All I want is a ticker tape parade...

All we wanted, really, was to win the Super Bowl, to prove to the rest of the athletic world that we can "be mean - sometimes." We wanted to line 2nd Ave and throw blue and neon green, bio-degradable, rice paper ticker tape, as a bunch of progressive, caffeine driven, environmentalists and prove to the rest of the athletic world that we can "be mean - sometimes." But alas, a ticker tape parade was not ours to be had.

Seattle lost the Super Bowl - in case you missed it. I found myself down at the Tractor Tavern leaning against a post with 120 other Tractor regulars. (It was kind of like being at your sister-in-laws first family gathering - you knew that you would eventually get to know and like these people but they were just a bunch of strangers for now.) We cheered, we booed at bad calls (and there were plenty of them.) A guy, Steve, who use to be a part of "Special Forces" for the Army, got on the mic to psych up the crowd. "Pittsburgh doesn't even have city recycling. They just throw their garbage in a giant landfill or the ocean or where ever." That caused cheering for Seattle. "Their air quality isn't any good there. More kids have asthma in Pittsburgh than Seattle." More cheers for Seattle. I was laughing the entire time - all of these things that Seattle is proud of - all granola crunchy, environmental and stuff. It still didn't help us win the game.

By the forth quarter the bar had quieted down. Screwed out of many points by many bad calls, the end was feeling near. We didn't win. As Lisa, the wife of Tractor manager Tom noted, "we just wanted to prove we could be mean, you know, for one day."

So there is no ticker tape parade for the Seahawks - biodegradable or not. But the sky was clear, both mountain ranges could be seen clearly and Rainer was "out today" - as were the skater kids in the skater park.