The Scialabba Family: SUPER BOWL XLVI

Michael has some great friends. Some of those great friends have great parents. One of those great parents works for the NFL. Thanks to him I was able to attend my second Super Bowl---and see the Giants win both times! Life is good.

We originally requested tickets within minutes of the Giants beating the San Francisco 49ers. We were told that tickets are very difficult to come by once the teams for the Super Bowl have already been determined. There were no guarantees. Damn. THEN......on Wednesday night, February 1st at 11:15pm, Mike's cell phone rang as we were getting ready for bed. It was him. And then the question of the night came, "Are you guys still in?". After me pleading with Michael to take back his answer of "We can't", we left it that we would call him in the morning. Two tickets were up for grabs....and they had my name on them!! Mike and I talked it over and between all of the work he had to do for his business, the fact that it was a last minute decision to find someone to watch Mikey, AND since he had already been to FIVE Super Bowls himself, Michael volunteered to "share the wealth" and suggested I bring my Dad. I was unable to speak to my Dad directly that night (he was out COLD when Mom tried to wake him) but we started the search for airfare and hotel. Two things were learned that night: 1) There was a 12:45 am flight scheduled for right after the game that I knew I wanted to be on and 2) I was NOT spending $2000 on airfare OR $900 to sleep in a Best Western....for one night. The next morning, when Dad was fully coherent, we discussed our options and he gave me the green light to start seriously thinking about going. It was a YES! So I sat with the laptop and finally found the best flight deals to get us to Indy and back.....and it would all take place in a 24 hour period!

On Saturday evening, February 4, Dad came up to Boston. We were in bed by 9:00.

Sunday, February 5 was Super Bowl Sunday! Our alarm clocks woke us at 3:15 and we walked out the door of the apartment at 4am exactly. Our flight was from Providence, RI to Washington D.C. to Indianapolis. The flight left at 6:15 am and we landed in Indy at 10:30am. (It is SO easy traveling with just the clothes on your back. Highly recommend it!)

By 11:15 we were in the lobby of the Hilton hotel where my first celebrity sighting took place----Ann Curry. She looked beautiful and short! After we received our tickets (and tailgate passes--woot!), we explored downtown Indianapolis. We first set out to see the roman numerals in the monument circle area. (I would use street names but they changed all the street names for the Super Bowl---each street was a different NFL team---clever, huh?). From there we tried to stalk the Giants hotel. We first tried a hotel that had lots of the NFL cars parked out front and there was a lot of hustle and bustle going on from the outside. We made our way into the lobby and had our eyes peeled for celebrities---Giants players or otherwise. And then to my left I see a celebrity boxer---Evander Holyfield. (Dad was impressed by my ability to identify people in a millisecond!) Our search continued......and then we found it. I was envisioning it would have been a little less obvious than what we stumbled upon (after all, when you watch the interviews on TV the only location info you get is "Giants Hotel in Indianapolis"). In person there were great big banners of Eli and signs reading "NEW YORK GIANTS" covering the entire front of the hotel. Fans were lined up everywhere and the media crews were setting up their cameras to catch the team as they boarded the bus. Security was obviously tight at the hotel as they didn't let anyone into the lobby unless they had a room key. Although we didn't spot any celebrities, I counted it as a success!

From there we ventured to the NFL Village where there were bands, food, beer, and all sorts of fun activities (zip lines, etc.). We went to the plaza area where they were filming ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown and got to see Keyshawn, Chris Carter ("CC"), Boomer and the rest of the crew. We then got to meet up with two of my "cousins" (cousins are in quotations because they aren't first cousins to me but somehow we are related along the cousin line) who were in town for the game. We caught up with them for close to an hour prior to heading in to the tailgate party. (Quick side note: The weather was in the mid-40s and sunny. Boy were we lucky to be able to enjoy all of the outside festivities with only a light jacket!)

The tailgate was in the Convention Center located directly next door to the Lucas Oil Stadium. We were able to eat, drink and watch the live entertainment of The Fray and Lenny Kravitz. Unlike the Super Bowl in Arizona where Mike and I hung out by the red carpet next to celebrities such as Ryan Seacrest, this red carpet was a bit more secluded. Through the clear glass we were able to see Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg. Later on during the tailgate I caught a glimpse of John Elway, too.

Around 5:15-5:30 we made our way into the stadium. We sat in Row 11, seats 21 and 22. On the end. Directly in the middle of the goal post in the Giants end zone. Perfect. The best part about the seats was you got to see what the players see when they are on the field. It would frustrate me so much during the season to see Bradshaw charge up the middle and get no where. I would often say, "what did he see that made him think that was the best route to take?". On this day I was able to see more clearly why he went the ways he did. Another cool advantage of our seats was the lack of security personnel preventing you from getting the shots you want. I was able to go down to the first row and cheer to the players while they were warming up, waved (and made eye contact) with NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell and also got a glimpse of Tony Dungy. Obviously the first half was intense and we had a feeling that the second half would be that and more. The Madonna halftime show was A-MAZING.....even if she did lip sync it. I found myself watching most of it on the big screen since our seats didn't have the best view of the show, but even still, it was a great show with great guests (LMAFO and Cee Lo Green were awesome!).

We sat amongst other NFL employees in our section. A guy sitting in front of us was in charge of the referees. He was very helpful during the game and we loved asking him questions. He filled us in on a secret (the SB was the last game the referees would be wearing the white knickers. Starting next season they will be wearing black!) and enlightened us on how he got the job with the NFL. Overall, great guy. Partially joking, partially not, I asked him if I could have his number for next season whenever I had a question! Didn't get his digits though.....

We all know how it ended and boy were Dad and I happy! We do not have a good track record of watching the Giants win when we are at the game. After staying through the celebration and taking TONS of pictures, we made our way out of the stadium. We had a flight to catch! Within a few blocks of the stadium we caught a cab and made our way back to the airport. We grabbed some food to eat and waited for our direct flight from Indy to Boston. I don't remember much about that flight (we fell asleep before the plane took off) EXCEPT the fact that Terrell Owens ("T.O.") was on our flight. Random!

We landed at 3-ish in the morning and walked back into my apartment at 4:00am. What a crazy 24 hour period!!

I am so happy and thankful for multiple reasons:

1) The Giants won the Super Bowl (duh!);

2) I got to spend quality time with "Bob";

3) That I have such an amazing husband who not only passed on going to the Super Bowl but volunteered my Dad to go with me! Love you, Michael!