Adventures at Super Bowl XLII

Well, today I returned from the Super Bowl and I have to say that although the game didnt turn out the way I had hoped, it was an awesome experience. I hopped a flight to Phoenix on Saturday. Turns out a kid who used to work with me at a prior job was on the flight and the guy next to me on the plane played golf at the club I eat lunch at 3-4 times a week when Im working here in Miami. Small fuckin world. I had used miles to get there and I was staying with my cousin, so travel and my stay were free. Bonus on this trip was that I was going to be able to see my cousin and his wife and little daughter, plus my aunt & uncle and my grandma.

On Sunday, I met up with a buddy (NYG Fan, but a great friend nonetheless) and his wife and we headed in early hoping to somehow find a way into the NFL Experience. Didnt happen. So, we went north of the stadium to an area called Westgate that my cousin had said was recently built and filled with bars and shops. That did the trick. It was slightly chilly but it really made the beers go down quick. This is important because it sets up the mindset for the day - drunken stupor. At Westgate, we ran into Eddie Ping and Bubba, guys we were buddies with at Umass who happened to be walking around looking for tix. Did I tell you its a small fuckin world or what? Beers were running out at the outdoor bars, so we switched to vodkas. Great idea. We headed into the stadium early and I pulled off a great move to sneak by security to get into the lower level where NYG Fan's seats were. He had sourced the tix for us, so he got first pick. After hanging there for a few and taking some shots of the field I went up to my seats which were in the opposite endzone up top, but row 5 so I had an awesome view of the field and halftime show. Oh, I almost forgot... Beers were TEN FUCKIN DOLLARS EACH inside the stadium. I didnt think Bud Light or Miller Lite could ever be more than $7, no matter where it was, but the Super Bowl blew my mind. Crazy part was that they were $5 outside! Either way, I was pounding them down with the guy in the seat next to me, who also had to be the only other Pats fan in the section.

The game was great, albeit a tad slow, but there was a lot of suspense because it was close the whole time. I couldnt understand Belichick going for it on 4th and 13 when he couldve gone for the field goal. I knew that would come back to haunt them. The other thing I didnt understand was how he could set up Hobbs on single coverage on Burress when everyone in the stadium knew the lob was going there. In the end, the Giants were the better team.

As soon as that score happened, I was out. I was drunk and shocked and I didnt want that to turn into drunk, stupid, and pissed off, so I knew I needed to get the fuck outta there. I staggered out of the stadium and called a few people who I knew didnt even like or follow football so I could talk about anything BUT the game while I drunkenly wandered around the parking lot. Just as I started to walk towards the highway (for some reason I was really into wandering while drunk, more on this later), my buddy from back home gives me a call and says he has tix to the Patriots afterparty in Scottsdale and to come meet him. This TOTALLY turned the night around!

The party got off to a slow start, obviously. We were some of the first to arrive and the early scene reminded me of a funeral. Everyone seemed kinda bummed. Good thing was that the alcohol and food were free, so mass consumption began. I hit up every station for food except pasta and also made the genius decision to switch from beer to Jack Daniels. You can imagine where this is going. Bob Kraft comes out and thanks the fans, talks about how everyone is disappointed, looks forward to next year, and then announces that Earth Wind & Fire and Alicia Keys are going to perform. Pretty fuckin cool. The other cool part was that a few of the Patriots players were there to hang with family and try to have a good time. Earth Wind & Fire actually gave a great performance and Alicia Keys was killer too.

The night ended and I needed to find a cab. My buddy had left earlier because he had to drive about 30-45 minutes. Im wandering around the room where the party went down completely smashed, trying to figure out what the hell Im gonna do and not remembering that Im at a hotel with a lobby where there are likely people who can call me a cab. So, what do I do instead? I walk outside, see a nice bus with its door open and walk inside and sit down. Where is the bus going? I have no fuckin clue. So why was I on it? Wasnt really thinking about that. Wasnt really thinking about anything for that matter. So, here I am on a bus to God Knows Where and thats when it hits me - Im a fuckin dumbass. I was such an idiot that I also managed to let my cell phone completely run out of battery. Not that this was a big deal or anything. It just had the address of my cousin's place on it and I was on a bus headed to nowhere, what did I need that for?

The bus stopped at some random hotel and I still have no recollection of what the name was nor where it was. One of the guys I had talked to on the bus helped me out by pointing me in the direction of the lobby so I could catch a cab. Only problem was that I still didnt have access to the address of my destination. I told the hotel desk guy that my cell was dead and asked if by any miracle he had a cell charger. All of a sudden, this guy whips out a whole drawer FILLED WITH CELL CHARGERS! It was unbelievable! I have a sort of old phone too, but the 4th one I tried worked. I got to the text msg with the address and scribbled it down a bunch of times on a piece of paper because each one was slightly illegible. I figured this would give someone a chance at deciphering it. The hotel guy called a cab for me and I haggled with him and got a ride home for $65. I gave him $80 because he put up with some verbal abuse in the beginning and at one point said, "Sir, I cant give you a ride if you are talking like this." Awesome.

My cousin let me in around 330-4am and I was thankful to be home safe. Out of all the dumb things Ive done in life, this definitely made the top 3.