domenica 28 gennaio 2018

NFL Pro Bowl - Day 2: practices and party



This time the coach to the ESPN center is full. Also there, the crowd is much bigger than yesterday: it is a bit hard to find a place in the stands. You can see many jerseys of Pittsburgh, but also of the Miami WR Landry. Then there are oldtimers' jerseys: the evergreen Montana, but also Jim Kelly and Lawrence Taylor.

This time I follow the AFC. Before the beginning, Von Miller arrives and throws some balls in the audience. The, they start starts: first offense and defense test the plays separately (this time the offense uses only one ball at a time), then they come together. Safety Weddle plays alongside his son, who also tries to participate in a tackle. The training lasts only twenty minutes, then the assault of the fans starts, but at least on my side few players show up, and all defensive ones. I see  Cleveland LB Schobert very closely, and he does not even look old enough to be a pro. An NFC player, LB Chandler Jones, also passes by.


Everything is cleared to make way for flag football: in fact, the finals of a national tournament organized by the NFL take place here. They play first a girls' "exhibition" match, between two teams that could not be more different: one of girls mostly white and athletic-looking, the other all of black girls, many looking like linemen (linewomen?), including the QB. I can not follow the score well, I must have missed something, but I hear that the black team won 19-14. A semi-final of the men's tournament follows: it's between "Texans" and "Patriots" and ends 13-12, for the former, if I remember well.


After lunch and the photo with the trophy, there is still some time to follow Madden '18 tournament. The screens are not seen very well from the stands: I can only follow the game shown on the biggest screen, and it's a bit difficult. The game is between Patriots and Jets: the Jets representative hurries, screams and provokes, the Patriots one stays calm. I leave them with the Patriots clearly in the lead.



The program included an evening party at the "Disney Springs" resort. We are greeted by 6 cheerleaders from 6 different teams. There are also 5 mascots, who perform in a dance competition: the Texans "Toro" wins, despite the threats to the jury of the Buccaneers mascot, the pirate Captain Fear. There are three former Pro Bowlers, not big names: RB Dunn (Tampa Bay, Atlanta),  Jacksonville QB Brunell, DE Rucker (Carolina). The latter tells how it was a great consolation to play the Pro Bowl after losing the Super Bowl. He does not look like a NFL DE (he's the tallest one in the last picture): in fact, he says he lost 50 pounds after the end of his caree


And tomorrow, finally, is game day




















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