Mukilteo Musings

We are so narcissistic! Only in Seattle.

The headline and front page article in the Seattle PI today is an analysis of whether or not we are responding as we should be to the news that the Seattle Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl. Their premise is that our reaction is typical Seattle cool and reserved. I do not know if I agree or disagree but the article made me laugh out loud at the breakfast table this morning as I read exerpts to my family.

Refuse to snooze: Frenzy slow to build. Is it bewilderment with success or famous reserve?
By CLAUDIA ROWE, GORDY HOLT AND LISA STIFFLERSEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTERS
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/football/256934_seahawksvibe25.html

Granted, this is my home and I do not know any different about how we should be acting. I thought we went kinda nuts toasting with our glass of red wine! I even screamed--out loud and scared my puppy, Apolo. My friend, Patti, who moved to Pennsylvania from here learned early on that people are quite passionate about Penn State football and even decorate at least one room of their homes with the school colors. Ok, that is just weird. I suppose we could put up a sign or something.

So we are evidently responding to the Super Bowl news Seattle-style. This is not Texas, that's for sure. "Call it laid-back cool or uptight reserve, Seattle's signature style does not often lend itself to overt displays of joy." And more from the article:

1. Only in Seattle will you hear this:

"You've got probably 70 percent of the people here are on some kind of anti-depressants because of Seasonal Affective Disorder," said Vinnie Richichi, better known as "New York Vinnie," the garrulous and decidedly un-Seattle commentator on KIRO sports radio.
"People don't let their emotions out here like they do in other places. It's the kind of town where you're told to sit down at a Rolling Stones concert. It's the kind of town where you have to be told, 'It's OK to go crazy.' "

2. Only in Seattle will you hear this:

In Seattle, the kind of no-holds barred Super Bowl frenzy that saturates cities such as Philadelphia or San Francisco in team colors, appears tastefully muted. Seattle fans love their Seahawks, they just don't wear that enthusiasm on their sleeves. Or backs, reader boards or windows.
"I root for them because I'm here," said Steve Oliver, who hails from Columbus, Ohio, and lives downtown. "But I'm not waving a flag for them off the balcony of my condo."

3. Only in Seattle will you hear this:

Meanwhile, the city is notably devoid of Seahawks paraphernalia. Downtown, the only commercial evidence even vaguely reminiscent of the blue-and-green team was a scoop of mint ice cream at Stone Cold Creamery on Westlake -- and it was a tastefully pale green at that.
Walk the entire block-long lobby of City Centre and spy not a single Hawks notion. Scan the reader board outside Icon Grill, and learn only that Valentine's Day is coming.

4. Only in Seattle will you hear this--good point:

Sedat Uysal, owner of Cafe Paloma in Pioneer Square, has little love for professional football in Seattle. He opposed construction of Qwest Field....
...He wonders why folks can't channel all that energy toward something bigger than moving a ball up and down a field -- say, protesting social injustice or the war in Iraq. Still, he said he'd probably watch the game on Feb. 5.

5. Only in Seattle will you hear this--definitely:

Monica Corsaro a Methodist minister leading an Equality Day rally at the capitol in Olympia on Monday, called out to the crowd, "We are gay, we are straight, and we are Seahawks fans!" to roars of appreciation. (God loves the Pittsburgh Steelers too, she noted.)

6. Only in Seattle will you hear this--oh yea! It's a feeling:

At Rainbow Natural Grocery on Capitol Hill, Pinn Palermo, admittedly sports-oblivious, acknowledged that the home team victory had created a discernable atmospheric tremor.
"I will say that when they won, there was definitely a change in the air," the part-time cashier said. "But I'm also a yoga instructor, so I feel these things."

7. Only in Seattle will you hear this--you betcha:

"In Seattle, sports seasons don't end this way. They end in disappointment. So it's kind of like falling off a ladder and suddenly being able to fly.
"Also, I'm Scandinavian, and we tend to see joy as a postponement of sorrow."

8. Only in Seattle will you read this--from the Seattle Times:

The Seattle Times can't in good conscience suggest you ever eat a hot dog, but if you do, for the love of God, don't put ketchup on it. [Particularly ketchup made in Pittsburgh] What do you think mustard is for?

9. And, Only in Mukilteo from my own daughter:

I seriously don't care about football! What's the big deal? People should have gone nuts when "The Light in the Piazza", the musical born right here in Seattle, made it to Broadway. Now that's important.

10. Finally, Only in Mukilteo from me:

The sun was shining yesterday all day for the first time in a while. The Cascades were breathtaking. "The mountain" was out and magnified. The sunset over the Olympics was fabulous. People will pull out of their SADS funk and will begin to plan the Super Bowl parties with zeal---and with plenty of Sushi. But the chips and pork rinds and hot dogs? Not so much.