Time in Spotlight

As I was standing in the massive tunnel I was in awe. I was in the same tunnel that every Sunday my favorite football team, The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, ran out from as they prepared to play a National Football League game. My emotions were running in every direction as in the next few minutes I would be involved in the highlight of my ten years on this earth. The hundreds of little kids around me were feeling the same way as I looked around and saw smiles with nervousness written all over them. Then we watched as the mighty New York Giants football players came running by us, some stopped to shake our hands and give us encouragement. Then over the mighty stadium public announcement system we heard the stadium announcer say," Ladies and Gentlemen, please be seated as the Super Bowl XXV half time show begins." I was going to be in the national spotlight as a participant in the Super Bowl 25 halftime show.

I started practicing in August of 1990. Three times a week my mother would drop me off at one of the local high school; Hillsborough High School. It would be ironic that a few years later I would actually be attending this same school. We began to learn what are roles would be and what dance moves we had to learn. A lot of repetitive days followed as we were constantly dancing over and over. At such a young age it was hard to stay focused but the enthusiasm and motivation I had for what I was involved in was enough to sustain me through these first few months.

As it got closer to the day all this hard work would pay off and be shown to the world, we began to meet a lot of celebrities. I had the pleasure to shake Warren Moon's hand. He was the quarterback for the Houston Oilers and he was an idol to me. We also got to meet a then phenomenon, New Kids on the Block. To be honest I was more of a teenage mutant ninja turtle type of kid but all the little girls were so excited and they cried as this opportunity was given to us. We found out we all would receive four tickets to Walt Disney World for being part of this and we got to hang out with characters such as Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and many more as the day crept closer and closer.

The morning of January 27, 1990 finally arrived, this was the day I have been anticipating ever since I was told six months earlier that I would be part of Disney's," A Small World Salute to 25 Years of the Super Bowl." I was a member of the Citrus Park Bills and I was one of a few children chosen out of the Youth Football League I played in. The day I received the news from my mother that I was selected to be one of hundreds of kids from around the United States to be a participant in the halftime show, I was excited and scared at the same time.

I arrived at the high school I had spent so much time at 3 o'clock p.m. and waited for the word to get on the busses. Then it finally came, Mrs. Thomas the coordinator for my group said the words I have been waiting for since I first was given the news. It was time to board the bus and make our way to the stadium. We convoyed to Tampa Stadium, unloaded the busses and made our way to our start point.

Finally the moment had arrived,