|
 It will be Beantown versus the Emerald City in the Arizona desert
on Feb. 1 where the resilient Seattle Seahawks will try to defend
their Super Bowl crown against a New England Patriots team making
their sixth trip to the title game in 13 seasons.
Although New England represents six different states the heartbeat
of the team is still Boston. The team was originally called the
Boston Patriots and only changed their name when they moved to
Foxborough in 1971.
Much more than roughly 2,500 miles and three time zones separates
the two Super Bowl combatants.
Seattle, home of Microsoft and Amazon.com, has given the world
Starbucks, grunge rock and Jimi Hendrix.
Boston is the home of Harvard University, Cheers, the Kennedys, Paul
Revere and the Boston Pops.
 While Seattleites embrace recycling and environmental causes,
Bostonians love the big event, staging the world's most famous
marathon annually while the city was recently selected as the U.S.
candidate in a bid to host 2024 Summer Olympics.
Seahawks fans, famously known as the '12th man,' are among the
National Football League's most boisterous and have been known to
get a little high with Washington among the first states to legalize
recreational pot in 2012.
And if the Seahawks lose the championship game, fans can always
drown their sorrows with a beer from one of 100 locally crafted
brews.
"Whatever it is, it's something in the water here," said Seahawks
head coach Pete Carroll. "I think (our fans are) the loudest and
we'll put them up against anybody and that's because they care so
much."
[to top of second column] |
In part, the Seahawks' success means so much to Seattle because the
city has had precious little to celebrate on the sporting field.
Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners have yet to reach a World
Series since their inception in 1997 while the SuperSonics captured
the National Basketball Association title in 1979 but fled Seattle
in 2008 to become the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Boston on the other hand has spent a good part of the past 15 years
planning championship parades.
The Patriots have hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy three times,
while National Hockey League's Bruins brought the Stanley Cup back
to Boston in 2011 and Red Sox fans, after an 86-year title drought,
celebrated World Series wins in 2004, 2007 and 2013.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto. Editing by Frank Pingue)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
