The Poco Loco Olsons: Russell Wilson

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Seahawks Training Camp: Go Hawks!

At the end of last month, Eric and I met my brother (Troy) and his family met up in Renton to watch the one of the open-to-the-public Seahawks training camps.

It was a GORGEOUS day ... nary a cloud in the sky. We all agreed that we we were grateful that the grassy hill the crowd sat on faced west; otherwise, we would have been blinded by the sun for two hours and burned to a crisp, even with the sunblock we'd slathered on ourselves!

Before we even got to the seating area, we wandered through the vendor area. We were surrounded by food carts and Seahawks gear galore. I did pick up a white jersey as an early b-day present (yippee!!!!!), so will be quite the fashion maven when football season starts up. One of the tables set up had a guy from the Seahawks office (marketing, perhaps) who was giving out posters to people as they passed by. I noticed that he, as a team employee, had a Super Bowl ring. COOL! I asked him if I could see it so I could snap a picture, thinking he'd hold up his hand to me. Instead, he took off the ring and handed it to me. Whoa!! I was stunned to say the least. He did look a bit nervous when I handed it to Troy so he could try it on, to which I said, "Don't worry. He's my brother. We can't run fast. Plus, we're Catholic and aren't allowed to steal." That seemed to ease his mind, but he still wasn't taking his eye off of that ring (not that we blamed him)! After Troy tried it on, so did Eric. So much fun and something I never expected to do. (Side note: That ring was HUGE!!!!)

Because the Seahawks played on the half of the field that was further away from the crowd, we didn't really see a whole lot in terms of football. We saw the players run drills and plays, but were so far away that the details were lost on us. It was fun to play a sort of "I Spy" game with each other as we sat there. "I see Russell Wilson!!" and "There's Richard Sherman!" were common choruses for us.

At one point, a Seahawks employee offered Troy two VIP wristbands so Kat could go to the area set aside for people with mobility issues. We decided to go together and see if they'd let both of us in with her. No one batted an eye, which was nice. As we watched the practice for a bit, I noticed the Seagals were walking by and I asked if I could take Kat's picture with them. They happily agreed (thanks, Seagals)! Kat LOVED the sparkly pompoms ... I think I know what she might get for her birthday! :)

Ironically, the real excitement from the day had nothing to do with football. Because it was right before Seafair, we were treated to a display by the Marines and Blue Angels. The Blue Angels flew overhead numerous times... even buzzing the crowd during one flyby. The Marines brought in some helicopters to show the crowd (and Seahawks personnel) how they do water insertions. We also got a neat brief education on the various types of helicopters used by the Marines. The last helicopter pass included the airborne Marines holding up a 12th Man flag in the helicopter's open side door. Very fun!!!

By the time practice and the air show wrapped up, we were all incredibly hot (it was over 80 degrees) and ready for some cool AC in our cars. A very fun day together with our extended family and favorite pro football team!

GO HAWKS!

Yes, I did make my hat! :)
(And people liked it ... so THERE, Troy!)

Eric and Ian taking in the practice

Blue Angels

Richard Sherman

Kam Chancellor

Robert Turbin

The crowd

Kat, Troy, and the Seagals
(Notice Kat eyeing the pompoms!)

Ian having a fun day

Marine water insertion

At the VMAC

Kat and me having fun

Go, go, Russell Wilson!

VIP, baby!

Troy sporting a Super Bowl Ring

Eric's Super Bowl bling

The biggest ring I've even worn!

Friday, February 7, 2014

Seahawks Celebration Parade

In case you've been hanging out under a rock, you may have missed the fact that the Seattle Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII!!! Needless to say, we Seattlites (and many beyond our city limits) are pretty darned excited about this fact.

On Wednesday, the city held a victory parade for the team and it was one heck of a celebration! An estimated 750,000 people attended the festivities ... and the city's population basically doubled for the day. People came from far and wide to attend the parade; I heard of one many from Los Angeles who flew up the morning of the parade and was going to fly back to L.A. that night because he could only get 1 day off from work. Now that is dedicated!! To be honest, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to go to the parade, but my office is across the street from the north end of the stadium, so how could I not go???

I headed out into the mayhem to get some crowd shots a few hours before the parade began, and then happily returned to my office to warm up and get some work done. A few hours later, some of my co-workers and I staked out a fantastic spot on top of the parking garage near of office. I recommended the spot knowing it was a great vantage point from other days I was up there to take random sunrise and cityscape photos. It was perfect. We could see all of the activities, but not get crushed in the crowds.

It was perfect, but COLD!!! When I say it was freezing, I'm not kidding. The temperature hovered in the upper 20s to just about 31 degrees. After standing on a parking garage for the better part of 2 1/2 hours, I couldn't control my shaking, not to mention my fingtertips and toes were completely numb. (I shook so hard for so long that my neck and back muscles were sore the next day!)

All of that aside, it was so much fun to see the sea of fans; our area really came together to share its excitement. It took 38 years for the team to win the Super Bowl and every one of us was brimming with the excitement that went along with it.

Getting home that night, was a bit of an eye opener, though. I went down to the bus tunnel (like usual) and was met with a MUCH larger crowd that I'm used to. My first hint that my commute wasn't going to be "normal" was the line for the south bound train that ran the length of the bus tunnel, up the stairs from the bus tunnel, and then past my office building's main doors. The northbound entrance wasn't that backed up (fortunately) but it was still packed. As I waited for my bus (which was about 10 minutes late), I spoke with a man who told me that he and his wife waited at the Pioneer Square station (just 1 stop north) for an hour and a half waiting for a us. They eventually gave up and came to the International District station in hopes that would improve their chances on getting on a bus. I was lucky and got on the first 41 bus that arrived. There were so many people trying to get on buses that police officers were stationed at the front door of each bus to keep people from crushing each other. Fortunately, people weren't aggressive and acted intelligently. It was a slow commute through the bus tunnel, but I eventually made it home! (Some people eventually gave up and got hotel rooms, I later heard on the radio. Yikes!)

A few highlights/moments to remember: