SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Boston Herald crew made it to Levi’s Stadium for Super Bowl LX, but, boy, was it an adventure.
We walked to the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco and left on the media bus at 10:30 a.m. PT and were seated in the press box at 12:51 p.m. The bus hit some traffic, then some national media members suggested some detours to the bus driver that eventually led us to a dead end when Andrew Callahan and I politely asked our driver to open the doors and let us walk the last 3/4 mile. We would have been better off walking when there was two miles left in the journey.
We were tempting fate with easy shuttle rides through the beginning of Super Bowl week. By Monday morning, my final shuttle count will be 13.
Fortunately, the walk was easy, and the weather was sunny with temperatures in the 60s.
But we made it, the view from the press box is great, and the food they provide is even better. The steak and horseradish sauce from a cutting station was restaurant-quality.
We made it in time to watch players warm up on the field.
Patriots wide receiver Mack Hollins wore Mike Vrabel’s high school jersey. Fittingly, given the Patriots’ “Road Warriors” moniker, Vrabel played for the Walsh Jesuit Warriors. He dressed as Hannibal Lecter for his pre-game entrance.
Vrabel entered the stadium wearing a lei made by defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga’s mother. Tonga also wore one into the stadium.
After writing up the Patriots’ inactives, Andrew, Mark Daniels of MassLive and I went out to the concourse to take in the sights and sounds of the Super Bowl and take some pictures.
While out on the field, we spotted Jay-Z, Beyonce and Bon Jovi on the Patriots’ sideline. I also caught Stefon Diggs giving his mom a pre-game hug after warmups.
It took a while to get back up to the press box, because one of our elevators was stolen by Justin Bieber. We also saw Kendall Jenner while out with fans.
Before the game, I spent some more time getting caught up with some of my media friends who I only get to see once or twice a year.
Once the game began, I added offensive and defensive starters to our notes.
My in-game process is to summarize each drive in my weekly gamer just to be able to write while the game is going on in order to post immediately after it’s over.
I have a text document open on my laptop to track every play and add little notes to it, like who was in coverage, who got beat on a sack, who got pressure, or made a run stuff.
I also keep up PFF.com to track their in-game charting to help out with snaps.
Seahawks fans definitely traveled better from Seattle than Patriots fans. They were particularly loud when the Patriots were on offense.
Unless you went down to the concourse, they didn’t pump the halftime music into the press box, so media couldn’t hear it. I ate some food at halftime while watching the halftime show on a monitor.
There were some technical difficulties throughout the game. Apple computers wouldn’t connect to the WiFi, so I had to plug my phone into my laptop to tether. A good tip if you’re ever in the same situation.
We made sure to get plenty of sleep the day before the Super Bowl, but I did go out to dinner with my sister and her husband to an Eastern European restaurant called Dacha in downtown San Francisco. I caught up with some of my media buddies, then made it to bed.
My overall review of San Francisco as a Super Bowl city: Fine. San Francisco itself is a great city, even though some parts of it feel a bit unsafe. You’re going to find that in any major city. I still clocked over 120,000 steps from Sunday to Saturday. The food was great, the weather was refreshing, the views are fantastic, but the media center, stadium and player availability are too spread out. The days went by fast because the media shuttles alone took up two to three hours per day.
