If you attended the last two Super Bowls please chime in

I was fortunate enough to attend Super Bowl XLVIII in my home state but was not able to make it to Glendale. If there are people on this board that were at both games I would love to hear your thoughts/experiences as to how they compare.

Obviously I am not talking about the outcome of the game itself but things like the atmosphere, crowd, festivities outside the stadium, etc... Just wondering what the vibe was between the two and how it differed.

Expecting NYCoug to chime in on this thread. Anyone else?

Thanks.

Just so you know JR, I'm sitting down and rewatching the game today for the first time. In between doing the laundry and cleaning up the house (life in the offseason when your lady is cool enough to let you follow the Hawks around for 2 years haha), I'm going to attempt to do a Super Bowl XLIX writeup. It's part of the healing process I guess... Anyways, on to your question.

I thought that XLVIII was cooler, personally. First off, the NFL didn't even have any goodie bags for the people that spent AT LEAST $800 for tickets, if not literally tens of thousands, at XLIX. No freakin' gift bag?! I know it might sound petty, and to be fair, I only used the items in said gift bag months after the Super Bowl (used the gloves to not freeze to death while selling pickles in the snow/cold on 6th ave and west 4th street in Manhattan, so they came in handy), but still, what gives?! You've got the performers paying the league now, no gift bags, the league sweeping things like deflategate under the rug... something tells me that the league has now become (always has been?) arrogant? They think that the world would end if the NFL ceased to exist, and that they don't have to go out of their way to show a token of respect to the people who have made their product what it is (the fans and the players). This kind of arrogance will bite them in the ass down the road, for sure. Karma baby!

So no gift bags, just two finger laser lights waiting for you at your seat so that you could join in on the Katy Perry show, which, by the way, Eli (tooshort) and I didn't even watch. By the way, if anyone ever meets Eli, buy him all the beers in the world. He's a saint and was nice enough to sell me his ticket for face value so he deserves a ton of respect and admiration from the 12th Man for being a model 12 and a great human being. I already owe him a lifetime of beers... and oriental concubines. He knows what I'm talking about...

Anyways, back to the games. The atmosphere was worse. With the ticket dangling around my neck, priced at around $10,500 by the NFL-created black market for tickets, I felt like a rich man walking through the poorest village in the world while I ate some of the finest food from around the planet. There were people who were devastated, having found out that Stubhub wouldn't be able to get them any tickets. Good friends and .Netters (Barthawk, LudwigsDrummer, SalukiHawk) who have been fans of this team since the beginning were stuck watching at home, while I was heading in to the stadium. I've got to be honest, I felt dirty. It didn't feel right. That amazing, festive atmosphere that was so prevalent at MetLife, was shattered.

The finer weather was definitely a plus, but pretty much everything else was a notch below what it was at MetLife. This truly felt like a corporate event that I had no business attending. It was definitely because of the price of the tickets. MetLife was the everyman's Super Bowl, in my mind. It was the most affordable Super Bowl in ages, and it felt like true fans of the game/each team were in attendance. Eli and I were trying our hardest to get the swarm of Seahawks fans around us to make noise, but these people were absolutely clueless in what this meant. Compare it to XLVIII and there is no comparison. Seahawks fans were out for blood at MetLife, it felt like in Glendale it was just a bunch of rich folk who used to live in Seattle that now live in AZ who thought it would be cool to say they went to a Super Bowl that the Seahawks were in. There were a ton of Seahawks fans there, and our voices should have been heard even more. I was very disappointed in the crowd noise and participation from the 12th Man in this one, I gotta be honest. There were some, like us, who were leaving their vocal chords in their seats, but most of the others were just standing, looking at those of us who were screaming as if we were some barbaric group of savages from the Last of the Mohicans.

About the only thing that was better was the transportation issue, as nothing will be as awful as the botchjob that the NFL orchestrated before/after XLVIII.

In closing, the NFL are a bunch of shady crooks, and if I didn't have to witness the quest for redemption again next season because it is my destiny, I'd probably never care to go to another Super Bowl ever again.

BUTTTT.... I'll see you in Santa Clara, JR. We've got to write that perfect last chapter...

Sitting at home watching the telecast of both, I thought 48 had WAY more pregame pageantry. No Kurt Russell video?

Fox coverage had a ton more cameras capturing a lot more of the individual player emotions and stuff. Seemed like NBC couldn't wait to get to commercial.

HoustonHawk82":1zroi7bp said:

Sitting at home watching the telecast of both, I thought 48 had WAY more pregame pageantry. No Kurt Russell video?

Fox coverage had a ton more cameras capturing a lot more of the individual player emotions and stuff. Seemed like NBC couldn't wait to get to commercial.

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We noticed that in-stadium, too! No pregame hype video!??!

Awful. I thought the NFL did a horrific job with the Super Bowl this season. Any random game at the CLink put this Super Bowl to shame. Even the Cowboys game haha. Seriously though, the Super Bowl should be an amazing spectacle that blows every sporting event you've ever been to out of the water.

Even the flyover before the game was lame, as it appeared the jets flew over the sides of the stadium. You couldn't even see them from inside the stadium.

I expect WAYYYY worse next year in techieville aka Santa Clara. I promise all of you that it'll be the most expensive, most corporate-feeling, most horrendous Super Bowl presentation in NFL history. I plan on watching the Seahawks mutilate Tom Brady and the Patriots, but getting in and out of the city as quick as humanly possible. It's going to be awful, you just know it will.

Thanks for the detailed writeup Dave. Sounds like XLIX didn't even compare to XLVIII in terms of true Seahawks fans attending. XLVIII really did resemble a Seahawks home game in many ways as the crowd was nuts, multiple 'Sea-Hawks' and 'LOB' chants, etc...

This last Super Bowl truly was 'The Empire Strikes' back with the depressing ending. That's what is going to make next year's 'Return of the Jedi' redemption tour so incredibly amazing and capped off with a victory at Levi's Stadium - what could be sweeter than that?

San Francisco is going to turn into Seattle for a week as everyone migrates down there to take over the city.

JonRud":23h7trvq said:

Thanks for the detailed writeup Dave. Sounds like XLIX didn't even compare to XLVIII in terms of true Seahawks fans attending. XLVIII really did resemble a Seahawks home game in many ways as the crowd was nuts, multiple 'Sea-Hawks' and 'LOB' chants, etc...

This last Super Bowl truly was 'The Empire Strikes' back with the depressing ending. That's what is going to make next year's 'Return of the Jedi' redemption tour so incredibly amazing and capped off with a victory at Levi's Stadium - what could be sweeter than that?

San Francisco is going to turn into Seattle for a week as everyone migrates down there to take over the city.

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XLVIII is the greatest sporting event I'll ever attend. No matter what. Ever. It can't be topped. Even Russell winning his 5th ring and officially becoming the greatest of all-time probably won't top it.

Seriously though, ever since I saw that picture comparing this all to Star Wars, I've felt better about things. This all really does feel like a movie. I'm a sick dude, a gluten for punishment for sure, but in this son of an artists mind (dad plays guitar, mom paints, both beautifully), I almost prefer it this way (as long as we complete the 'Return of the Jedi' type ending of course.) I love the beauty of the struggle in life, and the ability we have as humans to overcome amazing odds and persevere and keep going is something that I've always marveled at. It would make so much more sense than a 3Pete... and besides, we can always do that later for Russell's 3rd, 4th, and 5th rings. :th2thumbs:

No doubt it'll be a mini-Seattle, but so was Glendale. The NFL will make sure that the AFC team will get more tickets at the last minute to "keep things fair" just like they did with XLIX (which is BS of course, they didn't seem to give 2 craps about that in Detroit for XL when it was all folks from Pittsburgh), and inside the stadium it will be much more even.

We need to rewrite history. There weren't many Seahawks fans out and about after the game. You saw a smattering of Hawks jerseys every once in a while, but there weren't many remaining after the game, I don't blame em. Eli, Brandon, and I partied for a bit with some Pats fans to be good sports and to be a part of history, but next year I want the cities of Santa Clara, San Jose, and San Francisco to be filled with Seahawks fans partying the night away, honoring the most resilient team in the history of sports.

I know what you mean about the non-football crowd. I have a "friend" who is a bandwagon Duck and now Seahawk fan. He flew to AT&T for the College Super Bowl and his Ducks lost. Then he flew to Glendale for the Super Bowl showing off his Seahawk jersey on FB for the first time ever, and immediately after the game posted about how he never liked Russell Wilson. I blame him for being a Jinx.

I was at both games, and my impression was that there were more Seahawks fans in the stadium this year than last. However, the team colors could have had a lot to do with that. Orange sticks out so much more in contrast to blue and green than Patriots colors do. No doubt the Seahawks crowd got louder last year since the whole game was a celebration and the Broncos fans had nothing to cheer about. This year, I sat in a section of all Seahawks fans, and we screamed our voices out just like it was a home game.

So continuing the star wars comparison...

After return of the hawks / jedi does our future solely rely in jj abrhams hands or does his future lay in our hands...

NYCoug":3ia56kil said:

Seriously though, ever since I saw that picture comparing this all to Star Wars, I've felt better about things. This all really does feel like a movie..

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Link for the pic?

I agree with everything NYCoug had to say.

SB48 was of, by, and for the 12. SB49 on the other hand, while it had significant pockets of what I would consider a Seahawks Stadium crowd, was milder.

I too had the same reaction from people in Seahawks jerseys/gear when I was yelling nonstop on defense. It was the annoyed looks of folks who, I imagine, like to sit in their suites or Club seats and take in a game while shmoozing a client.

I could handle the mockery of Patriots fans, who would incorrectly yell either with me or yell "Offense!!!" They soon found that I wasn't going to be shamed into changing my ways and they certainly hadn't developed the lung capacity that I have over the fifteen years that I have been a season ticket holder. It was the other "Seahawks" fans that would give me an odd glance here and there that broke my heart and long, once again, for those cold, blustery days in Husky Stadium when it was truly us diehards amongst empty seats.

Although I have publicly and repeatedly expressed my goal of attending every Seahawks Super Bowl, from XL until the day I die, the greed on display at SB49 - at McFadden's charging an effin' cover fee for a "Rally", to the skyrocketing ticket prices, to no seat cushion and goodie bag (it bothers me too NYCoug), this experience just about did me in as far as my continued support of the NFL.

SB49 wasn't just a notch below, it was notches below. I will never express that to my wife, who attended her first Super Bowl and loved it (except that little play at the end of course), but it still burns me.

ZagHawk":1q7igzex said:

I know what you mean about the non-football crowd. I have a "friend" who is a bandwagon Duck and now Seahawk fan. He flew to AT&T for the College Super Bowl and his Ducks lost. Then he flew to Glendale for the Super Bowl showing off his Seahawk jersey on FB for the first time ever, and immediately after the game posted about how he never liked Russell Wilson. I blame him for being a Jinx.

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Sounds like literally the worst person ever.

I didn't attend both games, just this years (and barely because of the ticket corruptness). I felt out of place as well. I had people around me plugging their ears and giving me dirty looks... This just made me louder... Unfortunately I had to calm down a bit towards the end of the game as I was spitting up blood. I still was as loud as I could get as much as I could as this was a bucket list item for me (hell I thought I was going to die a few times which brought a smile to my face... How horrifying would it be for the snobs to have to deal with a dead body... Lol). I don't think I would ever go back to another Super Bowl ... there was too much greed, snobs, people who didn't care, etc. I am glad I got to go once, just wish the ending would have been a little different. I was emotionally spent before the game even started and cried when I finally got my hands on my tickets. I don't think I would have even got my tickets at all if I hadn't got confrontational with the vivid seats bouncer. Long story short, if all super owls are like 49... I am happy at home watching on tv and hanging out on .net

Great post JR.

Nice responses too. I hope others post up.

Riley12":nw7tewl8 said:

I agree with everything NYCoug had to say.

SB48 was of, by, and for the 12. SB49 on the other hand, while it had significant pockets of what I would consider a Seahawks Stadium crowd, was milder.

I too had the same reaction from people in Seahawks jerseys/gear when I was yelling nonstop on defense. It was the annoyed looks of folks who, I imagine, like to sit in their suites or Club seats and take in a game while shmoozing a client.

I could handle the mockery of Patriots fans, who would incorrectly yell either with me or yell "Offense!!!" They soon found that I wasn't going to be shamed into changing my ways and they certainly hadn't developed the lung capacity that I have over the fifteen years that I have been a season ticket holder. It was the other "Seahawks" fans that would give me an odd glance here and there that broke my heart and long, once again, for those cold, blustery days in Husky Stadium when it was truly us diehards amongst empty seats.

Although I have publicly and repeatedly expressed my goal of attending every Seahawks Super Bowl, from XL until the day I die, the greed on display at SB49 - at McFadden's charging an effin' cover fee for a "Rally", to the skyrocketing ticket prices, to no seat cushion and goodie bag (it bothers me too NYCoug), this experience just about did me in as far as my continued support of the NFL.

SB49 wasn't just a notch below, it was notches below. I will never express that to my wife, who attended her first Super Bowl and loved it (except that little play at the end of course), but it still burns me.

Click to expand...

Only super bowl I attended was super bowl 48 in new York and found there tons of Seahawk chants before and mostly after the game because of the result.

NYCoug":2734z8yq said:

The finer weather was definitely a plus, but pretty much everything else was a notch below what it was at MetLife. This truly felt like a corporate event that I had no business attending. It was definitely because of the price of the tickets. MetLife was the everyman's Super Bowl, in my mind. It was the most affordable Super Bowl in ages, and it felt like true fans of the game/each team were in attendance. Eli and I were trying our hardest to get the swarm of Seahawks fans around us to make noise, but these people were absolutely clueless in what this meant. Compare it to XLVIII and there is no comparison. Seahawks fans were out for blood at MetLife, it felt like in Glendale it was just a bunch of rich folk who used to live in Seattle that now live in AZ who thought it would be cool to say they went to a Super Bowl that the Seahawks were in. There were a ton of Seahawks fans there, and our voices should have been heard even more. I was very disappointed in the crowd noise and participation from the 12th Man in this one, I gotta be honest. There were some, like us, who were leaving their vocal chords in their seats, but most of the others were just standing, looking at those of us who were screaming as if we were some barbaric group of savages from the Last of the Mohicans.

Click to expand...

THIS!

So I didn't make it New York for the first, but did make the AZ one.

Extremely disappointed in the 12's on hand, our section was at least 70/30 in favor of Hawks fans, but less then 20% of those actually screamed AT ALL during defensive snaps.

The Pats fans actually sounded louder at times too.

By the fourth quarter there was another noise fan that was getting frustrated by all the quite 12's and started throwing peanuts(candy?) at them telling them to get up and get loud.

After all the positive stuff I heard about NY, and all the fans around the town in AZ, I was not expecting such a quite crowd.

I'm all for bandwagon fans, the more the merrier, but Jesus they need to learn what it means to be a 12.

Attended NY but did not attend AZ (tried but ticket prices were not in proportion to NY ones - plus we live near NY and including airfare to AZ put it out of reach).

This post has actually helped me come out of my Sports depression/hibernation. I'm glad I attended XLVIII and I too teared up to the point of almost crying when I held those tickets in my hands (I'm actually tearing up a little now typing that). Every now and then I stare at them (top shelf drawer of my dresser is their current home). From what everyone is saying (hawk fans weren't as loud as they should have been) it makes sense. I thought it was odd that on TV in pregame they said it was dominantly Sea fans but when they announced the teams in introduction the cheers were fairly equal. Almost to the point where I started to wonder if there were late arriving fans (at this game?). Where were the video introductions? I'm also very happy that I didn't have to learn to like the halftime show this time as compared to last year's. I don't know if it was because they were up 22-0 or that it was a really good performance or both but I've really become a Bruno mars fan (and I grew up and still listen to Heavy Metal/Hard Rock). Every time I watch XLVIII (still on my DVR), I watch the halftime show.

I'm sorry for anyone at this game for the fans not being as loud as they should have been (for the most part) as people have stated and of course what happened.

Right now I just need new football games to stop this. The last two nights were the first two nights since 2/1 that I didn't wake up in the middle of the night and rehearse 3 or 4 better plays to run.

Still, the last 3 years are way better than my brother has had to endure (Redskins fan).

Still fighting NFL depression and waiting for Week 1. I know...there's worse problems out there to have...

Most of my life I dreamed of attending the first Super Bowl that the Seahawks won. I always pictured them winning on the final drive or making a huge INT to ice the game.

XLVIII was odd in the fact that the competitive part of the game was over after the Harvin kickoff return. The first half was total intensity and screaming in the stands but once it got to 29-0 the next hour and a half we were all there smiling, dancing, singing, etc... but really the game was over and you were just waiting for it to end so you could see the confetti, Lombardi Trophy, etc...

When you look back on the past 2 years it's pretty amazing that both NFC Championship games and this last year's Super Bowl were essentially decided on the final play of the game. that is crazy to think about.

Commitments derailed my chance at SB48, but i had my mind on going to SB49. Yet every day I saw tickets prices take another leap ahead on me. Alas, no SB49 for me, but I did get to host a bunch of Seahawk fans at my place in Az about 8 miles from the UofP.
It was good to see the guys, NYCoug, tooshort, TechWorlds, RockHawk, Hawkstorian, my kid Zach, and some others.
There's always next year at Santa Clara.