Super Bowl XL

Typically, I'm not a fan of the NFL. I love football, so I watch NFL on occasion, but I certainly don't follow it like I follow Alabama football, and I don't have a favorite team (although, by default, I kinda like the Falcons). However, I do have an affinity for players, especially those that went to Alabama, such as Shawn Alexander.






Shawn played for Alabama while I was in school there. I was in Baton Rouge, LA at the Bama vs. LSU game where he ran for over 300 yards (kicking LSU's butt, by the way, David). Even though I don't know him personally, I feel a certain bond with him. I think that not only is he a great football player, but a good person, too. And of course, I want to see former Bama players succeed. So, for this Super Bowl, I'm going to have to go with the Seattle Seahawks. Go Shawn!


Now, let's reflect for a minute on SuperBowl XXVIII. Why, Kara, you ask? Well, so I can share something with you that not very many know...

Ahh, who couldn't forget that Sunday, January 30, 1994, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, where the Cowboys took on the Bills resulting in a 30-13 victory (Really, I could. I didn't pay too much attention back then, so I had to do a little research). Emmitt Smith won MVP of the game (and, I assumed, went to Disneyworld), Natalie Cole performed the National Anthem (beautifully, I'm sure), the former Univ. of Alabama great, Joe Namath, did the coin toss (love him! Roll Tide!), but outside of all of that, the most important memory from that day definitely had to be the...

Halftime show
"The halftime show was titled "Rockin' Country Sunday" and featured [high school dance participant, Kara (I'm not lying), along with] country music stars Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt, and Wynonna Judd. The show's finale included a special appearance by Naomi Judd who joined Wynonna in performing The Judds' single "Love Can Build a Bridge", to which everyone eventually joined in.

This was the first Super Bowl halftime show in which the main stadium lights were turned off for the performance. The show included dancers [me] with yard-long light sticks."

Yes, it's true. I've been in a Super Bowl halftime show. I was 17 and a junior in high school. The halftime show company solicited all major Atlanta high schools for participants in the show, and about 20 girls from my high school participated. We practiced VERY long hours after school with other girls from local high schools during the month of January leading up to the big event. Saturday before, we had a dress rehearsal with the celebrities and got them to sign autographs, which was very cool.

I was part of the group that came out for Wynonna Judd's song, "No One Else on Earth", which entailed hiding under the stage until our turn to perform. We had these long light sticks that we used as props, mine lit up pink. After her song, we hid back under the stage until the finale, which was The Judds song, "Love Can Build a Bridge". The lights went out in the stadium, and the crowd were given flashlights, so they were part of the show, too. They all swayed back and forth to the song while those of us on the field waved our light sticks side to side. Local choirs came out on the stage at the end with flashlights and sang backup to the stars. It was all in all, pretty impactful. And a great experience to remember and tell others I was apart of.

The only bad side? We were shuffled in before the performance, and shuffled out afterwards, so I can't say that I've actually ever watched a Super Bowl game in person.