AndyO Blog

On Wednesday we had a parade in downtown Seattle to celebrate the Super Bowl 48 Champion Seahawks.

Now, we've had some big events in Seattle, like the parade for the Supersonics in 1979, as well as the usual concerts and presidential rallies. But nothing has ever approached this order of magnitude. This was one of those astronauts-driving-down-Canyon-of-Heroes-in-New-York-City parades! In the end, more than 700,000 fans converged on downtown Seattle to pay tribute to the Hawks.

I wasn't one of those fans, as I needed to go to work (plus I'm not that big on crowds anyway). But my wife Brenda, whose office was only a block or so away from the parade route, braved the freezing temperatures to witness the insanity first-hand -- sending me occasional photos and messages. She said it was so crowded that it was nearly impossible to get close to the parade route. In the photo below, you can see parade route at the traffic light in the distance (circled with an arrow):

She was able to get closer, but the parade still hadn't started.

Eventually she went back to her office, where she could see some of the parade between buildings. In the photo below, you can see one of the amphibious Ducks carrying Seahawks (red circle). You can also see the people standing on rooftops.

Brenda said a lot of parents had brought their kids to the parade -- but many of them seemed unprepared for the frigid weather and mayhem. We had actually wrestled with the decision about whether to pull one or both of our boys out of school for the event, but there were a few reasons why we didn't.

First, according to the school district, kids wouldn't be excused from being absent. Here's part of the email we received on Feb 3 (highlighting added):

Seattle Public Schools will not close or dismiss school early because of the Seahawks parade on Wednesday. Parents who wish to take their students out of school can, but per state regulation, it will be treated as an unexcused absence. While we support the team, academics must come first and it's important not to lose a day in the classroom.

The other reason was my older son told us he couldn't miss a rehearsal for an upcoming concert.

But that didn't stop a lot of other kids. According to the a Seattle Times report, 27 percent of the school district's 51,000 students were reported absent (as well as 565 [19%] of the 3,000 teachers!). Maybe it had something to do with the Mayor and others asking for a little leniency. After all, this was practically a city holiday.

Or maybe it had something to do with Seattle schools clarifying their policies:

UPDATE: Under state regulation, Principals have the discretion to decide if students who miss school tomorrow for the parade will be considered unexcused or excused.

Around 3:00 p.m., I started looking at some of the parade coverage online -- and I couldn't believe what I saw (from the Seattle Seahawks Twitter feed):

It looks like some kind of football fan zombie movie!

Later the Seahawks posted a gallery of 150 photos. Check out this one of Marshawn Lynch (Beast Mode) riding on the front of the Duck, handing out Skittles:

Here's another one that shows the size of the crowd:

Regardless of how you feel about sports and their overall importance, you have to admire the way the Seahawks brought the community together during the 2013 season. And while a Super Bowl championship is an astounding feat, I'm left wondering if bringing those 700,000-plus people out of their homes, workplaces, and schools for the biggest party of the year is another equally-impressive accomplishment. 

I also wanted to give props to the biggest Seahawk Fan I know, my brother-in-law Brian Suiter. Brian is the kind of fan who watches the Hawks every season, whether they're winning or not. He's the kind of fan you buy a Seahawks toaster as gift (that burns the Seahawk logo into the bread!). It was Brian who first told me that the Seahawks had a chance of going all the way. He told me to watch them on an upcoming Monday Night Football game, and I did (the December 2 game against the New Orleans Saints). What I saw in that game -- especially in Russell Wilson's quarterbacking performance -- reminded me of something that bordered on sport and art, skill and creativity. So thanks, Brian, for being there for the team -- and also helping me jump on the bandwagon when it was time. You are the original 12th Man!

Finally, congratulations to the Seahawks team, the fans, and everyone who made this season (and celebration) possible.

As always, Twitter was a great place to get updates. Here are a few of my favorite tweets from Wednesday -- virtual postcards of the parade and celebration:

Labels: Around Puget Sound, Events, Seahawks, Seattle

I recently updated my list of best movie theaters in Washington State. Let me know if you have any favorite theaters I should check out.

List of Best Theaters in Washington State

Labels: Around Puget Sound, Commentary, Film, Seattle, Washington State

We drove to Gilberton on Saturday with the kids to attend my wife's summer work party. We drove around (via Tacoma) instead of taking the Bremerton Ferry and arrived around 11:00 a.m. Brenda had made arrangements with her boss Randy to take us out on his speedboat, as the kids had a great time the year before.

We got the boat ready and then headed out onto Puget Sound. The weather was perfect, the water glassy. Captain Randy showed off the 180 hp engine -- and we cruised the water at 50 mph. I looked back to see Brenda's hair blowing wildly.

Randy took us up to Agate Bridge, which brought back some memories for me. My Aunt and Uncle used to own a house above the beach, and I'd spent many days on the beach below Agate Bridge.

On the way back to the marina, Randy pointed out the Keyport Naval Undersea Warfare Center, where the Navy repairs and maintains torpedoes and underwater targets. I remember that when I was growing up, my father used to talk about doing work at Keyport -- but I'd never seen it before.

When we got back to Randy's cabin, Brenda headed down to the beach with the boys before the tide came in. The cabin, I soon found out, was really two houses -- a main house and the tree house -- both with incredible views. Randy explained that the women's bathroom was in the main house, and the men's in the tree house (at least for the party).

I took a look around inside the cabin and found a collection of military decorations, all belonging to Randy's father, George Henry Revelle, Jr. In all, there were 13 decorations, including the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and Legion of Merit. I asked Randy where his father had served.

"He worked for Patton in World War II," he said.

"General Patton?"

"Yes."

"Was he the son-of-a-bitch that everyone said he was?" I asked, jokingly referring to the Patton film starring George C. Scott that emphasized this fact.

While Randy didn't confirm my question, he said his father told him the only thing the movie Patton got wrong was the way the General swore. Evidently, when expletives escaped his mouth, Patton's voice went up in pitch -- in stark contrast to George C. Scott's gravely baritone.

After this, I headed down to the beach with the boys and Brenda. The tide was coming in, and the boys were in search of treasure.

Later, back at the cabin, I played whiffleball and basketball with Cameron, and we were treated to the Tropical Rock-style singer Dave Calhoun. Dave played a lot of Jimmy Buffet songs, but he also played some that had been written by local songwriter friends of his that were really good (in particular, I liked the one about traffic).

When Dave took a break, I talked "musician" shop with him a little. I was curious how he set up the backing tracks. He told me that the built the tracks on a keyboard and then converted them to an .mp3 file for his iPod. Pretty amazing that someone can bring an entire band in their pocket these days.

However, I feel it's important to point out that this technical revolution does come at a price: anything that's pre-recorded will ultimately sound sterile because it can't breathe. The feel of music is produced by the character of the musician -- including imperfections. While I thought Dave sounded great with the polished backing tracks, I would have preferred to hear him sing with only a guitar. 

After 5:00, we left the party and decided to take the Bremerton Ferry back to Seattle. The family stayed in the car, but I went above and enjoyed the 60-minute ride.

Labels: Around Puget Sound, Travels