Around the Bluhmin’ Town

By

Judy Bluhm

Arizona knows how to throw a party. While the world’s eyes were temporarily diverted from unidentified flying balloons, visitors flocked here from all over the world and seemed to have one big spend-fest. Like an estimated One Billion bucks in revenue!

The Valley of the Sun hosted the Super Bowl LVII, helping us all to brush up on Roman Numerals. The weather was ideal, the skies were blue, the crowds were noisy but tame and the Big Game was possibly one of the most exciting football games ever played. We witnessed greatness that day.

The Waste Management Phoenix Open was a bit more of a wild ride when it comes to fans. What madness ensued this year? Well, one (drunk) man sprinted out to the 16th tee and performed a pole-dance on the flag stick only wearing a very small speedo in front of 20,000 cheering fans. If that wasn’t enough of a spectacle, the guy raced through the tunnel to the 17th tee and proceeded to prance around the fairway. Finally, the race was on, and he was captured by security after he took a dive into a pond. Yes, this was one tournament that spectators will not forget. Of course, the golfing was fantastic.

Arizona just welcomed about one million tourists. Evidently one of the pre-game Super Bowl ads run by the NFL, showed the Grand Canyon as a backdrop to the stadium in Glendale, confusing many visitors. The Grand Canyon National Park had to issue a statement that “Super Bowl LVII is not being played at the Grand Canyon.” Then the Park further clarified that you cannot drive from the stadium in Glendale to the South Rim in thirty minutes. Joking perhaps?

We watched history on Super Bowl LVII. For the first time, the U. S. Navy jet flyover of the stadium before kickoff was piloted by a team of all female aviators. The four planes flew in formation, commemorating 50 years since women were allowed to become U.S. Navy pilots. A beautiful sight.

The Super Bowl had controversial referee calls, heartwarming and comical commercials and a glitzy half-time show. Yet, it seems that the real half-time show was in the kitchen, because Americans had a whole lot of wings, pizza and beer to devour. Hey, the game spanned almost four hours, and during that time Americans had eaten over a Billion chicken wings!

Perhaps one of the most poignant moments came after the Big Game, when Eagles quarterback, Jalen Hurts, was being interviewed about his loss. In the midst of his shattered dream, he politely fielded questions from the media. Part of his emotional comment was, “Everyone experiences different pain and agonies in life. You decide if you want to learn from it and want it to be a teachable moment. I know that I do. My only direction is to rise.”

And just like that, we were given an inspirational message from a quarterback, a historical thrill from Navy pilots, a geography tutorial from the Grand Canyon Park, and one entertaining week of golf. And that is how we do it in Arizona.

Judy Bluhm is a writer and a local realtor. Have a comment or a story? Contact Judy at [email protected]or at www.arouondthebluhmintown.com.