A Super time in downtown Detroit
It seemed like yesterday that my life changed forever.
Actually, it was about four years ago, give or take a couple weeks when that call came in.
ON THE Monday after the conference title games, I received a call from a high school friend, who had a ticket waiting for me to Super Bowl XL when the Seattle Seahawks took on the Pittsburgh Steelers at Ford Field in Detroit.
The ensuing two weeks got a bit crazy, booking flights and looking for a rental car and trying to take care of some last-minute work things before I jumped on a flight from Spokane to Detroit.
Not being able to get a direct flight, I had a quick stop in Minneapolis before landing in Michigan sometime around 9 p.m. Eastern time.
AFTER PICKING up the car and catching up on old times, we made our way to Chelsea, Mich., where we were put up for the weekend by some of his bosses.
The morning of the big game, no alarm clock was needed as my brother (a big Pittsburgh fan that year) greeted me with a "Pittsburgh Steelers" chant at 4:30 a.m.
By then, I was awake, ready to watch the Seahawks win the Super Bowl.
Driving through Ann Arbor, I opted for a brief detour, because I'd always wanted to see the campus at the University of Michigan, especially Michigan Stadium.
After arriving in Detroit, we began to navigate our way around town, looking for the right place to park and a shuttle bus to get downtown.
THE SHUTTLE was packed with Steeler fans, which was pretty ordinary since 80 percent of fans in attendance were those of the Steeler kind.
Finally, we arrived in downtown Detroit, walking through the "Winter Blast" and looking at some of the various Super Bowl-related events held around the stadium, as well as where the Jimmy Kimmel Show and celebrity parties were being held.
As we made the way through the crowds, we met up with the guy that had our tickets to the game at Cheli's Chili Bar across from Comerica Park, the home of the Detroit Tigers.
Little did I know it was a Nike pre-game party and all the food was catered and free to us. As we sat and ate lunch, former NHL great Brett Hull walked into the restaurant and talked to us for a couple seconds. The owner of the bar, former Detroit Red Wing Chris Chelios, I didn't see that weekend.
WHEN IT came time to enter the security line for the game, the excitement began to run through me because it felt like that night was going to be a good one.
I ran into another group of people from Kellogg standing in line and talked with them for a moment before moving along, taking in some of the other sights before walking into Ford Field.
After finally making it through security, we made our way into Ford Field, taking a look at the field and the players warming up for the big game.
Our tickets were in the second deck on the 30-yard line, but considering only paying half of what the ticket value was, I wasn't about to complain.
ONCE ALL the pregame activities (introductions of all 39 Super Bowl MVPs) and entertainment kicked off, it seemed to me that the game started to fly by, watching Seattle drive the field at one moment, and rolling out the stage for the Rolling Stones in a matter of minutes.
The second half didn't start quite as well as the first half, and Seattle ran into a better team that day as the Seahawks lost the Super Bowl 21-10.
AS WE were walking out of Ford Field, it seemed as though the windows were about to come out of a bar packed with Steeler fans and I thought for a moment that we weren't going to make it out of the downtown area without getting caught in the mob.
When we finally got back to the hotel, it didn't seem like long after that the Super Bowl trip was done and I was on a flight back to Spokane.
The memories of that weekend remain strong every time the Super Bowl comes around.
Getting lost in Detroit, that I try to forget.
Jason Elliott is a correspondent for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone 664-0239 or via e-mail at jelliott@cdapress.com.