It’s official: Wednesday’s Seahawk fan trek to Seattle, through the Bremerton and Bainbridge Island ferry terminals, was one for the record books.
In fact, the trip to catch a glimpse of the Super Bowl champs coming down Fourth Street in Seattle blew away pretty much all previous records, with close to 40,000 people traversing Colman Dock.
For comparison’s sake, here’s some recent high water marks for Washington State Ferries. The counts include all passengers traveling through Colman Dock, on both the Bainbridge Island and Bremerton routes:
· Independence Day – July 4, 2013 : 14,365
· Mother Day – May 12, 2013: 15,579
· Average Wednesday for middle of Summer Schedule (July 17, 2013): 15, 774
· Thanksgiving – November 27, 2013: 15,923
· Labor Day – August 30, 2013 (Friday before labor day): 16,021
· Super Bowl Parade – February 5, 2014: 39,411
“With respect to system history, we have 20 and 30 year WSF veterans who have stated that they have never seen anything like it, with respect to the activity at Colman Dock yesterday,” Washington State Ferries Communications Director Marta Coursey told us Thursday.
It appears there’s just no stopping the 12th man.
I saw plenty of no stopping the 12th man on Wednesday. I was sneered at by Seahawks fans for trying to go to work that day. My round trip commute was over 7 hours long; and the fans were RUDE about it. I have friends who were yelled at and cursed at because they needed to get to offices in downtown Seattle. If commuters said anything about it, we were told to shut up and quit being negative. We didn’t do anything to deserve rude treatment from anyone.
I am ashamed to have cheered on the team if this is how their fans are going to treat others.
So what exactly did you do to earn the curses? You weren’t silent, right? Instead, you expressed the view, one way or another, that you deserved preferential treatment, that your trip was vastly more important than those “non-commuters” who were riding for a non-essential reason.
In surveys of ferry workers one thing that always comes up is the attitude of commuters who, though responsible for a fairly low percentage of overall annual ridership, express the view that the ferries are run for them only. Perhaps you are NOT one of those, but the very idea that you won’t cheer a team because some fans gave you some likely much deserved grief speaks volumes about your overall attitude. You won’t cheer a team because a fan was rude to you? That’s absurd. It’s like saying you won’t visit Seattle because the Mayor is an idiot.
These “12th man” band wagoner’s are a bunch of loud mouthed kids. They were getting in fights with people sporting Supersonics gear mistaking them for Green Bay, and booing people for showing up to get in line. People got hurt getting on the ferry going around the corners because the crowd just shoved there way down the hall. If you fell down boarding the ferry you would have been trampled. The “12th man” band wagoner’s need to learn to show some class.
The commuters should be happy fans rode the boat. Maybe they’ll be more inclined to support a transportation bill? I think the commuter should suck it up. I was in long lines on both sides of the pond and I met many nice and friendly people. It made the six hour wait more tolerable. I felt sorry for commuters, I’ve done the commute myself. But being a sour puss about it doesn’t do any good.
I’m sorry some of you had bad experiences. I’m also a daily commuter to Seattle and I had quite the opposite reaction. I am not a sports fan, I was not going to the parade and I was a little put off by the chanting and all around noise level on the boat. However,it is public transit and I expected as much on that day. I brought my ear phones and didn’t have a problem.
Going home I was stuck with everyone else in the insane crowds and long lines. We were all stuffed in the Coleman terminal like sardines and no one was thrilled about it. But I talked and joked with the folks around me and told them how I didn’t go to the parade, yet I still asked them about their day and how it went.
In the midst of what I considered a miserable situation and my personal idea of a nightmare (I hate crowds and have very bad feet issues, so standing that long can be painful), “the 12th Man” were very nice, over all cordial and compared to past experiences, the crowd was pleasant. The one exception was the man who stood on a bench to scream at a ferry employee who was only trying her best to do her job and get us all on a boat. He was despicable!
On the 7:20am boat had a great atmosphere of excited energy. I saw so much joy, camaraderie and generosity, which truly shocked me. On the 4:20pm boat home I joined a table of other commuters though we had two college kids also join our table. People all around us were squishing together to try to make space for everyone to sit. Though it was still loud going home, again I thought that people we over all quite respectful.
There are bad apples in every bunch and I hope your experiences were not the norm. Most people I’ve talked to shared my view of the day. I think in all respects the day was a great success! Not that I want to do that again anytime soon!
To all the fans who commuted via Bremerton Ferries on the 7:20am and the 4:20pm boats, THANK YOU for renewing my faith and opinion of sports fans.
I’m a college student that has to commute every day for school. I’m a seahawks fan (not over the top), but I couldn’t afford to skip school for the parade. However, I ended up not being able to go to the first half of my day because of lines. I sucked it up and didn’t say anything negative or rude, but I had people pushing me to try and get on the ferry before me, running past me as I walked to try and sit down, and in general being rather rude. I have nothing against happy fans, I’m just trying to get to my classes in peace. I took the 7.05 ferry over. Come on people, you don’t have to race me to catch a 7am ferry when the parade started at 11. I just thought it was a little absurd. And when all was said and done, I had a miserable day. I wish I had encountered the supposed friendly and kind fans that others say were on the ferries.
Josh:
Could you clarify something for me?
The ridership numbers you posted, are they the totals for all ONE-WAY passengers from Seattle to Bainbridge and Bremerton?
The article says, “The counts include all passengers traveling through Colman Dock…” But that can be interpreted as both directions.
I presume the count of 39,411 people were passengers leaving Seattle. Thanks.
Commenting as a commuter I think it was great to see so many happy people in Seattle for the day. Sure the lines were long, the terminal crowded but it was a one day event. There are always a few rude people around, even when it is just us commuters. The overwhelming majority were fun, happy people. The only bad part of this is having to listen to some of the commuters complain about how their day was disrupted.
Josh:
“Average Wednesday for middle of Summer Schedule (July 17, 2013): 15, 774.”
For comparison purposes, what is the average ridership for the average early FEBRUARY Wednesday day?
Greg
Much more people for a system that is designed to normally accommodate a lower number number of people . I am sure the staff of WFS and daily commuters were feeling their every day lives were being abruptly changed .
Not fun when your going to work . But knowing them the vast majority took it as a one day price for a great victory . The 12th man can take it .
Winning the Super Bowl was so sweet , most commuters I know were big Sea Hawk fans and that is all we talked about for weeks before the big game .
Seattle area has a remarkable fan base . Glad there was something we could all cheer FOR together .