Seattle’s Twelfth Man

For the last few weeks, we have seen the number “12” all over Seattle. Now and then we see cars with flags on their radio aerials and “Go Hawks” has been plastered on every available surface. Here’s the mayor of Isaquah telling us all about it!

The city has been football mad for a long time. The “Seattle Sound” is all about “Go Hawks!!!” today.

In the USA, this is NOT unusual. On my very first visit to the USA, I was on my way to the Music Department of a university when I saw a massive structure before me. “What on earth is that?”, I asked. “That’s the football stadium” was the answer. Coming from England, I could not understand how such an enormous structure could be dedicated to university sport!

Again, when passing a school near San Francisco which had produced at least a few students who had changed the world ‘as we knew it’, I was surprised to see a large board facing the road with the name of the school followed by “Home of the Bears!”. It seemed incredible to me that the most important activity going on in that school was football! This even continues on to university. This excessve dedication to sport in educational institutions has always puzzled me but it does result in some very spectacular professional sport which is followed with incredible passion by the supporters of the teams. Seattle is no exception to this.

At the ballet two nights ago, there seemed to be large amounts of green and blue dancing around the stage. At the Seattle Symphony’s Shostakovich concert last night, the orchestral manager just couldn’t resist announcing “Go Seahawks!!!” at the beginning of the concert and the audience roared with delight. The European conductor and pianist looked a little puzzled! EVERYBODY here is football mad at the moment!!!

But wait a minute – this is Seattle, the geek capital of the world!!! When we are at a concert. everybody we speak to seems to be a software engineer or airplane designer; in fact the last concert was actually paid for by Microsoft. (and coffee supplied by Starbucks!!) Many software engineers seem to prefer Soccer as a game rather than American football but, this week, our favourite sports bar which normally shows soccer for their computer clientele has been showing football on the screens! But looking at this video shows that the 49ers should have won the semi-final. Before the game starts, Paul Allen, joint founder of Microsaoft and owner of the Seahawks, hoists the “12” flag to invoke the supporters’ part in the victory!

Seattle is the original home of Boeing, which has two huge manufacturing facilities north and south of the city. It’s the home of Amazon which is planning to deliver goods by drone. Starbucks has its headquarters  and started here and Microsoft has constructed what seems like a complete town in Redmond on the outskirts of the city and is spreading all over the place The list of companies which started here and are based here is enormous. Computer people will have heard of CRAY. Others include Eddie Bauer, Expedia, T-mobile, Group Health Cooperative, Zillow, Bartell Drugs, Nordstrom, Tommy Bahama, Holland America Line, Costco, Nintemdo, REI, and a lot more. It’s a very busy city!

Everybody is with the Seahawks!!

Even some of the Chinese have “12 Go Seahawks!” outside their houses and on their cars. Some go even further with the young generation.

Many Chinese were attracted to Seattle by films like ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ but nowadays they are coming because a film called ‘From Beijing to Seattle’ has recently become a blockbuster in China. To these Chinese, Seattle comes over as a “dreamy rain-scape full of lovelorn young people pining in coffee shops.”

So why are all these geeks running around with the number “12”?

Why are they wearing Seattle Seahawks outfits?

Seattle Seahawks are off to the Superbowl!!!

To celebrate this year’s achievement of geekdom’s football team and instead of having a high profile pop’ star singing the National Anthem, they have one of the world’s most amazing opera singers, Renée Fleming. It is difficult to understand the attachment of Seattle to the “12th man” concept as it was originally conceived at Texas A & M.

It then caught on in Seattle, so much so that the Seattle Seahawks paid Texas A & M  $100,000 compensation in order to continue using it. But Seattle maintains that their ’12th man’ is louder than any other!

Boeing even put “Go Hawks” and “12” on one of their planes!

and flew a “12” route.

(We often hear Boeing planes being tested above us in North Seattle but they normally fly around Whidbey Island. Test pilots MUST be keen fans to fly this “12” route!!)

EPILOGUE

Of course, the Hawks won. Even riding their beautiful horse across the field before the game didn’t help the Denver Broncos. They were thrashed by Seattle Seahawks 43-8!!! It just goes to show that all those “Go Hawks” signs all over town (and in the Shostakovich concert!!) and the invocation of the “12” DOES work!! Never doubt the power of geekdom!!

Perhaps Renée Fleming’s National Anthem helped? This must be the greatest tune of any National Anthem and here is the greatest singer rendering it!!!!

We all celebrate Seattle’s victory in our own way!!!)

But I cannot resist adding the earlier recording