our afternoon by visiting the Fremont district to grab chocolate from Theo's and dinner at Brouwer's. Unfortunately, the tours for Theo's were full, revoking my wife's enjoyment for that hour, but dinner was excellent - taking us back to our time in Belgium. (Though my stoofvles were more savory whereas the Belgian beer stew tends to be sweeter on the Old Continent...and in my recipe.)
The clock started ticking down to our return to the hotel to watch the Sounders - Timbers match ( I talked about trying to get tickets; I was rebuffed), my wife and I stopped at Fremont brewing to test the waters. An interesting garage housing a brewery that underwhelmed me a bit by its lack of atmosphere. The Sister DIPA was good, however, with a texture I can only describe as crunchy.
Back to the hotel to enjoy the win by Portland. Again, wish we'd joined the 1000 fans who made the journey up from Portland, but life is often a missed opportunity.
Bedtime.
-- Sunday. Hawks time ----
My first confession is that I have not been to a Seattle game in years. I want to say it hasn't been since 2004 against the Rams because of college, money problems, and a general missing out of various opportunities. Forgive me Paul, for I have sinned.
Now, even though my wife and I stayed just north of downtown, we set off for Tukwila at around 9:45 in order to take the Light Rail back to the stadium. We figured it best to be closer to Portland and also to avoid the general mess of post-stadium traffic after the game. Which turned out to be quite prescient given OT and the fact all Hawks stuck around until the FG went through the uprights.
The general atmosphere around the stadium and on the lightrail tended towards optimistic, if not exactly sweeping in its euphoria. In fact, as I started to catalog out what I wanted to write, it struck me how little fanfare I noticed. Playing Tampa Bay will do that to a person, I suppose. A good bowl of gumbo and a meeting with my parents (I gave the tickets I purchased to them since I received my new ones for free) got us close to game time and amped up my excitement for the game. I don't have the ennui the rest of you do. :thirishdrinkers:
In through the cattle sorting zone and around the stadium, and we are at our seats. And they are fantastic Almost close enough to yell at Schiano, but not quite close enough for get him to fight me so that I could get on TV, then sue him. I feel like this was a reasonable fantasy. Either way, my friend put me up to it. I tried.
The invasion started. Red jerseys made their way one by one until they formed a vocal contingent who apparently forgot their team sucked. Good for them, really. Though, they had definitely gotten their fill of the booze.
Now for the football theatrics. Cheerleaders and blaring music and Blue Thunder and entrances. Notice of the day's festivities revolving around the 1983 playoff team. (I was 4 months old when that historic run happened, so watching that footage and seeing those players in person at half time did me good.) Yay?
The game starts, and well, everyone knows it was a disaster at the beginning. It sucks, too, because the Kearse fumble happened so close to us that I could only watch in horror as the ball comes out in an arc while Jermaine grasps at it like it's a fish in a stream. The Buccaneers fans are besides themselves, mocking Seahawks fans and hollering it up. Fair play, for the most part. It also took the crowd out of the game, but even then, I don't think people got up for Tampa Bay. It didn't help that everyone in the stadium watched ETIII take away the pass to get it called back, and then the refs proceeded to ignore holding calls in the open field. I'm not usually able to track penalties during a live game, so there were some egregious misses. Fortunately, Russ throws the slant to Kearse who takes it home, and then it's half time at 21-7. Also, the first half takes forever. I know that watching football live is a different, but there are so many damn delays. It's terrible.
The crowd is restless, though I feel a sense of calm. As much as I can, at least. I can't believe the Buccaneers came out with any sense of heart. I commented to my wife that with all the trick plays in the game, Schiano's trying to save his job with this last ditch effort. The Bucs are 0-7. They'll revert. However, the TB fans are whooping it and crowing about how on Thursday night, no Tampa fan ever sat down. (I assumed this was BS, since TB got blown out, and they were likely in their cars by the 4th quarter.) I did shout that they were 0-7, and then the Bucs fan in front of me gives me the classic "We have a Super Bowl ring". Good on ya, buddy. You're going to regret saying that.
So I hope. The defense starts the second half like they did in the first. Except they finally figure out how to stop the giraffe quarterback. I can feel the swell coming. Touchdown on the read-option. FG. We're 7 behind. The 4th quarter is going to be all Seahawks all the time. Glennon starts to dive at the slightest pressure.
And it is. Except for the damn red zone interception. I mean, the defensive stop is inevitable. But it would have been after Seattle scored the TD if the offense/Bevell don't screw the pooch, and then we wouldn't have had to endure overtime. Oh well. Stop. Drive. Touchdown, Seahawks! I ask the Super Bowl fan how his Super Bowl "ring" helped on the Baldwin score. He doesn't answer.
Final drive. Damn, did it feel like the end of games last year. Except Glennon goes belly up. Schiano abandons the run. It's overtime, and your team sucks. Seattle has all the momentum. The Bucs fans are stunned when the Seahawks absolutely dominate their team as it should have been. There is nothing to say - people who get kicked in the nuts at least wheeze so this is worse. 0-8 hits them so hard when Beast Mode rips their defense a new one. Game over. Let's go home. I get a few chants of 0-8 at Super Bowl Super fan and we're off to the cattle march. Chants of Seahawks resound. It's like the first half never happened, though we got to enjoy the largest Seahawks comeback to this date. Paul Allen's SUV drives past with a police escort and he gives us a wave. I get to enjoy the march of joy.
I really hope I can corral playoff tix for those seats if my friend doesn't want them.
TL;DR: Quit being lazy.
