The Seattle Seahawks are taking care of business against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football. Must be the good luck brought about by the Olympia consumed in the Ward household.
The 12th Man has already caused a couple of false starts. The defense is shutting down Frank Gore, forcing turnovers and only gave up one first down the entire first half. Finally Coach Holmgren has opened up the passing attack. When you have Matt Hasselbeck and a squad of talented receivers, throw the ball downfield.
The Hawks have been in a bit of a funk all season; coughing up a pair of very winnable games at Arizona and Cleveland last week. Nonetheless they are still on top of the NFC Worst and are probably guaranteed at least one home playoff game - they don't face a team with a winning record the rest of the season.
Once again Qwest Field is sold out. Hundreds of thousands of Hawks fans are watching on TV. And millions of Americans get to see the brighter side of Seattle and the Puget Sound region.
As a local you might get bored with the standard footage of the Space Needle, Mount Rainier, ferry boats and Pike Place Market fish throwers aired during these broadcasts. Why don't they get the Fremont Troll, the Arboretum or a shot of a drunken Congressman Jim McDermott; all common hidden gems that the average Seattleite enjoys seeing everyday?
In regards to tourism and business marketing, however, one MNF game is worth more than a decade of phony, artificial SayWA or Metronatural ad campaigns when it comes to bringing attention to a region.
So isn't it a pity not enough voters listened to Chris Van Dyke and his group, Liberals Against Everything Important - or whatever it's called - and voted down the pair of stadium packages in the 1990s.
Especially now that Major League Soccer is finally coming to town. Alright, I might be laying it on a bit thick with that last statement. Still, there are a lot of soccer fans out there, I'm told. And literally millions of people have gone through the turnstiles at Qwest Field, Safeco and the Washington State Convention Center to watch pro, college and high school sports events, concerts and trade shows. Not a bad investment considering the funding mechanism comes from sports fans, tourist dollars and the sports franchises which directly benefit from the facilities.
Hawk tawk: With the FCC in town last week, it is disappointing no one lobbied for the pressing need to ban networks from using stereotypical female sideline reporters who add nothing to a sports broadcast. Everyone knows the chick reporters are just there for eye candy so just show more shots of the SeaGals if television producers think this is necessary.
More Squawk: Most of the Hawks roster is filled with standup players and all around good guys - a fact that drives Seattle "progressives" to chewing on their couches. With that said, linebacker Julian Peterson's sack dance has to be one of the more annoying spectacles in sports. If you haven't seen it, he repeatedly and spasmatically points at his name on the back of his jersey with his thumbs. It looks like he's trying to stop a baboon from dry-humping him back there. 'Nuff said.
Seattle R. Oops. Yes it is Julian, mental goof. *embarrassed*
Chris. They do still sell Olympia which was a complete surprise to me. Although it is now bottled by Pabst Blue Ribbon so you can be assured of its quality.
Right... Wasn't there an extra sales tax at restaurants, an additional rental car tax, an additional hotel/motel tax, etc. used to fund these stadiums? Seems like that hits more that just sports fans, tourists, and the sports franchises.
"Olympia" ???? They still sell that water?
Man you got to get used to a different brand. I had flashbacks of Blitz and Beer Beer....
To each their own..... And yup, those Hawks kicked some butt tonight.
Posted by: Chris on November 12, 2007 09:54 PMOn a related soccer note, Drew Carey hoisted the 12th Man flag, as one of the owners of Seattle's new MLS team set to start playing at Qwest in 2009. I'm no great soccer fan but that development seems like a good thing, especially with the Sonics headed out the door.
Posted by: Eric Earling on November 12, 2007 10:36 PMThe Red Sox just won the World Series and the Pats and Celts are the only undefeated teams in their respective sports.
Not that I am linking private financing with success. I don't have to because the Boston sports teams already did!!!
Posted by: pudge on November 13, 2007 12:18 AMOlympia, Rainier, Buckhorn and Animal Beer. Aaah, for the good days.
Isn't the MLS about the fifth generation? I remember as one of my sport highlight events going to the MLS games at the Stadium at Seattle Center. The buzz was in the air and it was a great time at a reasonable price. There was Pepe Fernandez and Barry Watkins at goal. It was a time to remember from the mid-70s.
I also remember going to Portland for the championship game.
Posted by: swatter on November 13, 2007 07:02 AMFreakmont's statue of Lenin is a much more accurate depiction of Seattle's culture and politics than the Troll.
No more skyline panorams on MNF. We're already a couple million Californians over the limit.
Posted by: Saltherring on November 13, 2007 07:18 AMI didn't worry about losing power or downed trees yesterday. I knew all would be well. The Seahawks were playing on Monday Night Football. Fine with me, as long as the illusion of Seattle as OZ doesn't drive another herd of moonbats here.
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on November 13, 2007 09:59 AMThe last time the 49ers were in town - on a Thursday night game - we had the big storm. Granted, it wasn't MNF.
I believe we also had snow during a prime-time game last year, as I heard horror stories of people getting home at 3 and 4 in the morning.
Posted by: jimg on November 13, 2007 10:23 AMNot to be confused with the Mariners who can be counted on to perform a giant faceplant every August after leading their division all year.
And certainly not to be confused with the Sonics which have the worst record of any Sonics team in history. That includes the truly comical but very fun original expansion team of 1967.
Trading away our two best players was part of that charming Clay Bennett's scheme to take the Sonics to Oklahoma City. The Sonics, and the NBA in Seattle is history.
Sarcasm included for emphasis, but it is tough to be a sports fan in this town.
I know, especially when you factor in UW football. The Dawgs were a national powerhouse until they won the Pac-10 championship 3 consecutive times in the early 90's, drawing the envy and wrath of the 9 other schools. Trumped up charges led to Don James' resignation and a 15 year downward spiral. What is a shame is that USC's present program is allowed to flourish amidst scandelous violations of NCAA rules. I guess those regulations apply only to UW, huh Pac-10?
Posted by: Saltherring on November 13, 2007 02:31 PMThe exception to what I just said is the Sonics and the NBA. I could care less if they leave. The NBA ceased to interest me when they started allowing three steps of traveling and embraced thug culture.
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on November 13, 2007 03:00 PMI know. Just picking nits.
:)
As far as everybody else knows, all people do in Seattle is watch the rain fall and toss fish at each other.
Posted by: jimg on November 13, 2007 03:34 PMHow I wish this was so,jimg. When I grew up people still thought our streets were unpaved and that we were using horses to haul home the goods we bought at the general store. I wish people still thought that.
Kids in my era couldn't wait to get out of this town.
Now Seattle, like San Francisco, and Portland, is one of the preferred destinations of leftist loons all over the country. Yeah I know Seattle has an historic leftist history. I had a relative that was a Wobblie. For all it's provincial shortcomings, I miss the old Seattle very much.
Oh, I know what you're saying. When we lived in New York City in the late 60s, people thought we really did live like Here Come the Brides.
There were people we had to convince that yes, we actually had running water and horseless carriages.
Regarding the area's leftist history, yes, it runs deep, but I'd catalog it more populist with a progressive vein than today's latte-sipping socialists ... Marion Zioncheck not withstanding.
In my opinion, Seattle - and the general area - drastically changed approximately 20 years ago - gee, long about the time Microsoft started hitting stride - and changed for the worse.
Posted by: jimg on November 13, 2007 05:10 PMI, too, miss Seattle as it was. In the 50's and 60's Seattle was a rough and tumble town of shipyard workers, Boeing machinists, fishermen and dock workers. First Avenue was peep shows, grimy bars and military surplus stores. Pioneer square featured flophouse hotels and rooming houses overlooking the ever-present winos sleeping on benches below. One didn't venture down Yesler or Jackson after dark unless they were prepared for confrontation with street toughs or an occasional lady of the night. The tallest building was the Smith Tower and the Kingdome had yet to rear its ugly head.
Although this vision of Seattle may appear anything but glamorous in contrast to the glitter of present-day skyscrapers and high-dollar condos, 50's/60's Seattle had a soul. In that day, the wealthy (and Seattle had plenty of "old" money) didn't flaunt their wealth like the nuevo rich do today. They dressed conservatively in public and donated time and money to the less fortunate. Politicians eminated from a true cross section of of the city and were diverse in background and perspective, in contrast to today's extreme left echo chamber. Neighborhoods teemed with children and public, private and parochial schools were filled to the seams. There was a sense of civic and neighborhood pride and the public, for the most part, grudgingly accepted the seedier elements of society as long as they kept their distance.
"Old" Seattle didn't mind being views as a bit backward, and indeed reveled in its image as a blue-collar provider of airplanes, ships, lumber and seafood. The city was viewed as the crown jewel of the beautiful and rugged northwest.
Today we long-time locals view Seattle as an embarrassment. My mosquito-fleet, logger, tradesman and fisherman ancestors from the late 19th and early 20th century would have looked upon the present-day city with utter distain as drug gangs contest for turf, sodomite marchers flaunt their "pride", empty schools teach utter nonsense while the limp-wristed and feminists dominate the political scene. Agressive panhandlers are allowed to hustle elderly shoppers and naked bicyclists pedal to the applause of middle-aged, pony-tailed welfare recipients.
And the city has no soul......
Posted by: Saltherring on November 13, 2007 06:33 PM
I've never cared about soccer much (although I did occasionally go see the New England Tea Men of the NASL, in the old Shaefer Stadium), though I'd rather have the Revolution win than not.
But hey, if you're bitter about Boston sports winning everything in sight, check out this great song I just found the other day, Thank Goodness for the Bruins. I can laugh, even though the Bruins are my favorite team of all sports ... maybe because the successes of my other teams are deadening my pain. Also, the Bruins DO have a winning record, so it's not like they suck.
You said it beautifully. I remember when the Smith Tower and the Northern Life building dominated the Seattle skyline. My dad was in the merchant marine and I spent many a day on the waterfront as a kid. The rest of the country didn't know where Seattle was and we liked it that way. The papers had wonderful writers such as Doug Welch and Emmett Watson. Now we have the bitter rantings of D.Parvaz.
I guess we all wish for the "good old days" as we get older. I wish sometimes that I could blink my eyes and it would be 1960 again.
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on November 14, 2007 11:16 AMLast I heard schools were over-populated. As far as politics go, the reason the 'limp-wristed and feminists' dominate the political scene is, we current seattle-ites agree with them. Like it or not, this state belongs to the far lefts, just as our neighbour Idaho belongs to the far right.
It was a cute story though. I love how you claim superior status as a long time resident. Yet I bet your kids share the same views as the 'limp-wristed and feminists'. So who is it really that is destroying your beloved old timey seattle?
Posted by: A guy on November 16, 2007 01:56 AM