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Last Updated: Nov 2nd, 2009 - 17:32:57 |
By Jim Tocco
Special to the Advertiser
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Tallahassee is 170 miles away from Jacksonville, but the marquee of a Comfort Inn off of I-10 reads, "Welcome Eagles and Patriots fans!"
Hundreds of miles before reaching Jacksonville, it's easy to sense the faintest of rumblings. And as you continue, you drive inward through concentric circles until you reach the epicenter.
Alltel Stadium, which will host Super Bowl XXXIX Sunday night, is a blazing pillar of light. The stadium floodlights are turned on at all hours, and at least 100 sportlights trumpet the temporary center of American Sport, American Glamour and the American pop culture experience.
You already know the Super Bowl is a big event. But maybe you didn't know that it's an event that takes tens of thousands of people nearly half a decade to plan.
"(This weekend is) a great feeling," said Heather Surface, communications director for the Jacksonville Super Bowl Committee. "It's exciting to see several years of preparation come to fruition."
Surface and the Super Bowl Committee have been working with 60 security agencies, 61 subcommittees and a team of 9,400 volunteers since 1999 for this weekend. When the official announcement came on Nov. 1, 2000, that Jacksonville would host the event, things began moving at a fever pitch and haven't slowed down since.
"Not being the same size as some of the other Super Bowl hosts presented some logistical challenges," Surface said. "One of the first things we figured out is that we would be about 3,000 hotel rooms short of what was needed."
That was remedied by docking five huge cruise ships in Jacksonville, including the Carnival Miracle, the largest ship in Carnival's fleet. The floating cities not only add 3,617 extra hotel rooms to Jacksonville's capacity but also add 16 restaurants, eight spas and 41 bars and night clubs.
"It's amazing how many details there are," Surface said. "But when you think of all of the coverage it's brought to Jacksonville, it's hard to put a price tag on that kind of visibility."
Speaking of coverage, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Department has everyone on staff working in 12-hour shifts all weekend. The department has added 50 percent more communications staff and is working with 16 other agencies, including the FBI and the Coast Guard.
In order to carry it off, the agencies are debuting a new radio system called the Florida Statewide Interoperability Network that allows all of the agencies to communicate with one another.
The staffs of both teams have been working every waking hour for two weeks to create a memorable weekend for their fans. Two and a half days before game time, Eagles sales representative Drew Young hosted a "meet and greet" at the Bonefish Grill, where chants rose up every few minutes and Cristal Champagne flowed as freely as beer.
Season ticket holders and favored clients were in and out all day, while another reception took place across town. Afterward, a fleet of buses would whisk everyone away to Jacksonville's Magellan, one of the top-rated restaurants in the world.
"I would say two weeks almost isn't enough time to get everything ready," Young said. "It's been great, but it's a little overwhelming. Our entire staff has been working from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. just to make this happen for people."
That's the way it is at the epicenter of American Sports. An amazing amount of work for 60 minutes of play.
But what a super 60 minutes.
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Jim Tocco, the play-by-play voice of the Montgomery Biscuits, is attending the Super Bowl in Jacksonville and is reporting on some of the events leading up to Sunday's game for the Montgomery Advertiser.
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