ANNA*BANANA*ICE-CREAM SUNDAE'S HAWKS

HAWKS OVERCOMING THE TRADGEDY OF THE COLTS

The crowd stood still and quiet as the national anthem was played...Hearts were heavy with sorrow all thruout the stadium...Everyone felt Tony Dungys pain & the Indianapolis Colts misery was very clear on the field of play...
SEATTLE (AP) -- A team in mourning was no match for one with so much to gain.


Seattle's Shaun Alexander ran for 139 yards and scored three touchdowns -- including a rare TD receiving -- to tie Priest Holmes' NFL record of 27 touchdowns in a season. That helped the Seahawks clinch NFC home-field advantage Saturday with a 28-13 victory over the injured, resting and reflective Indianapolis Colts.
The Colts, who already own home field in the AFC playoffs, were without coach Tony Dungy. Dungy is in Tampa, Fla., where his son died Thursday in an apparent suicide.
Immediately after the game, Dungy called seeking team president Bill Polian.
"It was right away, no sooner than I got in here," Polian said inside a Colts' locker room that was subdued, but not entirely quiet or devoid of banter.
Quarterback Peyton Manning, asked if there was a difference in the locker room without Dungy, said, "Not really."
"I think everyone had Coach Dungy and his family on our minds," Manning said. "Our prayers are with him. But when you are out there playing, then you are out there trying to do your job."
Polian said Dungy "sounded good. He watched all of it and said it helped him to root the team on."
"He wanted the players to know how proud he was of their effort."
Polian said one of the first things Dungy told him was, "Now I understand why you get so frustrated watching."
"Then he starting talking a bit about some of the officiating calls," Polian said, smiling and shaking his head.
Alexander, the NFL rushing leader, became the 16th NFL player to eclipse 1,800 yards rushing in a season while leading the Seahawks to their first-ever postseason top seed.
"Every flight is going to be at least three hours," Alexander said of Seattle's playoff foes next month. "Now every team has to take that trip to us. You don't feel the same after flying on a plane all day.
"We're all just kind of in the groove,