Locals Who Traveled To Super Bowl Reflect On Big Game
Levittown Now: February 9, 2018
By: Erich Martin
As the clock wound down and the New England Patriots failed to pull off a late-game miracle, Bucks County locals in Minnesota bore witness to the Philadelphia Eagles first-ever Super Bowl victory.
“It was incredible,” said JP Lutz, the co-owner of Bucks County Baseball Co. in Bristol Borough.
“It means everything because I got to share that with my dad,” he explained.
Lutz’s father, the other owner of the Bristol shop, traveled to Minneapolis by car in order to bring back more merchandise from the game. The duo did manage to snag a fair bit of memorabilia. They grabbed unique items from the stadium like rally towels, cups and more. On Monday morning, they grabbed as many newspapers as possible.
When asked if he and his father will be attending future Super Bowls where the Eagles are participating, Lutz couldn’t answer for sure, but explained that he would like to.
“Everything is just elevated from your typical NFL game,” Lutz said.
The circumstances surrounding the game, the heightened ceremony and pomp and circumstance make it a spectacle in itself. Topping this year’s game would be a tall order, Lutz said, on account of it being the Eagles’ first Super Bowl victory in franchise history.
The Super Bowl, and other large sporting events, have a way of uniting cities and regions, Lutz said. One of the best aspects of sports and big games like the Super Bowl is the unifying aspect they provide.
“You get that type of camaraderie you just don’t get with other types of events,” Lutz said.
Lutz, who is a full-time professor at Manor College, teaching Sports Management in addition to running the collector shop in Bristol. The educator and sports fan took over the college’s Snapchat account for the weekend to show students at the school and in his classes what it was like to be at the big game.
Kim Rock, a realtor working out of Langhorne, traveled to the game with her husband and a couple of friends. Leading up to their flight out to Minnesota, the four friends still didn’t have tickets. Getting ready to take the plunge without tickets and winging it once they arrived, Rock found a college student from Minneapolis who won tickets on the radio, but couldn’t afford to pay for the taxes. A lucky turn of events left the couples with tickets to the game.
“Minneapolis was so welcoming. The second that we got off of the plane, there were volunteers stationed to take pictures for us, give us directions and congratulate us. They seemed genuinely happy for us to be there,” Rock said.
The stadium was comprised mostly of Eagles fans, resulting in an atmosphere that felt like a home game, complete with the Eagles’ fight song playing and eruptions of cheers when the Birds had a big play.
“Overall, it was a once in a lifetime experience. There’s only one first for everything, this is the beginning of our dynasty and we were there to see it,” Rock said.
Looking forward, the Rocks already have places to stay in Atlanta and Miami, where the next two Super Bowls are set to be held. In the future, the group will likely go a few days early to participate in the festivities leading up the big game.
JP Lutz
Author