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It Was A Super Experience

The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 8, 2009

Lightning center and No. 1 overall draft pick Steven Stamkos is making the transition this season from junior star to NHL regular. Throughout the season, the 18-year-old from Markham, Ontario, will share his experiences with Tribune writer Erik Erlendsson to give readers an insight into a new way of life during his rookie journey.

I wanted to go to the Super Bowl from the beginning, but ticket prices were outrageous, and that was the only thing that was stopping us from going to the game. So me and Smitty goaltender Mike Smith had dinner a couple nights before the game and somebody had mentioned that if you get to the game and maybe miss the first quarter, the tickets might be a little cheaper. We were going to try that out, but early on Super Bowl Sunday I found out that Bugsy Ryan Malone had extra tickets for me and Smitty.

Me and Smitty didn't know who we were going to cheer with, but being in there with Bugsy and his brother, we had to cheer for the Steelers as he ended up getting us the tickets. We wound up having a great time, a once-in-a-lifetime experience to go to the Super Bowl. It helped that I won the team football pool, and it all came down to Pittsburgh scoring the touchdown instead of the field goal on that final drive. Just that experience of going to the Super Bowl, watching the game, the halftime show, the crowd, the atmosphere before and after the game, it was something I'll always remember.

There were Cardinal fans on either side of our suite, and they would be playfully banging on the glass when they would score, and we'd bang on the glass when Pittsburgh would score, and we had our Terrible Towels, waving them around. So when Larry Fitzgerald scored, it was pretty quiet in our box and you could tell everybody in the box was getting a little nervous. But Santonio Holmes made some great catches, and to watch him make that catch at the end of the game, it was unbelievable how he kept his feet in, and it made the perfect ending to a perfect Super Bowl.

It was great to be able to share that kind of experience with guys on my team, especially Bugsy and how he got us the tickets, and I felt good for him that his Steelers won the game.

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