EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Fans provide the soundtrack, the passion. Super Bowls are odd in that way because so many hard-core supporters can’t get tickets, leaving corporate seats filled with less-than-casual football fans. The enthusiasm was still unmistakable Sunday, praiseworthy for those drinking $14 Bud Lights and eating Liberty sausages.
The Game Play Experience outside the stadium had it by the fistful. Fans lined up to go through tires, push a tackling dummy and make a diving catch onto a high-jumper’s cushion.
Leaping into a pit not your thing? How about banging your head? The early crowd was entertained by the “Rock of Ages” broadway cast. Nothing says Super Bowl like Quiet Riot and Poison, right?
The longest line was outside the NFL store. Fans emerged with bags of jerseys and caps. One fan, in particular, forced attention. He was wearing vertically striped yellow-and-brown socks with a mustard Frank Tripucka jersey. He was No. 18 before No. 18.
Mass gathering. Some Coloradans were a little less pleased with the first “mass transit” Super Bowl.
“It was not good,” said Reggie Finley of Castle Rock. “It was super crowded (at the Secaucus station in New Jersey), and we had to wait an hour. When you’re wearing 12 layers and it’s 100 degrees in there, it’s not good.”
Denver residents Diego and Melissa Ortega purchased bus tickets for $50 each and had a police escort to the stadium from New York City.
Bizarre moment. As MVP Malcom Smith was ready to address the media after the game, a man took the microphone in front of him and announced: “9-11 was perpetrated by our own government.” He was rushed out of the locker room by security.
Footnotes. Vegas betting odds on a safety being scored were around 50-1. … Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath did the opening coin flip but flipped it before the Seahawks made their call.
