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Halftime Show Was 'Once In A Lifetime'

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By ROB SHAW

rshaw@tampatrib.com

Published: February 3, 2009

TAMPA - Robin Post has been to about 20 Bruce Springsteen concerts in her 44 years, but nothing compares to what she was a part of during the Super Bowl halftime spectacular.

"Being from New Jersey, I grew up to Bruce," the Pinellas Park mother of two said. "He's such a god in my life. He's so elevated in my eyes. He's such a great talent, a real guy, a people person."

In other words, she digs The Boss.

That's why she endured hours of practice running on and off a football field, sometimes in the cold and the rain, to be one of 2,000 people who volunteered to be the audience for Springsteen during Sunday night's halftime show.

There were moms, high school students, doctors, teachers and other professionals in the crowd. They ranged in age from 16 to well into their 60s.

Post and the others ran, sang, jumped up and down, clapped, waved their arms, turned on their flashlights at the right time and screamed their lungs out for the man who had never played a Super Bowl.

And they had the time of their lives.

"There was a lot of standing around and being shuffled this way and that way and never knowing exactly why or when," Eileen Goldenberg of Tampa said of the many hours of practices endured in the week before the game. "But I just loved making these new friends. All these hours we spent together, we really bonded and we were very compatible and we had a lot of fun."

The 2,000 volunteers were organized into teams of 10 to 12 people.

"We all had numbers, like we were prisoners in a war camp," said Goldenberg, who was V47. "That determined placement on the field and where you would be at any given moment."

The group spent seven hours practicing at Jefferson High School the Sunday before the Super Bowl, and eight more hours of practice in the rain and cold Thursday near and then inside Raymond James Stadium.

"That was tough," Goldenberg said of the chilly weather Thursday. "But once we were on the field listening to Bruce, the rain started to matter a little less. It was really cool to have our own private concert."

The small group that Post and Goldenberg were in got two extra assignments. They were among about 100 volunteers who sang the four Springsteen songs in a tent Wednesday. The voices were recorded so they could be played during the concert Sunday to accompany the singer.

They also got to hang out hours before the game with Al Roker on an NBC red carpet at the stadium. While there, they saw celebrities such as Jimmy Fallon, Rainn Wilson, Kevin James, Vin Diesel and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

"It was just so much fun," said Post, whose 74-year-old father was a part of the group until his back hurt too much from running. "It was incredible, exhilarating, exciting. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Editor Rob Shaw can be reached at (813) 259-7999.

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