Super Bowl- Day 3 Rehearsal: Mascot Time

*Sigh* Day 3 started just fine with even less of a line at check in. Plus I was very happy about just picking up my free Pro Bowl tickets, even though I gave them away. Again, I made a beeline to the food area just as the wind started to kick up. Why is it always so cold on that darn field outside of Sun Life stadium?

After getting yet another turkey sandwich, chips, cookie and gatorade I took a seat on the aluminum bleaches to eat -- and wait. I think in my previous blog entry I mentioned that I need to stay far away from the coffee they offer. After a couple of nights of sleeplessness I vowed to not touch a drop. Of course after hearing another person say very loudly that he has not slept in a couple of nights because of the coffee they served I am certain that this is planned by the event producers -- they really want us all to be very active and alert as we work our carts onto the field...and the coffee helps!

I sat where there was actually space for my box "lunch" dinner thing and then one of my crew-mates called  to me from across the isle. I decided to move and sit with him to at least bond some more with a member of my crew. As you can imagine with all of that standing around we are talking about our lives, where we grew up and more -- funny but he is friends with my next door neighbor. Small world we live in.

Once again, Cap had to speak although spared us an "old-guy" story. Sorry to say, even when I get to be his age I will still call those stories "old-guy" stories since they always draw upon some really ancient time that all of us don't know about, understand or is so foreign to how we live now that we just don't get it. I know, I know, you are thinking that I most likely tell "old-gal" stories to my kids...well, my 15-year-old will tell you that I do, but they are not that old really. I don't think stories from the mid-1980's qualifies does it?

For some unknown reason they called us, once again, cart by cart by number. By now you see we all know exactly where our carts are parked so our crew just thought it would have been easier to just tell us to report directly to our cart.  But no, they had to do it more orderly. Finally we saw our number and leader -- Steve -- and followed him out to our cart.

The good thing is that they took most of the daytime to figure out how to better work with the "whale-tail"...that's a great thing since I was certain that one of the four crew-mates were going to come out of Super Bowl with one less finger. Handles and an actual system to follow were instituted so I felt better. Although one crew-mate brought his 15-year-old son and I was a little nervous the whole time for his safety.

The "whale-tail" movement was practiced a number of time while the rest of us just looked on. Again, I can't give you any specifics about what exactly I mean or I'd have to kill you. But trust me, this is no small task. Just wait until you see the half-time show at SB...you'll see exactly what I mean. [And no it's not really a "whale" or a "tail", no worries.]

We ended up practicing going into and out of the mock stadium, goal post, hallway and all about 3 times. We really tried to work on the time allotment. Not sure if I mentioned it but 5 minutes and 52 seconds is all the time we have to get the entire thing set up for The Who to take the stage. Not sure this is going to happen.

Then there's the wheel issue. Yes, we have a very good chance to tearing up the field with these crazy non-turning wheels that really don't like to cooperate. And yes, we are trying to find the best way to get this all done in the 5 minutes and 52 second time limit to get the things in and back out again without ripping up the field.

We ended up having to run our part into and off of the mock field -- yikes this is hard and yikes it is a work-out. They tell us that our piece weights in at about 2,000 lbs. since we have not only lasers but lots of electrical equipment on it -- more *sighs*.

Then there's mascot talk. Our fearless leader, Steve, thinks we need a mascot for our cart. One of my crew-mates said that he has his ex-girlfriend's lobster (stuffed of course) and that we actually could burn it for all he cares...I am really not sure why/where the burn comment came from but that does sound promising. I may also be bringing a mascot of my own to secure to the cart - just for kicks we could have a few (we'd have to really hide them from Cap I think), but our fearless leader would certainly be on board with this plan.

At the end Cap did say we are doing a great job, much better in fact so that was good. Although besides seeing a bloody arm and a couple of banged fingers he said that if he sees anyone texting while pushing then he'll take their cell phone away until the end of the night. I do think he has a point -- no need to stop to read text and get run over. This is not a task without risk.

The Good and The Bad and The Good...and The Bad
We all got excused at 9 pm so that's the good news...but we are at it again tonight so that's the bad news...but the good news is that we are going to actually practice on the field several times tonight...but the bad news is that Cap will have his boss, his bosses boss and his bosses boss watching. And if we look bad then they will ride him, which in turn will make our lives miserable...

Day 4 coming at ya tomorrow. Just keep your fingers crossed that it goes smoothly and that we don't get in too much trouble (for texting, chewing up the field, strapping mascots to our carts and various and sundry other things).