A Superbowl Story

[jaxfactor]

I was just thinking about my experiences during Superbowl XXXIX week here in Jacksonville, FL when something made me chuckle. Well, I was totally bummed out because my Steelers had lost to the Pats in the AFC Championship. With the SB being here in Jax made it all the more heartbreaking.

Anyway, I decided to take in the scenery downtown a couple evenings, including the eve of SB XXXIX.

Some friends and I were at the Landing(a mall directly on the river) having a great time. Me and my buddy

went to get some drinks for ourselves and the ladies at a makeshift bar on the riverwalk. We got to the front of the line and were waiting to be served when I felt a push between myself and my buddy. I was busy taking in the scenery so I really didn't pay much attention to the bumping. My buddy knudges me and says,"did you see that?" I'm like, 'see what?" He says some dude just burst in between us and stole a whole bottle of Jagermeister. I look to my left and see a dude in Eagles attire sucking down the booze as he walks away. The bartender was pissed at us because we didn't stop him. "Isn't that your job? And besides, I didn't even notice him until it was too late" was my reply. Leave it to an Eagles fan to lift a whole bottle from a bar and instead of hiding it as he walks away, just start drowning himself in it.

I had a blast that night and the fireworks were 10 times better than the 4th of July. Ran into some Eagles fans in a small bar on our way out of town and told them the story. They got a chuckle out of it as well. I also noticed that Eagles fans outnumbered Pats fans at least 5 to 1 and I'm being generous to Pats fans. Those guys, when I told them that I was a Steelers fan told me that Eagles fans would have way outnumbered Steeler fans as well. I doubt that very much. Steeler fans would have turned Jacksonville into a sea of black and gold. They do that every time they play the Jags anyway.

 

Anyone else have any Superbowl stories to share with us?

[Bier Meister]

i have 2 (sf vs mia @ stanford) and (sf vs den @ NO)...... will post when i have more time

[i_am_the_swammi]

I look to my left and see a dude in Eagles attire sucking down the booze as he walks away. The bartender was pissed at us because we didn't stop him. Leave it to an Eagles fan to lift a whole bottle from a bar and instead of hiding it as he walks away, just start drowning himself in it.

 

 

Thanks for not turning me in

[51Butkus]

Super Bowl XX, Bears Pats. Chicago Media says" No tickets, no plane tickets, no hotel rooms available"-stay home!! Struck out on the season ticket Super Bowl lottery. Decided to chance it anyway, flew to Atlanta, drove to New Orleans. 1 Challenge down. First Motel we stop at in NO says "No vacancy", but tell us that just down the road was another Motel that had a few rooms. 2 challenges down. Had a blast on Bourbon Street Saturday night before the game, while looking for tickets. Got up early, made a sign that said "Need two tickets" and camped out off the off ramp from the Interstate by the Superdome. Not long after, a car stops and we offer them $250 each for two tickets ($75 face each-2.5X face-you pay about 12X face nowadays). Turns out the person selling the tickets was the daughter of Rankin Smith, owner of the Atlanta Falcons (then), though we didn't know it at the time. As we're calling everyone we know to tell them we got seats to the game, we look on the back of the ticket to the seating chart. I'm dumbfounded, but it looks like the seats are on the 50 yd line. Sure enough, we amble down to the seats, and, 50 yard line, row 9 behind the Bears bench!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Superdome bows in near the middle however, so we're only two rows from the field! We look behind us and there is the whos who of society, Gary Hart, Mrs. Jim McMahon, actors, actresses, politicians, you name it. Our benefactor comes down, stays for 2 series, and tells us that she and her boyfriend are going up to the skybox. So we ended up with 4 seats on the 50 yard line, for arguably the greatest game in Bears history (except for the the 73-0 defeat of the Washington Redskins in 1940, my friend!!!). A fitting payback to long suffering Bears fans who used to sidle up to the radio and listen to Jack Brickhouse broadcast the Bears' home games on WGN back in the mid 1960's!!! Go Bears!!!!

 

A dream come true!!! What a blast!!!

[jaxfactor]

Super Bowl XX, Bears Pats. Chicago Media says" No tickets, no plane tickets, no hotel rooms available"-stay home!! Struck out on the season ticket Super Bowl lottery. Decided to chance it anyway, flew to Atlanta, drove to New Orleans. 1 Challenge down. First Motel we stop at in NO says "No vacancy", but tell us that just down the road was another Motel that had a few rooms. 2 challenges down. Had a blast on Bourbon Street Saturday night before the game, while looking for tickets. Got up early, made a sign that said "Need two tickets" and camped out off the off ramp from the Interstate by the Superdome. Not long after, a car stops and we offer them $250 each for two tickets ($75 face each-2.5X face-you pay about 12X face nowadays). Turns out the person selling the tickets was the daughter of Rankin Smith, owner of the Atlanta Falcons (then), though we didn't know it at the time. As we're calling everyone we know to tell them we got seats to the game, we look on the back of the ticket to the seating chart. I'm dumbfounded, but it looks like the seats are on the 50 yd line. Sure enough, we amble down to the seats, and, 50 yard line, row 9 behind the Bears bench!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Superdome bows in near the middle however, so we're only two rows from the field! We look behind us and there is the whos who of society, Gary Hart, Mrs. Jim McMahon, actors, actresses, politicians, you name it. Our benefactor comes down, stays for 2 series, and tells us that she and her boyfriend are going up to the skybox. So we ended up with 4 seats on the 50 yard line, for arguably the greatest game in Bears history (except for the the 73-0 defeat of the Washington Redskins in 1940, my friend!!!). A fitting payback to long suffering Bears fans who used to sidle up to the radio and listen to Jack Brickhouse broadcast the Bears' home games on WGN back in the mid 1960's!!! Go Bears!!!!

 

A dream come true!!! What a blast!!!

 

 

Good story!!!

[The Wolf]

Super Bowl XX, Bears Pats. Chicago Media says" No tickets, no plane tickets, no hotel rooms available"-stay home!! Struck out on the season ticket Super Bowl lottery. Decided to chance it anyway, flew to Atlanta, drove to New Orleans. 1 Challenge down. First Motel we stop at in NO says "No vacancy", but tell us that just down the road was another Motel that had a few rooms. 2 challenges down. Had a blast on Bourbon Street Saturday night before the game, while looking for tickets. Got up early, made a sign that said "Need two tickets" and camped out off the off ramp from the Interstate by the Superdome. Not long after, a car stops and we offer them $250 each for two tickets ($75 face each-2.5X face-you pay about 12X face nowadays). Turns out the person selling the tickets was the daughter of Rankin Smith, owner of the Atlanta Falcons (then), though we didn't know it at the time. As we're calling everyone we know to tell them we got seats to the game, we look on the back of the ticket to the seating chart. I'm dumbfounded, but it looks like the seats are on the 50 yd line. Sure enough, we amble down to the seats, and, 50 yard line, row 9 behind the Bears bench!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Superdome bows in near the middle however, so we're only two rows from the field! We look behind us and there is the whos who of society, Gary Hart, Mrs. Jim McMahon, actors, actresses, politicians, you name it. Our benefactor comes down, stays for 2 series, and tells us that she and her boyfriend are going up to the skybox. So we ended up with 4 seats on the 50 yard line, for arguably the greatest game in Bears history (except for the the 73-0 defeat of the Washington Redskins in 1940, my friend!!!). A fitting payback to long suffering Bears fans who used to sidle up to the radio and listen to Jack Brickhouse broadcast the Bears' home games on WGN back in the mid 1960's!!! Go Bears!!!!

 

A dream come true!!! What a blast!!!

 

 

That is an awesome story. No doubt you're my inspiration if my JETS ever make it to the big game!

[Chavez]

We were down on the 8 yard line with about 3 minutes left vs the Bengals. They took a tv timeout and Harris Barton was trying to fire us all up when Joe went "Hey H (he always called Harris "H") - check it out, it's John Candy"; well, we all looked over and sure enough there's John Candy eating a hot dog. They came out of the commercial and...well, you know the rest of it, I'm sure.

[Bier Meister]

not nearly as dramatic as 51butkus....

 

84-85 season.... i was about 16. watched every game... went to the NO game in regular season. watched the heartbreak of a 17-20 loss to pit at home to break up the undefeated season. remember a ski trip to tahoe with buddies during championship weekend..... i was on the backside of squaw and we were heading back to catch the bears @ 9ers..... frickin broke a binding. made it down to the chairlift.. then back down to the base on 1 ski... just took a little longer.. got back to the hotel room in 2nd quarter....... they go on to skunk the bears.

 

superbowl that year was virtually a home game (at stanford) and i had to get tickets. my uncle in NY came through big time. father and i caught the train down pretty early and just wandered around the lot... bumped into my dad's friends, my friends... was electric. we happened to be in a miami section (tickets from the east coast broker).... fortunately, we only had to hear about marino's greatness and how he was going to own the 9ers up until gametime.... they were pretty quiet by the 2nd quarter

[Menudo]

not nearly as dramatic as 51butkus....

 

84-85 season.... i was about 16. watched every game... went to the NO game in regular season. watched the heartbreak of a 17-20 loss to pit at home to break up the undefeated season.

 

So, that is where your bitterness comes from.

 

 

remember a ski trip to tahoe with buddies during championship weekend..... i was on the backside of squaw and we were heading back to catch the bears @ 9ers..... frickin broke a binding. made it down to the chairlift.. then back down to the base on 1 ski...

 

 

Are you Lane Meyer ?

 

 

just took a little longer.. got back to the hotel room in 2nd quarter....... they go on to skunk the bears.

 

superbowl that year was virtually a home game (at stanford) and i had to get tickets. my uncle in NY came through big time. father and i caught the train down pretty early and just wandered around the lot... bumped into my dad's friends, my friends... was electric. we happened to be in a miami section (tickets from the east coast broker).... fortunately, we only had to hear about marino's greatness and how he was going to own the 9ers up until gametime.... they were pretty quiet by the 2nd quarter

 

 

 

[Outshined]

We were down on the 8 yard line with about 3 minutes left vs the Bengals. They took a tv timeout and Harris Barton was trying to fire us all up when Joe went "Hey H (he always called Harris "H") - check it out, it's John Candy"; well, we all looked over and sure enough there's John Candy eating a hot dog. They came out of the commercial and...well, you know the rest of it, I'm sure.

 

 

 

I remember that too... Roger Craig?

[charty]

I also noticed that Eagles fans outnumbered Pats fans at least 5 to 1 and I'm being generous to Pats fans. Those guys, when I told them that I was a Steelers fan told me that Eagles fans would have way outnumbered Steeler fans as well. I doubt that very much.

 

Tons of Pats fans went to Houston without tickets, me included, and buyers outnumbered sellers 1000 to 1. My take is Pats fans weren't about to do it all again a year later.

Not to mention, reports were that Jacksonville was not equipped to handle the crowds, didn't have enough hotels, etc.

When you have 3 Super Bowls in 4 years , you can expect a drop off on year 3, especially in a small city.

Plus, the reports out of Philly about folks using Bobby & Suzy's college money and taking out home equity loans to go to the game, Pats fans just sat back and did this

Edited January 30, 2007 by charty

[charty]

1996 (Jan 97) GB vs NE in New Orleans.

A buddy worked for ESPN and his assignment was working the Lineman Challenge during the week. Seeing the Pats were in it, he was able to extend his stay for the SB.

I took a flight with his crack head brother to Houston and then drove over to New Orleans. This guy was the most annoying I've ever dealt with, squeaky voice, no manners, thinks he can put cigarettes out on the floor of the car because "it's not mine, it's a rental". Anyway, I digress.

Had a great time on Bourbon St. the night before the game, tons of Pats fans but more Packer fans. No problems between fans, just good times.

My buddy was able to get 2 tickets through someone he worked with, but we had only 2 tickets for 3 people. Our plan was to pick up a single, but as gameday morning progressed, it was going to be a tough task. There were tons of cheeseheads that came down, and they were willing to spend money, and it was hard to find tickets. Face was around $275 and I can't recall, but I think pairs were going for around $1000. It got to a point where we needed to decide if me and my buddy's brother buck up for the second ticket (his brother was in shock that he wasn't just given the ticket, being his brother) or sell the pair, split the money, and watch it in a bar.

We said if we didn't come across a ticket in the next half hour, we'd sell. Out of nowhere, a young (local) guy, maybe late teens comes up and asks if we are looking for a ticket. He offers one for like $350, and we take it. As quickly as he appeared, he's gone, and I'm looking at the ticket and I say "let me see the 2 tickets we have", and I compare them, and I say "this is a fake, we just bought a fake". It was pretty funny actually, instead of having a small, official NFL hologram on the back, it had a hologram that looked like it was taken off a t-shirt.

We give the fake to my buddy's brother and the plan is to try to make it in. We get to the gates and I pick out an old lady ticket taker, and say, "get in this line". We get in, no problem, and we go up to the 2 seats. My buddy's brother has the fake, and he sits with us. As people keep arriving, he keeps having to move his seat, and finally he says "I'm taking off". We are like "where are you going?" and he says "I'm going to my seat!!!". We are like, hey jackass, that's not your seat, remember that.

The game was great, the Pats lost but I'd never have expected them to make it that far, and I'd never imagine I'd be sitting in a Super Bowl.

Funny ending, this clown shows up to our seats later in the game, and we say "what happened?". And he goes, I was in my seat, and someone came and said that was their seat. So we say, "and you got up, right?". He said no, I was sick of moving around, I showed him my ticket and said it was my seat? We are like "are you F'n nuts?" So security came over and looked at both tickets and said to him "your ticket is a fake". The security guy told him it was a good fake and he wasn't going to throw him out, and told him to go walk around and find a seat if he can.

Edited January 30, 2007 by charty

[Bier Meister]

So, that is where your bitterness comes from.

 

Are you Lane Meyer ?

 

 

i hold no bitterness towards the steelers beyond that one game... grumble grumble..... 9ers made a goalline stand in the 4th quarter of that game and on 4th down got called for a verrrrry controversial PI.. give pit a 1st and goal on the 1... and in turn to tie the game.

 

i simply proclaim that ben is an average qb and that Pit received an inequitable (insurmountable in a close game) amount of favorable/questionable calls in a game where they were outplayed

[Menudo]

i hold no bitterness towards the steelers beyond that one game... grumble grumble..... 9ers made a goalline stand in the 4th quarter of that game and on 4th down got called for a verrrrry controversial PI.. give pit a 1st and goal on the 1... and in turn to tie the game.

 

i simply proclaim that ben is an average qb and that Pit received an inequitable (insurmountable in a close game) amount of favorable/questionable calls in a game where they were outplayed

 

 

Even though you are completely wrong, I still like you..........

[forever in debt to mo lewis]

1996 (Jan 97) GB vs NE in New Orleans.

A buddy worked for ESPN and his assignment was working the Lineman Challenge during the week. Seeing the Pats were in it, he was able to extend his stay for the SB.

I took a flight with his crack head brother to Houston and then drove over to New Orleans. This guy was the most annoying I've ever dealt with, squeaky voice, no manners, thinks he can put cigarettes out on the floor of the car because "it's not mine, it's a rental". Anyway, I digress.

Had a great time on Bourbon St. the night before the game, tons of Pats fans but more Packer fans. No problems between fans, just good times.

My buddy was able to get 2 tickets through someone he worked with, but we had only 2 tickets for 3 people. Our plan was to pick up a single, but as gameday morning progressed, it was going to be a tough task. There were tons of cheeseheads that came down, and they were willing to spend money, and it was hard to find tickets. Face was around $275 and I can't recall, but I think pairs were going for around $1000. It got to a point where we needed to decide if me and my buddy's brother buck up for the second ticket (his brother was in shock that he wasn't just given the ticket, being his brother) or sell the pair, split the money, and watch it in a bar.

We said if we didn't come across a ticket in the next half hour, we'd sell. Out of nowhere, a young (local) guy, maybe late teens comes up and asks if we are looking for a ticket. He offers one for like $350, and we take it. As quickly as he appeared, he's gone, and I'm looking at the ticket and I say "let me see the 2 tickets we have", and I compare them, and I say "this is a fake, we just bought a fake". It was pretty funny actually, instead of having a small, official NFL hologram on the back, it had a hologram that looked like it was taken off a t-shirt.

We give the fake to my buddy's brother and the plan is to try to make it in. We get to the gates and I pick out an old lady ticket taker, and say, "get in this line". We get in, no problem, and we go up to the 2 seats. My buddy's brother has the fake, and he sits with us. As people keep arriving, he keeps having to move his seat, and finally he says "I'm taking off". We are like "where are you going?" and he says "I'm going to my seat!!!". We are like, hey jackass, that's not your seat, remember that.

The game was great, the Pats lost but I'd never have expected them to make it that far, and I'd never imagine I'd be sitting in a Super Bowl.

Funny ending, this clown shows up to our seats later in the game, and we say "what happened?". And he goes, I was in my seat, and someone came and said that was their seat. So we say, "and you got up, right?". He said no, I was sick of moving around, I showed him my ticket and said it was my seat? We are like "are you F'n nuts?" So security came over and looked at both tickets and said to him "your ticket is a fake". The security guy told him it was a good fake and he wasn't going to throw him out, and told him to go walk around and find a seat if he can.

 

 

 

lol...good story

 

i wonder how packers fans feel knowing brett favre's lone superbowl victory was TAINTED?!

 

http://i.a.cnn.net./si/multimedia/photo_ga.../005706284r.jpg

[montster]

in college i was sports editor of the school paper at the university of arizona in tucson. that year, tempe had super bowl XXX. just for the hell of it, i wrote the nfl some BS about how we periodically covered the cardinals (we didn't) and requested press credentials for the super bowl. amazingly, they sent us one reporter and one photographer credential. the photo editor drew numbers to see who'd shoot the game (he ended up winning it anyway), but i said, since i did the legwork, i'd get to go. the press section was up high near the north end zone, but i hardly cared. the fact that it was my favorite team, the cowboys, that won the game made it harder to stick to the rules and refrain from cheering, but i managed. after the game, i handwrote my story and faxed it to the paper for publication. i had covered various college sports before, but i have to say the super bowl required the least work of anything i'd ever done. they put the players in these little booths after the game for interviews, but if you aren't there to talk to them, they transcribe all the quotes and put copies of them on a table, along with detailed stats, scoring drives and anything else. you could show up a half-hour after the game and write an accurate story and no one would ever know. although i was by myself, it's still one of my lasting memories.