On Saturday, Light Rail finally started rolling in Seattle. It's not a perfect system, but it could grow into a great transit solution, if Seattle will just stop talking to itself and build some damn infrastructure.
I thought about jumping on the train for the rides today, but I didn't feel like dealing with the crowds. And I was tired. So decades from now, I'll be able to tell folks I passed on a major historical event for the city because I preferred to have a nap.
You can read more about the opening in the article.
What really stuck me about the article was this line:
The sold-out Sounders FC soccer game, which drew more than 65,000 fans to Qwest Field, caused surges at nearby stations. But after the game, Sound Transit rolled up an extra two-car train at Stadium Station.
What? 65,000 people are showing up for a Soccer game in Seattle? Isn't that, like, 2/3 of entire professional Soccer fan base in the US? And apparently, the Sounders are drawing an average of 29,983 people to each home game.
The Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics were truly spectacular. Featuring for than 15,000 performers, heads of state from around the world, and a budget of more than $100 million, it set a new bench mark by which all future openings will be judged.
Here are some random thoughts I had while watching it.
First, those cheerleaders who were always on camera during the parade of nations had to hop and cheer for more than two hours. That must have been exhausting. By the time the Chinese atletes came in, you could see the cheerleaders could barely hop anymore. They tried, but most seemed to have run out.
My GF and I tried to figure out who had the tougher job -- the hopping cheerleaders, or the country sign holding women who had to walk around with the stiff arms, straight out holding a sign with the name of each country. They're efforts were briefer than the hoppers', but that requires some serious arm strength.
Second, I imagine the performances were intended to say something about the country's place in the world. They combined kids with military, kids with martial arts demos, massive coordinated drumming, animated displays powered not by technology but by people, and an assortement of other acts.
They downplayed technology and focused on the sheer volume of their populace.
When you look at the way America's manufacturing base has shifted over to China, to the point where much of the US is Made In China, it's not because of technology. It's because of people. It's almost as though if there is a problem or an opportunity, China can simply throw more people at it.
There seemed to be a subtext of, "We want harmony, but don't mess with us. We'll bury you with people."
In the balance of military power, the US had the edge in technology and weaponry. China has a lot of people.
Third, there was a lot of emphasis on the environment. Seriously?
Fourth, President Bush was there. I'm okay with that. But I would liked to have seen him be more enthused when the Iraqi athletes entered the stadium. Or at least not to sit there and smirk as they walked by.
It was long ceremony so I can understand him getting fidgety toward the end. Lots of people are like that. I'm like that. As the US athletes marched in, He stood and cheered and waved a small American flag. That's great to see.
But as the nations continued to enter, he sat down. The camera cut over to him, and he was wacking the small American flag on his knee. Seriously? After all the grief Obama took during the primaries for not always wearing a flag pin on his lapel, we now have the President wacking the rolled up flag on his knee on world wide television.
I know it seems like a small thing, but since the President has called for a constituional amendment to prohibit flag desecration he (or his handlers) should be more careful.
Fifth, overall, it was a fascinting and beautiful diplay, and I can't wait to see what the next two weeks bring.
It will come as no surprise to most people that I am not much of a sports fan. I don't often watch games on TV, but I do enjoy going to actual games from time to time.
On Wednesday night I went to a hockey game with some coworkers. We had a luxury suite that was fully catered and a great view of the ice. And that's where I watched the Ducks lose to the Redwings by a score of 2 to 1.
The action on the ice had me screaming on my feet throughout the game. The first period was especially heated when it seemed a new fight broke out every time the puck hit the ice. In theory, fighting is a bad thing. It's not good for the sport. Professional athletes put themselves at unnecessary risk of injury. It sets a bad example for kids.
But at the arena, the fights are AWESOME. The tension and excitement is palpable. In the crowd you feel the waves of energy crest as the players throw down their gloves.
When they actually played hockey, that too was amazing. The speed and physicality of the game was simply amazing, and I had a much easier time following the action than I expected.
And somewhere along the line, I became something of a Ducks fan. I'm not sure how long that will last, though.
It was quite different from the last time I went to a game at the Pond.
I was there about 7 years ago in another luxury suite for another work function. I knew nothing about the sport except for what I learned growing up -- make fun of the Rangers. That didn't help me much at this game, though.
That game also featured the Ducks versus the Redwings. And again the Duck lost. The atmosphere was different though.
That game was before the Ducks won their first Stanley Cup and their fan base wasn't as strong. When you looked out on the crowd filling the seats, it was a sea of red. The Detroit Redwings fans were out in force, practically turning the arena into a Detroit home game.
This time, though, the Redwings fans were more subdued. There was still plenty of Redwing paraphernalia, but the Ducks fans were clearly the alpha-fanatics now.
Like any sporting event, every break in the action had a sponsor. They gave away tacos, salads, zamboni rides, and just about anything they could thinks of.
I doubt I'll be a regular, leaning up against the boards to catch the random flying tooth, but the occasional game is a great way to spend an evening.
If there was fight between 10 NFL players and 10 NHL players, who would win?
If the fight is on ice, the hockey players will clean up with no problem. If it's on Astroturf, the football players have a definite advantage.
So they'll fight in the snow.
The football players will do well because they're big. If they can hit hard and fast, it could be over before it really starts.
But football players are used to a competition where they run around like crazy for about a minute and then they stop to take a break. Hockey player skate quickly and continuously for a long time. If the fight goes on for a while, that type of conditioning could be a serious disadvantage to the football players.
Football players need more breaks. Hockey players are in it for the long haul.
On the other hand the football players are big.
When it comes to fighting in their sport, though, hockey players have more experience. Sure, they're not supposed to fight (wink wink) but they do quite often with few consequences. They run into each other, throw each other against the wall and toss punches at one another through out the whole game. That's what fans go to see. NFL players who fight in a game, however, face actual consequences. Hockey players have more experience brawling. They also have more experience taking a punch. And they do this with less protective equipment.
On the other hand, football players are big. Really big.
It seems like hockey players tend to be crazy. It looks like an utterly exhausting sport and getting hit with a piece of frozen rubber must be painful. Yet they keep doing it. One guy's job it to stand in front of the net and get in the way of the frozen piece of rubber being hurled at him through the chilled air. And, until the rules changed to mandate it, most players played the sport without a helmet or any sort of head protection. And in a fight, I generally give the advantage to the crazy one. Sane people ultimately are concerned about protecting themselves and fighting clean. The worst person to fight against is the one who would think nothing of eating his opponents eyes. How do you defend against that?
But have you noticed how big football players are? Seriously, they get really big.
The consensus at dinner, among the sports enthusiasts I spoke with was that the football players would probably win. After all, they're kind of big. I'm not convinced. But there is one thing we agreed on. It would be a hell of a fight.
He was the British Ski Jumper, who, well, couldn't really Ski Jump. It was more like he Ski Fell.
He had no chance of medalling, but competed anyway. He was a great example of someone participating in the sport for the sake of the sport.
Apparently, the IOC did not feel that was enough to justify a performance, and began requiring that most performers actually be good or qualified. I can't blame them really. It is supposed to be the best of the best, and if I could participate that would really sully it a bit.
Still, who doesn't want to cheer for the underdog.
Of course I love the music of Bono, Paul McCartney, and the Rolling Stones. There are few performers today who can even come close. Be are we totally bereft of domestic talent?
The Superbowl is the most American of all holidays. What other nation can so deftly combine violence, gluttony, and excessive consumerism in one afternoon? Throw in the random sexuality and juvenile humor in the commercials and you really have something that the USA can be proud of. Europe can't even come close with it's little World Cup.
But the Superbowl was in Detroit this year, and in order to find good musical talent in the home of Motown, we had to go to the UK? To the Rolling Stones? I have nothing against the Stones, but come on. Why didn't we take this opportunity to celebrate everything Motown has given the country? This music changed the face of American Pop more than the Stones ever could. And Motown is relegated to pregame opening act? That's ridiculous.
So once we get to the halftime show, the one people might actually watch, what do the Stones give us first? The Microsoft song. Then another one. And then they wrap up with a song that was just covered by Britney Spears.
Last year's show was Paul McCartney. Granted, the previous Americans to do the Superbowl (Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Kid Rock, P Diddy, and Nelly) didn't exactly do us proud. They created her own ridiculousness with the event that graced our language with the term "wardrobe malfunction". I'm sorry, but I don't buy the "malfunction" part. Why wear jewelry like that if you don't expect people to see it.
But is a Knight for the British empire really the best choice to make up for that?
I began wondering about this trend during the 2002 Superbowl. The one where in half time, they chose to memorialize the victims of 9-11. It was a well done show, appropriate and touching, but for the patriotic celebration, where did they go? To an citizen of Ireland. Now, I am a U2 fan, and Bono has done some incredible things and made some utterly amazing music. And my own Irish blood jumps with his success. But isn't there a disconnect here?
Is it so hard to find talented US citizens to perform? Or at least people who are pursuing US citizenship?
DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES Mistakes plague Hawks in first shot at title Steelers take advantage of penalties and interceptions to win the franchise's fifth NFL championship."
So what happened?
Well the Steelers played good ball. Props to them for that. The Seahawks played good ball, too, however. They seemed to make some big mistakes in the the last minute of each half, unfortunately.
Okay, so someone may need to review the basics of holding with the Seahawks, because they had a number of silly penalties early on. The Seahawks made a number of mistakes with penalties, but this game really hinged on a few yellow handkerchiefs.
One was the offensive pass interference call against the Seahawks that cost them a touch down. That one was taken away when the receiver shoved a defender out of the way.
But the call that gave the Steelers their first touchdown was bogus. They never crossed the goal before being down. The refs ruled the other way, however, and chose not to overturn it on replay. Bogus call.
The other call was the one where Matt Hasselback was called for blocking below the waist after the late game interception. That call handed Pittsburgh and extra 10 yards and was bogus. It's not a block when your trying to tackle some one.
A couple of bad calls combined with a few reasonable ones really cost the Seahawks.
The Steeler defense played well. The offense didn't really make a lot happen. They scored often on accident, not really moving the ball or playing solid offense. The benefited from a couple Seahawks errors and some generous officiating.
But there's always next year. Within the next 12 months, we should see the Seahawks win Superbowl XLI, the Yankees win the next world series, and the Carroll College Fighting Saints win the Rose Bowl.
This week, when you look at the Seattle skyline, you may notice a large blue flag on top of the Space Needle. It has the number 12 on it. Similar flags and banners have popped up around the city. They were all over Qwest Field last week during the playoffs. Sports fans know what they mean.
The banners laud the 12th man – the one instrumental in Seattle Seahawks drive to the Superbowl. Sportscasters have been talking about how the support of the fans at the stadium truly gave the Seahawks the edge they needed to make it to victory. There are very few cities where the teams and media have to spend so much time telling the fans how important they are, but that's another matter.
The Seahawks have quite a tradition around the 12th man. In the old concrete Kingdome, the fans could drown out most anything. According to the Seattle Post Intelligener on 2005-01-28:
The 12th Man began in 1984, when the Seahawks retired the jersey number 12 to honor their fans. Back then, the otherwise drab Kingdome was the loudest venue in the NFL, even though the team had just two winning seasons in its first seven years after beginning play in 1976. The league even briefly instituted a rule in the 1980s calling for a five-yard penalty on teams if their home crowds did not quiet enough for visiting teams to call plays. It was widely known as the "Kingdome rule." [Seahawks fan Mike] Davis said "the most amazing thing I had ever seen" was the day Denver's John Elway stepped away from his center amid the din. Elway turned his palms toward the Kingdome's concrete roof and pleaded to the referee that he could not call signals. The referee eventually flagged Seattle more than once that afternoon. "And then we got even louder," Davis said. "It was awesome."
The amazing this is, though, the Seahawks and merchandise vendors may get sued for celebrating the 12th man.
Apparently, Texas A&M has a tradition surrounding the 12th man in football, going back to the 1920s. They registered trademarks for the 12th man in 1990 and 1996. And they plan to protect their trademark. According to the Seattle Times on 2006-01-28:
[Texas A & M] Athletic Director Bill Byrne wrote on an Aggie Web site Wednesday that the university would tackle "the Seattle Seahawks' brazen use of the 12th Man theme at their home playoff games." The university has sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Seahawks. "It's one of the dearest traditions we have," said Steve Moore, A&M's chief marketing officer.
So A&M is not happy.
I understand and respect the importance of protecting trademarks, however, it seems to me that this claim is over reaching a bit. After all, you don't want to spend the money building a brand only to lose Trademark protection if something becomes a generic term, a threat familiar to those marketing Band-Aids, Kleenex, Xerox, and potentially Coke and Starbucks.
First of all, they appear to be claiming that the use of the number 12 on banners and merchandise (much of it not developed by the Seahawks) infringes on their claim. I wasn't aware you could trademark a number.
Second, by rudimentary knowledge of trademark law (and it is very rudimentary) seems to indicate that there is no infringement unless the use of the trademarked item is likely to cause confusion for consumers.
I seriously doubt that anyone is likely to see the Seattle praise of the 12th man and think, “Huh. When did the Aggies make it to the Superbowl? I didn't know they were in the pros.” Or, “Hey – I paid $2,000 for these tickets based on the 12th man celebrations, and their for some kind of bird in Detroit? It was supposed to be A&M! I've been ripped off!”
Finally, this is a phrase that's been a part of the pop culture for decades, and has referred to fans from nearly every NFL team.
The basketball equivalent, the 6th man has been even more popular, especially since in that game, the fans are right on the court and actively attempt to manipulate the outcome through various displays and distractions during free throw attempts. The 6th man even spawned a comedy of the same name starring Marlon Wayans, where a basketball player who dies returns as a ghost to help his brother lead the team.
Seattle doesn't get that much time to celebrate potential victory in the national spotlight. Do we really need this hassle from A&M?
The Seattle Seahawks are actually a good team this year. They are going to the Super Bowl and may actually win. This is a first in team history. Huh.
It sort of crept up on me. In past years, the Seahawks have been pretty good, but not at the level they are playing this year. And prior to the playoffs I didn't really hear much about the Seahawks around town. The same thing happened a few years ago when the Mariners were legitimate World Series contenders (though it's unlikely we'll have to worry about that in the near future).
I think it has more to do with Seattle being a transient city, however. Unlike the great sports towns of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia or Boston, a large percentage of the population and potential fan base wasn't born here. Seattle has seen a huge influx of residents in the past decade. In fact, much of the history of Seattle has been marked by a boom and bust economy, with thousands people moving to Seattle when the economy was going strong, and thousands leaving when the economy sank. It's a history dominated by the timber industry, the Alaska Gold Rush, Boeing's early growth, WWII arms and equipment production, the growth, decline, growth, decline, growth, decline, and growth again of Boeing's jet production.
Ironically, the tech industry may have a mellowing affect on the economy. Seattle is no longer a one industry town. Microsoft, Amazon, and other tech companies employ thousands of residents, and can help off set some of the shock when Boeing has a down turn.
Further evening things out is the presence of Starbucks and the new Bio-Tech industry growing in Seattle.
Back to the main point, however, there really isn't much history in Seattle. There aren't as many family dynasties in Seattle as there are in eastern cities. Back east, there will be families with 3 or more generations of Yankee fans. The Mariners are too new to span generations in the same way. Even if they weren't, many of their potential fans did not grow up on the Mariners or the Seahawks. They grew up on other teams that they now watch on Satellite TV.
Until there is a critical mass of people and families that have been in Seattle for decades, and love their teams, and mark family events around them, and have followed them long enough to reminisce about them, Seattle will never be a great sport town.
