“Hey Ryan,” my dad John said Friday as we were walking by Ryan Leaf on the second floor of the Miami Beach Convention Center where radio row and TV sets filled a massive room filled with fans and working media Js who were nearing the end of their work week in a window-less convention space while it was near 80 and beautiful outside.
My dad & stepmother, Kathy, had spent the day inside the belly of the Super Bowl week rubbing elbows with the NFL elites after a VIP night of drinks & food at the NBC Sports Bay Area sports live show party where Jeff Garcia might as well have been Joe Montana and Donte Whitner might as well have been Ronnie Lott. Dad, 64, was on a heater — he was throwing out hellos indiscriminately to any level of former/future NFLer. Old salty dog media people walk by hundreds of famous football people during a Super Bowl week. It’s just another day. Not to my dad. He was, as I like to call it, ‘experience hunting.’
“I just want to experience it,” he said, or something like that, when we first started talking about Super Bowl LIV week. Dad & Kathy winter within an easy 5-8 minute drive to Marco Island and that meant Miami was within striking distance. I waited until the last minute and pulled the trigger – flight, somehow landed an Airbnb literally two blocks from the Fox Sports South Beach set and put a broadcast plan together with Paul Eide and made it all happen.
I connected with an industry friend to see if he minded letting dad and Kathy tag along and it wasn’t a problem. Thursday and Friday in Miami. Soak up as much Super Bowl as possible over those two days. Late nights, early mornings. Get a feel for what I do on BC Super Bowl trips. Get that semi-VIP feel.
What I’ve learned as my parents have aged is that experience hunting is a real thing. They have middle class living money and retirements. My dad has his winter place where he can go shirtless and swim all day if he pleases. No real schedule. No reason he can’t go fishing five days in a row if the wind isn’t bad. He’s out hunting down experiences that go to the top of his life resume and I have a feeling two days at the Super Bowl will be one he and Kathy talk about for a long time.
My dad always wanted to do the Super Bowl experience. Thanks to @TimRyan99 for the pic pic.twitter.com/DHgApYLWZI
— Busted Coverage (@bustedcoverage) January 31, 2020
(I had no idea Greg Papa, 49ers broadcaster, liked to have so much fun. That’s him in the suit jacket. Former NFLer and Fox Sports broadcaster Tim Ryan in the red. Not going to lie, I will party with Papa at a later date. The guy is fun.)
I got next to no sleep Thursday night & then not much more Friday night so I didn’t get their full reports on what the highlights were, but I’ll try my best:
• Location, location, location. I can’t say it enough. We stayed at Washington & 7th. Fox Sports massive footprint started at Ocean & 7th. The action was from 11th & Collins south to about Collins & 6th. I slept on air mattresses – first one deflated Thursday night while I was on a bender & I slept on vinyl flooring – but it’s all good. I made the ultimate sacrifice. Thoughts and prayers.
• Ocean Drive was even better in person than I thought it would be. It’s just the ultimate of cool. So many different nationalities mixing into one ball of entertainment and fun. Yep, it’s a tourist spot. Of course you wouldn’t go there if you lived in Ft. Lauderdale. That said, I wouldn’t mind going back one day when I need to feel alive inside.
• Don’t worry about not looking cool enough or good enough on Ocean Drive. You’re not going to be the ugliest or the hottest to walk the street. You’re going to see all shapes and sizes on South Beach.
• The 75-ounce margaritas taste great at 2 a.m. & will leave you wrecked.
• Make sure you bring money, South Beach isn’t much fun if you’re sweating drink prices.
• The NFL & the city, county and state need to make sure Miami is permanently back in the Super Bowl rotation; the next four Super Bowl cities are Tampa, L.A., Glendale & New Orleans.
• The Miami Beach Convention Center is massive with a rather horrible Uber/Lyft pickup situation. They definitely didn’t plan very well in that department.
• Cuban diner Puerto Sagua closes at 2 a.m. Get there at 1:30, they’ll gladly let you eat without rushing you. The place is 4-stars on Yelp & serves a $10 Cuban that you won’t finish. The place is 100% legit. Get a seat at the bar, relax. Trust me. Definitely not a fancy place, you midwesterners will feel comfortable.
• Earplugs. You might need them depending on the floor you stay on.
• You’re on an island in the Atlantic Ocean. Enjoy the mixture of art, language, dress, cultures and get happy. Enjoy yourself.
Kathy and 4X Super Bowl champion Jesse Sapolu
Easy for dad & Kathy to get a pic with Jeff Garcia in the VIP area.
