Why Me? (I Don't Even Like Football)

Setting up for one of the many nighttime parties for the NFL executives takes all day.

I have endured many tragedies over the course of my life. The assassination of JFK when I was 16 hit me hard. Later came more of those, and then the murder of John Lennon. The horror of 9/11. And now this.
 

Lucky enough to be staying in one of the most beautiful resorts in the country, we have only a very few days to enjoy it. The tragedy is that our visit coincides with the Annual Meeting of the NFL owners. (That stands for National Football League, which I had to ask.)

Screens for projections span the palm trees.

Considering what is going on here, you would think it were a summit meeting of top world leaders, or maybe aliens from another world meeting with our people. Not one inch of this lovely, serene, peaceful place remains untouched by the hordes of media, consultants and hangers-on here to interview football coaches and their staff.

There are lights, cameras and action snaking over and through the grassy gardens. Mobile newsrooms are set up on the manicured lawns for round-table discussions of god-knows-what. There are paparazzi everywhere, along with tables laden with coffee urns and water bottles wherever you look. There are gigantic amps and speakers and lights and projection screens obliterating the natural beauty of the vegetation. Yoga mats and exercise bikes for workout sessions dot the landscape. And that's just outdoors.

Tubing fun for the NFL kiddies.

Inside, every inch of available wall space is crapped up with signage declaring,"This way to the Annual Meeting" or "That way to the Annual Meeting." More tables with water and coffee. And of course, big burly men in various team t-shirts and littler men in suits and fancy ladies in 6-inch heels and news anchors and official people with dangling badges are thronging about at every turn, if one can throng.

Little "rooms" are created all over the lawns for schmoozing.

Yoga mats and exercise bikes available for the NFLers.

Even the room keys boast the NFL logo and the words ANNUAL CONFERENCE. Such a big deal! They'll all pack up and leave on the same day we do. As my yiddishe grandmother would say, it's a shonda.