As Super
Bowl week is now upon us and the Vikes have to wait another year I am too big
of football fan not to want to take everything I can on this. My mindset is I
have no idea if the big game will be back in Minnesota my lifetime so the time
is now to do everything I can with no regrets.
Yes last
Saturday my wife took in the Super Bowl experience at the Minneapolis
Convention Center for the price of 35.00 each.
This was one
of the best things I have ever done in my life that was sports related other than
Viking events. We stood in line 45 minutes and got to see and get a picture
with the Lombardi Trophy. We visited a small sampling of Canton, Ohio and just
took in NFL history left and right as the day goes down in my mind as
unforgettable. I can’t speak highly enough of the day and so hope fans can get
there before it’s all over.
I wanted
also to get up to Mall of America and take in what’s known as radio row. I got
to the Mall really not knowing what I was getting into as I went up escalators
to the 3rd floor food court and there it was, radio row.
Wow was my
first initial taking in thought looking upon seeming less endless tables full
of radio stations all in action. It at first was overwhelming trying to figure
out where to stands and watch but as I watched people they seemed to keep
moving all in one direction.
The line
would stop as a former NFL player was spotted amongst the radio stations being
interviewed. I was in jaw dropping awe as I saw Hall of Famer, Terell Davis
being interviewed by ESPN’s Stephen A Smith. If this was not a perfect photo op
I don’t know what is.
I kept
walking and found the NFL access area and who was in there? I saw at times Kurt
Warner, Brian Billick, and then Terrell Davis later.
You keep
walking and I spot a CBS booth a little higher up and I see Jim Rome conducting
an interview with Carolina Panther tight end, Greg Olson.
This was an
event where I simply could not stand in one spot as the people watching was as
intense as I can ever remember.
I looked
through radio row and spot Charles Haley, Melvin Gordon, Matt Birk, Nate
Burleson, Terrell Owens, Ronde Barber, Travis Kelce just to name a few players.
The radio
best of the best were up and running with the best talk radio hosts from all
over the US right here at MOA.
There were a
few separate booths conducting interviews and I found Greg Jennings in action.
I came back to the mob of tables known as radio row and saw on a higher perch
the Doug Gotlieb show and there he was interviewing Michael Irvin.
There are
signs all over that state no autographs and that is ok because I took more
pictures than I could ever have dreamed of seeing NFL stars past and present.
I left for a
while and took a walk and looked over a railing on the north side of MOA and
saw Sirius radio set up in 3 different booths.
The thing
about walking the MOA on a week like this is you must keep your eyes open at
all time because who have no idea what celebrity you may or may not run into.
I was just
walking and minding my own business when I see 5 or 6 security so I figured
something was up and then I see Vikings player, Xavier Rhodes coming.
The same
area I saw Rhodes I noticed a bunch of fans over in an area with a Patriots
sign that said access media so the curious person I am went over to wait and
see who is coming like everyone else that was waiting.
I then saw
what the fans were looking for as I saw Bill Belichick heading back to his
hotel area after his press conference. A little while later I saw Tom Brady
heading to the media area so I tried to get a good picture but the good picture
did not turn out as I hoped but oh well I did get a picture pf Brady. It seemed
strange as Tom headed to the media in regular clothes and later his teammates
were coming and they were in all their white jerseys. We could not get very
close and that is ok I was just excited for my first time in my life to see a
Super team in person during Super Bowl week.
The thing
about this day is was a complete football day with just not the Vikings its was
players and fans from teams all over the NFL. It was awesome to see Jaguar,
Bengals, Steelers, Broncos fans to name a few teams.
I also had a
great privilege to be interviewed by a TV station out of Jacksonville, Florida
called Newsaction Jax. I had my Purple hoodie on that said Skol on it and the
Jacksonville people wanted to talk to a Vikings fan to talk about how I handled
the loss as their beloved Jaguars too fell to the Patriots so here we have 2
fan bases talking about our period of mourning which I thought was outstanding.
The radio
row continues into the weekend so if you have time please by all means go up
and take it in. It is a lifetime memory waiting to happen.
Thank you
for reading
Purplestick
Go Patriots
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