To quote Russ, “Why not us?”

Storyline is all important; and the drama is getting written (and illustrated) on millions of screens, tweets, and instagrams sent from millions more computers and cameras to and from haters and lovers and fans.

The Storyline is that Perfect Peyton has to stand tall and safe in the pocket (protected by his angelic/huge front line- I would have said offensive line, but that might be offensive), reading the movements of the horde-like Seattle rushers and the pushy-shovey-taunting-trash-talking backfield, and throw a hundred or so laser strikes (though sometimes wobbley- oops; edit that) to the the momentarily-improperly-covered member of his anything-but-mediocre squad of world class receivers.

And those Seahawks? Oh, they are, in this Storyline, the villains, the ruffians (I no longer publicly say ‘thugs,’ preferring the non-race-specific ‘gangsters,’ though the word ‘thugs’ came from India, with few players in the NFL), the 2013/14 equivalent of the 1970s Oakland Raiders. Though Russell Wilson will never be compared to Kenny “The Snake” Stabler, even with the list of possible-but-not-yet-sticking nicknames including “DangerRuss,” Seattle has the well-earned reputation of hitting hard, adding grabbing and shoving to the five yard bump-and-run maneuver (and extending the five yards) and just being so aggressive it’s almost an insult to the gentlemanly game of American football.

Oh, and the fans… loud (selectively, and without scoreboard prompts- as in Denver), obnoxious, passionate, too many dressed up in frightening makeup and costumes (in ‘the day,’ Oakland fans dressed similarly to “Mad Max” characters, hung at ‘The Black Ball.” Not sure where or what that was; I got this trivia from someone who was there), the 12th Man is just so so willing to defend even players who weren’t drafted, who won’t play nice and/or chat politely with the media.

Yeah; it’s us, Russ; why not us?

And, storyline or not, we are the underdogs.

Does Peyton really need another Superbowl ring just because his brother has more than he does (and Seattle, so mean-spirited, shut out the other brother), and because it might be the last season for the definitely-Hall-of-Famer Manning; and he’s overcome so much?

No.

No, and this is a sports story; and in every sports story (and I buy into every one- cue the tears) the underdog wins.

So. Analysis. My father-in-law, the late W.M. Scott, used to say the powers that be wanted the Superbowl to be between teams from major media markets. In this newer world, the market is nationwide; it becomes the storyline of where each team, each player, comes from, what he has gone through to get to this point. And Seattle is still the Emerald City, far away and rain-cleaned

Maybe Seattle isn’t the new Oakland; the Seahawks are not the villains (I only say this because villains aren’t supposed to win, though Pittsburg did last time); the Underdogs have the better back story.

And us? Really, we’re just fans, some of us just a bit more rabid than others. Trish would say passionate. Yes! And maybe you are, too. Hopefully there will be more cheering than gnashing of teeth next week. Goooo Hawwwkkkkks!  

NOTE: So, I wrote this for my blog, ‘Stuff That Goes On,’  under the ‘blog’ section (header, home page) at ptleader.com  Everyone (including me) who would lower themselves to actually read a blog (at all), and my blog in particular, are put off by the fear that, once one reads several articles from the home page, someone will have a hand out.  Realsurfers.net is free. Read all you want. Please. So, because I edited my original version on the ptleader site, and that version is better, I cut-and-pasted it here.

The Seahawks are considering the setup; cold, snowy, lumpy, with hard-hitting sections. So hard to break free, into the open, a heaviness always ready to knock a player in the head, cut him off at the knees, tumble him down and over- hard. Oh, but, up on the bluff, there’s an audience, spread out, waiting. Take a breath. Now…