In the fan zone: Cheers and beer overflow

As Sunday's NFC Championship Game ended, fans poured out of Qwest Field and swarmed into Pioneer Square, screaming, whistling, hollering, giving each other high fives, hugging one another and generally carrying on. A lot of them shouted, "I need a beer!"

They had plenty already. The bars all around Pioneer Square were packed, and lines strung down the sidewalk. The people in the lines vowed to party through the night.

"Detroit, Detroit!" they yelled. "We're going to the Super Bowl!"

Seattle police officers lined every corner, many dressed in their all-too-familiar protective riot gear. Horse patrols and bike patrols moved up and down the streets.

In the first hour after the game, everyone was pretty well behaved, considering.

Carolina blue

Not everyone was celebrating.

Some Carolina fans glowered as they left the stadium and trudged off into the night. One fan in a Carolina jersey patted a Seahawks fan on the shoulder and said, "Just win the next one."

Another Panthers fan, Sean Feeney of Charlotte, sat glumly at F.X. McRory's as the game ended. He came here from Charlotte by himself. He said the Seahawks fans at the bar had been pretty nice to him.

Another patron looked a bit stunned.

"I'm in denial," said Aaron King of Seattle. "Since the day I was born, I've been watching the Seahawks, but it's like surreal. I love it."

Celebrate the Seahawks!

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Black, gold and booed

Tim Garrity, who serves in the Air Force and lives in Lakewood, Pierce County, went to the game but his ball cap and jersey said "Steelers." He's a Pittsburgh native.

"I bleed black and gold," he said.

A few Seahawks fans jeered him as he walked along.

Déjà Vu all over again

As could be expected, Seattle super fan Lorin "Big Lo" Sandretzky was quite emotional during the game.

"I don't know if it could be any better than this," he said. "This is just amazing."

As excited as he was by the Hawks' first-half lead, Big Lo didn't lose his sense of humor.

"I don't think my heart has ever pounded this hard," he said. "Not even during the first two weeks I worked at Déjà Vu."

Steelers lead in early returns

An early poll after the game on espn.com with more than 32,000 votes showed that "SportsNation" believes the Steelers will win the Super Bowl. And that most of the voters — 57 percent — were rooting for Pittsburgh.

But East Coast fans had already voted and moved on, while many Seahawks fans were still out partying and hadn't voted yet.

No more monkey business

Bill Sager was one of several fans to finally get the monkey of his back Sunday.

Literally.

Sager and 10 other fans wore stuffed monkeys labeled "Super Bowl Monkey," on their backs during the game.

"When we win this, I'm throwing it in the crowd 'cause the Super Bowl drought it over," Sager said.

Leap year at J&M

It wasn't quite the Lambeau Leap, but patrons seated outside of the J&M Cafe encouraged passing fans to "leap" when they walked by the bar.

Several fans obliged, some getting a running start across South Washington Street.

Somehow, Pioneer Square Leap doesn't have the same ring.

Getting scalped

Scalper to fan seeking two tickets, "$300 each."

Fan to scalper, "$200."

Scalper, "$300."

Fan, "$250."

Scalper, "$300."

Fan, "$280."

Scalper, "$300."

Fan, begrudgingly, "OK, $300."

Let's just say it was a seller's market yesterday.

Twenty minutes before kickoff, the cheapest tickets were going for about $300. Anything in the lower level was starting at $500 ranging to about $800.

Color coded

If it looked like there were a lot of Carolina fans in the stands at Qwest Field, that's because the stadium's ushers wear jackets with the same electric blue-and-black color scheme of the Panthers.

"We were expecting the Bears," usher Dick Lindberg quipped after a fan chided him about the unfortunate color combo.

One true Panthers fan in the crowd said Seattle fans had treated him and his two Carolina buddies well since arriving in the city Saturday morning.

"Nothing too over the top," said Sam Carlson, 28, of Charlotte. "I was expecting people to talk trash, but all they said was, 'Welcome to Seattle.' "

Bi-sport support

It doesn't need to be baseball season for people to have a good time at Safeco Field.

What is usually the left-field entrance was converted into a beer garden, and hundreds of Seahawks fans filled the Bullpen Market and outfield concourse watching the AFC Championship Game.

On the field, members of the Mariners grounds crew wrote "GO HAWKS" in the infield dirt.