Vince Vaughn had a giant entourage around him of both plungers and media members. He gave a nice speech and then his crew went in. Some of the cast from Chicago Fire/Police, along with Lady Gaga went next. From what I could see, all of them went completely under. One of the SO athletes sang the Nat'l Anthem, then we lined up to go in.
There was an area about 20' by 50' that was dug out with backhoes and bobcats for today. It wasn't so much jumping into the Lake as it was jumping into a giant pile of slush.
I got to about knee high, then belly flopped in. People say it feels like 1000 knives stinging you, but I pretty much went numb instantly. It felt like I had a piano on my back as I tried to stand up and trudge out of there. Once I got out of the water, I actually felt fine. I was worried I wouldn't be able to warm up but being out of the water was literally so much warmer that I felt fine even with wet clothes on. The worst part about it was my right water shoe fell off at some point, so my right foot was basically freezing until I got my socks and shoes back on. Changed, had a bite to eat, some hot chocolate, and a couple of adult beverages. It was a very fun morning, and I would absolutely do it again.
Thank you to those from here who donated. Nas, BRick, Boyd, Darkside, Doug, KDidit all did. There may have been others from here, as there were a few names on my page I did not recognize. I raised $565 (as of this AM), and as a total our team raised over $5700. Many FB messages, PMs, and text messages were sent to me as well. The support is and was definitely appreciated!
Vince Vaughn (in the Towes jersey) looked like he was hungover as shit, and on about 3 or 4 hours of sleep. Some of the Chicago Fire cast and Lady Gaga may be visible in some of these as well.
Happy that its over. I'm the big guy in the grey shirt. That may or may not have been Jim Thome behind me
Afterwards...all changed and dry. A family friend, who's niece had downs syndrome and passed away earlier this year, came out cheer us on. They gave me one of the medals she actually won at the SO back in 2000. Obviously a very emotional moment for the family. I'll probably hang this in our bar in the basement.
