Hell of a Week for Indianapolis (and New York)

Not enough can be said about how well Indianapolis did for Super Bowl XLVI. From the ribbon cutting opening for Super Bowl Village downtown -- way to bring it, Bret Michaels -- to the zipline phenomenon, the celebrity sightings, the parties, the concerts, the lack of crime, reasonable traffic, and the gorgeous weather for February in Indiana, it was damn-near perfect. And to cap it off, I managed to work my way into the game for less than face value, which earned a tweet from Darren Rovell:



I didn't expect to attend the game, but this morning I told myself that it was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity, and this is something I wanted to cross off my sports bucket list. I'm just glad the game more than lived up to the hype; it was well worth the price of admission, in my opinion. The Giants and Patriots delivered another great Super Bowl battle, capped off by one of the best plays in recent memory (sound familiar?) - Eli's throw to Manningham was absolutely perfect.

Some of the week's highlights:

-Hearing that two people sold their zipline tickets for $500 ... each. I mean, are you serious? Who actually paid that kind of money for a 5-second ride on a wire over a street in downtown Indy?

-Being asked by two young (I'm guessing 8 years old) autograph seekers if I was this guy (kicker for the Giants):



-Reuniting with a few friends from NYC who flew into town for the game, joining them at their pre-game tailgate near Lucas Oil Stadium.

-Rolling VIP-style into the Maxim party free of charge (I saw online those tix were $2,000 per person), being 10 feet from the stage where Ludacris performed a full concert, and standing next to Pat Riley and Cal Ripken, Jr. as they slammed shots of Patron together.

-Waching people blow Facebook up with celebrity sightings in Zionsville - apparently George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Will Smith and others were enjoying the hot spots in the town just north of Indianapolis.

-Not having to pay for parking anywhere. Nice to have the Super Bowl in your city, where you know people who live within walking distance from all the action. People were paying $100 to park today. Goodness.

-Reading articles from national sports-writers who were shocked that Indianapolis could offer something other than flyover territory or an occasional Final Four. Granted, we got extremely lucky as it concerned the weather, but I see no reason why Indianapolis couldn't host another Super Bowl down the road. In fact, I'd be shocked if the city didn't get another one in the next 15 years (I think ToddFather made a bet with someone over the weekend on this very topic, actually).

-Winning my bet on the Giants (+3.5) to cover.



Having said all that, I'm ready to get back to normal everyday life here in Indianapolis. I haven't been out until 3-4am this many nights in a row since I was just a young summer associate in New York and it was basically your job to do it. It'll be weird driving downtown for work in the morning, not seeing the massive crowds of people walking the streets with booze or hearing the echoes of random musical acts onstage.