It's good to be the king. My birthday party was awesome. How many times in life can you have big-time sports stars like Mike Ditka, Jerry Rice, Dan Patrick, Sean Salisbury, Randy Cross and Rick Reilly all in the same room -- and for your birthday party no less? Life is good. I have to thank my friends at the Green Iguana in Ybor City for letting us use the VIP room.
The more time I spend here, the more I love Super Bowl week. It seems like every time I turn around I'm getting invited to another concert or party. In just the last hour, I have been handed six tickets to sit in the owner's box at the Tampa Bay Lightning game against the Ottawa Senators. I am totally thrilled. Gary Hughes, director of marketing at the Tampa Marriott Waterside, is to thank. He's been awesome.
I've got tickets to both Lynyrd Skynyrd and Styx for Saturday night. I don't even know which concert I should go to! So many choices, so little time. Tonight, we've got the hockey game, an ESPN The Magazine party and an EA Sports party. I don't even know when I'm going to be able to get in a good workout.
Tampa is a great venue for a Super Bowl.
P.S. Thanks to everyone who sent me a birthday wish on the Web site. I really appreciate the kind words and great poetry. I wish you could all be here but since you're not, I'll have to party for everybody.