Eight Days in Santa Clara

After the AFC Championship story idea from Phil Perry – thank you all for so many kind words on that by the way – I knew I’d eventually have to write this one.

Spending 2.5 days in Denver for my first ever solo road trip at almost 38 (March 5) was cool, but a week in California for the Super Bowl would have sounded like an impossible mountain to climb if you suggested it just a month or two ago. This all came out of nowhere. As a fan, you live and die with the results week-to-week, but when living in it, it’s truly a whirlwind that has given me an entirely new appreciation for the grind players and coaches go through.

While I don’t have an hour-by-hour account logged like I did out in Colorado, I figured I’d go through the day-to-day highlights and thoughts I remember having during certain moments on Radio Row and then of course, Super Bowl Sunday.

So, if you were ever wondering what it’s like you cover your first Super Bowl, here’s what eight days in Santa Clara, San Jose and San Francisco was like…

SUNDAY 2/1

Flight was at 7:55 a.m., probably took off around 8:20, I was in an Uber leaving my apartment in Waltham around 5:30. Basically an airport pro now, easily found the United gate I needed and grabbed a coffee and croissant at one of the little non-Dunks places in there. Saw one of the nicest humans on the planet, Donna Spigarolo, the Community Relations Director and Alumni Coordinator for the New England Patriots. Her and a few other Pats employees were heading out early as well.

I watched the food truck deliver everything onto the flight for the first time too. I didn’t realize it was basically like a full online shopping order in a full truck that gets dropped off for certain flights. The guy went back and forth for about a half hour. Thinking about it now, I wish I tried the chicken and waffle sandwich.

Watched the Pats rally on the plane happy I wasn’t freezing my ass off at Gillette like John was covering it for us. Really impressive showing by the fans given the frigid temps. Service wasn’t great with the wifi, so there was a lot of map watching for much of the flight, a little bit of Sirius XM wrestling and NFL podcasting too. Briefly chatted with the older woman to my left (I always get window now, I want to see everything going on), she was from Nebraska I think, but now resides in Cali.

Landed around 11:15 p.t. and hopped on their Blue Line train to the rental port. This thing was slightly terrifying given how close it is to the edge overhanging the highway. Eventually got to Enterprise, got my 2026 Toyota Corolla (actually pretty similar to the 2015 I recently got despite the age gap in models) and off to the Moscone Center to pick up the week-long credential.

I was immediately stunned with the views driving around San Fran. Just constant postcard-type stuff almost everywhere you look. The downtown is visually stunning too as you drive in, really cool that you can see Oracle Park (wish it was still Pac Bell) too. I quickly learned downtown traffic there is somehow worse than here and it gets so much worse as the week goes on. Had a one-hour parking pass for the Mission & 5th Garage provided by the NFL, eventually found it and in a sign of things to come, asked about 15 people where to find credential pickup before finally spotting the hidden door where the North building was located.

For a long time, the feeling for a young writer seeing their byline in a major publication is the ultimate feeling. But, there’s nothing like seeing your name and photo on a Super Bowl credential for the first time. I saw a bunch of logos and banners walking in, but receiving that was the first ‘wow’ moment of the week.

After walking around Radio Row for a bit – even though it wasn’t even close to being a finished product – I had to race back to the car, almost forgetting about the one-hour limit in awe that I’d be spending the week in that building. Like a dumbass, I forgot to have the pass validated and was baffled when I owed $6. Obviously, it’s only $6, but that’s not a good start to the trip.

Made the drive out to my Super 8 in Santa Clara, again stunned by some of the views already, checked in around 4:00 p.t. and went to the Walgreens next store. Diet Coke, Doritos, Fritos, Milano cookies and a few iced teas for the room. Yes, I’m still a child at times when it comes to food. Found a dispensary for some gummies then went across the street to try Jack in the Box for the first time. Not great.

With the time change I was absolutely out cold by 9:15 p.t. on night one. Big first day tomorrow…

MONDAY 2/2

Up at 4:30 a.m. absolutely ready to go. Again, time change is wild early when you’ve never done it before. Immediately realize I probably didn’t pack enough clothes because I bought and packed a lock box for the game day credentials. I was taking no chances. Only problem is, I found out you can’t pick up game credentials until Friday. So, that battle with the suitcase was a complete waste of time. Anyway, quick shower then head out to try the Jack in the Box breakfast. My go-to at Dunks is a sausage on a croissant no egg, no cheese (I know, I know…) and a caramel iced coffee. It just so happens that they have both, so I figure it can’t be as bad as dinner was and I’m right. Almost exactly like Dunks. Found my breakfast for the week.

I wanted to get down to Radio Row and the shop as soon as possible so I could get a real lay of the land for the week. Thankfully, I was smart enough to do a little parking research before making the hour-long drive and found a lot just a five-minute walk away on SpotHero. If you’re ever in San Fran for a Giants or Warriors game and need a great spot, 395 & 3rd street lot is the play. Parked here all week for between $25-$32 with basically unlimited time 9-9. Might have been the best deal I found all week.

Walk into the shop (also in the Moscone North building) and wow. It’s basically just a makeshift football mall. So many cool Super Bowl and Pro Bowl things from all different brands. Turns out I was there way too early and couldn’t have anyone ring me up until 10 a.m., so I probably did 3-4 laps making sure I saw everything before spending $700 on stuff for me and other family members. The Pats will probably be back a bunch in the next decade, but you never know if it was my one and only Super Bowl…

The first day on Radio Row I didn’t get any interviews, this was more of a ‘do as many laps as possible and take it all in’ for me kind of day. It might sound weird, but watching Radio Row broadcasts as a kid and then an adult getting into this business, I always thought that was like Frank Costanza’s Place to Be in Seinfeld. Like, if you’re at Radio Row during Super Bowl Week, there’s no better place on earth to be if you’re in sports media.

I walked around and looked at all the different sets. Pat McAfee Show, the NBC Sports one where 98.5 The Sports Hub spent the week, Sirius XM, Bleacher Report, The Kay Adams Show, Draft Kings. Even all the smaller booths in the ‘middle’ of the giant convention hall room. It was all so cool to me. I probably poked around there for 3-4 hours, seeing if I could get an interview or two or learning how things go in the giant media workroom upstairs.

At about 2:00 p.m I decided to head back to my hotel, assuming there would be traffic and with a big night still ahead. Nightmare-ish traffic would be more accurate. Almost two hours later, I pulled into the sketchy parking lot I’m at for the week, quickly showered and then grabbed an Uber to the San Jose Convention Center. Opening Night got underway with the Patriots taking the stage at 5:00 p.m.

That next ‘oh wow’ moment proceeded to happen for the next four-ish hours. Seeing the ‘Opening Night’ banner as you walk in, running into Pats PR members Steph Burnham and Julia Palin and then heading out onto the floor and seeing all the ‘Opening Night’ podiums setup with players names and the giant stage. It’s stuff you watch on TV and dream of covering, just once, because you know it’s the biggest week in North American sports. There were a few times I actually said to myself ‘wtf am I doing here?’ before continuously realizing we had earned it.

After eating in the giant workroom/dining hall with Andrew Callahan, Doug Kyed and Sophie Weller, everyone began going their separate ways into the chaos that was about to unfold. I saw Alex Barth while he was hurrying around getting stuff done for 98.5 and he said ‘just wait’ in regards to the chaos. I thought it couldn’t be that bad, but oh boy, it is.

I made sure I got a spot up close to the stage for when the Patriots came out in their white jumpsuits, but I sort of crammed myself into the corner by accident, only getting a good shot of each guy’s first few steps on stage. Once they took their big team photo and cleared out onto the floor for the one hour of availability, I immediately spotted and yelled for Vinny DePalma for the story we did with him. He’s got to secretly be sick of me by now, this is like seven straight years of seeing me.

Tried to walk around and take it all in, stopping at each guy’s podium. Chatted with Ashton Grant for that story and always love shooting the shit with Coach Springer, who has been great to all of us. Great talking to Coach Williams as well, who answered every question that came his way. Once the Pats’ availability ended, the captains of both teams were going on stage together. Once again, I weaseled my short ass down in front, this time on the opposite side of the stage, right where the players were coming out.

Once that was done and Drake and Mike Vrabel got done with their interview with Scott Hanson, Mike MacDonald and Sam Arnold, both Coach and Drake spotted me and gave me a handshake and a fist bump, hopefully happy to see a familiar face among the chaos, but probably not. I stuck around for the first few minutes of the Seahawks’ availability, talking to former Belmont Hill star Jake Bobo for a story.

I was pretty dead after that. Grabbed an Uber around 8:15 p.m. and went back to the hotel. I had every intention of writing up the stories from a great first night, got the Ashton Grant one done, but was once again out cold by 9:15.

TUESDAY 2/3

Back up at 4:30 and once again, ready to go. Get the stories on Vinny and Jake posted just as John is chirping me about editing too much and not getting content out. Today is Day 1 of Patriots availability at the team hotel, which I smartly booked my hotel just 11 minutes away from. Jack in the Box for a coffee and croissant sandwich and then off to the Marriott. Very nice, pleasant drive over and check in starts around 9:30 a.m (p.t.), which is nice considering the rest of the week press conferences began at 8:00 a.m.

Mike Vrabel hit the podium at 11:01 and then a bunch of players were available for about an hour. I had heard that the entire team and staff would be available on Tuesday, so I skipped out early knowing I’d have quite a drive up to Radio Row. Thankfully, I left when I did, because I got there just in time to grab an order of the free wings Wing Stop was handing out most of the week and then get into the NBC Sports press conference with the Sunday Night Football crew calling the game.

Another ‘wow’ moment in what would be a long line of them this week came over the next couple hours, getting to talk to Tony Dungy and Mike Florio about the Patriots, Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft. Seeing the aura that Chris Collinsworth and Mike Tirico have in a room is pretty cool as well. Melissa Stark is just as gorgeous in person as she is on TV as well, didn’t get a chance to say hello unfortunately. Devin McCourty had some really good stuff to say and just the entire experience of being in that room is one that will certainly stand out whenever I look back on this week.

Once again, it’s a race against the clock in traffic to get back to the hotel in time for an Uber to make it out to the Media Party at the EA Sports campus. I’ve been pretty fired up for this since I knew about it last week and I’ve heard plenty of stories from other media members that have covered Super Bowls and been to the Media Party.

Turns out I had plenty of time and made it out to Redwoods City (pretty sure this is how the Premier Lacrosse League team got its name, makes sense now). Waited in line about 20 minute before the doors finally opened and I’m thinking ‘alright, first real Super Bowl week experience’ and initially it’s really cool. We walk in and there’s three bars open (open bar all night was great) with a ton of different food. There’s F1 racing setups and a giant F1 car in the window. Outside, it’s the Madden field with picnic tables set up and fires everywhere sort of right in the middle of the giant campus.

Unfortunately, after that, it was pretty underwhelming. There were FIFA and Madden booths set up as well as another dancing/heat map type thing with a bar in a big blue room and that was it. I immediately felt like I was 24 years old hanging out at the downstairs of Joshua Tree in Brighton. Hung out with the CLNS guys having a few beers and then called it a night around 10:30, Ubering back and popping a gummy by 11:00. Had some Doritos and was probably asleep by 11:30.

WEDNESDAY 2/4

I had no idea how big of a day this was about to be.

Bright and early media availability at the Pats’ hotel for the next two days. I was at Jack in the Box by 6:00 a.m. and in line at check in with the infamous WBZ Camera Guys by 6:28 (based on photos). Vrabel and Stefon Diggs spoke from 7:58-about 8:30 and then the entire team – players and coaches – were available at tables and podiums for an hour. With Vrabel’s recent comments about what he would cut off to win a Super Bowl as a head coach, I went around and asked 18 different guys for their reactions. Some were priceless and hilarious. Make sure you check out that story under our ‘Patriots’ tab on the site if you missed it.

I should also shout out Aaron Slain from PR here as well. Having a conversation with him and he suggests taking the 280 highway instead of the 101 nightmare I had been dealing with. It turns out that it was an absolute game changer and quite scenic as well.

After the Pats stuff it’s another race to Radio Row. With various celebrities and big names in sports constantly rotating through, you never know who you’re going to see with a chance to get a quick quote or two from. So, I gotthere around noon, got the Vrabel story written up while sitting with some of the MassLive crew (Karen Guerigan, Mark Daniels and Matt Vatour) and then made my way downstairs.

There’s already a different buzz here today. You can tell things are picking up. I do a lap or two and see Cam Newton doing his podcast with Kendrick Bourne. All of the sudden at about 1:00 p.t. I see people lingering around the McAfee set and he’s out there chatting with them. Seems like he might be there for a bit, so I decide to make my way over. As minutes go by, he makes his way down the line, but the crowd is getting bigger and bigger, It’s turning into a bit of a mob scene as a stand my ground about four people down from where he is to his left.

At this point, I’m fully committed to getting him to talk New England football and to give him an NEFJ business card. A few scumbags push their way to the front and interrupt others, but a kind Buffalo Bills fan to my right gives me a little nudge left as the crowd begins to push. It’s almost a mosh pit at this point and McAfee spots me, saying “I got you next brother.”

Finally, after two very nice exchanges with a military veteran and a TV crew from Ireland, McAfee acknowledges I held my own in the shit show, and also makes sure people acknowledge a Bills fan helping out a New England guy. Finally, I ask him a few questions about the team playing for Vrabel, he gives me a few great lines and I hand him a card before going on my way. I immediately text Sophie Weller that I just interviewed McAfee (we were exchanging locations and interview possibilities for celebrities throughout the day, Radio Row requires divide and conquer strategy when you’re working alone), then raced back upstairs to get a quick write up out on it. This is why I came here.

After hanging out with the CLNS guys at their table for a bit, me and Brian Hines do a lap and spot Mac Jones. I had to shake his hand and say hello, he was always kind and remembered me which was cool.

I rode that high of the McAfee interview all the way ‘home’ on the beautiful drive – now enjoying the new scenery on 280 – and once again, was out like a light by 10 or so. I did find a nice little local pizza place that I tried and ended up having this for dinner the next three nights. The only bad part about being in Santa Clara was the inability to really hang out with anyone else on the beat, but I’d take not waking up at 5 or 5:30 for a 6 a.m. shuttle any day.

THURSDAY 2/5

Back to the Pats team hotel for the final time. I’m officially just rotating the same two pairs of shorts, NEFJ hoodie and NEFJ pullover at this point. Thank god I at least brought enough underwear and socks to have new ones every day. I was a little late to Jack in the Box and got gas ($4/gallon near my hotel, $5 everywhere else I saw, absolutely insane) and didn’t get in the check in line until 6:42. Turns out this day was going to be almost as awesome as Wednesday was.

Vrabel and Drake Maye had the last two formal press conferences of the season until about 8:30 and then for the last time before a game this season, players sat down with the media. Coaches were available again and I took the chance to finally introduce myself to Josh McDaniels – I’ve legitimately never had the chance while covering him – and asked him about his visit with BC this offseason. He had some great stuff to say about Bill O’Brien and that relationship as well.

Another trek to Radio Row and immediately, even before setting up my stuff upstairs, you can feel today is different. This is THE day on Radio Row. There’s a ton of buzz and it’s absolutely packed. As a big wrestling guy, I immediately spot AJ Francis and MJF and text my buddies Adam and Dylan who I knew would appreciate it. Minutes later, I swing over to the NBC Sports desk where 98.5 is and say hello to legendary producer Marc Cappello. After briefly saying I wish I hadn’t missed Doug Flutie on Wednesday, he tells me to hang on, makes two texts and tells me I have an interview with him in 10 minutes over at Table 70. Not enough good things can be said about Cappello.

While waiting for Flutie, I see Emmitt Smith, Von Miller and Shawne Meriman. I had Emmitt Smith’s people a card hoping for even one or two questions. Take whatever you can get on Radio Row. No shot, but I had to try. I end up talking to AJ Dillon while waiting for Flutie and both guys end up giving me great stuff on BC in the NIL Era. Their passion for the school still seeps through, but they’re also both very honest with where things stand in this landscape.

While the CLNS guys are on air, Weller and I end up doing a bunch of laps together looking for anyone that could help either one of us. We ran into Damien Harris and Deatrich Wise who were both fantastic people to cover. Great to see both of them. I spotted Aquib Talib and desperately wanted to try and get him for a quick interview, but ended up losing him. I’m also pissed I missed Kay Adams and Martha Stewart by minutes at this point too. Weller ends up finding and falling in love with Kirk Herbstreit’s dog Peter. After I had to play photographer for a while, I grab a picture of my own with the giant PopTart and then head back over to the CLNS desk.

It’s at this point where my next ‘holy shit’ moment of the week comes. Herbstreit is doing an interview with Yahoo Sports just a booth or two over. I finally decide that I may never have a chance to ask him for a few thoughts on New England football again, so I ask his son who is also with him if he’d take two questions despite his outrageously busy schedule. His son was nice enough to call Kirk over and let him know who I was with. Kirk gave me some phenomenal answers and was extremely gracious with his time before running to his next interview.

Rode that high for a while, did another lap, spotted Michael Irvin and Aaron Donald and then decided to head back again around 4:30 p.m.. Gummies, pizza, Fritos, bed by 11. That all of course, came while watching Adam Vinatieri make the Hall of Fame and Vrabel and Josh McDaniels win Coach of the Year awards. Sign of good things to come on Sunday?

FRIDAY 2/6

Weird not having any set schedule after being so structured all week. Still wanted to get down to Radio Row and enjoy it one final day and I wanted to get our game credentials as soon as possible. That was another ‘holy shit’ moment getting those game ones in my hands around 10:00 a.m. I literally just wanted to stare at it the rest of the day and kept checking the envelope in my bag every five minutes.

I was also nervous most of the day because on Thursday I had scheduled an interview with All Elite Wrestling owner Tony Khan. Before that, I had a chance to catch up with former BC grad and rising media star Annabelle Hasselbeck for a story on her career journey. I’ve loved covering both her and her sister for lax and her brother as Xaverian’s QB. Matt Hasselbeck has also been very supportive of us as well, so it was a treat to get to tell her story.

After spotting Miss USA, Jon Gruden and Eli Manning throughout the afternoon, I finally had my interview with Tony Khan around 3:30 and it was an awesome 10 minutes. We talked about UMass alum now Jaguars head coach Liam Coen, Khan’s relationship with both Jonathan and Robert Kraft and of course, whether or not AEW will be having a Pay Per View event in Boston anytime soon. I think I may have lit the spark for a possible show at Fenway Park one day too. If it happens I’m taking full credit.

Radio Row was definitely winding down and I had always wanted to go see Oracle Park. So, like an idiot, I didn’t realize all week that the lot I had been using was legitimately a five minute walk away. I left Radio Row at about 4:00, dropped stuff off in my car and kept walking down to Oracle. So glad I did. This place is absolutely stunning and puts Fenway to shame. When you walk around the outfield and see McCovey Cove behind the ballpark, it’s truly a sight to behold as a baseball fan.

Made my way through their Pro Shop for a bit (also way better than the one outside Fenway), got back to the hotel, wrote some stuff up and then enjoyed my final night of quiet sleep on my own.

SATURDAY 2/7

Time to explore San Fran. I knew I had to see the Golden Gate Bridge. My rental was due back at the airport at 2:00 and John was supposed to be landing around 3:00. It was all going to work out perfectly. Well, not quite.

I did go see the bridge and it was ‘meh’ if I’m being honest. But, my dad suggested I head to a place called Muir’s Beach Overlook and thank god he did. If you ever go to Northern California, go here. It is truly a stunning, scenic view that words can’t really do justice. The drive up is incredible too, through windy mountains where service doesn’t exist.

As I did my few hours of exploring, John ended up getting delayed in Dallas. Meanwhile, I ended up going WAY too far and wound up two hours away from the airport. So, I made sure I got In-N-Out for the long ride and did the full Cali experience all in one day, even driving by the old Oakland Colosseum where the A’s should still be playing baseball. For the record, the burger is incredible, the fries were trash.

John finally got in around 5:30 p.m. out there and while we were supposed to meet the other beat members for a final ‘send off’ drink, downtown San Fran was a legitimate standstill and we ended up having to bail. (Apologies to Chris Price and the rest of the beat, we genuinely felt terrible). Once getting out of the absolute shit show that night, we ended up at Chili’s near our hotel around 9 and heading to sleep by 10:30 or so. John’s a snorer, so I didn’t get much sleep, but this was basically Christmas Eve anyway.

SUNDAY 2/8

Holy shit. It’s Super Bowl Sunday, the Patriots are in it AND we’re going. I was up at 4:08 a.m. and couldn’t go back to sleep. Thankfully, I had a few friends up on the east coast that had some of the same excitement.

John and I ended up watching Seahawks-Pats highlights that were on ESPN2 before going to grab a coffee and do our live stream pregame show. Both got ready and then grabbed an Uber at 10:45 a.m.

I couldn’t help but think of friends and family on the way in there, knowing we had all watched this my entire life and now I was the one actually attending this game. John and I had also talked on the show about what it meant to our families and us personally, so there was definitely an emotional aspect heading in there.

Uber driver dropped us off kind of far away, but as we went through security and started to hear and see the rush of everything that is a Super Bowl Sunday, shit got real. We made it through security and obviously had to take some pictured infant of the gate and banners of Sam Arnold and Drake Maye. We had actually made it.

John swung through the store to pick up stuff for his family while I waited outside. Eventually, we made our way inside and onto the elevators. We got off on the 8th floor like we thought we had to and quickly got our credentials denied.

Uh oh.

Turns out, the ‘auxiliary press box’ was on Level 3. We ran into Hines and along with him, eventually found our way up to the 200 sections where we were all scattered. Hines was 201. We were 204. Weller was 206. John and I were next to some folks from NBC 10. Gethin Coolbaugh and Chris Ryan were also in our section, but there were national and local media spread out everywhere.

For the first few minutes, John and I chatted with Sophie and Brian at our seats, just taking it all in. It’s actual unreal how speechless I was for the first few minutes inside the stadium. Then, as it started to fill in, Brian and I made our way down to the first few rows near the field where the Pats were coming out.

Warmups were definitely surreal, continuously looking at the Super Bowl logos everywhere and watching fans of both teams fill in and begin to trash talk. I’ll also say that it was at this point that I knew this was not the ‘corporate crowd’ you always hear about. This was a stadium full of real fans. The only bad thing about this night (other than the game) was the fact those of us in auxiliary had to walk down through the concourse to get food and use the bathrooms. Again, my short ass isn’t made for crowds, but it was what it was.

As Green Day started, it all began to hit me. I’m not nearly as big of a fan of them as I was 15-20 years ago (for many reasons), but it was still wild to know I was probably a 100 yards away from the Super Bowl kickoff concert. Then, as the flags rolled out for America the Beautiful and the National Anthem, it hit me even more. I’ve watched this my whole life and now I’m here.

The Pats coming out actually almost had me shedding a tear. I don’t care how lame that sounds. Whether it was watching the 2001 Super Bowl win with my dad or thinking about so many times me and my buddies would have chills as the team came out before this game…just knowing how much it means to so many others is all I could think about. The fact I was there didn’t even make sense.

The fly over was sick and even the coin toss I made sure to get on video. The opening kickoff felt like a dream (glad I got that too) and then, for the next three hours, I was able to be a fan while also doing my job. Having the outdoor seats really was awesome, being fully engulfed in that raucous atmosphere.

Sure, from a Pats fan perspective the game sucked (and I didn’t watch a second of the halftime show. I sat there eating my sandwich), but being able to appreciate the once-in-a-lifetime experience was something I was truly focused on all week and did my best to uphold. Now, John and I went downstairs with eight minutes left to try and figure out the shit show postgame. Good thing we did because NO ONE working there had any idea where we were supposed to go. Finally, we made the 10 minute walk outside the stadium, across the 49ers practice field to the tent where postgame interviews took place.

After going through those somber moments, John and I trekked back to the media workroom, did our Patriots Pulse Postgame Show with Jon Lyons and eventually Uber’d back to the hotel about 10 minutes away, arriving around 11.

We watched highlights, lamented about the game a bit more and then he fell asleep while I figured out how to re-pack all of my shit, plus the $700 worth of stuff I might not wear now since they lost.

MONDAY 2/9

Up at 6:30 or so, off to the airport rental drop off by 8ish. John had an 11 a.m. fight and mine was 10. Saw the legendary Dan Roche and Steve Burton on my flight before boarding. I admittedly watched Space Jam on the way home (yes, 38 in a few weeks). I wanted nothing to do with any postgame stuff. I started getting some lacrosse season emails out of the way and almost died on the landing. Another plane hadn’t cleared the runway in time, so we hit the ground and immediately went back up.

I haven’t flown enough yet for that kind of nonsense.

Finally arrived back in Waltham around 7:00 and as pissed as I was about the loss (true fandom all day on Monday), as I unpacked all of my Super Bowl stuff and hung up the credentials, I realized just how special those eight days in Santa Clara were.

Hopefully, eight more in Los Angeles are on tap next year.