Get ready, get set, party

By JAY CRIDLIN
Published February 3, 2005

SUPER BOWL XXXIX Gary Shelton: Harrison dials up heat until pot boils over John Romano: The ultimate buddy system Get ready, get set, party Seymour returns, cleared to play Big boats help city make football float Super ads get super scrutiny What they're saying

It's Thursday, which means it's time for kickoff.

Not for the actual Super Bowl, of course - that's still scheduled for Sunday. But tonight is the night many A-list stars and celebrities arrive for Super Bowl weekend's swankiest VIP soirees.

A sampling of the names being dropped around town: Ben Affleck, Janet Jackson, P. Diddy, Jamie Foxx, Magic Johnson, Adam Sandler and Tom Cruise. Many celebrities are paid appearance fees just for showing up - the theory being, regular Joes will pay big bucks to party down with Joey Fatone. Ticket dealers are charging more than $2,000 for tickets to some of the top draws. The hottest hot spot is likely to be the Plush/Leopard Lounge, host of multiple celebrity throwdowns through Sunday.

The series was scheduled to kick off Wednesday night with OutKast's Diamond Party, but there's a lot of buzz surrounding tonight's Pure Rush bash, which in the past has drawn such celebs as Jay-Z, P. Diddy, Ray Romano and Penelope Cruz.

This year's annual EA Sports Madden Bowl is slated for 8 tonight at the River City Brewing Company. A slate of strong-thumbed NFL stars always show up; this year's list includes Ben Roethlisberger, Dwight Freeney and Tony Gonzalez.

P. Diddy has declared Friday his own personal night to party, with a Welcome to Jacksonville party at Plush/Leopard. But Saturday is when the party atmosphere really comes to a head.

All day long, stars will get their game on at several celebrity sporting events, ranging from a Cadillac go-cart race (Owen Wilson, Katie Holmes) to a flag football game (Doug Flutie, Roger Staubach, Willis McGahee) to a celebrity basketball tournament (Silk, Bone Crusher, Jerome Bettis, Clinton Portis).

Superagent Leigh Steinberg will host his annual athlete-heavy, $1,000-a-head bash at 2 p.m. at the Times-Union Center, not far from the Prime Osborn Convention Center.

On Saturday night, the eyes of the paparazzi will focus on the Willie Gary Celebrity Scholarship Party, where Janet "Wardrobe Malfunction" Jackson and her beau, Jermaine Dupri, are expected to make an appearance. If you miss this one, check next week's People or Us Weekly, where a photo with the caption "Janet Jackson" and "Super Bowl" is a virtual lock to appear. Hawaiian Tropic is hosting a party at Club Continental with a guest list including Jeff Gordon, Daunte Culpepper and Ken Griffey. And an event called the Takeover, featuring NFL players such as Shaun Alexander, Byron Leftwich and Keenan McCardell and rap group the Nappy Roots, is scheduled for Saturday night at the Regency Square mall.

Playboy magazine is always a major player on the Super Bowl party scene; this year's event is slated for 9:30 p.m. Saturday at the River City Brewing Company. Donnie Wahlberg, Gretchen Wilson, John Daly and, of course, Hugh Hefner are among the VIPs.

But the party of the year, as always, may be the one staged Saturday night by Maxim at the Riverside Garden Club. The lads' mag labeled this year's bash Maximony, giving the entire night a wedding party vibe. In addition to Hughes, Owen Wilson, Dylan McDermott, Nicole Richie, Greg Kinnear and Johnny Knoxville are on the extensive list of celebs expected to pop in.

Finally, on Sunday, Plush/Leopard will be home to the weekend's final big-time bash, a postgame Players Gala where celebrities can mix, mingle and reflect on Jacksonville's first Super Bowl weekend.

Good luck joining them.

Times staff writer Jay Cridlin can be reached at cridlin@sptimes.com

[Last modified February 3, 2005, 01:08:13]