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- Super Bowl XLVIII
Richard Sherman with the Vince Lombardi Trophy
by Art Thiel
The Seattle Seahawks were hailed massively for an accompolishment that had more meaning that the winning Super Bowl XLVIII over the Broncos and the Vince Lombardi trophy
Every sports market deserves one. None of them will do it like Seattle did Wednesday.
So cold that seals shivered. So warm that cops cried. So compelling that Pete Carroll, king of the run-on sentence, was nearly at a loss.
"There's not enough words to describe the emotion, the exchange," he said. But true to his mantra, "always compete," he tried.
"The consistency of the intensity of the fans along the route was amazing," he said, talking to reporters after a final ceremony on the home field. "The frustrating part was not being able to touch everyone and feel the gratitude we have … I can't imagine one better than than that (celebration) -- that was over the top."
Over the top.
Police estimated 700,000, Seahawks owner Paul Allen said nearly a million. But measurement was not about quantity. It was about quality. From babies to oldies, happiness raged.
"The thing that struck me was the little kids," Carroll said. "Some were screaming and hollering, some were a little intimidated. But they had this moment, and will remember this connection with their parents."
People who witnessed as youngsters a similar Seattle parade in 1979 will tell you where they stood, which Sonics they saw, how the air smelled and how they met their spouse that day. For a new generation, the same things happened Wednesday.
The sensory richness when thousands share a common delight at the same moment is not to be forgotten. In 2064, a guy will tell a story to his grandkids about how when he was a little boy, Brandon Mebane smiled at him. Another will describe how his cheeks felt when Marshawn Lynch hit them with Skittles. A woman will giggle telling about the time she and Richard Sherman made eye contact, and he winked at the little girl.
They all will remember, man, was it cold. Some lasted hours in it, a living, pulsing REI catalog flowing through downtown. It just enhanced the adventure.
The processional was late, slow and a shocker for players and fans alike. Neither was quite ready for the other. Some fans came from Alaska, others from Canada, Montana, Idaho, Oregon. There was the guy who walked from Bellevue over the I-90 bridge. Some slept in tents on Fourth Avenue concrete.
The crowd was a lot like the Seahawks roster -- from many places. Only WR Jermaine Kearse is homegrown, from Tacoma's Lakes High School and the University of Washington. Can we have a 253 amen for the brother who broke five tackles on the way to a Super Bowl touchdown?
The Seahawks have the biggest geographic monopoly in the NFL, which helped cause every single downtown hotel room to be sold Tuesday night. Lots of people in the region, in the soon-to-be-immortal words of Lynch, are all 'bout that action.
That's why what the Seahawks have done has value beyond a sports trophy. Seattle is drawing thousands of technology workers from around the country and the world. Did you hear that Microsoft's new CEO is from India?
There are so many new people here who came for the jobs and have only minimal social connections. Seahawks success provides a universal touchstone for people who need to talk about something besides the next app -- even if they don't exactly know that's why they care about Golden Tate's yards after catch.
Same with the Sounders.
The international appeal of soccer directly connects to the thousands of tech workers whose ethnic heritages reserve a prominent place for futbol. Think about it: The Seahawks and Sounders lead their sports in ravenous consumption by home fans. It's not the coffee.
But that explains only a part of Wednesday's roaring conflagration of passion. The biggest part is the long-timers here who have endured 35 years of drift between heartbreak and squat.
Don't think for a minute that the Super Bowl triumph makes up for the championship drought. No way. No pro sports market should have to endure that kind of wretched return for the investment of tax dollars in facilities and investment in tickets and adrenaline.
What the Seahawks success does, is prove it can be done in Seattle. Long burdened by the belief that teams cannot succeed here because the geographic isolation is a turnoff to premier veteran free agents, Seattle and a championship turns the belief into mythology.
Among many who deserve credit, three stand out and were present Thursday: Allen, who saved the team, Carroll, who remade it, and quarterback Russell Wilson, who ignited it.
The one guy who should have been there was former Seahawks CEO Tod Leiweke, the connective tissue for the success and the best sports executive Seattle has known.
Carroll deserves special mention here. The most remarkable aspect of the season was that the team kept getting better while working around injuries and suspensions. Remember all the hand-wringing in December about modest production from the offense? The Seahawks plowed through two good NFC teams in the playoffs and put up 43 points in the Super Bowl.
They became even better in the two weeks prior to Sunday. FS Earl Thomas said the Seahawks went "through the roof" in unity of purpose during meetings and practices that led to the blowout.
"We talked about that Tuesday," Carroll said of a team meeting. "We got better throughout the Super Bowl process. We got better the first week and got better the second, even with the distractions that people say throw you out of whack. We seemed to zero in even better.
"It was perfect; exactly how it was supposed to go."
Think about that last statement. How many times in any of our endeavors can such a thing be said?
That is why 700,000 people endured 10-degree windchill: They wanted to celebrate a thing that went exactly as it was supposed to go. A fairy tale came true.
Article Courtesy: Sportspress Northwest
Super Bowl XLVIII: Post Game Reaction On The Herd with Colin Cowherd
NFL Football News & Analysis ...
- NFL Should Allow Use of Medical Marijuana
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Nielsen Reports Record 111.5 Million TV Viewers
- Super Bowl XLVIII: The Seahawks and The Fairy Tale
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Carroll Says Seahawks Won't Suffer Fall Off
- Super Bowl XLVIII: 700,000 Fans Ignore Cold, Hail Seahawks Champs
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Baldwin Offers Post-Game Rant for ESPN Critic
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Seahawks Saw the Beatdown Coming
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Seahawks Might be New Yankees
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Seahawks Crush Broncos for First Super Bowl Title
- Seahawks Win Super Bowl XLVIII
- Walter Jones Leads 2014 Hall of Fame Class
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos Preview
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Sherman Writes Letter to Carroll
- Super Bowl XLVIII: 5 Seahawks Milestones That Led to Big One
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Seattle Seahawks Friday Practice Report
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Denver Broncos Friday Practice Report
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Denver Broncos Thursday Practice Report
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Seattle Seahawks Thursday Practice Report
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Manning Yelling 'Omaha' and Other Super Bowl Wagers
- Seattle Seahawks Wednesday Practice Report
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Denver Broncos Wednesday Practice Report
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Bevell Confident SB Isn't Too Big for Wilson
- Super Bowl XLVIII: 49ers' Kaepernick Blasts Sherman
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Lynch Again Breaks from Media Chores
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Marshawn Lynch Shows Up for Media Day
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Russell Wilson was Too Short for Broncos
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Top Offense vs Top Defense: And The Winner Is
- Super Bowl XLVIII: Elway is Broncos Front Office Whiz
- Michael Strahan Blasts Warren Sapp for Hall of Fame Comments
- NFL Voted Most Popular Sports for 30th Straight Year
- Super Bowl XLVIII to be Played at High of 36 Degrees
- NFL Players: 85 Percent Would Play in Super Bowl Even with Concussion
- Super Bowl XLVIII Tickets Max Out at $1 Million
- Richard Sherman: 'People Took It Further Than Football'
- High Honor: 'Richard Sherman' Now a Verb
- Getting to Know the Broncos
More NFL Football News & Analysis ...
Article: Copyright ©, iHaveNet.com
Super Bowl XLVIII - The Seahawks and The Fairy Tale
RELATED SB XLVIII STORIES
- Seahawks Win Super Bowl XLVIII
- Seahawks Crush Broncos
- The Seahawks & The Fairy Tale
- Carroll Says Seahawks Won't Suffer Fall Off
- 700,000 Fans Ignore Cold, Hail Seahawks
- Baldwin's Post-Game Super Bowl Rant
- Seahawks Saw the Beatdown Coming
- Seahawks Might be The New Yankees
- Record 111.5 Million TV Viewers
Super Bowl History
-
Super Bowl I
Packers 35 Chiefs 10 -
Super Bowl II
Packers 33 Raiders 14 -
Super Bowl III
Jets 16 Colts 7 -
Super Bowl IV
Chiefs 23 Vikings 7 -
Super Bowl V
Colts 16 Cowboys 13 -
Super Bowl VI
Cowboys 24 Dolphins 3 -
Super Bowl VII
Dolphins 14 Redskins 7 -
Super Bowl VIII
Dolphins 24 Vikings 7 -
Super Bowl IX
Steelers 16 Vikings 6 -
Super Bowl X
Steelers 21 Cowboys 17 -
Super Bowl XI
Raiders 32 Vikings 14 -
Super Bowl XII
Cowboys 27 Broncos 10 -
Super Bowl XIII
Steelers 35 Cowboys 31 -
Super Bowl XIV
Steelers 31 Rams 19 -
Super Bowl XV
Raiders 27 Eagles 10 -
Super Bowl XVI
49ers 26 Bengals 21 -
Super Bowl XVII
Redskins 27 Dolphins 17 -
Super Bowl XVIII
Raiders 38 Redskins 9 -
Super Bowl XIX
49ers 38 Dolphins 16 -
Super Bowl XX
Bears 46 Patriots 10 -
Super Bowl XXI
Giants 40 Broncos 20 -
Super Bowl XXII
Redskins 42 Broncos 10 -
Super Bowl XXIII
49ers 20 Bengals 16 -
Super Bowl XXIV
49ers 55 Broncos 10 -
Super Bowl XXV
Giants 20 Bills 19 -
Super Bowl XXVI
Redskins 37 Bills 24 -
Super Bowl XXVII
Cowboys 52 Bills 17 -
Super Bowl XXVIII
Cowboys 30 Bills 13 -
Super Bowl XXIX
49ers 49 Chargers 26 -
Super Bowl XXX
Cowboys 27 Steelers 17 -
Super Bowl XXXI
Packers 35 Patriots 21 -
Super Bowl XXXII
Broncos 31 Packers 24 -
Super Bowl XXXIII
Broncos 34 Falcons 19 -
Super Bowl XXXIV
Rams 23 Titans 16 -
Super Bowl XXXV
Ravens 34 Giants 7 -
Super Bowl XXXVI
Patriots 20 Rams 17 -
Super Bowl XXXVII
Buccaneers 48 Raiders 21 -
Super Bowl XXXVIII
Patriots 32 Panthers 29 -
Super Bowl XXXIX
Patriots 24 Eagles 21 -
Super Bowl XL
Steelers 21 Seahawks 10 -
Super Bowl XLI
Colts 29 Bears 17 -
Super Bowl XLII
Giants 17 Patriots 14 -
Super Bowl XLIII
Steelers 27 Cardinals 23 -
Super Bowl XLIV
Saints 31 Colts 17 -
Super Bowl XLV
Packers 31 Steelers 25 -
Super Bowl XLVI
Giants 21 Patriots 17 -
Super Bowl XLVII
Ravens 34 49ers 31 -
Super Bowl XLVIII
Seahawks 43 Broncos 8 -
Super Bowl XLIX
Patriots 28 Seahawks 24