Carrying the flag

Weather doesn't affect brainstorms. It's ideas that determine their impact.

The week before the National Football Conference championship game, we had a brainstorm. Subject: What could the Space Needle do to help rally our city behind the Seattle Seahawks bid for a Super Bowl Championship? Sure, the Hawks had to win the NFC but if we waited until they'd done that to brainstorm, we would lose a day or two of the two weeks, which is all we had before the Super Bowl.

We packed the conference room with our best minds and even brought in some brain food to stimulate the conversation. You have to be fast to get the meatball subs. They go first.

Once you begin a brainstorm, it takes a while to let reality sink in.  What can we really do in two weeks time from a flat-footed start? The answer is we have to play our best cards first. Don't hold back. What have we done that  has really captured the community's interest? Answer: Fly the big 12 Flag.  And I mean BIG. 25' X 35' to be exact. None bigger...nor more revered. It has become the symbol of every Seahawk lover who can see the mountains and the Sound.

But we've flown it before and we'll be expected to fly it now. That's not so different. Come on.  We can come up with a better idea than that. OK, so let's get someone special to raise the flag. Who can it be? A champion, of course. What kind of champion? A major national team championship. Our last major champions were the amazing 1979 Seattle Supersonics. They won the NBA. Doesn't Hall-of-Famer and Coach of that Sonics team, Lenny Wilkens still live in town?

It's a good thing that I worked with Lenny and his charity a few years ago and had just seen him on a flight to DC with another Seattle hero, former mayor Norm Rice. I just knew I could reach him, if he was in town.

I did, so we've got a flag raiser. Now what? Let's make that flag a gift to the team from the community.  How can we do that? First, let's ask the Seahawks. Great, they love it. Now how about having everyone sign it and then take it on a cross country bus trip to New Jersey? Sign it, yes, but a cross country bus trip to New Jersey? I don't think so. OK, let's put it on a plane. That'll work.

In every battle, someone must carry the flag.  The flag is a symbol of our ideals and our passion. So after the Seahawks had become the National Football Conference Champions and their sights were clearly set on the Super Bowl, we began a journey to carry the 12 Flag that flew atop the Space Needle to the battlefield and present it to the team.

So far so good. However, remember that we're just a player in all this so we've got look at the big picture. There's a rally for the entire city in Seattle Center on Wednesday before the Super Bowl. Let's get those rabid fans to sign the flag and then motorcade it to the airport.

All is going fine but then Seattle's famous rain showed up and we were afraid of losing the crowd. No chance. A little rain can't stop a Seahawks fan. Literally thousands lined up to sign...and our new mayor was first. Before we headed for the airport, we stopped by the Space Needle's next door neighbor, Dale Chihuly, and he put his mark on the flag. He draws a cool Space Needle. Then as quickly as the idea gelled, we were off.  From the Needle to New Jersey. Even the alliteration works.

From the moment our travelling team arrived at the airport, it was a non-stop signing party. Almost 100 hours later, with about 12 hours of sleep (see how that number 12 keeps sneaking in) for the team, the flag had made a truly cavalcade tour through Manhattan and New Jersey. We wowed them in Times Square, in Yankee Stadium, Central Park and ultimately at the Statue of Liberty with an entourage of reporters and photographers who each had a stake in the Seahawks run at the Super Bowl.  The photos and video went around the world.  In the interim, we stopped by the Today Show and hooked up with our mayor again.  Even weatherman Al Roker signed the flag and wished us luck.

Momentum. That's what makes a good idea great. And we had it. Fans found us wherever we were and we toured every party and gathering that we could find with fans running after us to get their signatures on the 12 Flag that flew atop the Space Needle. By the time we delivered the flag full of thousands and thousands of well-wishes to the team, our cross country adventure had taken on a life of its own.

The topper would be a Seahawks win...and boy, did we win. SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS...THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS. Amazing. We saved the best for last during the game when we set off fireworks from the top of the Space Needle after every score...and don't think we weren't a little worried about running out at the rate the team was scoring. We made it, though, and gave it a true victory burst as time ran out on the clock.

Celebrations ensued and the team was no exception. They partied into the night with Coach Pete Carroll singing and dancing while team owner Paul Allen played the guitar. Even Macklemore, our hometown rap star, joined the festivities and performed for the team at the hotel. Man, we are hot!

The big parade is tomorrow. Hundreds of thousands are expected to line the street to the stadium. The 12 Flag came back with the team and it's going to end up in a place of honor to the memory of this city's first Super Bowl Championship. That flag speaks volumes about this city. Our independent nature. Our can-do attitude. Our irreverence for convention. It's all there in the signatures on the flag.

Some brainstorms fizzle out like tropical depressions. Others can bring thunder but not much rain. Brainstorms sometimes become torrential downpours.  Our brainstorm became a reality...and it was a Force 7.

There is only one "12 Flag that flew atop the Space
Needle". That's how it's known now and always will be.Those who touched it with their names and well wishes for this incredible Seattle celebration are part of a special club. They are the heart and soul of this city...and they will be a part of its history...a part of the 12 Flag that flew atop the Space Needle. Sometimes you win.

Super Sunday

The television really was pretty ugly…pink and white…made out of tin. The screen was 15 inches and the color wasn’t black and white. It was sort of gray on lighter gray. The snow was caused by the reception from the “rabbit ears” antenna…not the weather, which was perfect in Los Angeles on January 15, 1967. It was the first Super Bowl and that little TV was what my college roommates and I had to watch the spectacle so we made the best of it.

No one had yet dubbed the day Super Sunday. The franchise owners and league officials had finally figured out that pro football could make them money…on television. This could be better than professional wrestling which filled the airwaves most weekends in those days, along with baseball. There were still two competing leagues then, the original National League and the new American League. It wasn’t until 1970 that the National Football League was formed, with two conferences, the National and the American.

Besides the size of the television, which now is embarrassing if it isn't 42inches or larger, it was different then. The Green Bay Packers with their immortal coach Vince Lombardi and Quarterback Bart Starr, the Peyton Manning of his day, defeated the upstart Kansas City Chiefs 35 to 10 and the tradition was established. The winners got $15,000 each and the losers $7,500, with no cheerleaders and a half-time show that looked pretty much like the Rose Bowl. It did give us time to play a little catch in the sun.

Lots of big global viewing numbers are thrown around by the NFL and the television networks but, in reality, this is a very American event. Oh, it is shown around the world, but most other countries know as much about American Football as we know about Cricket and avoid it in droves. I’ve watched the game with other Americans in several interesting places like Sydney, Paris, London, Auckland and Milan. The snacks were different but good and there was definitely no competition for a spot in front of the TV in the local pubs.

I’ve seen a few live Super Bowls with my clients but I have to say going to Detroit to see the Seahawks play the Pittsburgh Steelers is the one that will remain in my memory bank. The vast majority of the games have been played in sunny climes like LA and Miami. Only three times, so far, has the game been played in a northern city, where winter is really winter, as it should be. It was snowy and cold in Detroit and because it is so close to Pittsburgh that their fans could drive it easily, we Seahawks were dramatically outnumbered on the streets and in the stadium.

Other than Detroit’s remote parking plan, which cost us five hours in sub-freezing weather standing outside and on the bus, and their new downtown people movers that were completely unreliable and needed the “station stuffers” who get every person possible on the Tokyo subways, the city was hospitable. The snow turned into a sheet of ice on almost all roads on Sunday, so just getting to the stadium was a half-day event itself.

In person, the game has become a colossal extravaganza that includes a little football being played for a couple of hours. The opening tribute to Motown with Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, Wilson Pickett and a host of other stars got us warmed up quite well. At half-time, the Rolling Stones gave it their best with Mick Jagger’s lips being 100-feet wide on the jumbotron.

Our seats were great…on the 35 yard line…we found them in the Seahawks players pool, thanks to my ex-Seahawk, television anchor buddy. I only ventured away from our spot and the boisterous Steeler fans behind us, who loved the verbal sparring throughout the entire game, one time. It was a trip to the souvenir stand for “trash and trinkets”. I had a serendipitous long conversation with Jamie Moyer in the line. He was after sweatshirts for the whole family, which cost him more than the average monthly house payment. I came away with a cap and a couple of shot glasses.

The Seahawks lost 21 to 10 but they played a good game and finished with heads held high. Today, team spirit and hometown allegiance makes the Super Bowl a great event…and I haven’t even mentioned the commercials. I’m sure my friends from Indianapolis are feeling a bit down right now but New Orleans deserves some time in the sun and the win, as well. It was a great game and something for all Americans to revel in.

There was a time when “Super” Sunday was probably Easter for most people…and really, I’m sure, it still is. But for many, this Super Sunday in the heart of gray and blustery winter is a time to gather with friends and enjoy an American tradition that strengthens our bonds and excites us. The Winter Olympics are up next and we’ll get to feel that spirit again…for Team USA.