MiddletownMike: Super Bowl Boulevard Was A Super "Experience"

Yesterday, after working all night, I hopped on the 11:12 train from Middletown to NY Penn Station with my two son and headed towards Times Square to check out this year's NFL Experience - Super Bowl Boulevard. The Super Bowl Boulevard started on 34th St. at the world famous department store Macy's and ran uptown along Broadway and 7th Ave to 47th st.

Macy's department store was the official site to purchase anything and everything related to the Super Bowl and on the 4th floor we were greeted by a sentry of NFL manikins representing each team and various displays with all kinds of merchandise ready to purchase (it was pretty cool if I do say so myself). We picked up a couple of shirts and a small football that we would later have autographed by Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch (more on that later).

We left Macy's and headed up 7th Ave., to say the street was crowded and crazy would be an understatement. While I would not put the crowd size in the area of say New Years Eve, I would say that it was easily 7 several times worse than going into Manhattan during the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Due to the large crowd we didn't participate in many activities, wait times for most of the sponsored events were upwards to 2 hours or more. We did however make it over to Bryant Park where Verizon had a pavilion set up. Inside the Verizon Power House Pavilion there were several interactive areas showcasing new technologies and where you could have your name or picture inserted into various photos with NFL players Matt Forte (Chicago Bears) and Clay Matthews (Green Bay Packers). It was one of the better attractions of the day.

Heading back to 7th Ave from Bryant Park we passed the NFL Network and FOX Sports broadcasting areas (ESPN and CNN also had areas of their own set up along the Boulevard) and we saw that big toboggan slide that everyone has been making a big deal over.

While fighting the crowds and doing all that walking around Times Square the kids started to get hungry, so we started looking for a place to eat. We had thought that the ESPN Zone would have been a great place to grab a bite. Unfortunately, after walking up and down 7th Ave for several block we came the realization that the eatery was no longer there. As we were searching for the ESPN Zone my youngest son noticed on the marquee of Planet Hollywood that Marshawn Lynch was going to be there signing autographs at 6pm. After seeing that we had no other choice, my son insisted that we had to eat there and wait for Lynch, much to my oldests' and mine objections. Before heading back towards Planet Hollywood though, we stopped in at M&M World.

At M&M World the kids wanted to get some team colored (Broncos & Seahawks) M&M's. We looked around and found a display of 7 ounce packages each of which had individual team colored and logo stamped candies inside. Each bag was $13.99 each (outrageous I know) but was buy one, get one free. So we bought 4 packages 2 of each team, 1of each to eat later, 1 of each to save as souvenirs.

Also while we were in the store Mike Francesa from the radio station WFAN was there broadcasting his show, my youngest sometimes watches him on TV and wanted to see him in person, even if it was for just a brief second. We left M&M World and headed over to Planet Hollywood.

We got to Planet Hollywood just before 4pm and I was surprised to see that the place was pretty empty considering that one of the premier running backs in the NFL was going to be appearing there in just two hours. There were just a few noticeable Seahawks fans hanging out in the bar area and a handful of families sitting at tables in the dinning room. We sat down, ordered our drinks and meals and then while they were being served I inquired about Marshawn Lynch's appearance later in the evening.

Our waiter was a great sport (which earned him a very nice tip by the way), he and much of the wait staff didn't know much about what was happening later on, but he asked his supervisors a few different times for us and the people sitting next to us, for information. When he did finally have details, we were pleased to find out that the management of Planet Hollywood had decided to give all those currently in the restaurant preferential treatment to be at the head of the line for an autograph and to meet Marshawn Lynch. That was great news. We finished our dinner by 5:30 and then moved into the waiting line, Marshawn was to arrive by 6pm and start greeting people after a brief press conference. As these things go, 6pm came and went without Lynch's arrival.

While waiting there, standing in line we did find out the reason why Lynch was there. He was there with and his cousin, Josh Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals and San Francisco 49er Hall of Famer Joe Montana's wife Jennifer Montana, promoting their charity Beast Mode. They were there to sell Beast Mode 24 necklaces which Montana designed. Even though 80% of the profits from the sale of the necklaces were going to the charity at $124 each, the price was out of my league.

About 15 minutes prior to Marshawn Lynch's arrival (somewhere near 6:30) Joe Montana walked in and caused a big stir, no one was expecting him to be there and people rushed to see him. He was polite but refused to take picture or sign autographs with the general public. He was just there to support his wife and the charity event.

After Lynch's arrival, he spent a good 25 minutes with Montana and other dignitaries who were there supporting Lynch's charity event. He made it to the stage and said a few words about his Beast Mode charity and what inspired him to start it. He then talked to the media for a few more minutes (he didn't seem to have any problems doing that contrary to what was going on during the NFL's Media Day event this past Tuesday in Newark) and then sat down greeted and signed autographs for us. Lynch signed a football and a couple of Super Bowl XLVIII programs for us. He was courteous to the kids and made sure to say hello to each of us. After waiting in line to see him for nearly 90 minutes, I was happy to see that he was a really good guy.

Afterwards we headed back to Penn Station to catch the next train home but on the way, we took just few more pictures to remember the day. It was quite the expeirence!