It’s time for the Super Bowl already?
Wasn’t it the first week of the season just a few days ago? It’s Super Bowl weekend?
Yes, these notes were generated after a trip to New Orleans and my first meeting of the weekend as we prep for the broadcast on Sunday.
But you know, there just has to be a travel note.
Like a flat tire.
On my plane.
Yep, I was delayed leaving Dallas on my connecting flight Thursday because my plane had a flat tire!
And I want to tell you, after watching the crew change out that huge tire, it was quite impressive.
The gate agent said we were going to be late leaving because they had to change a tire on the plane.
This I gotta see, I said to myself. To the window I went, an event to see. Not quite a bucket list thing, but something unique.
I had not watched a pit-stop at an airport before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
I knew they weren’t going to run a couple guys over the wall with an air wrench like at the 500, and I knew they weren’t just going to put a jack under a 100,000 pound airplane and raise it up a couple inches, grab a wrench and take off five wheel lugs.
My real thought was wondering who was going to roll the spare out there, put in in place and roll the flat away!
Well, as you would expect, they have wonderful tools and other equipment to do just that job. These planes wear tires out at a fast pace, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. I figured it would be 90 minutes or more, but they rolled in what they needed, and we were boarding in about an hour.
So I got to New Orleans a little late but just fine, and man, have they had their share of changing weather. They had eight inches of snow literally last week, and Friday they set a record for the day with a high temp of 82 degrees.
The place is abuzz, as one expects on Super Bowl weekend. Fox has a couple hotels completely filled, and the NFL has several more full. There is some serious sticker shock with room rates too.
There are meetings to attend, a full-blown rehearsal on Friday and then a full-blown dress rehearsal on Saturday. Everything gets practiced several times except the actual game.
There is also a gigantic security presence. There are uniformed officers everywhere, and they are not hiding in the background. They are front and center, very visible, so that everyone can have a little better feeling. As it is with every Super Bowl, the streets around the Superdome have all been shut down for more than a week. We are walking several blocks to get to the security entrances, which just starts the process.
Hey, this event needs to have folks feel safe, and from the first reports folks do feel safe.
It is just amazing how this one game, this one event, has grown in size and scope over the years. We broadcast a game every weekend for 20 weeks, and when we get to the last one, it takes 15 production trucks instead of three, it takes a couple thousand extra folks doing every job, and it ties up an entire American city for about a month.
It’s Super.
I’m hoping for a few free minutes to get to see some sites, starting with the WWII Museum, which is just down the street from my hotel. The problem is that work and production schedules don’t fit well with sight-seeing. So we shall see.
The many, many thousands of folks visiting the city will have plenty of free time to see things and stimulate the economy. I’ll settle for a good seat at the game.
And, that is the real reason for all this anyway. The only thing we don’t practice.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. If you gather with family or friends to watch, have a good time.
Maybe I’ll get a quarter second on the air to wave …
Safe travels.
Jeff Nelson is a frequent contributor to the Journal Review and works professionally for Fox Sports working with the Indiana Pacers, Indianapolis Colts and many more professional teams.
