Nevertheless, knowing not to what extent he even cares, let us congratulate Mr. Vincent for the 'job well done' by ostensibly the 'home town guys'.
As for myself, it seems like I 'take care of business' during the game; glued to the tube for the ads - and of course the majestic performance of the National Anthem by Rene' Flemming. Any ads that as of this morning have received critical acclaim, I got to see. Of course, being a Senior Citizen, none are exactly pitching products that I am about to buy (those are all on Nightly News).
While no chance for such with XLIX (Glendale, AZ), there does seem to be a trend to want to play winter sports 'in the elements', maybe another NEC city will be selected - and maybe the two teams will be from the NEC, say the Eagles v. Patriots, If Amtrak is continue to gain relevance as a transportation resource within Corridors (sorry bout that; LD advocates), maybe they would have an important role to play. Might they be airing Super Bowl ads?, might the NFL decide to have an 'official transportation sponsor' and it be Amtrak?
I don't expect to see it, but then some of you relative youngsters around here?
Posted by chrisg (Member # 2488) on :
We would have loved to see it but Time-Warner lost it for an hour so we missed a lot of the Game. Godzilla vs Destoryer was much more interesting.
Chris
Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
I watched the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet; Keyboard Kat had a better playbook than Peyton Manning, it seems.
Posted by yukon11 (Member # 2997) on :
I would like to see a special Amtrak train to take people to the Winter Classic. For non-hockey fans, this is a special pro hockey game held outdoors on New Years day, usually in a football stadium or ball park. This past Jan 1st it was in Detroit...the Maple Leafs against the Red Wings.
Richard
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
It would appear that, like the Broncos, NJTransit also got blown out:
Billed by organizers as the first “mass-transit Super Bowl,” Sunday’s game drew many visitors to the area’s labyrinthine transportation network for the first time. Reviews were decidedly mixed, and there were occasional scenes of large-scale confusion at some of the region’s transit hubs
The need for the 'change at Secaucus' arose as Penn Station to the fairly new Secaucus station is PRR (Southbound); ERIE from there to E. Rutherford/Met Life Stadium spur (Westbound).
Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
Richard, there are now several "Winter Classics." Besides the one you mentioned, there were two that took place recently at Yankee Stadium, and even one between the Kings and the Ducks at balmy Dodger Stadium. I may have left one or two others out, as I haven't followed the NHL very closely since the days when there were only six teams.
I do subscribe to the view, however, that Amtrak needs to market itself more vis a vis professional and college sports.
Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
quote:Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman:
Brief passage:
The need for the 'change at Secaucus' arose as Penn Station to the fairly new Secaucus station is PRR (Southbound); ERIE from there to E. Rutherford/Met Life Stadium spur (Westbound).
Love the "Mad Men" era references to the heritage railroads, Gil. Puts my recollections of a six-team NHL in perspective.
Posted by Vincent206 (Member # 15447) on :
What a a great day to live in Seattle! We've been waiting 35 years for a championship and while I'm sorry that the game didn't provide much suspense or drama for most of you, I loved (and watched) every second.
For all the aviation enthusiasts who read this forum, I hope you saw the story about Boeing's giant "12" that was flown over eastern WA last week. Alaska Airlines also created a special plane livery to honor Russell Wilson. I'm sorry that Amtrak didn't have any special liveries or promotions to honor the Seahawks. Seattle, Portland and Vancouver are all bitter rivals in soccer, but the Seahawks are considered the "home team" for most residents along the Cascades Corridor and Amtrak carries a lot of football fans to Seahawk games at Century Link Field. The trains are also popular for soccer matches between the Cascadia rivals.
As for the Super Bowl commercials, I thought the Bob Dylan spot for Chrysler with the line "Detroit built cars and cars built America" might have provoked a reaction from train fans or Union Pacific, but I guess we'll have to wait for XLIX for the response.
Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
I had heard something about Southern California losing the Super Bowl, but I didn't know it was for an hour. Wow!! Their phone lines must have been lit up like a Christmas tree. Wrong time to have broadcast issues!!!!
Posted by Mike Smith (Member # 447) on :
Here is an excellent article explaining how the Seahawks neutralized Denver:
Today, The Times has printed a piece that would place the burden on parties other than NJTransit for the 'Super Snafu'. Within such, it is reported that NJT had no mechanical issues and delivered properly crewed trains for the event. Again, while not the indictment against the NFL that this advocacy group material sets forth, and to which I somehow think the author is not all that much of a football fan, it does suggest that the blame can be spread about.
Also, the Super Bowl culture was a contributor to the apparent fiasco. Here you have the confluence of high rollers to whom any kind of mass transit is simply for the plebeians beneath their level. They, in great part, are accustomed to having their 'Black Town Cars' (guess they are now SUV's as Ford has scuttled that model) 'whisik' them hotel to the venue's front door. This 'change at Secaucus' likely drew a 'HUH'? They know little and could care even less that the 'mighty Pennsy' was not about to even acknowledge the existence of Jay Gould and his 'band of ERIE brigands' that of course prevented a one seat 'Penn to Park' ride.
While 'football in the elements' could well become part of the future Super Bowl culture, I have my doubts is mass transit will again be the primary means to get from 'party central' to the venue. It just isn't part of Super Bowl crowd for whom 'hurry up and wait' is for the other guys:
Still, despite riders’ frustrations — and an acknowledgment from an N.F.L. spokesman that organizers “fell short” of their transit goals — delays almost certainly could have been worse. New Jersey Transit suffered no major breakdowns or other complications. And the agency’s estimate on Sunday evening that about 12,000 fans could be moved per hour proved largely accurate
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mike Smith: Here is an excellent article explaining how the Seahawks neutralized Denver:
Mr. Smith and any others who choose to link material here from the Journal, you can cut the link, as I have done above, at the first Query (?) mark and access the material as anything added by the search engine used. Feature material from Sports is not customarily paywalled.
Otherwise, from the first kickoff return and the one play Safety, I think Seattle was pretty sure 'they had 'em'.
Posted by Vincent206 (Member # 15447) on :
One thing that this blow-out demonstrates is that the Pacific Northwest is still located next to Siberia for most national media organizations. Amtrak fans know that the trip from Chicago to Seattle takes 2 full days (and modern travelers know that KSEA-KORD clocks in at 4 hours), so I understand that the media won't be as knowledgeable about the Seahawks/Mariners/Sounders as they would be about the Bears/Red Sox/Knicks. But the number of clueless, so-called experts who prattled on-and-on, 24/7 on the various, highly-respected cable channels and internet sites without a basic understanding of the Seahawks' game plan was astounding. So, it wasn't a shock that most media pundits were picking the team with the old, slow, weak-armed QB to win (even Vegas had the Broncos winning), but the Seahawks just did what they do every week and...BOOM! a shocking blowout (to everyone outside of the PNW).
The Pacific Northwest's remoteness--even in this age of high speed travel and electronic connectivity--is still one of its greatest assets. It takes an effort to get here and if you plan to stay, you have to make a commitment and expect things to be a little different. It's not just our trains that are unusual.
Posted by Tanner929 (Member # 3720) on :
Of course the government officials told everyone to stay off the road, don't use your car! And of course they where shocked when they found they had more riders then trains!
Since the NFL seems to have struck a deal with the devil to have near balmy weather for the big game, perhaps some nasty weather may have made it a contest. Well those who where left in the Northeast have been hit with two snow storms. Had to drive to NYC from CT all I heard on the news and traffic reports was the problems on the Metro-North, LIRR and NJ Transit, stalled, stranded and limited scheduled trains. If people will not trust a train to a daily commute who's going to take a vacation on one?