T.C. Dantzler attends Super Bowl XXXVII with disc jockeys from Colorado Springs radio station
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Janessa Pierce (USA Wrestling)
02/06/2003
On January 25, 2002 Greco-Roman World Team Member and Olympic Training Center resident athlete T.C. Dantzler flew into Los Angeles, Calif. anticipating the game football fans wait all season for. T.C. had won tickets to the big game by participating in a contest conducted by Colorado Springs radio station 98.9 Magic FM. This contest landed T.C. and a guest at the top of Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Calif. on January 26 to watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers take on the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII. The contest asked listeners to have big celebrities call into the station on their behalf. T.C. won by convincing World Wrestling Entertainment superstar and 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle and 2000 Olympic Champion and 2001 World Champion Rulon Gardner to call in for him. In the end, it was Angle's call that won the tickets for Dantzler. Dantzler and his guest arrived in Los Angeles Saturday evening and drove to San Diego, along with 98.9 disc jockeys, CK and Lazerman. After arriving in San Diego and grabbing a bite to eat, they headed to the Gas Lamp District, a ten-city block area of San Diego where football fans from all over the country gathered to "live it up" the night before the game. "That was a lot of fun. The Tampa Bay and Oakland fans were going back and forth all night over which team was going to take home the trophy the next day," said Dantzler. By 2:30 a.m., Dantzler was on a trolley headed back to his hotel just off of Miramesa Blvd. And the next morning, Dantzler was off to the Super Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium with tickets in hand. "I thought about selling them," Dantzler said, speaking of the much sought after tickets. "But it would have been impossible. Everyone had to park in the same area and we had to show our tickets to get in there. That was two miles from the stadium. So there wasn't anyone within two miles without tickets." A shuttle transported the football fans to the stadium where Carlos Santana, Michelle Branch and Beyonce Knowles entertained the crowd during the pregame show and No Doubt and Shania Twain performed at halftime. " It was a great time. We had pretty good seats. And they were even better because they were free." Dantzler said. "We were at the top of the stadium, so high up we could feel the heat off the jets that flew over before the game. But we could see everything. The fans between the two 30-yard lines couldn't see much more than the tops of helmets, so we were really happy with our seats." Tampa Bay defeated Oakland 48-21 to take their first ever NFL championship. As for a play of the game, Dantzler selected the interception and touchdown by Tampa Bay corner back Dwight Smith with two seconds left in the game. He said that play "just sucked all the air out of the stadium." Aside from enjoying the game itself, Dantzler admired the loyalty of the Oakland Raiders fans. "The Raider fans are the truest fans I have ever seen at any sporting event," Dantzler said. "The whole Super Bowl experience was awesome. The halftime show was the best and Santana was great. It was just fun to go to the game and not root for either team. I was kind of disappointed the Raiders lost, but still had a great time," he said. Since the game, Dantzler has been a guest on the 98.9 FM Magic Morning Show several times and is planning to be on air this Friday to promote the Dave Schultz Memorial International Wrestling Tournament, which will take place in Colorado Springs, Colo. February 8-9.