Saturday 10th – Pro Bowl
As usual, I beat the jet lag and ended up rising early. I was awake around 5:30 AM, so I decided to grab camera and tripod, and walked down to the beach (giving Toni some rare sleep in time).
Unfortunately, Waikiki faces south, so most of the spectacular sunrise was obstructed by the western mountains; however I managed to get some interesting pre-dawn snaps of the local pier.
After about an hour I returned to the hotel and got some extra sleep. We both rose and prepared for the Pro Bowl at around 8:30 AM.
Breakfast, which was supposedly included in the room fare, consisted of fresh fruit and coffee (not a smorgasbord) and was the first times I’ve seen Toni willingly eat fresh fruit!
Beach at dawn | Rob heading out with full kit
We walked the local area before heading back to the hotel to catch the shuttle bus. It was a fairly raucous crowd, everyone was in high spirits. We were, as expected, the only foreigners going to the game in the school bus – a yellow (as seen in movies) school bus, our first time travelling on one.
The trip took about an hour as traffic to the stadium was jam packed, and moving at a crawl. Toni was awed by the number of people who were enjoying the American art of tailgating – which basically involves eating and drinking before the game.
The Pro Bowl
Rob outside Aloha Stadium | The US National Anthem
We didn’t have as much pre-game time as I had expected, consequently we basically went straight up to our seats once we had acquired our tickets and passed through security.
Our seats were significantly higher up in the stadium than I had expected although we still had excellent seats for watching American Football (which is generally played through the air).
The stadium eventually held over 50,000 screaming fans and we were treated to rather spectacular pre- and halftime shows.
We sat next to an interesting couple from Georgia, and had some very interesting conversations both football related and not.
The players were introduced by team, by conference. Fireworks, cheerleaders and mascots highlighted the pre game. The game itself was really excellent – far, far better than the pre season game which was held in Sydney in 1998 (Denver v San Diego).
Stadium Skybridge | Cheerleaders in action
The Game
Peyton Manning started at Quarterback for the AFC and led to successful drives deep into the NFC’s territory. Drew Brees, from San Diego, didn’t fare as well and was off target on a number of passing plays.
Into the second quarter, the first string QBs made way for the second string players. Carson Palmer (Cincinnati) had a brilliant game earning MVP status.
By the end of the third quarter, Carson Palmer made way for Vince Young (Tennessee) and the AFC had, what appeared to be a commanding lead.
For the NFC, Tony Romo (Dallas) had taken the reins from Marc Bulger (St Louis) who had been doing a great job keeping the NFC close.
A Fiery Halftime Show | AFC on the scoring hunt
The halftime show was a big extravaganza – a local Hawaiian pop star headlined acrobats, dancers, rock n roll bands and a stage which featured an erupting volcano! NFL cheerleaders and NFL mascots also got into the action.
It wasn’t the same as the Superbowl halftime show, but it couldn’t have been far from it, complete with fighter jets flying overhead.
Tony Romo (for the NFC) had an awful third quarter, and at one point he was actively booed by the assembled fans. His supporting cast (the rest of the NFC team) managed to make up for Romo’s shortcomings.
The Finale
The special teams play (mostly Devin Hester from the Chicago Bears) and the efforts of a very astute NFC defence (including Green Bay’s Aaron Kampman) created the opportunity for 14 points and tied the game with just over a minute to play in the fourth quarter.
The AFC managed to storm into field goal range, largely due to a questionable pass interference call, and then proceeded to kick the winning field goal with five seconds to spare.
To say I appreciated the game is an understatement. The fact that players came to play, and no one took it easy really made the trip worthwhile.
Everyone was in fine spirits, and were very friendly towards us – even if we were sort of a novelty for an American football all-star game (being Australians).
We headed out of the stadium and met up with our bus comrades.
Just….Out of bounds..? A great telephoto photo.
On the trip back to Waikiki, Toni discovered that many of the people from Houston were US Post employees, which was interesting!
Once we arrived back at the hotel, we headed up to a Cheeseburger joint for dinner. Afterwards, we headed out for another walk around the Waikiki area before retiring early, very tired!