Midweek Motivation: Super Bowl Spectacular - S3E9

About this Episode

Midweek Motivation is a weekly episode featuring the wisdom and stories of host Tommy Cakes. This episode is all about the Super Bowl Spectacular that was held here in Minnesota. Did you watch the Super Bowl? Here are some thoughts and observations from Tommy Cakes. In case you are having trouble understanding the audio file, the following is a translation of the audio file from host Tommy Cakes.

Who is Tommy Cakes?

Live on the Small Scale Life Podcast, it is Midweek Motivation featuring Tommy Cakes.
Hey, how are you? I am Tommy Cakes. Who am I? I'm a guy from someplace, friends with some people and doing some things. Don't worry about it!

What I can tell you is that I am in the import and export business.

• I import knowledge
• I export that information at premium prices!

I will give you a little coastal cosmopolitan insight and motivation weekly on Small Scale Life.

Introduction – Super Bowl Spectacular

This is a little different Midweek Motivation. In the past three episodes (which have done really well, so that tells me you like this stuff), we have talked about:

• Keeping Our Eyes on the Target
• Preparedness and
• Overcoming Dread

This show, however, is a little different. We are going to talk about something else, ripped right from the headlines, if you will.

In case you somehow missed it, the big game, the big dance, the Super Bowl was last weekend in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This is only the second time Minnesota hosted the Big Game: the first time was in the Metrodome and now it was in that fancy billion dollar stadium. People in Minnesota are just not used to having big games like this in their town.

This game featured the New England Patriots against the Philadelphia Eagles. As you probably know, the Patriots have been in and won the Super Bowl a bunch of times, and the Eagles have been in the Big Game, but they have never won the actual Super Bowl. Obviously I am giving some credit to the early Eagles teams that won championships in the 1960’s before the merger.

Story Time

Let’s talk about what happened BEFORE the Super Bowl here in the Twin Cities. It really is a tale of two cities, and the contrast is interesting to discuss. Let me paint two pictures for you.

St. Paul

There is a lot happening in Minnesota even without the Big Game. This time of year, St. Paul hosts The Winter Carnival, which is a festival that includes all kinds of activities to celebrate winter. The Winter Carnival started in 1886, and this year it goes from January 25th to February 10th. There is a whole mythology and pageantry surrounding the rise of King Boreas, Queen Aurora their court and Klondike Kate. At the same time, there is a story about the rise and shenanigans of King Boreas’ arch nemesis Vulcanus Rex and his Vulcan Crew.

There is a hunt for the medallion (sponsored by the St. Paul Pioneer Press), ice sculpture competition, snow slides, parades, concerts with local talent and sometimes a massive ice castle. It is quite a celebration of winter and distinctly Minnesotan! For more on that, go to this link: https://www.wintercarnival.com/

Minneapolis

While the Winter Carnival is a St. Paul event, the Super Bowl is a Minneapolis show. The stadium is in Minneapolis, and a lot of the activities were focused around the US Bank Stadium and around Minneapolis. On this note, the NFL and their corporate sponsors rolled into town and set up shop. This included a whole “Minnesota Experience presented by Verizon” in downtown Minneapolis, where Nicollet Avenue (which is a transit-only roadway), that included booths for sponsors and a patch of snow for doing “winter stuff.” There were corporate events, zip line, and concerts. Oh yeah, they finally held a game and dropped some paper all over the field when it was done and over.

Did I mention the celebrities that we here for the Super Bowl? Oh yes, they were all over Minneapolis in the fresh snow and cold! There was Justin Timberlake, Jimmy Fallon, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Kevin Hart, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Pink, JLo, Bradley Cooper, Joe Biden, Stephan Curry, Alex Rodriquez, Donnie Wahlberg, Gary Vaynerchuk, JJ Watt, Floyd Mayweather in his coat, and Diddy in his bigger fur coat with his entourage. That is quite a cast of characters zipping around the Twin Cities showing up here and there, doing their celebrity things!

Midweek Motivation Lesson

So what is the point of all this? I know what some of you are thinking. This is sportsball and celebrity stuff, and I know a lot of you don’t really care. That’s where you are absolutely wrong, my friends.

The point of this story and your Midweek Motivation is the following:
In today’s crazy world, we are all looking for something in our lives that are real, have meaning and are pure. Stop looking for that in mass media, sports and Hollywood. It isn’t there. Look for that kind of authenticity and reality in local events, festivals and gatherings in your community, with your neighbors, friends and family. Events and gatherings like the Winter Carnival in St. Paul that are built on community traditions, mythology and storytelling are where authentic and real memories should be created.

Don’t waste your time with the NFL, Super Bowl, Hollywood, celebrities and their shenanigans. None of it is real. All of there world is hype and a sales pitch for a corporate, plastic world. After all, once the game was over, the private and corporate jets line up and flew off, and all that was left was their trash.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Now, I have to get back in the lounge to spend my winnings from the Super Bowl. I won big, so it’s time for my drink, some capicola, veal parmesan and canollis! I might even buy everyone a round! This is Tommy Cakes, and I’ll see you next week! Bada boom, bada bing!

Special Thanks from Tommy Cakes

I would like to thank Greg Burns from Natures Image Farm and Doneil Freeman from Freeman Family Farms for the INSPIRATION to do this Midweek Motivation Podcast. You two ARE the wind beneath my wings!
Also I would like to thank Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) for the "Kool Kats" theme music. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.
Badda boom, badda bing! Dat's how we do it!