An abbreviated account of my time in Miami so far (2/1):
Arrived on Sunday for the AFL Board Meetings on Monday and Tuesday.
Monday: Introduce Joe Horrigan of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to the AFL owners at the Board meeting. Joe is the man who announces the Hall of Fame inductees, which he will do on Saturday. The AFL is getting its first-ever display in the Hall on February 19. I'm coordinating.
Monday night: Russell Athletic, the new uniform supplier of the AFL, puts on a fashion show for the AFL owners, staff and ESPN execs and announcers. They hire two professional female models, two Dolphins cheerleaders and four Orlando Predators dancers. It was arguably the greatest night in AFL history. A great show.
After the runway was finished, Commissioner Baker introduced the new ESPN broadcasters to the crowd (Mike Golic, Mike Greenberg, Trey Wingo, Mark Schlereth, Merril Hoge and Ron Jaworski). For those who don't know, Greenberg and Golic have a very successful morning radio show on ESPN Radio called Mike and Mike. They play off the fact that Golic is a blue collar athlete and that Greenberg is a white collar clutz. True to form, Greenberg trips trying to climb onto the stage and is caught by the Commissioner. Mike and Mike proceed to discuss this for minutes on their show the next day. Greenburg says that Commissioner Baker has a huge head, which he does (he's 6-9, 400 pounds).
Tuesday - Work with John Elway, Jaws and Jon Bon Jovi to try to ensure their attendance for AFL publicity efforts in NYC prior to the kickoff of the AFL's season on March 1.
Tuesday night - Go to the Clevelander for a much needed night of relaxation. Come to the conclusion that people in Miami just don't wear a lot of clothes. Some Bears D-Lineman party's with the women of our group.
Wednesday - Go to the Media Center for the first time and see many of my old NFL cohorts. Bring Commissioner Baker to radio row where he does seven interviews over two hours. Personalities of note at the Media Center (in addition to traditional media): The winner and first runner-up of the 2006 Hooters International Contest; models offering free massages outside the Center.
Thursday - Go back to the Media Center for more Commissioner interviews. But before we start, watch two press conferences, 1) Bill Joel Anthem; 2) Prince Halftime. Bill Joel was one of the weirdest ever. Strange questions, wise-ass answers. 400 people left uncomfortable. He also talked about what a terrible song the National Anthem is.
The Prince press conference was different. True to his strange personality, he had announced weeks before that he wasn't going to speak at his press conference. Instead, he'd let his music speak for him. So he was going to play three songs. I'm skeptical about this because I think it's going to fall flat. He's finally announced and his band comes out in the typical Prince garb, suits, shades and instruments. Two identical hot chicks are part of the group. I'm thinking that this is getting cooler and might actually work. He steps to the microphone and says something like, "I've decided to take some questions," so some guy yells out a question and he says, "Well I think..." and obnoxiously strums his electric guitar and the rest of the band explodes into Johnny B Good. It was very cool. The ultimate rock moment. He answers the question rudely with an awesomely loud sound. He played two more songs. It was great. It was fun to watch a group of people who are really good at something doing what they love. Probably helped that it was a small venue.
Personalities of note: Jarret, the Subway guy; Hooters chicks again; the Burger King 'King'. It's like 9-feet tall.
Thursday night - Watch SB34 replay on NFL Network. Does anyone remember that Boomer Esiason was the MNF announcer for a whole year and for the Super Bowl? I didn't.
Friday...Plan for tomorrow is to attend Commissioner Goodell's press conference and to attend the ESPN The Magazine 'Next' party. I'll keep you updated.
