Since the Super Bowl is about excess and overkill, of course
television leads the way with hours and hours of programming
leading up to the game.
Fox Sports Net hits the air first with a three-hour "NFL
This Morning" at 10 a.m. with Chris Myers, Deacon Jones,
Marv Levy, Boomer Esiason, Billy Ray Smith, and Jay Mohr (who
has no right to make fun of anybody after appearing in "Pay
it Forward."). ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown" show
begins at 11 a.m.
Fox, the network that is airing the game, begins its coverage
five hours before kickoff as John Madden and Pat Summerall
select the toughest players in the league on the "19th
Annual Blockbuster All-Madden Team" from 1:30 p.m. to 3
p.m. Brian Dawkins and David Akers are likely candidates from
the Eagles to be named.
Then, it's a THREE-hour pre-game show with Terry Bradshaw,
Howie Long, James Brown and Cris Collinsworth, plus contributors
Jillian Barberie and Jimmy Kimmel.
Besides the normal features and analysis (hopefully not from
Arnold Schwarzenegger this week), there will be plenty of
patriotic presentations due to the terrorist attacks of Sept.
11. Paul McCartney, No Doubt and Barenaked Ladies will perform
before the game. Then, there will be two songs to salute
America. Mary J. Blige and Marc Anthony will sing "America
the Beautiful" and Mariah Carey will sing "The Star
Spangled Banner." No stars and stripes halter top, please.
Then after 50-years as a player and announcer in the NFL,
Summerall will call his final NFL game with his partner of the
last two decades, Madden. Expect some kind of salute to
Summerall during the game. Ron Pitts will be the sideline
reporter.
At halftime, get "stuck in a moment" as U2
performs, or get stuck watching the Playboy playmate version of
the vile "Fear Factor" on NBC.
Throughout the game, there will be some big-time commercials
including a new Britney Spears ad for Pepsi, a Coen
Brothers-directed spot for H & R Block, and in the strangest
collaboration since last year's Super Bowl performance of
Aerosmith, N-Sync, and Spears - a commercial for Cadillac
featuring a Led Zeppelin song (not "Stairway to
Heaven.").
At the end of the game and postgame analysis, the prestigious
post-Super Bowl slot goes to the comedy "Malcolm in the
Middle." However, for viewers who want even more football,
the Fox-team will continue postgame reports on Fox Sports Net
for another hour. And ESPN will have its final "NFL
Primetime" with Chris Berman and Co. at 10:30 p.m.
Ratings game
The Eagles-Rams game was the highest rated Eagles' contest of
the year with a 46.3 rating/65 share for Fox-Philadelphia. Each
rating point equals 28,010 households.
Read all about it
There is a short piece about Phillies announcer Harry Kalas,
voted into the Broadcasters Wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame
yesterday, in the Jan. 28 issue of "Sports
Illustrated." Harry's voice can be heard in the Donovan
McNabb "Chunky" soup commercials.
Where have you gone?
There are two more chances to catch the feature about former
Eagles owner Leonard Tose on HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant
Gumbel." It will air tomorrow at noon and Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Laura Nachman covers television and radio sports for the
Courier Times. Write to her in care of the Courier Times, 8400
Route 13, Levittown, PA 19057, fax 215-949-4177 or email bradyresident@aol.com
Friday, February 1, 2002