Love for the Seahawks abounds in the 'burbs

Seattle Times ^ | 1-30-06 | Jim Brunner

[NavyCanDo]

Maybe they should be called the Burien Seahawks.

Sure, there are plenty of die-hard Seahawks fans in Seattle — even more in these bandwagon days. But to find the deepest blue-and-green vein, hop on Interstate 5 or cross Lake Washington. The suburbs are where it's at.

Football is by far the country's most popular sport, often marketed with a dose of patriotic, even militaristic attitude. You just don't find that sentiment in anti-war Fremont, the land of nude bicyclists and a statue of Lenin.

Consider the numbers.

Despite the "12th Man" flag planted atop the Space Needle, just 14 percent of people in Seattle identify themselves as strong NFL fans.

Consider this: None of the team's 19 official Sea Hawkers booster clubs meets in Seattle. Why is that? Is Seattle too snooty for football?

Martinez notes much of his "Seahawks family" — the most zealous, elaborately costumed and colorfully nicknamed fans getting so much media exposure in the run-up to the Super Bowl — also lives in the 'burbs.

John Rizzardini, Seahawks vice president for marketing, confirmed the team's fan base is strong in the suburbs. In fact, 42 percent of the team's season tickets are sold to people outside of King County, he said.

Rizzardini said the Seahawks are especially popular in military towns like Everett and around Fort Lewis.

"The game of football is closely tied to the military. It's a very patriotic game," he said.

Do we need to mention Seattle's Lenin statue again?

[phantomworker]

The Pitts really does look like a beautiful city. That's a really funny cartoon about Seattle and very true in many respects! Thanks! You don't like grunge then, I take it...

(But it still doesn't mean the Seahawks won't RUST the Steelers! ;) LOL!)

[bigfootbob]

Cool!

Sure that ain't the Niner's uniforms? ;)

[Horatio Gates]

Seattle benefited from one of the weakest opponent schedules in the NFL this past season. If the Steelers play the kind of football they've been playing the Seahawks are toast in SBXL.

I agree in part only that the schedule was weak and imho the majority of the NFC sucks. That schedule got them to the playoffs where they took care of business anyway which speaks more to their caliber as a team. A diamond in the rough, not a "cubic zirconia" as Skip Bayless at ESPN put it. If both teams bring their "A game" it will be an awesome game. I like the Any Given Sunday approach to the NFL. Being a PA native, the Steelers were a hard habit to break 8>)

[Horatio Gates]

LOL! Hey those kid carrying backpacks come in handy on those high altitude Mount Rainier hikes 8>) Gotta get above the rain clouds once in a while. (actually the summers are great but thats a well kept secret to keep the Californians away)

[Mr. Jeeves]

Sure that ain't the Niner's uniforms? ;)

Hey, five rings, baby! Talk big when you've won one. ;)

[bigfootbob]

Touche

[ajolympian2004]

"Seahawk, it's what's for dinner"

:)

[ajolympian2004]

Pittsburgh vs Seattle in Super Bowl XL ... I think this about sums it up...

[bikepacker67]

Have Fun:

The Bill Cowher Appearance Improvement Page

[Vicki]

Thanks, that is fun.

[phantomworker]

So you're saying that it takes brains to win the Superbowl? It is a thinking man's game...

[chief_bigfoot]

"You don't like grunge then, I take it.."

If you mean the in the fashion sense, it just doesn't square with my military training. There is hope though...http://www.anti-grunge.org/recycle.htm

If you were referring to the 'music' angle, I just didn't get it, and the whole whining about the world aspect of it turned me off. To be raised on "Hot for Teacher", "Godzilla", "Cat Scratch Fever", and the like, I just couldn't make the jump to the whole grunge sound. Even todays new groups sound like whining jagoffs to me. I guess I'm still 'old-school' 70s & 80s type. You know, back when Seattle won those four Superbowls. Oh wait, that was Pittsburgh. I guess I'm thinking of the 90's when Seattle won, no wait, that wasn't them either. OMG, the alzheimers must be taking hold. ;-)

[phantomworker]

That is so funny! Not sure what the Pitts have in terms of anything cultural? Not a place I would go to visit special for a vacation. LOL Grunge isn't my favorite either. It is a cultural phenom. But we have the Experience Music Project.

http://www.emplive.org/

But didn't you like Louie, Louie? Or Jimmie Hendrix either?

But of course...we have the 12th man. (And don't go saying, we stole it from A&M or whoever.).

[The SISU kid]

bump for bookmark

[phantomworker]

So you're saying it's going to take brains to win the Superbowl this year?

[chief_bigfoot]

Culture in Pittsburgh? Hmmm.....How about the Andy Warhol Museum? It's all the rage with the artsy-fartsy types here, so I reckon it must be rich in culture. Or, we have the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History. That just has to be culture rich because it actually has 'art' as part of its' name. Of course the cream of the crop has to be the Matress Factory Art Museum (no I didn't make it up) http://www.mattress.org/

We're so full of culture here, we even have a whole website dedicated to it. http://www.culturalguide.com/

As far as being a vacation spot is concerned, that's just another big benifit to living here. Most folks have the same attitude about the 'Burgh as a vacation spot. That's the beauty of it. Come here in the spring (ahh springtime in Pittsburgh is wonderful) when the college kids are away on spring break and you have the whole place pretty much to yourself. Even better, if you visit this year, you'll get the added bonus of actually getting to visit the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Re:"Louie, Louie" - thumbs up. Jimi Hendrix - some good, some ehh.

It's good that you have the 12th man, but if I were yunz, I'd be on the phone muy pronto trying to get ahold of the 13-27th men. Yunz are gonna need all the help yunz can get! ;-)