Short bonus post today: the runup to the Pro Bowl continues.

Thursday’s pre-game event was “Marine For A Day” up at Kaneohe. I can’t show it any better than this NFL player getting to try on a set of explosive ordnance disposal gear:

NFL #ProBowl players get to experience a day in the life of a Marine on base today. #SaluteToService pic.twitter.com/dTyst24AnJ

— USAA (@USAA) January 29, 2016

Once again it was hard to tell which groups were the bigger fans of each other: the Marines or the football players.

On Friday our USAA group recorded the Pro Bowl players practicing for the game. These are the teams picked by Wednesday’s draft, and they’re spending today and tomorrow figuring out their playbook. This year the team is staying at the Turtle Bay Resort up at Oahu’s tip of the North Shore, so they held the practice at a field by the golf course instead of riding a bus all the way down to Aloha Stadium.

The real thrill during the practice was having a player wander over to the sidelines every few minutes to sign autographs. They worked particularly hard to meet the kids and the servicemembers who showed up in uniform.

The Saturday Pro Bowl practice seems to be an event for NFL ticket holders, but there are several Waikiki Pro Bowl events that are open to the public. I’m going to take a break on Saturday and get in some sorely-needed dawn patrol surfing, but on Sunday I’ll be at Richardson Field at 10:30 AM for the tailgater.

My thrill? I don’t follow football, but I really enjoyed the conversations with everyone. Every 15-20 minutes, for over four hours, I found myself with a servicemember talking about Hawaii life or surfing or personal finance or military careers or making the transition. I met a lot of impressive military and spouses. Today alone I’ve handed out over 20 cards with my website & e-mail address.  (NordsNords -at- Gmail.) I can’t wait to see what questions pop up into people’s minds after the Pro Bowl is over.

Personal financial independence: one reader at a time.

This is my final Pro Bowl post– I’m not going to analyze the game on Monday morning or put up more blog photos of the tailgater or the game at Aloha Stadium. However, I’ll be tweeting from both places, so follow along on Twitter or Facebook to enjoy a little more sunshine.  When I pick up my ticket, I’ll post my seat location so that you can drop by to say aloha.

Related articles:
The Pro Bowl Presented By USAA
I’m Goin’ To The Pro Bowl With USAA!