12s: After a hard loss but a great year, it’s time to move on

Let’s move on. We know we should, we’re just not there yet.

It’s obvious lots of us still have a case of blue Wednesday, after bouts of super-blue Monday and Tuesday.

Drive around. Switch on the radio. There are reminders at every turn, and the Seahawks’ 4-point last-minute Super Bowl loss still stings.

Homes are still decked out in Seahawks colors. On Tuesday, a 12 flag flew at half-staff outside the Everett School District’s old Colby Avenue headquarters. At the Everett Mall, a Seahawks flag was hanging over the food court Tuesday, and stores were still selling Super Bowl merchandise.

Hints for shoppers: Macy’s at the mall was charging $80 for gray Seahawks Super Bowl sweatshirts Tuesday. But down the corridor at Madhatterz, all NFL hoodies were on sale for $45. At Sears and the Just Sports shop, some Hawks items were 20 percent off.

Rather than see all those blue and green shirts and 12 banners as signs of sorrow, let’s remember the joys of one terrific season.

I won’t forget watching the Thanksgiving game, a 19-3 win over the 49ers, with my whole family in Spokane. My dad, who turns 92 next week, couldn’t have been more tickled. On Dec. 28, I was thrilled to have a ticket to the last regular-season game, a 20-6 win over the Rams. Before that, I had attended just one Seahawks game, and that was the season the team played at Husky Stadium. The home game experience was everything I’d heard it would be.

Back in November, Delisa “Momma” Lynch, the mom of Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, spent a chilly Saturday in the parking lot of Everett’s Toys R Us store to help the Snohomish County Sea Hawkers gather donations for Toys for Tots. It was a fun event, and a real display of the Hawks fans’ generosity.

I was glad to see the soaring masts at Xfinity Arena still lit up in blue and green Monday night. Let’s hope every Seahawks player and all their coaches know that fan support hasn’t dimmed.

“You had it worse than I did. It’s hard, but it’s just a game,” said Diane Wood, a teacher at Camano Island’s Utsalady Elementary School. And yes, you may recognize her name.

A lifelong Green Bay Packers fan, Wood was featured in this column Jan. 14, before the Seahawks-Packers NFC Championship game. We remember that miracle game, don’t we? The Packers had it nearly won before the Seahawks managed a 28-22 victory in the final minutes.

“That loss was hard,” Wood said Tuesday.

Although she cheered for the Hawks in the Super Bowl, Wood said she wore a different T-shirt during the game in honor of a loved one in Wisconsin.

Her cousin’s daughter is recovering from serious effects of pneumococcal meningitis. A Packers fan who also likes Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Wood’s relative suffered strokes and recently spent time in a care facility. The woman’s friends made Brady T-shirts that also said “Karen Strong.” Wood wore that shirt on Sunday.

“When I talked to my cousin, it put it all in perspective,” Wood said. “It is just a game.”

Damon Matz, a devoted Hawks fan and member of the Snohomish County Sea Hawkers, said friends keep asking him how he’s doing.

“I’m actually fine,” the Lake Stevens man said Tuesday.

An hour after the Super Bowl, Matz posted on Facebook: “I have just this to say, Coach made a call we as 12s would have thought awesome if it was a catch. We as 12s stay with our team.”

On Tuesday, he was staying positive.

“We have a pair of NFC Championship trophies. We were at the Super Bowl,” Matz said.

So let’s move on. And let’s hope Lynch sticks around. I don’t know much, but I would almost rather see the Seahawks lose a Super Bowl than lose No. 24.

“We’re still going to be good this next year,” Matz said. “Hindsight is always 20-20. We all care about the Seahawks, and we can’t be talking bad. Now no more — we’ll talk about the Mariners.”

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.