WHY THE SEATTLE SUPER BOWL MEANS MORE HERE

Call it the drama of life, the thrill of victory. Call it the agony of defeat.

Portland Trail Blazer and Seattle Seahawk owner Paul Allen
via theprovince.com

This one had it all, beginning with the near mythic first snap to the most prepared man to ever play the game, the most prepared athlete in the history of all sports.

Peyton Manning is the opposite of the grip it and rip it guy on a golf tee. He studies before games and during games. If he had a camera on him after the game it would probably show him watching more game film on his tablet.

The man is so studious that Jerry Jones, the Dallas Cowboy owner, General Manager, and leading schoolmarm man, said Tony Romo would do Manning-like preparation after getting a large contract extension this year.

Of course itt won’t be enough. The Manning-method starts early.

Peyton might be the teacher’s pet, but he looked like bad boy Romo from the first snap. On the bright side, he gave older football fans more to cheer for.

You hear about people walking into a room and forgetting what they were looking for? Maybe it’s happened to you. It’s become a baby boomer thing. Manning looked like that guy when the ball whizzed past his head.

“Whoa, what was that?”

How many Monday morning experts question using the shotgun so close to your own end zone now?

While fans celebrate the old war horse doing battle on the world’s biggest stage, it’s important to qualify the age thing. Y.A. Tittle looked older than Archie Manning when he was Peyton’s age.

The opposite side of the legendary quarterback tearing up the record book are the young guns walking down Main Street. Or flying over it. The Seattle Seahawks pounded the Denver Broncos nearly as bad as the all-time worst Super Bowl beatdowns.

Bleacher Report lists the Top Ten worst losses in Super Bowl history. Denver holds three places in the top five beginning with the Redskins’ 42-10 win at #5, the Giants’ 39-20 win at #3, and San Francisco’s 55-10 score at #1. Seattle’s 43-8 final fits right in there.

You hear so much about the thin air in the mile high city, it must be as thin at the top of the NFL.

Old fans and new can hold the Seahawks up for a year as the next dynasty. They’re nearly the average age of the Pittsburgh Steelers and 49ers when they won their first of four titles each. Four Lombardi Trophies in Seattle sounds good, though dynasties have a new definition since both the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots each won three in four years.

Since then dynasty talk is pretty quiet.

But Seattle isn’t a team of cast offs and veterans like the Oakland Raiders of old or Washington’s Over The Hill Gang. Instead, they are a bunch of young chargers making a name together with a crushing defense in the lead.

An owner like Paul Allen and a coach like Pete Carroll in the top left corner of America might draw the sort of players who want a Super Bowl ring more than a super-sized contract. Golden Tate gets it.

As the Seattle dynasty unfolds, at least one writer hopes the NFC championship game includes the Philadelphia Eagles. Carroll needs another PAC12 coach to pummel instead of the spinning, tooth grinding dancer in his pleated tutu and 49er sweat shirt.

Chip Kelly, make it happen. The mighty Seahawks feasted on horse meat last Sunday. Let’s see how they like a taste of Eagle with a side of duck.

Here in Oregon we’ll feel the new era even more when Seattle shares the way Boston does with their Patriots.

The Northwest Seahawks sounds good. Beating the best, like Peyton at his finest, to be the best, makes everything sound good.