I am Going to the Super Bowl…Sort Of . . .

I am Going to the Super Bowl…Sort Of . . . by Pepper Hastings

January 25, 2008, 11:41 pm
Filed under: Beckett Media

[Submitted from the site of the Super Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., by Ted Barker of Beckett Media….we told you he was in hotel hell. — ph]

Why does no one seem to listen? I am going to the Super Bowl NFL Experience to man the Beckett booth this weekend with our football editor David Lee.

I am NOT going to the Super Bowl. I will be home Monday. It is not a vacation. It is NOT a golf outing. It IS 70 degrees in Phoenix. It is NOT starting off very well. Here is my diary of the past 24 hours or so. All times are CST.

Thursday

5:15 p.m. walked into the house and turned on the news. Our local weatherman is comforting us. He has assembled his entire weather team together for the fast approaching, first of the year, possibly catastrophic Arctic Winter Blast bearing down on the DFW Metroplex. So I may not be going to Phoenix after all. Thankfully, Pete and his first response will be in the weather center all night and on the air beginning at AM Friday to document the possible tumult.

11:50 p.m. Billy Ray Cyrus closes his show at the Gaylord Texan with Achy Breaky Heart. Good Times. The audience goes wild!

11:56 p.m. As we call for an encore, Billy Ray says, ” I have a 4:45 a.m. wake up call and a 6:15 a.m. flight and y’all don’t even care! Do ya’ll think that ice storm is gonna hit?

Friday

12:15 a.m. I pass Wal-Mart on my way home. A light drizzle has is dotting my windshield. I consider stopping in to stock up on supplies and food. I decide to head home and pack, in the very slight possibility we are spared devastation.

12:30 a.m. Request an upgrade to first class in case we are stuck on the plane for hours due to the de-icing.

5:30 a.m. I made a good call. The ice man didn’t cometh. My flight is on schedule.

8:55 a.m. Wheels up. I am stuck in coach because several members of the Dallas Stars and their wives are headed to Phoenix for golf during the NHL All-Star break. Thanks a lot boys.

11:45 a.m. While waiting for luggage, I discussed the stitches over my left eye from a surgical procedure earlier in the week with Stars captain Brenden Morrow. I asked him if he would consider me a hockey player since I continued to work all week. He said, “Yeah, an OLD hockey player!”   What?

11:50 This is my first time to ever travel to Phoenix without my golf clubs, and I have been here dozens times. I am suffering. Apparently, David and I were the only passengers on our flight traveling to Phoenix on business. At least 30 sets clutter the carousel before my bag arrives. Great!

1:15 p.m. Following lunch, we arrive at the NFL Credential Center. Apparently, each worker at the center has been issued a uniform and a scowl.

1:55 p.m. Yippee! We have our badge and head to the stadium!

2:00 p.m. We are directed by the friendly volunteers to our parking area in the far southeast corner of the stadium parking lot. By the way, the stadium looks like something that would attack Captain Kirk’s crew or a big silver mushroom, not sure which.

2:05 p.m. We are directed by the friendly volunteers to the NFL Experience Topps Card Show on the northwest corner of the stadium parking lot. In a sraight line it is a two mile walk. But due to security, the routing is closer to three miles. Nice.

2:06 p.m. We get back in the car and bolt past several “security ” checkpoints and lots of folks in golf carts with earphones and walkie talkies. I sneak us a couple of miles closer and find the entry gate for vendors located in the southwest corner of the stadium parking lot.

2:10 pm We begin to cross the myriad of tents, portable walkways, port-a-potties and exhibits as we head to the card show to set up the booth. We pass dozens of people driving call carts and delivery vehicles. we see a lot of very important people standing around – being important. Most have been issued the scowl. We are less than than 18 hours from showtime and all we see are scaffolds, half built tents, empty racks and miles of chain link. There is NO WAY this place will be ready. Except, it always gets done. No worries.

4:45 With our booth set up complete, David and I head to our hotel to check-in, run on the treadmill and then go to dinner.

4:50 p.m. Where are we, Baghdad? We enter the green zone to find our hotel (I will not name it. I am ashamed…and afraid. )

4:55 p.m. Well there is some good news. If our alarm does not work in the morning, I am sure the sound of the sirens, the horns from the trains passing on the tracks next to the hotel or the clanging gate that serves as a security door, next to our room will wake us up.

4:56 p.m. We won’t be working out, there is no gym at the hotel. We could run outside, but it is getting dark and this ain’t exactly the heart of Scottsdale.

4:58 p.m. We find out there is a restaurant row eight miles from here so we head out. Apparently, in Glendale, Outback Steakhouse and Chuck E. Cheese equals restaurant row. David wants Chuck. I win – Outbback tonight.

7:30 p.m. David heads out to a movie. I begin this blog.

9:44 pm Blog written, I am turning in. I just remembered where I saw this hotel. It was on 20/20. The report was about the cleanliness of hotel rooms. John Stossel showed sheets and towels under a black light in my room. I think I will sleep in the chair. Good Night. Have a Super Weekend!

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