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Are you experienced? Fiend and posse do the NFL Experience
Posted: Friday January 28, 2000 05:32 PM
ATLANTA (CNNSI.com) -- After spending part of the evening at the NFL Experience at the Georgia World Congress Center next door to us here at CNN Center, the Fiend is in a "Purple Haze" and is struggling to tell whether it's "Love or Confusion." Enough with the Jimi Hendrix references, and onto the fun. The Fiend headed over to the World Congress Center shortly after the Experience opened at 4 p.m. on Thursday. Today was the first time that the Fiend went out on an adventure with a posse in tow, with Wife of Fiend, Fiend's Homie and Fiend's Sidekick tagging along to play. Our day at the Experience got off to a fun start when we spotted notorious Cleveland Browns superfan John "Big Dawg" Thompson just inside the doors. Wearing his trademark dog mask and No. 98 Browns jersey, "Big Dawg" looked like a million bucks. This is a man who went to the extreme of LEGALLY changing his name to John "Big Dawg" Thompson to prove his allegiance to his favorite team. Now that is something that the Fiend certainly admires! Several crazy Vikings and Packers fans were mulling around the lobby, but everything else was going to seem passe after running into freakin' "Big Dawg" Thompson.
Our good luck continued when my football-illiterate wife was handed four free tickets from a passing kind soul, just as we were preparing to jump into the long line to wait for tickets like the common folk. With our ducats secured, we began the LONG walk through the World Congress Center to get to the exhibit hall that is hosting the Experience. This would be an easy place to get lost in, and the frequent announcements for lost children on the public address system during the course of the night made that rather clear. Once inside, we immediately decided to try our hands (or feet in this case) at one of the physical-challenge tests. One thing that the Fiend realizes after spending more than three hours at the Experience is that I really need to join a gym. I'm only 25, but it's an "old" 25 at this point. I actually felt a lot like Al Bundy out there -- trying the relive the past glories of high school football -- though unlike Mr. Bundy, I never had a four-touchdown game to cling to and brag about as the years pass. Back in high school we used to inflate our playing weight and height in the game program just to seem more intimidating to opponents. So even though I was 5-9, 170 pounds at the time, I was listed in the program as 5-11, 180 pounds -- now that's one mean backup free safety right there! Today I think I would have to err the other way and undersell myself as 5-10, 210 pounds. And if you believe that, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you. Let's just say I'm a few bratwursts the other side of 210, and damn proud of it. Homie and I decided to try the Extra Point Kick, and I was terribly nervous as we waited in the 35-minute line to get my turn to kick. As a former kicker in high school, I would've been rather humiliated if I didn't hit a measly 20-yard PAT. With Wife and Sidekick looking on, I booted my first try right down the middle, giving it plenty of distance so that it would've been good from at least 33 or 34 yards. With my confidence up, I decided to back up and try a 30-yard field goal, wanting to show everyone else in line how easy it really is. I shouldn't have gotten so cocky. The 30-yard try went about 12 yards, never got more than five feet off the ground, and quite honestly, more closely resembled an onside kick than a field-goal attempt. Oh well, one out of two ain't bad. Homie missed both of his tries, with an interesting combination of a soccer-style runup and toe-boot kicking motion causing him to hook both kicks just left of the upright.
With my kicking ego initially satisfied and then shattered, we got some hot dogs and sodas, and went over to the Wilson Sporting Goods Football Factory to watch them make authentic Super Bowl XXXIV footballs. We talked for several minutes with one of the men who is down in Atlanta this week from Wilson's Ada, Ohio factory to man the exhibit. He told us that he can make as many as 500 footballs in one day, and that the factory as a whole produces just under one million footballs a year. It was very interesting to watch the folks from Wilson prepare, pat, pound, sew and shape what in only 15 minutes became an NFL football. After watching grown men sew leather into glorious brown footballs, Homie and I decided to get back into some rigorous physical activity and headed for The Big Move, a blocking sled drill where you push a tackling dummy 20 yards down and then back in the shortest possible time. Homie and I lined up, eager to get after it in the head-to-head competition, after only watching (and taunting) one another during the Extra Point Kick. As a former high school running back, Homie didn't do too much blocking, but the Fiend played some center, and then tight end, so I was no stranger to the skills needed to dominate a stuffed leather tackling dummy. Homie got off to a quick start, and actually led me by a couple of feet at the turnaround point, but thanks to his sub-par steering skills, I managed to edge him by a yard or so at the finish, coming in second overall in our group of four. I immediately felt like I was going to pass out, not remembering how much it takes out of you to sprint 40 yards while pushing a fairly heavy blocking sled. I think both Homie and I used muscles that we didn't remember we have anymore, actually. Many current and former NFL players were at the Experience today: Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez, Hall of Fame defensive tackle Randy White, Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Ham, Hall of Fame offensive tackle Anthony Munoz and Hall of Fame wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff all sat signing autographs at a table for about an hour each.
Broncos defensive end Neil Smith spent some time reading to children in the DK Publishing Kids' Zone. Smith did a pretty good job keeping the little ones entertained with his storytelling, and drew quite a crowd of youngsters for his session. Raiders wide receiver Tim Brown gave two separate hour-long lectures to kids about staying drug free at the e*trade Play It Smart exhibit. Brown spoke eloquently and kept the attention of both the children and adults who were listening to him. Just a few feet away, Redskins running back Stephen Davis was sitting in the Foot Locker NFL Team Shop signing autographs, but he looked like there was someplace he would rather be. Davis offered little chatter with people who had waiting in line for more than a half hour, sitting there straight-faced and solemn signing Redskins jerseys, Redskins mini-helmets and Auburn mini-helmets. We managed to get out of there with relatively little damage to the wallet, though it is quite conceivable that a family of four could spend $150 on tickets, food and souveneirs no problem. If you really want to get Super Bowl XXXIV gear, wait until Monday morning when the vendors will all be trying to get rid of it at half-price or less. The 15-acre interactive city is an incredible fan fest that lets everyone try their hand at mimicking the glorious Sunday gridiron feats of their heroes. Some succeed, most fail, but it's safe to say that everyone who passes through the door will have a good time, whether you are athletically inclined or not. The exhibits, video games, shopping, and people-watching give every type of person something that will entertain them for a couple of hours as Super Bowl XXXIV draws nearer.
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