A Night To Remember
So the Manning brothers are 2 for 2 on trips to the Super Bowl. Wow. I never would have predicted that. But even more unbelievable than that are the circumstance that I watched the game under.
So I switched hotels today, because I stayed at a less-expensive hotel last night on my own dime. The new hotel is a definite step up, and my status with the chain really kicked in, with a gift bag waiting for me at the counter. However, when I went to my room, neither of the room keys worked. The staff was extremely apologetic, and got me taken care of. As a token of their appreciation for my patience, they gave me a free dinner. The meal itself was REALLY good (smothered chicken breast with mushrooms, onions and peppers, covered in cheese, with these AMAZING sauteed vegetables), but I was the only person in the dining area. Pretty safe to say most folks were watching the game in their rooms.
As I'm sitting there eating and watching the game, the bartender comes over to my table and is chatting me up. (I've got to say, the folks at this hotel have been extremely friendly, btw. There will be a comment card in my near future.) Almost as an afterthought, he leans over and says "I'm not supposed to say anything, but if you hang out here for about a half hour, you'll get to see (insert name of GOP Prez candidate with ties to Utah)."
Yeah...that was my reaction, too. I did hang around, in part because of this opportunity, and partially to watch the game on a sweet HD plasma TV. At first, he was sitting in a chair out of my line of sight, and the folks involved with his campaign were hanging closer to the bar where I was sitting, but as it got closer and closer to the end of the game, the candidate came closer to the TV, and his final resting point was about four feet to my right. At one point, a member of the congregation (sorry...unintentional religious context) started passing out Super Bowl caps with the Patriots logo on them. I thought there might have been an issue with that, but they didn't say "Champions", so I guess they were kosher. Whether it was okay or not, it just seemed kind of presumptuous.
Shortly after the hats were passed out, the press corps showed up, and there were cameras and boom mics everywhere, all focused on the candidate to capture his responses to the game. I even had a reporter behind me recording the candidate on a digital camera, and it's eerie how similar her view was to mine.
With about 2 1/2 minutes left, the Patriots went up by 4 points, and there was much rejoicing. Can I just say that GOP Patriots fans just became my vision of Hell? And talk about a random spotting...Rick Santorum was in the room as well. Satan was having a field day. But then Eli stepped up and was on fire during that last series. They basically played those last 150 seconds just like Brady and the Patriots have so many times before, and with 37 seconds remaining, an Eli pass to Spartan Plaxico Burress helped the Giants regain the lead.
Just as the Giants scored, a woman behind me who I couldn't bring myself to looking at for fear I would embarass her more said "I knew we shouldn't have done the hats!" Ya think? Although there was a lot of hopeful talk in the crowd during the remaining time on the clock, the Giants defense was just too tough, and the Patriots lost.
The candidate's comments were brief, and he allowed a Giants fan from the NY Times to say something, which turned out to be "this is one of the greatest moments in sports history". His response? "This was one of the worst moments in sports history." And then he said he couldn't hang anymore, and headed to his room.
I do have pictures, but, as with other events, they will have to wait until I get home and can transfer them on to my own computer. But...wow. "Surreal" is the only word I can think of.
So I switched hotels today, because I stayed at a less-expensive hotel last night on my own dime. The new hotel is a definite step up, and my status with the chain really kicked in, with a gift bag waiting for me at the counter. However, when I went to my room, neither of the room keys worked. The staff was extremely apologetic, and got me taken care of. As a token of their appreciation for my patience, they gave me a free dinner. The meal itself was REALLY good (smothered chicken breast with mushrooms, onions and peppers, covered in cheese, with these AMAZING sauteed vegetables), but I was the only person in the dining area. Pretty safe to say most folks were watching the game in their rooms.
As I'm sitting there eating and watching the game, the bartender comes over to my table and is chatting me up. (I've got to say, the folks at this hotel have been extremely friendly, btw. There will be a comment card in my near future.) Almost as an afterthought, he leans over and says "I'm not supposed to say anything, but if you hang out here for about a half hour, you'll get to see (insert name of GOP Prez candidate with ties to Utah)."
Yeah...that was my reaction, too. I did hang around, in part because of this opportunity, and partially to watch the game on a sweet HD plasma TV. At first, he was sitting in a chair out of my line of sight, and the folks involved with his campaign were hanging closer to the bar where I was sitting, but as it got closer and closer to the end of the game, the candidate came closer to the TV, and his final resting point was about four feet to my right. At one point, a member of the congregation (sorry...unintentional religious context) started passing out Super Bowl caps with the Patriots logo on them. I thought there might have been an issue with that, but they didn't say "Champions", so I guess they were kosher. Whether it was okay or not, it just seemed kind of presumptuous.
Shortly after the hats were passed out, the press corps showed up, and there were cameras and boom mics everywhere, all focused on the candidate to capture his responses to the game. I even had a reporter behind me recording the candidate on a digital camera, and it's eerie how similar her view was to mine.
With about 2 1/2 minutes left, the Patriots went up by 4 points, and there was much rejoicing. Can I just say that GOP Patriots fans just became my vision of Hell? And talk about a random spotting...Rick Santorum was in the room as well. Satan was having a field day. But then Eli stepped up and was on fire during that last series. They basically played those last 150 seconds just like Brady and the Patriots have so many times before, and with 37 seconds remaining, an Eli pass to Spartan Plaxico Burress helped the Giants regain the lead.
Just as the Giants scored, a woman behind me who I couldn't bring myself to looking at for fear I would embarass her more said "I knew we shouldn't have done the hats!" Ya think? Although there was a lot of hopeful talk in the crowd during the remaining time on the clock, the Giants defense was just too tough, and the Patriots lost.
The candidate's comments were brief, and he allowed a Giants fan from the NY Times to say something, which turned out to be "this is one of the greatest moments in sports history". His response? "This was one of the worst moments in sports history." And then he said he couldn't hang anymore, and headed to his room.
I do have pictures, but, as with other events, they will have to wait until I get home and can transfer them on to my own computer. But...wow. "Surreal" is the only word I can think of.