The Super Bowl 50 Host Committee on Saturday "unveiled the first of 10 sculpture/icon/images of the numeral '50' that will be rolled out across the Bay Area between now and the game," according to Mark Purdy of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. It is a "massive social experiment," as most citizens "obviously won’t be attending the game." Purdy: "Will we Bay Area sophisticates get geeked up about it, anyway?" It is "not an insignificant question," as most visitors "won’t show up until the latter part of Super Bowl week." During Super Bowl XLVIII in N.Y., visiting fans "lapped it up." But the league was "disappointed" when N.Y. residents -- also a "sophisticated audience -- did not show up in great numbers for the attractions, especially early in Super Bowl week." The NFL "may have similar concerns here." The “50” symbols will be "the most visible regional part of the package." The signs are "pretty striking," at six feet tall and eight feed wide, will be "lit up at night with their self-contained solar power generators." Host Committee President & CEO Keith Bruce: "This was spawned by some of the ideas we had to create a larger-than-life experience around this event." Asked about whether he has been surprised by anything in the planning process, Bruce said, "It takes a lot to get the Bay Area excited about anything." He added that on "one level, he sensed fans are excited" because the Super Bowl "has not been here in more than three decades." But on another level, Bruce "isn’t sure exactly if people are aware how big the Super Bowl has become over that period and how many elements are involved in the package." He said that his pleasant surprise is that "so many different cities and organizations seem to be cooperating so well." Bruce: "I’m not fighting a lot of negative energy right now. Everybody is feeling pretty good" (MERCURYNEWS.com, 12/19).
