As you know, Seattle is thought to be the suicide capital of the nation - no doubt solidified by one Kurt C. The 27 straight days of rain, followed by landslides and a city full of ghost-like people almost topped me, but what happened on Sunday has pushed the city to a dark place few knew was even possible.
After 30+ years, the city known more for coffee and flying fish than sports found itself exposed to the world. No longer could it sit back and hide in the rain. People were asking questions like, "is grunge still around?" and "what's up with the space needle thing? isn't it just a big death trap?" Yes, for a little more than two weeks, the nation stopped and thought about Seattle, and the weird thing was Seattle wasn't sure what to do about it. The media machine works much better in Pittsburgh. They've been there before, they've got a story to tell. Please, can we stop talking about the fat running back now?? Seattle with its rain is a much softer city than Pittsburgh with its snow and steel. It was the battle of catsup vs. software, Aretha Franklin vs. Courtney Love, Willie Stargell vs. Dave Henderson. History vs. the future.
In the end, maybe Seattle's not ready just yet to take the step to the big stage. All of this has been really enlightening for a city with what seems to be little civic pride. IMO Seattle is a better place because they got to XL, but who knows, if they actually won maybe people would feel bad about protesting the tax to build the no hallowed "12th man" field that played a role in finally getting some of the attention it deserves.
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