Remains of the Day: Indy's Super Bowl 46 (XLVI)

Allison Melangton
Only the second woman to run a Super Bowl Host Committee, Melangton fielded lots of offers afterward. She worked for NBC during the Olympics, and then took the top job at Indiana Sports Corp. “I’m happy here,” she says, “and happiness weighs a lot on your decision.”

Super Scarves
Crafty types in 45 states and four countries knitted more than 13,000 blue-and-white scarves for volunteers. But some of the keep-warm keepsakes showed up on eBay even before kickoff. That’s cold.

Grace Ybarra
Working as a Scholastic correspondent, the local middle-schooler scored microphone time at Madonna’s press conference, something only 17 other journalists managed. Then she covered the presidential election, and she has her eye on the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The Racecars
IndyCar Experience and Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing reclaimed the Super Cars and stripped off their NFL trim. But one owner, a Chicago native, couldn’t bring himself to remove the Bears logo. That car is stored in Speedway.

Signage
Like any respectable invading power, the NFL planted its flag in Indy with hundreds of banners and signs. People for Urban Progress turned five miles of material from the Village into shower curtains, wallets, messenger bags, and other products. Find the goods at Silver in the City and Homespun.

New York Giants Practice Field
The NFL installed FieldTurf at the team’s University of Indianapolis practice facility. Later, it was transferred to Arsenal Tech High School’s outdoor football stadium as part of XLVI’s legacy efforts on the near-east side.

The Roman Numerals
The 82-foot-tall steel-and-aluminum behemoths that backdropped countless Facebook photos didn’t have to travel far after the festivities. The NFL always stores its complete set of giant letters in an undisclosed Indianapolis warehouse.

Jimmy Fallon
Not counting a Web clip of the host in drag as the star of “The Real Housewives of Late Night in Indianapolis,” all that remains of Fallon’s toast-of-the-town stay is a framed autographed photo of him on-set; it’s hanging on a wall in the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s office.

The Beach
The 700 tons of sand from the DirecTV Celebrity Beach Bowl at Victory Field wound up at Timbergate Golf Course in Edinburgh.

The ZipLine
After the Village’s thrill ride garnered more airtime than Peyton’s neck, the equipment returned home to the British Columbia office of Ziptrek. The rig reappeared at the Calgary Stampede and the Canadian Football League’s Grey Cup.

Super Bowl Village
Indy pioneered the fan-zone concept, and the NFL loved it. New Orleans tweaked the name to Super Bowl Boulevard—then called it “an inaugural event” on the host committee’s website. Yeah, and Hoosiers invented Mardi Gras.

MORE: Super Bowl 46 (XLVI) coverage—stories, photos, and more.

This article appeared in the February 2013 issue.