I’ve been booking football for over 20 years but I’ve only ever been to one Superbowl. It’s ironic that the only Superbowl I ever went to is also the only Superbowl that I was never able to watch.
It was the morning of February 3, 2002 and I was down in New Orleans to attend Superbowl XXXVI with some old friends of mine. We had always talked about going to the big game together but this was the 1st time I was able to leave someone else in charge of my booking business on the busiest day of the year. As any business owner knows, when the cats away the mice will play. I woke up happy and energized and had no idea I was about to have one of the most stressful days of my life.
The spread on the game had the St. Louis Rams favored heavily over the up-start New England Patriots and their snot nosed rookie QB Tom Brady by 13 1/5 points. My customers had come in early and heavy on the Rams so I figured with most of the action in already I could head to the Superdome, cross my fingers and hope for a miracle.
We got to the stadium early and were just settling into our box seats when the problems started. Fat Tony calls me up and tells me that our little call center just got pinched by the cops and they were switching over to plan B. Plan B was Tony’s cousins garage that happened to have 10 phone jacks scattered around where they could plug in phones. A quick mental calculation told me that this little hitch would cost me about 20 grand in bets while they got set up but I figured it would just be more piling onto the Rams so I tried to relax.
Pre-game festivities are going on but I don’t get a moments peace as my phone is ringing off the hook; pissed off customers trying to get down on the final NFL game of the season. I tell myself I’ll be able to sit down and enjoy the game once it starts but this is not to be. One of my guys has given out a bad line and for the entire first half I’m switching between calming down my customers and screaming at Fat Tony. I’m so caught up with trying to sort everything out that I don’t even realize what the score is until mid-way through the half-time show.
The second half of the game starts and I finally get a chance to sit down with my buddies who are busting my balls about doing business at the Superbowl. I’m balancing a nacho tray on my knees while I prepare to bite into a Superdog when a hand falls on my shoulder and a voice says “FBI, don’t move!”. Well the nachos spill in my lap and I’m drenched gooey jalapeno cheese, I fumble the hotdog as I’m turning around and get a nice big mustard stain down the front of my new Pats jersey. When I see who it is I’m livid, Jimmy the Finger large as life and laughing his ass off. I miss another scoring play while Jimmy bends my ear about how happy he’s been since he started using a down in Costa Rica called Host PPH. Jimmy’s happiness gets on my nerves as he crows “No more hassles, they take care of everything. All I do is collect each week!”
I actually get to watch the game for a full 5 minutes when my phone goes off again, problems at the office. I end up going back and forth with my people and by the time I get things sorted out and back to my seat I catch the last play of the game. New England kicks a 48 yard field goal to win the game 20 to 17. At first I’m absolutely pissed, I come all the way to New Orleans for Superbowl XXXVI and all I see is 2 drives and a field goal. That’s when it dawns on me that the Patriots have not only covered but they have knocked down every teaser, parlay and total while doing so. Even though I had a big day I felt like I’d been dragged through hell, when I got home I gave Host PPH a call. I was surprised how easy it was to get set up. Jimmy turned out to be right for once and I’ve been using them ever since.
