The Greg Matzek Blog

Super Bowl 45: Behind The Scenes, Day 2

By Greg Matzek Archived Content

• RSS Feed

• Tweet
• Share
• Email
• Print

MEDIA DAY:

I know the weather in Wisconsin is crippling right now, so this is not meant to be a "whoa is me" story about the conditions in Dallas, but today's weather in BIG D is downright raw. As I type, it's 19 degrees, with 40 MPH winds, and a solid inch of ice on the roads. The Airport, schools and mass transit lines all shut down. They opt to use sand on the roads when the weather gets nasty instead of salt...it's not very effective. Bill Michaels and I saw no less than 12 cars spun out on the side of the road on our way back from the stadium this afternoon.

Here's a picture of a semi in a compromising position.

Once on site at the stadium it was a mad dash to the security tent (where Bill lost his wallet), then another mad dash from the tent to the stadium entrance. Outside the stadium is what I would consider to be the largest hospitality tent I've ever seen. The winds were strong enough to rip giant holes in the plastic walls. I wasn't able to snap a good enough picture to tell the story, but it was crazy.

Before I explain more about the sites and sounds of media day, let me first say bravo to Jerry Jones. Cowboys Stadium is an outrageous spectacle. It's a beautifully constructed masterpiece and the scoreboard is a gawdy beast spanning 60 yards.

Here's some quick hits from the session:

• About 10 Packers were positioned on individual stages, while the remainder were casually mingling among the media members.
• Greg Jennings acted like a member of the media (complete with video camera) and was among the crowd surrounding Aaron Rodgers. Jennings interrupted the Q&A session with a couple questions of his own for his QB.
• WR James Jones was strolling through the media crowd interviewing other players, including a candid session with fellow WR Jordy Nelson.
• The overall mood of the Packers was that of a confident, candid, and focused group.
• Ben Roethlisberger had the largest crowd of the day surrounding his podium. Ben was filming the action from his walk out of the tunnel to his podium. He even stopped to interview teammate Brett Keisel, asking him what he named his crazy beard.
• Hines Ward donned a Troy Polomalu style wig and was soaking in the atmosphere.
• Steelers backup QB Byron Leftwich is huge.
• The Packers Diyral Briggs was seen wearing the same wig.
• National media types are almost treated like celebrities at en event like this. I saw ESPN's Chris Berman and Steve Levy giving interviews.
• The most popular "reporters" of the day were Brooklyn Decker, and Ines Sainz. For some reason, they seemed to be able to do whatever they wanted.
• Chad Ochocinco (or is it Johnson again?) has abnormally small feet.

The Packers will begin practice tomorrow and will throw on the pads for the first time since the NFC Championship game. Due to the weather conditions in Dallas, head coach Mike McCarthy announced that he plans to move the practice location from SMU, to an indoor facility at a local high school (Yes - high schools in Texas have indoor practice facilities).

I'll have more tomorrow!