Thoughts from the Super Bowl volunteer kick-off

Indy is getting ready for the Super Bowl. Sports fan or not, this is huge for our city. I recently attended the volunteer kick-off, which amounted to a 2-hour cheerleading session to get over 8,000 volunteers excited about the work before them.

Hats off to the Super Bowl Host Committee - they did get us excited! At a preview of one of the world's biggest sporting events, one thing was clear: Music was a huge part of the excitement!

I walked in to Conseco Fieldhouse to hear live music coming from a band set up right on the basketball court. A former Miss America sang the national anthem, and the crowd sang along. In a video montage of the sporting events Indy has hosted over the past 25 years, I was thrilled to see that the Indianapolis Children's Choir was at many of them. The evening wrapped up with Indiana's own Sandi Patty singing "Indianapolis".

It's interesting to me how some people align themselves with one side of the fence or the other, proclaiming "I'm a sports guy" or "I'm an arts advocate." They're really so intertwined at times. The ICC has welcomed visitors, sung the Star Spangled Banner, and performed national anthems live for foreign athletes at world competitions.

Sports and music: we're lucky to be in a city that does both so well.