By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Sports Editor

This weekend brings the last week of regular season NFL football, which means in five short weeks it will be time for the Super Bowl.

Though the disappointing season from the Atlanta Falcons may have clouded much of the season for football fans in Georgia, we should remember that Atlanta is the host of the Super Bowl this year. That means that for one entire week, the party is here.

One of the best elements of an NFL Super Bowl party is the interactive theme park that has followed the Super Bowl for a number of years, the NFL Experience. The NFL Experience offers more than 50 games across 15 acres under one roof. The games give participants an opportunity to run, pass, kick and punt as well as experience the same drills as the pros.

Among some of the games this year are Adidas' “Run to Daylight,” where fans try to match strides over 40 yards with flashing lights that represent running back Eddie George; “Fair Catch,” where adults and children attempt to field a booming punt launched from an automated machine; and the “NFL Training Camp,” where participants run through a football obstacle course complete with ropes, tackling dummies, a maze of cones and inflatable players that one must dive over.

The NFL Experience also will have an area designed especially for the kids called the “DK Play Football Kids' Zone.” The area offers four acres of games and attractions, including a turbo slide and a suspended tube maze. More than 30 NFL stars will make appearances and sign autographs at the Topps Super Bowl XXXIV Card Show or they can view the spectacular visual history of the NFL at the Throwbacks Museum, which displays authentic artifacts that are on loan from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Tickets are on sale now for the NFL Experience, which will be at the Georgia World Congress Center. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under. Call Ticketmaster at 404-249-6400 or visit a ticketmaster outlet. Tickets will be sold at the gate Jan. 27.

Proceeds from the NFL Experience benefit the NFL/Youth Education Town in Atlanta, an educational and recreational facility designed to improve the academic and physical fitness of at-risk youth. Established in 1993, YET Centers are the living legacies of Super Bowl host cities. The Atlanta facility was created after Super Bowl XXVIII.

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