January 26th San Diego, CA

Pics

This is the day we've been waiting for... Bowl Sunday! Unfortunately, the day must start very early. We were out late last night in Pacific Beach, and, well, let's just say the Porsche stayed in Pacific Beach and we took a taxi back to the RV. So, Phil got up around 7 and took a nice leisurely 3 mile run to pick it up.

He then spent the next hour trying to find a copy of the San Francisco chronicle... unfortunately, San Diego is not the best place in the world to find a decent newsstand. So, back to the RV with no paper. All that headache to try to find the article about us that ran on page A-10. Thanks to Joe G. for taking the time to get to know us and write such a great article.

Anyway, we barely catch the Campland on the Bay shuttle, and thirty minutes later, around 11:30am or so, we're down at the Convention Center ready to go live to 200,000 listeners on Sporting News Radio. But first, a panic... Seems we didn't read the fine print on the tickets: no camera cases, video cameras, or backpacks in Qualcomm during the Super Bowl. We're clearly violating every rule in an effort to bring the best possible coverage to you, our fearless readers. So, into the Marriott.

"We'd like to check one bag, please." Rafe says.
"Are you a hotel guest, sir?" Mr. Bagman says. Rafe answers in the negative.
"Well, then, sir, you are not allowed to check the bag due to security considerations."
"How about a $5 tip, is that a security consideration?"
"That'll be fine sir. Thanks for your cooperation."

And we leave all the offending products at the hotel and head to our interview. Bob and Bob have us on for about five minutes. Quite a thrill, really, on Super Bowl Sunday. They ask for a game prediction and Phil accurately gives the winner to all listeners: "I'm betting on Oakland, so I would strongly suggest all the listeners at home to take Tampa. I'm one for my last eleven sports bets." [Note: Phil has yet to receive even one thank you note for his extremely accurate pick. He will remember this and be less forthright on future radio interviews.]

From the Convention Center, we need to get to the stadium. Traffic is a nightmare, the tram is ridiculous. Taxis are no where to be found. What's left? The Media and NFL Family Bus, by police escort, of course! What else! So, we act like we own the place and head to the buses. In our matching USA shirts, we look like we belong and we're straight on the bus and quickly heading to the game.

We arrive at Qualcomm about 25 minutes later. Security lines are deep, and there are masses of people everywhere. We're escorted off the bus and into queue. A few minutes later, we're patted down, scanned, metal detected, and into the stadium. It's a memorable moment, entering the first event of the tour. Passersby might have noticed a tear or two in Phil's eyes.

Those are not tears of joy, but tears of pain. We Roshambo for the first Super Bowl beer. Phil loses 3-0 and is stuck $16 ($8 for each Budweiser!)

We arrive at our excellent seats provided by our most excellent ticket sponsor, WebTickets.com. They went WAY beyond the call of duty and upgraded our tickets out of kindness and generosity. Might we say, too, Carl, that you are a very good looking man of the highest intelligence and wisdom. (Is that enough kissing up??? There is no amount of kissing up that can make up for their partnership. Buy some tickets from them. Now. Oops, there we go kissing up again...) We're about 20 rows up on the 5 yard line or so. In a moment of foreshadowing, we notice that we are seated directly below the Tampa Bay banner.

As we sit down, three guys about three rows behind us say: "Hey, thanks for the hot dogs yesterday! You guys rock!" They were at our tailgate party at Campland yesterday! Nice to be recognized for our hard work.

Our friends Paul and Kathleen from Las Vegas join us for the game. They are big Raider fans and soon enough, the action is flying back and forth. Rafe takes most of it, but that makes sense because Paul has crucified him during the last few weeks of the season. We've got side bets on the coin flip, first to score, final score, and winner.

Pregame festivities were nice, but nothing spectacular. Celine Dion pimped herself out for the event and sang America the Beautiful. Phil was in line for a pretzel shortly thereafter. One person in front of him, 7 pretzels in the warmer. Phil is supposed to buy two. She ordered six and put him on tilt.

By the end of the first quarter, Paul is ready to kill himself. "My first Super Bowl, and this has to happen," he laments. Paul loses the coin toss, wins the first to score. It's all about the over/under total now. By the middle of the second quarter, he's ready to settle and pays Phil half the bet, while accurately predicting that the over would then be a complete lock.

Halftime was entertaining. Sting, No Doubt, Shania Twain all played. But, in all honesty, we probably would have enjoyed watching the commercials more.

Second half was much the same as the first. Paul got so disgusted that he and Kathleen left at the beginning of the fourth quarter. So much for getting your money's worth!

Game ended and out comes Bon Jovi for a few songs while the NFL is polishing up the Lombardi trophy. We stay to see the award, then head out. Fortunately, the bus driver for the trip to the stadium gave us all passes to get back to the Convention Center on the same bus. We make the most of the opportunity and take the media bus back.

Now it's 8pm, we're exhausted, but it's time to rally. Back to the RV and out to Pacific Beach for yet another night on the town. The action is somewhat subdued, but all the better. Friends from New York that were in town for the game (and associated parties) meet us out and we're soon rocking the night away. Highlight of the evening was when two really cool guys walked up the girls we were hanging with: "Hey, just one question, what type of dental floss do you use?" Yes, boys, that's a great line there....

Phil was completely spent by midnight and went back to the RV. Rafe, super-trooper, stayed out for another hour or so. Phil was so tired he didn't even wake when Rafe got back to the RV.

And so ends an almost perfect day: front page of one of the top 10 newspapers in the country, a national radio broadcast, police escort, a fun Super Bowl, and a date with four very nice ladies. How can we beat that?