Super Bowl Sunday found Sabres beat reporter John Vogl in between Phoenix and Anaheim on the team's Western road trip. What's a reporter to do on the biggest sports Sunday of the year? It was a simple right-hand turn to get to Las Vegas. It's tough work but someone has to do it.
Betting and the lure of easy money sure make for fast friends and unlikely enemies.
Take the two guys in Raiders jerseys. Seemingly bonded by their allegiance to the Silver and Black, they couldn't stand each other. Meanwhile, the dudes in the Chargers and Broncos jerseys were exchanging high-fives and fist-pumps, oblivious to the fact their beloved quarterbacks would rather punch each other in the mouth than ROOT for the same team.
Ah . . . Vegas, baby, Vegas.
There are plenty of places to watch the Super Bowl. Few are like a sports book in a Las Vegas casino. Fueled by wagering, whiskey, women and (hopes of) winning, it's four to eight hours of controlled chaos.
The Mirage, where I spent Sunday for the third time in my five Super Bowls in Vegas, was rocking as usual. The NFL's Big Game produces one of Sin City's biggest weekends, as fans come to celebrate in the place where anything goes.
The sports book in the Mirage measures 10,000 square feet, and they needed nearly every inch of it. The seats were taken, the walls were leaned on. The aisles? That's where the expressions of jubilation occur.
It starts right from the toss of the coin. Arizona and Pittsburgh watched the flip and wondered if they could start the game right. Folks with betting slips watched and wondered if their wallets would already be fatter. Yes, you can bet the coin toss in Vegas. You can bet anything in Vegas:
* Jersey number of the player to score the first touchdown, above or below 37.5.
* Distance of the first punt, over or under 40.5 yards.
* Total sacks by the Steelers (2.5) or the Cardinals (2).
* Total yards of the first completion by Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner (8.5) or length of his longest completion (40.5).
* Player to have the longest reception, Pittsburgh's Santonio Holmes or Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald.
You name it, you can find it. It's why every play is greeted with cheers or groans that even the teams' coaches would struggle to match. But those letdowns are allayed when the pin-up-quality cocktail waitress comes by to take your order of free beers, mixed drinks or shots. Yes, free. You place a bet, you get free drinks. And they keep coming (and coming).
Halftime is no comparison. Sure, the Boss is great. But getting a nod from the pit boss after you collect gambling chips is even better. Bruce Springsteen can walk through the fans belting "Glory Days." The real glory comes when you sit at the blackjack table and 21 keeps appearing in front of you. Born to make a run, indeed.
There's no doubt Raymond James Stadium was bedlam in the final minutes of the Super Bowl. Attending an event live is predictably better than watching it on TV, even if the screens dwarf a Hummer super-stretch limo. But the chance to get a free night on the Strip (or a mortgage payment for the big betters) brings the crowd to almost-unparalleled delight.
When it's over, the lucky immediately line up to cash in. If it didn't work out this time? Oh, well. There's always next year. Just look up at the big proposition board. The odds to win the 2010 Super Bowl are already up.
The Buffalo Bills are among the biggest long shots.
e-mail: jvogl@buffnews.com
