Originally posted by NavyHawk:
I have a take on this, hear me out.
I lived in the southeast for 16 years up until last fall when I moved back up to the PNW. While living in FL and LA, I traveled to watch Seahawks away games at Buffalo, Washington, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Tampa, Miami and New Orleans. Every game I was " flying the colors" and was a passionate yet polite visiting fan. Favorite away city? Buffalo. Those boys know how to tailgate. Worst city? New Orleans. If I hear another illiterate Louisiana native yell "Who Dat" I may come unhinged.
What did I learn from it all? Well, kind of like buying your house, the price you pay is also usually an indication of the caliber of your neighbors. Don't want a meth lab popping up across the street? Pay a little more for your house and neighborhood. Don't mind a primer gray Chevy Nova getting the engine pulled under a tree in the front yard? Buy cheap and be happy my friend.
I've found that picking up more exclusive seats helps weed out the trash and contributes to a better game day experience. Higher ticket prices "usually" aren't paid by the Neanderthals who think its ok to treat visiting fans like some of you have been in Seattle in the past.
I say give the Clink a shot. Wear your gear loud and proud, but keep it within the boundaries of professionalism and good taste. Chat with the people around you when you sit down before the game starts, you may find out they're decent folks before everyone starts screaming. I made it a point to compliment a good play made by the home team to the local fans around me if warranted, once or twice. Goes a long way towards presenting yourself as a football fan, not just the opposing team's fan, to the home crowd. Just my advice.
It actually makes me sick when I hear about any visiting fan having a bad experience in my home town. It reflects poorly on a place that I identify with on a personal level. Every game I've attended in Seattle I have made it a point to chat with visiting fans who are sitting around me. I ask where they're from, where they are staying, recommend a good restaurant near there. I actually want visitors to my city to leave having had an enjoyable time, even though their team came away with an L;-)
Anyway, that's my .02. If you decide to head up and seem like a good guy I'll buy you a beer.
My family and I met a few fans like you at Touchdown City, when they found out that we had just moved to Washington from Alaska they were friendly and offered advice on where to eat after the game and a few even complimented Harbaugh for the job that he had done with our team. I thought that the game would be alright based on that experience lol, it was wayyyy different once the game started, especially when Williams got hit when he was down. The whole town seems to hate the Niners, from the "douchebag Harbaugh style" video on YouTube from Mitch in the Morning to the way that a Niners fan is treated going to watch their game, it's sad, pathetic, and comical really, all at the same time. The language and racial comments were so bad that I had to cover my sons ears and even after the game he asked me what a f****t was. I'd like to think that we were sitting in good seats, we were behind the Niners bench, 4 rows up and paid almost 1200 dollars for 5 tickets, and we've sat in other parts of Century Link (I'll never sit in the Hawks nets again lol) and up until 2011 it wasn't all that bad but now it's not worth the hassle and Seattle fans are getting a reputation for being a**holes. My sister in law came to visit after she got back from deployment and she wouldn't go to a game based on what other people who've attended games there had told her, my sisters cousin and his buddy came up for the Rams game last year and they both said that they'd never go to another game there again. It sucks because while I'm a Niners fan I don't really hate the Hawks, and I'd love to be able to go watch the battles that both of these teams will have for the next 10 years, maybe talk a little smack with the fans, have a good time and have my kids enjoy a good football game but you can't seem to have that at Century Link anymore.
