"Super Duper" Sunday in Arizona

Posted January 28th, 2008 at 11:33 am in Golf News

Yes folks, it's 2008 and Super Bowl fever is right here in sunny, warm Arizona! It's just one week before the big game and last night The New England Patriots (18-0) arrived in Phoenix for Super Bowl XLII (for you un-Romans out there XLII means 42nd Super Bowl). Their plane touched down at 7:35 pm on a rare, rainy Sunday night At Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and to put everyone's mind at ease, Tom Brady actually walked to the waiting bus UNDER HIS OWN POWER! Speculation had run rampant about his injured foot, ankle, tendon, toe, fill in the blank, and the infamous "boot" that was nowhere to be seen. He declined an interview with yours truly and I don't blame him, he stubbed his toe getting on the bus, and was in obvious discomfort (just kidding)! The New York Giants kinda snuck in, preferring to let their football do the talking.

What does the Super Bowl and Tom Brady's foot have to do with Low Carb dieting or golf, you ask? Not a darn thing! This is just an opportunity for me as a resident of Scottsdale, Arizona (and as the owner of this site) to brag about what a great sports town Phoenix and her neighboring cities are. In less than one week from today the greatest football game of the year will be held in Glendale, Arizona at University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the (snake-bit) Arizona Cardinals. This year Arizona is providing new meaning to the term "Super Sunday", not only is that the day of the big game but just prior to kick-off and just a few miles to the east in Scottsdale, the PGA Pro's are putting the finishing touches on the final round of the FBR Open, a PGA TOUR event. After a week of partying at the TPC Scottsdale, golf fans will be anxious to crown a new champion and get in front of the most gi-normous big screen TV they can find! I feel sorry for the fans if it turns out to be a sqeaker or, God-forbid, a playoff - because only the true, die-hard golf fan would remain - everyone else storming the exits to get home in time for coin toss.

And just for the record, The FBR Open at the TPC Scottsdale always sets PGA TOUR attendance records (mostly by breaking their own) each year. (The secret if you want to know is; unlimited parking). It is the home of the infamous 16th hole, a delicate little Par 3 that Tiger Woods aced in his first FBR Open appearance. What a year that was (1997), the fans were salaming Tiger and tossing their beers into the fairway in tribute. And that was before the stands resembled those of the Roman Colliseum, lining the length of the hole and around the tee box, sort of a stadium within a stadium. Deane Beaman, you are a genius!

As if a Super Bowl and the final round of a wildly popular PGA TOUR event on the same weekend werent enough, Scottsdale is also host city to the first Super Skins Celebrity Golf Classic on February 2 hosted by Nick Lachey and NASCAR'S Jimmy Johnson. All the stories I read by press time quoted Jenna Fryers article in the AP which was a nice fluffy little piece but declined to disclose a location (golf course) for the event or which of our fine golfing celebs would be playing. I know a couple of choices I would make; Sean Connery, Joe Peschi, Clint Eastwood for sure. Bill Murray will be finished clowning around at the TPC Scottsdale Silver Pro-Am by then so he will probably be there. Nick Lachey, the former Mr. Jessica Simpson, and Jimmy Johnson of NASCAR fame are hosting the first of three contracted events held in Super Bowl locations. The AP story details how NASCAR star Johnson had broken his wrist last December clowning around on top of a golf cart and how embrarassing it was but that the event is a great way to get friends together to raise some money for charity. Each hole will be worth $20,000.00 but both Nick and Jimmy declined to be interviewed for this article nor would they disclose the route the celebs will take for the short trip from Scottsdale to Glendale for the Super Bowl on Sunday. As of this writing flight plans had not been filed.

So, with all this cool stuff going on, culminating on the Sunday of Super Bowl XLII, which I am predicting will be one of the greatest Super Bowls' ever played - I hereby - by the power invested in me as Scottsdale's #1 Golf Fan, former ABC Sports Golf Spotter, charter member of the Scottsdale Golf Packager's Hall of Fame, Scottsdale Golf Industry Insider and a player of some notoriety himself - proclaim that Sunday February 2, 2008 will be forever known as SUPER DUPER SUNDAY. Remember, NFL Films and Steve Sabol, I said it first!

Pat's by 3.