Bruce Feiler - Where God Was Born, Abraham, Walking The Bible

Forrest Gump Meets Peyton Manning
Tuesday, January 30, 2007

I had quite the Forrest Gump moment today. I flew from New York to Ft. Lauderdale to give a few speeches as part of the lead-up the publication WHERE GOD WAS BORN in paperback next Tuesday. As we drove to the hotel, we were met by security on the road, drug-sniffing dogs, and a blocked-off entrance. As I rolled my bag up the driveway, I noticed a large white and blue flag. Then inside the front door, on the floor, like those ads on the floor in Wal-Mart, a giant, ten-foot-tall blue horseshoe. And everywhere on the walls: banners, helmets, pictures, signs. I'm staying at the same hotel as the Colts!

There must be $20,000 worth of decorations in the lobby alone -- giant flags, pictures from Colts teams in the past, every single window has a decal, every one of the ten elevators has half a horseshoe on the left door and half a horseshoe on the right that open and close every time you enter. You hear a lot about Super Bowl hype, but to be inside it is quite extraordinary. For starters, how did they get all these blow-ups so quickly. Now I get why they worry about distractions. But the one thing I don't get: All the worry on ESPN and the sports pages about how the players might go to South Beach and get drunk or into fights. South Beach is two-and-a-half-hours away! Boy those commentators know nothing.

Mom may not be happy, but I am. Go Peyton!

Labels: sports

Posted by B Feiler at 4:27 PM
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