AIRSTREAM TO SUPER BOWL XLVIII - Part 2

Countdown

My Super Bowl Sunday started with a big breakfast and a jaunty walk over to Fifth Avenue. When I bought my Super Bowl ticket I’d also included entry to the “Official Seahawks Tailgate Party”. I figured it would be a good way to pass the anxious hours before the game, and it was. Everyone was relaxed and excited, but in their own little worlds too. I wish I’d taken along a spare Aussie flag, would’ve been a decent conversation starter.

 These ladies had Seahawk-themed chicken hats. A-ha.

Former-Seahawks Isaiah Kacyvenski and Jacob Green were there too, seen here with some pointing guy. 

Then it was time to bite the bullet and catch a train. We waited about 30 minutes at Penn Station, then moved swiftly to Secaucus Junction. I heard there were trains that got stuck halfway, crowded and without air conditioning - we got off easy. Then we hit the Junction.

From there onto a different train to get us to the stadium. Relatively quiet crowd, all very nervous. And then suddenly it was there, in the distance ...

Did I think that would be the end of the waiting around? Maybe I'm that stupid/optimistic, not sure. There's a pavilion in the distance, so small I can't even see it here - that's where we were heading. Note the queue on the right of the photo, heading back toward a pavilion far behind us. Lol, NJ/NY Super Bowl Committee.

Note the daylight above. Note the darkness below. I think it was about 5:45pm by the time I got through all the thresholds. Kickoff was at 6:30pm, but there were 82,000 other fans to bypass and some extraordinarily high-priced snacks to consume.

Would've loved more time to see all the things on display, like the amazing ice sculptures ...

... but I had to run to my seat.

Boom

Showtime:

We got the same intro as everyone watching at home - Kurt Russell did a nice job.

And then it was ON ...

The first half was obviously incredible. I was sitting in a row with a handful of 12s, surrounded above and below by Broncos fans. To my left was a couple from Tacoma, to my right a couple from Utah. We all did a lot of hugging. I don't have pics. 

We could see the ball pop up on that bizarre safety, two points on the board before we even considered sitting down. Obviously we didn't sit down after that. The interceptions flew in slow motion, the whole thirty minutes of play a dream projected onto the field. Seahawks 22, Broncos 0. Don't wake me.

Then there was the half time show, which summed up my emotions perfectly. /fireworks

The second half was all about the next two pics: Denver fans feeling too much pain, 12s not even feeling the cold.

The Seahawks touchdowns of the second half were incredible. Even though the last quarter dragged somehow, it was a shock when it was all over. 

Players stormed the field and there was no denying that the ridiculous numbers on the scoreboard were unshakably true and final. Seahawks 43, Broncos 8. We'd won? Yes, YES. It was weird being in the stands - I wanted to be there on the field, where all the congratulations were hot and electric.

Priceless:

Stuck up in nowhere, I couldn't decide whether to watch the screen or the field. Which was more real? Was any of it real?

All I knew is that it felt good, so good.

Not that any 12s were leaving, but the NJ Transit system made it impossible anyway.

Hanging around for the next few hours - soaking in an atmosphere I never wanted to end - meant watching the post-game interviews up close.

Beautifully, after his NFL Network interview, coach Pete Carroll & his wife came over to shake hands with some of us. Not sure icing gets better than this.

And then it was over. It was late. Everyone was stunned - the remaining Broncos fans with disappointment, the many remaining 12s with joy. 

Getting back to my hotel in New York City would take another hour or two, but there was no inconvenience. Just more chance to breathe in the wonderfulness of the night and let everything soak in. There was an occasional "Go Hawks!" on the train home but no-one wanted to be mean to the Broncos fans. They were sad and polite, often shaking hands and passing along congratulations. 

The massive energy of Saturday's crowds and the game's pensive audience was dissipated by now. It was a time for internal realisations, quiet internalisations of the sublime and acceptance of the strange new world we suddenly wandered in. A world where the Seahawks were Super Bowl Champions. Wow.

And that magnificent peak, that manifestation of decades of wild dreaming, would soon be matched by another peak ...

Next stop: Seattle