Monday, February 2, 2009

Super Bowl XLIII & the Super Bruce Halftime

David & I at our 9th Super Bowl








First off, let me say how truly wonderful it is to be able to spend quality time with my son, David at what has become a tradition. This was our 9th Super Bowl. It was and is always a blast!
Super Bowl Sunday began at 1pm, boarding the Media bus from the Sheraton Suites in Tampa headed to Raymond James Stadium...The stadium is about 3 miles from the hotel, and it only took 40 minutes for the driver (who must have been imported from another state) to find it. Once there, and after making it through security, we immediately hit the field to get that 1st glimpse in daylight of what was about to be filled with 60,000 Steeler fans and maybe 15,000 Cardinal fans....Tampa was Black/Gold all week.
What is being touted as one of the best Super Bowl games ever, was just that...So exciting, even for us Redskin fans that bleed burgundy & gold.
So, OK, the game was great....but when the clocked ticked down to 1 minute in the 1st half to go, the ropes came up around the sidelines, and 500 red jacketed rent-a-security idiots lined the field to keep the media away from the impending Springsteen halftime show. Within 5 minutes, the stage was rolled out, the lights went on, the fireworks began, and Bruce launched into 10th Ave Freezeout...The sound in the stadium was terrible, well not that bad I guess...but not what we're all used to. I did the best I could to get as close as possible, but if you've ever experienced the General Admission tickets for any of the Springsteen tours, multiply that by 10 as to how many people they put on the field for his 12 minute Super Bowl show. I'm looking forward to watching it in HD on the DVR when I get home. What you probably didn't hear was, in the stadium, just after they finished playing, the music blasted Southside Johnny's version of "The Fever"... loved that. PS...Saw Nils on the sidelines, and even took his picture with his wife
A few hours post-game, we hit the Media bus again, only to find out that they are not taking us back to the hotel, but to the Media Ctr in downtown Tampa, where we had to get another bus to the hotel. The NFL totally F'd this up...One hour 45 minutes to get back the 3 miles to the hotel on another bus with a driver who should have had a GPS that spoke Spanish, because he only understood make a left turn...

Sunday, February 1, 2009

YBor City - Super Bowl XLIII week




YBor City just outside of Tampa is definitely the hot spot this week, leading up to the Super Bowl.  There's no question that the Steeler fans outnumber the Cardninal fans by a long shot.  The entire city looks like its black & gold.  Kinda was like Bourbon St, bars flowed into the streets, and people screaming and having a blast...