UPIG and other Super Bowl disses
Attention all 12th man, and woman, fans of Idaho; I hope you enjoy the game that is fast approaching. Here are a few bits of trivia about where the game is being played.
The stadium is sponsored by the University of Phoenix and is in Glendale, Ariz.; the acronym is UPIG (Univ. of Phoenix In Glendale). If you take a picture of the stadium from a certain height and direction, you get another view of why the stadium was nicknamed "The Toilet Bowl." Question, since the game is held at UPIG and in a toilet bowl, shouldn't the game be renamed the Super Toilet Bowl?
All puns aside, I did watch the last 2 minutes of the playoff game between the 'Hawks and Green Bay; it was the best 2 minutes of the entire game. Too bad many who paid dearly for a stadium seat gave up and left early and had to watch the ending on TV. Based on how the 'Hawks like to come back from a losing point of view, that says a lot about their determination to see the game through to the end. We could all learn something from that lesson, especially those who gave up on them and left early.
Years ago, 1999, I took a job that put me in Colorado; yes the Broncos were going to the Super Bowl and my co-workers had gone crazy. I would walk into an area of cubicles and see blue and orange all over the place with people both for and against the Broncos debating on who would win. I was the "new kid in the cubes," with a new job and I only knew a few co-workers. I decided to try an experiment and see if I could ease some of the pre-game tension.
An opportunity to say something came my way and I seized the moment. I blurted out, "You are all wrong! The Diamondbacks will take the game this year." I then paused to see what would happen next. Yes, both sides turned towards me and began to unleash their teams' rhetoric on me when someone finally said, "Wait a minute, the Diamondbacks are baseball!" The room went quiet and I said, "Gotcha" with a smile. At first they didn't know what to do or say then someone said, "You're the new guy, aren't you?" I turned and walked back to my cube with a big grin. Things settled down for the rest of the morning.
When I lived in Mesa we had an item on a ballot to vote for or against a stadium tax to build the Diamondbacks stadium; it was soundly defeated. But the county commissioners decided to overturn our vote and implement the tax; thus the welfare league began. Moving to Idaho from Arizona back in 2001 was the best thing I ever did, for Idaho has no pro "welfare" teams and the people are absolutely the best here.
Yes, I discovered that many root for the 'Hawks, and other teams I might add, and try their best to support a pro team from some other state. I just hope the variety of fans can keep things in perspective here and enjoy each other's teams and fan camaraderie without stooping down into the gutter. Whoever wins the upcoming game, remember this; it's not who wins or loses, but how you enjoy the game, both during and after. Let's not get sucked into the toilet bowl with rude comments and offensive remarks about either team or their fans. As for me, I will try to tune in to the last 2 minutes to see if there will be an interesting change of events.
Larry Barnes is a Coeur d'Alene fan - and resident.