UK_Seahawk":36ize1ur said:
As a non Seattleite and as someone with no particular ties to any part of the US you would think that it would be easy for me to watch the Seahawks play elsewhere but I dont think that would be the case for me.
I picked the Seahawks as my team because of the most superficial reasons, I liked the colours and the name (I was eight at the time) but I love the Seahawks because of the fans, the location and the general vibe of how the PNW resonates with me as a person. I've never visited Seattle (hoping to change that soon) but I do genuinely get the feeling it's a place I would get along in. I feel invested in Seattle as a place living there vicariously through my Seahawk fandom.
This. I don't think I'd be a fan of a non Seattle hawks team. I became a fan after attending a game that a cousin of Kenny Easley took me to. We were supposed to go out after for dinner but Kenny was too beat up... as were the hawks that day, 30 something to 6 at the hands of Simms, LT and the Giants. But I remember the impact that game made on me. As a kid I was drawn to the hawks because of the mascot and the colors. I was branded a fan forever after experiencing a game alongside some 60k other rabid fans. There was nothing like the kingdome and the home field advantage that the fans afforded. The wave, the 'go... seeeeaaahawks' chant. All of it. And on top of it the hawks themselves embodied the underdog mentality that the city itself possessed - hands down one of the most incredible of places to live, work, and play, that no one knew about.
That character transferred to the new stadium and revamped c. 2000s team and turned into the powerhouse we have the joy of experiencing every season. But no, I don't think you can move the hawks out of Seattle and still have the same team. At least not in my opinion. Same colors, same players for a while, but not the same team.
I think the link between team and place is as strong here as in Pittsburgh or green bay... Miami or Dallas.
I'd say the same for colts, which is why that fan base suffered as much as they did when the team up and left for indy. The colts WERE baltimore. Like the Browns WERE Cleveland.
The Hawks ARE Seattle.