Super Bowl, Live And In Person

Sometimes it's a really good thing to take an interest in your spouse's interests, even if you're sure you're not really that interested!  I'm not a huge football fan by any means, but my husband sure is.  Ultimately, this little difference of ours landed our lucky butts in the Super dome in New Orleans on February 3, 2002 to experience Super Bowl XXXVI live and in person!

For several years prior to this event, my husband would torture me during the regular football season with this local contest that involved putting in entries to win a trip to the Super Bowl each and every week.  He wanted as many chances to win as he could get, so he would put in entries for me as well.  Fine.  But there's one thing you have to know about my husband.  He is honest to a fault.  He wouldn't just put in the entries for me.  He would make me actually do it.  Seems he was afraid of winning and then being disqualified or some dumb thing.  I remember laying on the couch and signing form after form every week and actually having to put something on them about my pick for that weeks winning team.  Like I even knew who was playing?!  Let's just say that some of my answers were a bit controversial.  I would pick teams based on the weirdest reasons while my husband was, of course, running all the stats and trying to be intelligent about all of this.  Turns out my system was a winner.  Or as my husband likes to point out, it also turns out that a barking seal has just as much likelihood of choosing a winning team as the experts do!

I had chosen a team that nobody in their right mind would have picked.  I remember the odds being like 24 to 1, again whatever that means.  I also remember the team that I picked being a college team with a name that was similar to a town near where we live.  That's why I picked them.  Somewhere along the line I must have decided to have some sort of a reason for my picks.

That's how I ended up wearing an Auburn Tigers t-shirt to the 2002 Super Bowl, in which the teams who were competing were actually the New England Patriots and the St. Louis Rams.  Neither of those teams really mattered to me.  I was just thrilled that my husband got to be there.  It was such a dream come true for him.  It wasn't half bad for me either.  New Orleans was a place I had always wanted to see.  And because of the timing of Mardi Gras that year, we got more than just a taste of what fun New Orleans truly is.  I can also honestly say that the Super Bowl in person is so much more than just a football game.  It was easily one of the best events I have ever been a part of. 

I have to be brutally honest here and admit that at first when I found out that we would be seeing the game live, I was disappointed that I wouldn't get to see the commercials.  I know, totally ridiculous.  I had someone tape it for me, so I could go back and see those commercials.  Funny thing is, I never did watch that tape.  I didn't need to.  This was one time I have to admit that my husband was 100% right!  I am so looking forward to the day when we will be able to do this again sometime.