I had to drive past Super Bowl Ground Zero today.

[flvegan]

Oh, yeah. Concrete barriers as far as the eye can see. Streets blocked off, tent cities getting erected.

Allegedly, the teams arrive tomorrow. A coworker called me today to tell me that his buddy in Pittsburgh won a pair of tix in a lottery, so he's going to the game. I think I hate him.

Regardless, I won't be leaving my house this weekend. It's just going to be too stupid around here.

[TZ]

1. have fun!

At least the inauguration crowd was pretty well behaved here. Somehow I can NOT see no arrests on Superbowl Sunday..:rofl:

[Taverner]

2. Sounds like time to go to HOLY LAND AMUSEMENT PARK in Orlando!!!!!

You know you wanna meet FakeJesus....

[LeftyMom]

3. This thread is unamerican.

Commie! :grr:

[kentauros]

4. Yeah, but what's that halftime show gonna be like?

Houston had the best one evah! :P

[begin_within]

5. I live close to Qualcomm Stadium,

where Super Bowl games were held in 1988, 1998 and 2003. The strange thing about it was that the area around the stadium was amazingly quiet and peaceful - at least compared to how it is on regular game days for the Chargers, where it's an unspeakable miasma of traffic. They only let buses go into the stadium parking lot on the day of the Super Bowl (except of course for limousines for the fat cats). Common folk had to park in distant parking lots and take buses in. The result was that there was so little traffic other than the normal Sunday traffic, you would hardly guess that there was a big, important event going on. It's like the entire Super Bowl, a national-level event, was hermetically sealed inside the stadium (and the many huge tents surrounding the stadium) but in the immediate vicinity it's like nothing was happening. Really strange. The gym I go to is literally right next to the parking lot for Qualcomm Stadium, and on the day of the last Super Bowl, they were charging $100 to park there (unless, of course, you were a gym member like me). I saw one motor home with Tampa Bay Bucanneers flags all over it in that lot, and the were having a lively tailgate party, but I think they were the only ones who paid $100. They could just walk from there to the stadium gates. However the In-N-Out Burger closest to the stadium was absolutely crammed with Raider Nation members.

[flvegan]

6. They were setting up some Pepsi super fan thing area.

Looks pretty huge.

[begin_within]

10. There's also the "NFL Experience"

which is kind of a temporary amusement park / traveling exhibit all about football. If that's near the stadium then you will see a lot of traffic. Saturday night the whole town will be partying. They may have fireworks before the game, at halftime, and after the game when they have a rock concert. They will probably also have a flyover of the B-2 Bomber or some other aircraft, accompanied by very loud fighter jets. They do that right at the end of the national anthem. Last time it made our windows shake.

[flvegan]

15. That's what it was I think.

Last time it was here, it wasn't this big of a production.

[BeachBaby]

7. Dammit!

I would do ANYTHING to be able to go there. Warm temps, sun and football. Doesn't get much better than that.

[jobycom]

25. Why would you want to go? No American teams even made it.

Or at least, America's Team didn't, so who cares?

[Ptah]

8. Road to Super Bowl XLIII flanked by 43 strip clubs

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/277522.php

TAMPA, Fla. — There’s Lip Stixx and Centerfolds and the Bliss Cabaret.

There’s Diamond Dolls and Bare Assets and the Wild Gentlemen’s Club.

In fact, there are, by one count, 43 strip clubs in the Tampa metropolitan area — one for each Super Bowl. And the week of Super Bowl XLIII is to Tampa’s naughty nightlife what Black Friday is to America’s shopping malls
.
All the exotic dancing joints have earned Tampa a bawdy reputation — the lads’ magazine Maxim even put it on its top 10 list of best U.S. party cities a couple years ago, based mostly on the two score and more night spots to see naked or nearly naked women.

[flvegan]

9. The Mons Venus and 2001 Space Odyssey strip clubs

are about an 1/8th of a mile down the street. Fully nude, too! Uh, not that I've ever been to either one.

This is the DU member formerly known as Girls Girls Girls!

[LeftyMom]

11. I've said before that it's a city with a pole-based economy.

As far as I can tell, 85% of all area economic activity is confined to the booming titty bar, megachurch and steakhouse sectors.

[flvegan]

12. The real reason for your visit has been exposed.

[LeftyMom]

13. My ginormous titties are a big draw, you know.

:eyes:

[flvegan]

14. I thought you were just visiting those places.

:cry:

[LeftyMom]

16. Nope, I'm straight, I don't believe in Jesus and the only meat I was sampling was yours.

:P

[mtnester]

17. Get a room you two!

:P

[jobycom]

24. Good thing the Cowboys didn't make it, after all.

Only about half the team would get to the stadium. And Pacman... Wow!

[Parche]

18. go red sox!!!!

...:hi:

[LynneSin]

19. Oh pul-lease - that's lame

I had to drive past Ground Zero in Washington DC 2 days before the inauguration. It would have been quicker just to walk me and my luggage down from Delaware. I even had armored cars parked underneath our hotel window.

[sniffa]

20. Go Cahds!

:woohoo:

[Initech]

21. I actually went to the Cardinals division-clincher this year.

[Zavulon]

22. Have you ever been to a Super Bowl?

I've been to three and had a miserable experience every time (before you ask, I've gone to three because my father invited me to them). I don't recommend it - there are far more hassles than you'd encounter at a regular-season game, and post-9/11 it's well beyond worthwhile.

[flvegan]

23. Dear God, no.

I just want to go to flaunt it in the faces of my friends, suffering aside.

I'm not nice.

[bluesbassman]

26. Salinas Rodeo.

I lived in Salinas, CA for a while and every summer when they hold the rodeo, that town goes crazy. Alway tried to find somewhere else to be.