Seattle Seahawks is having a great season. Riding on last year’s moment, they finished the season winning 13 games out of 16 and clinched the conference champion. They won the first game of the play-off and will face the long-time rival, San Francisco 49ers, this Sunday, January 19th, for the conference championship game.
Photo: Elaine Thompson, Associated Press
I have seen my share of sport fans. Seattle breeds the most energetic bunch. For this city, they have 5 professional sport teams: Seahawks (American Football), Sounders (Soccer), Mariners (Baseball), Thunderbirds (Hockey), and Storm (Woman Basketball). The brilliancy of Seahawks is to give their fans a jersey number. This number, 12, strengthens the solidarity. The “12th man” flags are at every street corner, on people’s face, and even shown on the side of a tall building at night.
On Friday, Starbucks gives away coffee for 12 cents each, as long as the patron wear a Seahawk gear.
The Century Link Stadium, the home field, was designed to amplify sound. The fans made into the Guinness world record as the loudest one in the world. When Seahawks scored a touchdown on January 8th, the seismic sensor in USGS registered an earthquake. And that was not the first time.
Unlike 49ers that brought back the trophy 5 times before, Seahawks never won the Superbowl. The anticipation is palpable all around the city. Comes Sunday game, these fans will give everything they got. Monday will see many hoarse throats and absentees from the workplace. They will be recuperating from the night before.
I might become one of them.
Epilogue:
Sunday’s game was a super-charged nail biter. 49ers led by 7 points at the half time. Seahawks came back. At 2-minute warning, Seattle won by 6 points. And 49ers has possession. With 22 seconds left, 49ers threw into the end-zone, but was intercepted by Seahawks.
Seahawks goes to Superbowl, second in team history. This town is going to be crazy!