So I Went to The Superbowl. . .

And Cap was right... It was a day of World Class Standing Around.

First we drove a million miles west of town to the Maricopa Events Center in Sun City West. I had no idea it was legal to drive golf carts on city streets, but here in the land of retired golf fanatics, it's done with gusto. I saw no fewer than five on my way in, driving around like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Our check in time was 11:30 a.m. and they had food waiting for us, along with all the PRE-pregame goodness showing on the projection screen in the auditorium.
We sat and watched and chit chatted for about an hour or so before they loaded us into our busses to head over to the stadium. Luxury, baby! We got the Deer Valley Schoolbusses, complete with slide down windows and extra noise. Good to know that somethings never change. With one exception...Our schoolbusses got a POLICE ESCORT!Yes, we had 4-6 police bikes leading us--and stopping traffic for us--to the stadium. This was particularly cool once we hit the interstate, and the cops actually pulled out ahead of us to totally stop traffic so we could pull out as a group. We also got to completely bypass all of the traffic going into the Superbowl lots. We just drove in the center lane and waved at the hundreds of cars stuck there. Good times. The photo below is *after* we'd bypassed the bulk of the traffic--here we're just getting ready to pull into the Complex.
Once we actually got the busses parked, it was more sitting around and waiting, while they got us into groups so we could head in to the security point. We entered a different way than the paying folks, but we all had to go through the same "mags".
Once we got past screening, however, for a few brief moments we were Right There--the entrance to the SuperBowl.
They were selling bottles of beer for $10. Yes. TEN DOLLARS for a 20oz bottle of beer. I shudder to think what a bottle of water might have run me. I needn't have worried however, because as volunteers, we neither had the leeway to spend this crazy money, nor the need. We were quickly ferried off to The Compound to wait around some more. You might have said to yourself, in looking at the above photos, "My, it doesn't look very crowded for the Superbowl." Well remember, these photos were taking probably around 1:30pm. The game won't start for nearly 3 hours...
Once we make it to our little tent, we watch some *more* pregame stuff, including the ASU Band rehearsal, which is happening right outside. A few more people graffiti their stage pieces, a few others exchange emails and phone numbers, and Cap comes in to tell more stories and tell us how crazy he is about us. I love that man.
It can't be easy to hold 400+ people in rapt attention, but he sure does. And when he's done speaking, people clamor around him, just trying to thank him or ask him a question, or tell him about some achievement. We're like puppies, vying for attention. It's absolutely remarkable.

I digress. Somewhere near the end of the 1st Quarter, we get to start lining up. We troupe down to The Tray (a big flat space where they store the field when it's not in use). There is a big long ramp down to The Tray, and I was so so glad that we didn't have to push a cart up or down it. Some folks did, just not my team. Go Cable Team!
Another *great* aspect of being on the cable team was that for some bizarre reason that I'll never argue but always question, we got to go *inside* to wait. We didn't get to see much, but we were in the back hallway on the Giants' side. Here's the view:
We stood back in this little storage area off to the side of the hall for most of the rest of the quarter. There were televisions for those who didn't want to crane their necks to see the Giant Screen on the back wall of the Stadium. Inexplicably, when we arrived, two of the 5 televisions were showing some ice skating program.

Anyhow, with about 5 minutes left in the second quarter, we were taken to the opposite hallway. We were supposed to enter the field on this side and cross to the other, which would have been great and might have meant that someone in my friends and family network *might* have seen me--but it's showbusiness, as they say, and things change. So. Here's *that* view.
Fascinating, yes? All those folks in red were security people. We walked out with them, and they stood facing the crowd in a big long line. A big red wall. I think they must have been there to create a barrier between the rabid fans in the stands and the players, who would soon be exiting the field. At any rate, with 2 minutes left on the clock, we went out onto the field--well, the sidelines.

So there I was, standing DIRECTLY behind the Patriots, on the field at the Superbowl, with 2 clock minutes (which we all know translates to roughly 1 hour in the real world), and my phone/camera went completely dead. Absolutely, completely dead. So, I have no other photos.

The sidelines at the Superbowl are, I'm going to guess, about 40-50 feet wide. Some of that is "field" and some of that is wood. The field is where the players, coaches, cheerleaders, and many many many people of unknown purpose stand. The wood is where camera, sound, lighting, security, and volunteer peons stand. I'm not sure how they do it, but by some trick of filming, the shots of the Superbowl--at least the ones I've seen thus far--completely ignore the 20 or so feet of wood surrounding the field. The shots are lined up so as to show the field sidelines, but never ever would you even imagine that there is anything behind the players but the stadium itself. It's both genius, and a diabolical tragedy for those of us hoping for our 15 seconds of fame.

My job changed again on game day, and I was charged with keeping "The Box" from being ripped from the wall. Our Guitar's Umbilical Cord was attached to a control box on the wall, and if the pullers got overly zealous and ripped that box from the wall, all kinds of hell might have been unleashed. So I got to stand in the most invisible part of the entire field and protect it.

Once the cable was out and I was sure no more pulling would take place, you'd better believe I ran out onto the field, under the premise that I was checking on my crew and making sure they had the slack they needed and whatnot. I was also, seriously, checking the cable as I went, to see what other cables were over, under, through, and around it. It is a veritable spaghetti bonanza out there, and since our cable had to be pulled back with super speed, I wanted to make sure it wouldn't become entangled with the camera or speaker cables. And then there were the few guys that just didn't understand that the cable they were standing on (or in one guy's case, wrapped in--I'm not kidding, and I totally don't know how he managed it, but it was looped around his ankles!!), was about to go at whiplash speed across the field and then back to the sidelines. . .

Our job was done basically by the end of the first song. The big moving "guitar" that crashed into the stage was our critter. Once the lights went out on it, it pulled back, we pulled in and coiled the cable, and ran out to enjoy the show. I was off stage left, quite a bit back from the stage and any possible camera shots, so I'm fairly certain no one even knew I was there.

But that's okay with me, because for about 5 minutes of glee and 30 seconds of absolute heart pumping adrenaline, I was most definitely there and I helped make it happen.

Oh, and we got this: