I took a few pictures while I was there. I took these pictures with my cell phone, and my cell phone doesn't have a flash, so most of the pictures didn't turn out so good. Not that bad pictures should be surprising, I am the guy who traveled to Italy and used a cell phone camera while I was there to chronicle my trip. I did this because I am an idiot. At least the current camera has a resolution of more than one megapixel. My brother had a "real" digital camera with him, but he has yet to share the photos with me. For instance, Glendale, where the stadium is, is way in the hell out in the middle of nowhere, about 35 minutes from Phoenix. As we were cabbing out to the stadium on Sunday, we had to pull to the side to make way for the Giants' motorcade - two buses with obviously huge dudes on them, surrounded by about eight police motorcycles. My brother got photos of this (they were on his side of the cab), I did not. It was the first of many times I got choked up this day, as going to the Super Bowl was a really big deal for me. Maybe seeing the Giants bus was a bad omen. In any event, let's get to the photos:
Here are a couple of shots of the Miller Lite pregame party. There is a mall complex across the street from the stadium, with about 8 bars, 4 restaurants, and some sports clothes-type stores. The entire area was closed off and there were several beer vendors in the middle of the mall area. There are a lot more people there than it seems from the photos - you could move around the outside (where I was taking the pictures) but not the inside, and the beer lines were 25 minutes long. I've read that the fan mix at the game was about 50/50, but I would have put it at 65/35 Pats. Before we headed over to this party, we drank quarts of beer in the parking lot of the stadium. Just being there really did give me chills - for the most part it was worth the exorbitant price of admission.(Incidentally, this was the only "official" Super Bowl party we went to... I had a friend who knows people working on getting us into the Maxim, EA Sports and NFL Players parties, but according to this friend there wasn't much he could do because I "can't really do any favors for any of these people." As they say, the Super Bowl has really been taken away from the fans.)
Allow me to introduce you to Bad Omen #2. This "flaggot" had on a Pats flag for a cape, a boa, and a gay-looking Pats sweater. It really was a sublime combination of arrogance and gayness. I did not speak with this man.
This is a picture of my brother at the pregame party. As you can see, he also likes the Pats. I wasn't quite this decked out - I had on a Ben Watson jersey underneath the gray hoodie Bill Betamax usually wears (I have not cut the sleeves out though - this is not an inexpensive hoodie). The hat he is wearing says something to the effect of "New England Patriots - Three Time Super Bowl Champs 2001, 2003, 2004." The bright side is that with the loss, my brother doesn't have to buy a new hat. (That is his joke, to give credit where credit is due.)
Here is the Super Bowl XLII "monument" inside the secured area around the stadium. There were a lot of street preachers telling people they would go to hell all weekend - maybe they were referring to the worship of false idols such as this one. As you can see, it was quite tall. We entered the stadium about an hour before kickoff, and the party that had been happening around this area was wrapping up so we just headed in to our seats.
Here are two somewhat attractive chicks who were sitting a few rows down from us. They had been working as promotions girls all weekend, and apparently were rewarded with tickets to the game. These girls were not the least bit interested in the game, and disppeared shortly after halftime - maybe they talked their way into a luxury box or something. As I think about it now, I should have gotten a shot of them with me or my brother, but I was shooting this picture in stealth mode. In any event, they both had big boobs.
This is a terrible photo of the halftime show. I was in the bathroom for the start of the show, but Tom Petty's band sounded really good. I was taken to a Petty concert in Walnut Creek by a couple of friends, and the band sounded way better this time. When I got back to my seat, the scene was pretty incredible - everyone had out these purple keychain lights they gave you. It was the best concert atmosphere I'd ever been in. Incidentally, the game was the best football atmosphere I'd ever been in - the energy before kickoff was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I usually am a Coughlin's law "never show surprise, never lose your cool" type of guy, but I was downright giddy to be there.
This is the Pats about to break the huddle on third and goal, late in the 4th quarter. The next play is the Brady to Moss TD pass. Our whole section went nuts when that happened - there was much high-fiving, crying and hugging to be done. Would have probably been the most fun day of my life had the game ended right there. Needless to say, I wasn't in the mood to take any more pictures after this.I haven't really watched any of the game since - I looked at the Tyree catch on Youtube (it was at the other end of the field so we couldn't see it well, even on the replay) as well as the Samuel missed INT (tougher play than it appeared in person), but I am a little embarassed to admit that I am still bothered by it a little bit. Being a fan of the Cal Bears and the Red Sox, I had gotten used to disappointment (regardless of the last few years - I don't like the Sox too much now that they are basically the Yankees), but I was invested emotionally, and I wasn't ready for this loss. Being a small town kid, I guess I never thought I'd go to a Super Bowl, and it was a bigger deal to me than I thought it would be.
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