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People-Watching

My internship with the PGA golf tournament is coming to an end. It has been a steady week of incredible crowds, inclement weather, and hours of people-watching in the herds of over 100,000 spectators in Phoenix, Arizona on this Super Bowl weekend. Let me just say that crowds of people can be highly entertaining. Add in some alcohol (and in this particular scenario, drinks started flowing before 10:00am) and you’ve got a real show on your hands. People Watching blog post at stronglikemycoffee.com

The majority of each day, I stood at the entrance and bar of the sky boxes for Hole 16, notoriously the most rowdy and wild hole on the PGA tour. For example, Francesco Molinari shot a Hole-in-One on 16 this morning and the stadium showered the stands with beer. So needless to say, there was plenty of opportunity to simply people-watch.

People Watcher (Stronglikemycoffee.com)Each day for employees begins in the special parking lot reserved for all staff, including waitresses, bartenders, cooks, cleaning crew members, security guards and other interns. Lines and shuttle rides from the employee parking lot are entertaining enough. I get to hear about the bartenders’ (100% female staff) strategies for pulling the most tips out of their customers. I learned that at the Kid Rock concert last night, his security guard used a false ‘porta-potty’ as a secret door to the rocker and band’s staging area. Our bus driver became suspicious when she saw a bouncer standing outside the potty, and multiple people entering without coming out. Pretty clever disguise for a secret entrance, albeit a smelly one.

I was shocked to learn that the bartenders and waitresses at this event worked strictly off of tips (although, in a $50,000 sky box I’m sure tips will out-haul minumum wage ten-fold) and many of them went straight to their regular jobs downtown after working 9 hours at the golf course. Rockstars and Monsters were the drink of choice; I saw more morning energy drinks than coffee.

People watching in the crowd (stronglikemycoffee@hotmail.com)

People will lie and embellish the silliest stories to try to get into the sky boxes. The things they come up with for a free beer! Some were not so creative (“my friend has my ticket and he can’t come down”) and some were a little far-fetched (“I’m Tiger Wood’s daughter”). Some were very rude (“I’m a senior citizen, I can’t believe you won’t let me in. You are ruining the sport of golf”) and some were desperate (“How much money can I give you to let me up there”). One guy tried to show us a picture of his pass, then took a used pass from another guest, then tried to follow a crowd in. His lime green pants didn’t help him blend in.

Part of the fun of people-watching is the variety of outfits people wear. For men, it’s a pretty standard button-up or t-shirt with jeans and dress shoes. Not too notable. The women though were all over the board with their styles, from Conservative-businesswoman to die-hard-sports-fan, from workout-chic to straight-out-of-Wal-Mart. Some wore adorable rompers and I complimented their classy ensembles. Some wore stilettos and too-skinny jeans and I feared for their ankles in the muddy and wet conditions. Everyone has their own style, and their own comfort level. I really don’t judge anyone for what they wear, but I do find it very entertaining and I found myself playing ‘Who Wore It Better’ in my head all day.

Crowds at Phoenix Open (stronglikemycoffee.com)Along with spectators, I really got to know some fellow employees that also worked at the entrance of Hole 16. Two retired men, John and Dave, greeted guests and scanned their credentials. They certainly had the personality for it. Although John is a soon-to-be grandfather, he was quite the flirt with the ladies and Dave had something kind or funny to say to nearly everyone who walked up. Throughout our days together, I learned that the pair had been friends for years. They were self-proclaimed ‘gym rats’ who had a strict 8am gym routine 6 days a week. In fact, they are so dedicated and so social at the gym that they each received worried text messages while we were working at the golf course from fellow gym-goers who were concerned that neither of them had shown up to the gym for a couple of days. So sweet :) Turns out that Dave was married to another hole-16 greeter, Jenn. They were a retired police officer and a retired fire chief who met in a traffic accident.

It’s now the last day of the tournament and I’m sure the Super Bowl in the same city will attract some of our massive crowds. Have a happy Super Bowl Sunday! Go (Insert your favorite team here)! ;)

Mini Football Snackies!

I’m actually thankful that today is Monday. New week = fresh start.

Which football games did you watch this weekend? Even the unsporty-est of the people can find something they enjoy about football season.  You get to plan team-colored outfits, prepare fan-friendly appetizers, maybe some drinks or cocktails, tailgate parties, house parties, sports bar parties, trash-talking the opposing team. I don’t want to hear about Ray Rice anymore, let’s talk about the actual players and games! Or food. That’s cool too.

Mini Football Pretzel Snackies from Stronglikemycoffee.com

My weekend was spent working at our home-opener football game. (I’m a sports marketing intern for our athletics department). After working 2.5 hours at a volleyball tournament, I spent 7 hours on the football field. Our boys stepped out in brand new uniform designs and we kicked off brand new game-day traditions. I’m sad to report that I didn’t have any glamorous or “wow” jobs during the game. Typical intern grunt work. But the boys kept me entertained with touchdown after touchdown, killing the opposing team. Brought home a W and that’s all a fan can ask for, right?!

Sports marketing interns on game day (stronglikemycoffee.com)Okay moving on….It’s not really a secret that I like to make things pretty. Why have pretzels when you can turn them into adorable football pretzels? For some reason, I will use any excuse to make DIY crafts and recipes that have a theme. Just appease me.

Peanut-butter filled pretzels + chocolate = BOOM. 2 ingredient recipe. (Not to mention the best flavor combo EVER.)Mini pretzel football ingredients (stronglikemycoffee.com)

  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Melt your milk/dark chocolate, and dunk the tops of the pretzels into it.
  • Set them, pretzel-side down onto the paper-lined baking sheet.
  • Place the sheet into the freezer for ten minutes while you melt your white chocolate
  • If you don’t have a piping tool that is thin enough to outline the laces onto the pretzels, you can just use a ziplock bag. Push a toothpick through the corner to create a tiny whole, and fill the bag with your melted white chocolate.

Making mini football pretzels (stronglikemycoffee.com)

  • Pipe the laces onto the pretzels and place them back into the freezer. Store in the freezer until you’re ready to place in a dish for your party, because if you leave them out they will be G-O-N-E. ;)Mini Football Snackies Recipe (stronglikemycoffee.com)

They were a hit! And yes, they do taste better than regular chocolate peanut butter pretzels because they are made with love. Football love.

That’s just the start of weekend football festivities, we have a long season to go. More snacks and recipes to come!

Mini Football Pretzels Tailgate Party Snacks (stronglikemycoffee.com)

I leave you with his football-themed single by Chase Rice, who has replaced Hunter Hayes as my country crush btw ;)

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