My Super Job: John Dedman
Name: John Dedman
Word is that the ZipLine in Super Bowl Village is a fast rush, not a gentle glide. Hey, this is Indy. Speed is what we do. Here, other comments from those who squealed through a maiden ZipLine voyage today, in a ceremony marking the opening of the fly-by to the public.
You know Hoosiers—we’re a friendly lot. So Super Bowl volunteers probably won’t mind if you ask to check out their official volunteer jacket. And you should. The black Gore-Tex coat is a thing of beauty, sporting a subtle tone-on-tone pattern that’s almost like houndstooth. It’s warm and substantial without being bulky. Even prettier are the arctic-white parkas that some volunteers get to wear. Underneath the jacket, most volunteers will be wearing a long-sleeved Dri-Fit shirt with a zipper at the collar. And yes, volunteers get to keep the swag.
Lucas Oil Stadium tours are available sparingly all year round, but Wednesday was my first time inside. What better way to go than as an IM intern with the rest of the local media, as well as some not so local at all? The answer to that question isn’t completely rhetorical: Our tour was shortened slightly. Even so, it was led by Frank Supovitz, the NFL’s senior vice president of events.
This wasn’t just any ol’ stadium tour. This one includes the Colts’ locker room and a view of a “different” field. It’s the same fake grass, but we just got there in time to see turf workers get down on their hands and knees to wipe the what remained of our home team’s lettering from the end zones.
“We’ve removed the horseshoe,” said Supovitz about the midfield logo, “very respectfully.”
Public tours have begun. The cost is $15 through Friday, so make haste to save. Prices go up to $25 starting Saturday, Feb. 28.
Rare birds among Super Bowl volunteers, those called “quarterbacks” will be in full flight on downtown streets sporting giant orange tail feathers with question marks on them. Think of these vols as roaming concierges. Each will carry a tablet, which they’ll use to answer visitors’ questions. They’ll communicate with teammates, unseen, at a downtown command center, who will be looking up answers as questions come in. “Play-calling,” as the process is known around the office of the Super Bowl Host Committee.
I took a job at Playboy for the articles. No, I mean it. I remember first learning about Playboy’s groundbreaking writing in journalism classes at IU. Jack Kerouac, Roald Dahl, Norman Mailer, Shel Silverstein, and Indy’s own Kurt Vonnegut contributed pieces in the magazine’s heyday of the 1950s.
Awhile back we wondered aloud about who would sing the national anthem at Super Bowl XLVI. (Oh, those pesky Roman numberals.) Many weighed in on Facebook and in the comments on that post as to whom they wanted to see perform “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
