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Stadium Review - CenturyLink Field is #1
Seattle is famous for rainy days, Starbucks coffee, and grunge rock, but when I think of Seattle, I think of the Seattle Seahawks professional football franchise and the mighty CenturyLink Field. By all accounts of those in the know, CenturyLink Field is supposed to provide the ultimate fan experience as compared to any other stadium in the National Football League. I’ve seen it ranked number 1 on several reviews ranking the stadiums in order. So with the bar set high, I entered CenturyLink Field expecting to be disappointed … I was not. After experiencing an NFL gameday with the Seattle Seahawks faithful, there is no doubt in my mind that CenturyLink Field provides the ultimate fan experience and is my favorite place to watch an NFL game.
CenturyLink Field is aesthetically nested in the heart of downtown Seattle. The Stadium is split down the center with massive covered seating decks to protect the fans from the Seattle rain. But although visually appealing, these decks are functional in nature as well. Like two gigantic Bose headphones on each side of the field, the covered decks are actually acoustically optimized to direct crowd noise onto the field below. During each defensive series, the hometown crowd takes full advantage of CenturyLink Field’s unique construction as noise levels rise when the opposing offense takes the field. Like two tangible walls of sound, crowd noise infects the field below to disrupt opposing offenses. CenturyLink Field is easily among the loudest stadiums that I’ve been in as evidenced by their league leading 60 opponent false start penalties since 2005 (as of October 21, 2007). Their closest competitor in this category resides in the Minneapolis Metrodome where Viking fans have caused only 42. The other nice feature of the CenturyLink Field design is the view of the Seattle Skyline provided in the South Endzone as the stadium opens up at ground level. It is a very impressive design, a unique blend of steel and brick that provides some protection from the elements, but not enough to disrupt the experience of being in an outdoor stadium that is subject to the elements. The Stadium design is very open, very welcoming. As a fan you get the feeling of communing with the city of Seattle on gameday as skyscrapers rise up around you. The thriving bar scene around CenturyLink Field also provides an excellent venue for gameday celebration or in the event of a loss to drown your sorrows surrounded by compatriots that feel your pain.
The 12th man is Seattle is highly prized by the Seattle Seahawks organization. The Seahawks have actually retired the number 12 in honor of Seahawks fans and in the north endzone before each game a #12 flag celebrating the twelfth man is raised prior to kickoff. Seahawks fans come dressed in Seahawks colors, they invoke the wrath of the 12th man for every defensive series, and I found them to be very knowledgeable and friendly. Jones Soda which is bottled in Seattle will also send cameramen into the stands to get pictures of fans on gameday that will then be used on the labels of their bottles that are sold in the area. So the sprit of the twelfth man lives on in grocery stores throughout the region.
On this day the Seattle Seahawks would not be denied a win against the reeling 0 – 6 St. Louis Rams as Matt Hasselbeck and Co. pounded the Rams into submission 33 – 6, making money for Seahawks fans at all the leading online sports betting sites. It was actually nice to see a home team that's supported by some of the best fans in the league capitalize on a resounding win over an adversary they should in fact beat.
So heading into their bye week with momentum and first place in the AFC West Division, there should be good things on the horizon for the Seahawks and their fans. As for me, my visit to CenturyLink field was more than impressive and I was even afforded the opportunity to join in an authentic Seattle Fan Wave. This common fan celebration used around the league and in most sports today actually originated in Seattle, so I made sure to pay homage to the birthplace of the wave.
The Food - Best Concessions in the NFL
Bar None, CenturyLink Field provides the preeminent fan concessions experience in the National Football League. I mean nobody in the NFL provides the variety and quality of sports celebratory cuisine as can be found in the hallowed concourses of CenturyLink Field. Apart from the standard fan nourishment that’s available across the league (hot dogs, brats, popcorn and burgers), I was able to find bread bowls of clam chowder, teriyaki grilled meats, Big Foot hot dogs, red bean chili, fish and chips dinners, and rice bowls. But the locals swear by Grounders world famous garlic fries. These fan favorites are a must if you are visitor to the Seattle area. When I say garlic fries, I’m not talking about garlic-flavored French fries. I’m talking about an order of French fries tossed in a generous portion of freshly minced whole garlic. These pallet pleasers are sure to provide the cholesterol soothing power of garlic, and any protection one might need from the opposite sex. This stuff is so potent it can be detected several rows away. CenturyLink Field also serves Jones Soda products in all concessions stands. Definitely, the best concessions I’ve encountered in the National Football League.
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The Seahawks face the Cowboys on Saturday night in Arlington, Texas. For Seattle, which is 4-4 this year away from Seattle, that presents a challenge beyond not playing in one of the loudest venues in all of sports.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll addressed on Thursday the unique challenge of playing in the House That Jerry Built.
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“I think their scoreboard may get in the way of the sound — bounces back at you or something, I don’t know,” Carroll told reporters. “It’s a real glitzy place, you know? When you come out of a football locker room ready to play football and you go into a night club — it’s kind of like we’re in the club, then wait a minute, you’ve got to play ball. Then you come back through the club and they’re all . . . anyways, it’s unusual. Then they’re right there with you too. Those people that are sitting behind us, I don’t know how they see the game. It doesn’t look like they care, they’re having such a good time. It’s an unusual place.”
Others have privately expressed to PFT respect for the extent to which the Cowboys use their unusual place to create legitimate but useful distractions, from noise to spotlights to the proximity of Cowboys fans to creating the feeling that they’re in something other than a football stadium getting ready to play a football game.