Proximity is everything when it comes to sports loyalty.
The term “12 North” refers to the 10 per cent of CenturyLink Field that is filled with fans from British Columbia for Seattle Seahawks football games and the thousands of others on the Island and Lower Mainland who follow the team on TV.
To commemorate the relationship, ahead of Sunday’s 49th Super Bowl game in Arizona between the Seahawks and New England Patriots, the 12th Man flag will again fly over Victoria. It will be raised at noon on the prominent Greater Victoria Harbour Authority flagpole across from the legislature in a ceremony today. Free Seahawks rally cards will be available while they last.
Doing the hoisting honours will be Chris Coleman, perhaps the biggest sports fan on Victoria council. The 12th Man — there are 11 players on the field — is emblematic of all Seahawks fans. The 12th Man flag was raised over the Inner Harbour last year by then Victoria mayor Dean Fortin, and proved a good omen as Seattle went on to rout the Denver Broncos in the 48th Super Bowl in New Jersey to win its first National Football League title.
Friday has been dubbed Blue Friday in B.C., a day to be capped with the raising of the 12th Man flag in Surrey.
Seahawks Super-mania will also be rumbling back and forth across Strait of Georgia as the 12th Man flag will fly on 10 B.C. Ferries vessels plying the Island-Lower Mainland runs this weekend.
“That is our intention. … We expected the flags to arrive Wednesday but are still waiting,” said Deborah Marshall, B.C. Ferries executive director of public affairs.
“We’re delighted to be doing it because there are a lot of Seahawks fans in B.C. and we want to support that enthusiasm. I’m definitely going to be watching Sunday.”
Many Island fans have been following the Seahawks since the franchise’s inception 39 years ago in the old Kingdome. The Vince Lombardi Trophy, presented after the team’s first Super Bowl victory, was brought to the Strathcona Hotel in Victoria last July along with some Seahawks players. The lineup for the event stretched out the doors and snaked well around the block. It was a long wait, in more ways than one.
Take 2 is Sunday for 12 North. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. PST
