Anyone who attended the Super Bowl or traveled there and didn't get in, please detail your experiences. I'm curious how loud the Seattle fans were compared to Pats fans. It didn't sound significantly different on the television audio feed.
I flew into & out of Las Vegas & drove with a friend to Phoenix, about a 4 1/2 hour drive (really beautiful, but desolate terrain most of the way). There were lots of Pats fans on my flight to Vegas, most of whom were staying there for the game. Saw fans of both teams in LV and many people were razzing us for being Pats fans. We didn't go to downtown Phoenix but did go to Scottsdale for dinner & Tosos (sports bar home of the AZ Patriots fan club) for a few drinks before going to the game.
Seahawks fans did outnumber Pats fans, but it wasn't as dire as they were saying on TV. I also think a lot of Pats fans arrived late because of the weather up north. In any event I thought we were outnumbered about 2-1 at the game. My friend said 3-1. It wasn't 10 or 20 to 1 as they kept implying on TV.
We got to Tosos for it's 11 am opening on Sunday and met lots of nice Pats fans in line, most of who were NE transplants who now live in Phoenix. There was an older couple in line with us (39 year season ticket holders) who said they had been screwed out of their tickets by a travel agent who couldn't deliver so they had paid $100 for a cab to come there to watch the game. Tosos is a dive but it's devoted to Pats fans. They were having raffles of Pats jerseys & other stuff.
We left for the game around 12:30 (start time was 4:30 AZ time). No problems getting to the stadium or finding our parking lot (the COG lot). Paid $50 for a parking pass on official SB site. Stubhub & others selling parking passes to same lot at jacked up prices (big surprise). Most people arrived early like us. Lots of NFL Experience-type activities on the stadium grounds, bands, bars. Huge lines for everything. Weather was beautiful, sunny & about 70 degrees (unlike 2007 when it was freezing & I don't remember all these activities - probably selective amnesia). Saw a lot more Pats fans than I thought I would based on TV reports.
We sat in the lower bowl, corner end zone (Pats EZ, where I think they scored all their TDs, not the one where the play of the century occurred) 20 rows up. All Pats fans in the sections around us, some players' families near us, NFL Network set right in front of our section on the field. Roof was open and it was hot & sunny until the sun went below the roof line. I don't think anyone on our side of the stadium saw the flyover. We heard it, but saw nothing. Seattle fans were loud & ****y going in. They kept doing their stupid chant & since Pats fans don't do stupid chants, we had nothing to answer with (except our play on the field!). Once the game started I thought we did a pretty good job of drowning them out (as did the stadium music, lol ). They were very loud, however, whenever the Pats had the ball. We tried to be loud when they had the ball. Did that come through on tv ? It was hard to tell. Everyone stood for the whole game, which I like. Lots of good Pats fans around us to high five with.
Katy Perry & her guests we couldn't really hear or see as the stage was set up in the other EZ and the acoustics & video feed were bad. I thought that Firework was good, the rest meh.
The game! Not much doing in the 1st or 3rd quarters, but the 2nd & 4th were pretty exciting, huh? Brady was great except for the 2 ints. The first he was hit as he threw, but the 2nd was another maddening "force it into Gronk" when he's double (or triple) covered. Aaahhhh! I don't know how Edelman was still standing at the end of the game. He was pummeled all game & played great. In the end I was sulking in my seat wondering how this could happen to us AGAIN? A circus catch that allows them to score & leaves us with no time? Why isn't BB calling time out? Crap, we are going to lose. They are going to hand off to Lynch & he is going to cut through the line like a hot knife through butter...and...and, a pass? A PICK!? It was then I realized that the blood curdling screaming in my ears was my own. Wow, didn't see that coming! Who would throw there? Thank you Russell Wilson!
The best part about the awards ceremony was all the many, many Pats fans lustily booing Roger Goodell when he stepped up to give Bob Kraft the trophy & Kraft refusing to shake his hand. Suck it Seattle, Roger & ESPN. The Patriots are world champs!!
