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By Ira Kaufman
For the Mirror
Is it possible to enjoy yourself at the Super Bowl without even going to the game? Yes!
Last weekend I was in Las Vegas for all the Super Bowl festivities -- parties, music, food and rubbing elbows with current and former NFL players.
As the ultimate NFL fan, I was like a kid in a candy store, meeting and talking to so many current and former players, in a relaxed setting.
On Friday afternoon, I went over to the Aria Hotel (where many of the players stayed), and at one point, while CeeDee Lamb and Ezekiel Elliot were playing blackjack right in front of me, I was talking to NFL quarterback Kyler Murray.
Later, as I was walking through the casino, Amon St. Brown of the Detroit Lions (still sporting his blue hair), had a long conversation with my friends from Detroit and enthusiastically posed for pictures and autographs.
The Shaq Funhouse party at XS in the Wynn on Friday night was over the top. Shaq himself was the DJ for most of the night. A slimmed down Shaq channeled the words of his former coaches Phil Jackson and Pat Riley, as he screamed "Hands Up" every few minutes to the crowd.
The Taste of the NFL is my favorite party each year.
The Saturday afternoon event, located at the beautiful Keep Memory Alive Event Center a few miles off the strip, featured 30 top local and national chefs (like Todd English); each had their own tasting area.
In front of most of the tasting stands, dozens of former and current NFL players signed autographs, posed for pictures and spent time talking to the guests.
The NFL players included lots of former Chiefs and 49ers players, including the first Kansas City Chiefs player enshrined in the Hall of Fame, Bobby Bell, and a four-time Super Bowl champion from the 49ers, Eric Wright.
On Saturday night, the No. 1 party of the weekend, the Maxim Party, was held outside of Resorts World, and featured 50 Cent and 21 Savage and world famous DJs, including Elderbrook.
I had a super duper pass that gave me access to the VIP area behind the DJ booth. Just before 50 Cent came on the stage, a man wearing a mask which covered his entire face, except his eyes, stood next to me.
I noticed that he had an enormous No. 26 chain and when he looked at the Steeler logo on my jacket, I said, "Le' Veon (Bell), I just loved watching you with the Steelers."
Le'Veon was very nice and fun.
I stayed at the Westin the first three nights when I was in Vegas. The Westin sits on the corner where Tupac Shakur was shot in 1996, and a couple of football fields away from the Sphere, which is even more impressive in person than on TV.
On Sunday morning, celebrity chef Guy Fieri had the ultimate Tailgate party in the huge parking lots adjacent to the Westin, with 50 different food/beverage stands from his Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives show, and musical performances from Flavor Flav and Diplo.
Most of the 18,000 in attendance were not even going to the game and were wearing the jerseys of all their favorite NFL teams. The highlight of the party was Eli Manning throwing dozens of autographed balls deep into the crowd.
As everyone has heard, the Super Bowl ticket prices were far higher than past Super Bowls, with $8,000 needed to get into the Allegiant Stadium. The prices stayed high for two weeks and increased Sunday.
The main reason for the high price is that, unlike the NBA Finals, World Series, Final Four and NCAA football final, the NFL has almost completely eliminated the resale market, leaving very little supply of tickets available.
Thousands of tickets are sold to corporate executives, with the warning that any resale of tickets will cost the employee their job. Thousands are sold to season ticket holders from all 32 teams, with the warning that any resale will cost the season ticket holders the right to buy their season tickets and any future Super Bowl tickets.
The tickets cannot be listed on resale sites, and now, with only digital tickets, the NFL can track every single ticket in the game.
Every casino, bar and restaurant in Vegas had sold-out watch parties. I watched the game at a bar next to the high-roller room at Mandalay Bay, because I wanted to be as close as possible to the stadium, if a friend called with an extra ticket (which has happened in two of the seven Super Bowls I have attended) and be in an area where I could watch (and hear) the game.
So even though I did not hang out with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce at the Chiefs' victory party at XS, or attend the game, I had an awesome Super Bowl experience in Las Vegas.
Ira Kaufman, an Altoona native and traveling sports fan, hosts IRA on Sports on trueoldiesfla.com on Monday night from 7-8 p.m. It is also available on Soundcloud & iTUNES, search Ira On Sports.