Diane Again: Tonight Is The Night

I had to run a quick errand during the first quarter of today's Super Bowl and thanks to the hometown Seahawks, the streets were delightfully deserted. Woot!

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Seattle's Seahawks won the Super Bowl tonight.

I know. That isn't necessarily universally thrilling news.

Flags featuring the number 12 - representing Seattle fans' intense devotion to their Seahawks - have been popping up all over town lately. Here's a 12 atop frosty Stevens Pass. {source}

This 12 is cleverly reflected against the Seattle Art Museum's Hammering Man sculpture. {source}

And for days on end, my feeds have been jammed with gorgeous photos of the gigantic 12th Man flag atop the iconic Space Needle, resplendent in its Seahawk green trimmings. {source}

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But here are a few facts to put tonight's accomplishment into perspective.

In the first thirty-eight years of the team's history, the Seattle Seahawks never won a championship. They made it to the final game exactly once before, in the 2005 season, when they lost Super Bowl XL.

No major Seattle sports team had won a championship in the past thirty-five years. Back in 1979, the now-defunct SuperSonics were the last Seattle team to make it to the top of their sport.

In other words, there has been a whole lot of losing around this town for a long, long time.

Poking fun at the other team is part of the playoff process. {source}

This jab at the Denver offense is completely inaccurate, given that the Broncos won the Super Bowl in the 1997 and 1998 seasons. But anytime there's an O.J. Simpson joke to be made, I'm going to be amused. {source}

Poor Peyton Manning. The Broncos' world-class quarterback performed dismally in tonight's match-up, and this hastily constructed meme captures his understandable frustration as well as the close family ties of his football-loving family. {source}

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I certainly don't profess to be a true-blooded Seahawks fan. Not even close. Honestly, these days I don't really care much about spectator sports at all, and I think that's because in my youth, my favorite teams always seemed to win. My hometown Tigers won the World Series when I was in grade school, my parents' University of Michigan alma mater locked down top rank in the Big Ten football standings pretty much every other year, and my earliest childhood memories were steeped with reverence for the legendary local hockey champions, the Detroit Red Wings.

Best of all, my years at a Big Ten university were jam-packed full of winning football, basketball, hockey and baseball teams who all landed at the top of the conference standings, including a pinch-me-I'm-dreaming NCAA basketball national championship. I've been blessed with my share of sporting spectaculars and I think my appetite for winning may have been satisfied.

Like most championship teams, this Seahawks squad has a well-rounded roster of colorful characters and interesting back stories. For example, running back Marshawn Lynch earned the nickname Beast Mode for his aggressive rushing style. {source}

Seattle's defensive secondary - the guys who are responsible for breaking up the other teams' passing plays - are known as the Legion of Boom. {source}

And while quarterback Russell Wilson may not have a gritty, musically-based nickname like his teammates, he has the sweet satisfaction of being a middle-of-the-pack draft pick and total underdog who has now showed everyone what's up. {source}

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But this Seahawks season was special. My city and especially my long-suffering hard-core-fan friends deserved a turn at the top, and this team seemed particularly suited for making that happen. Tonight, when all the chips were on the table, the Hawks lived up to months of intensive hype and convincingly won the big game.

So I tip my hat to the world champion Seattle Seahawks and their true-blue, die-hard 12th Man fans. Tonight is your night and I'm proud of you all. Go Hawks!