Let's do it again in 2014

TAMPA -- The 2009 Tampa Super Bowl hasn't even been played, and already some area boosters are looking at whether Tampa Bay should seek a place in line as host for a future big game.

There was scattered scuttlebutt during the Tampa Bay Host Committee's Gridiron Gala Friday night that local leaders of this year's effort may do just that.

"We definitely want to bid again," said Reid Sigmon, executive director of the Host Committee, when the question was put to him. "We haven't talked officially about when."

The chatter Friday night focused on 2014, though 2013 is the next available date. Miami; Arlington, Texas; and Indianapolis hold the next three.

Sigmon said the reaction to Tampa as a host town has been overwhelmingly favorable from the league, the teams, regular Joes arriving from out of town and even the out-of-town media.

"I think we've had a very good week," Sigmon said. "We feel good about what we've done."

-- Bill Varian, Times staff writer

Friday's Super Bowl Photos

Tampa Bay native Tracy Williams performs at the 2009 Bud Bowl Block Party, between Channelside Entertainment District and the St. Pete Times Forum, on Friday. [EDMUND D. FOUNTAIN   |   Times]

Plant High team in for Super experience

The state champion Plant High football team will help make sure all of NBC’s camera angles are perfect in preparation for Sunday’s game.

Fresh off the high of winning the FHSAA Class 4A state championship a month ago, the Panthers will participate in a simulation of Super Bowl XLIII game night Friday evening at Raymond James Stadium.

Thursday's Super Bowl Photos

Bruce Springsteen jokes around with E Street Band members Max Weinberg (left) and Steven van Zandt at a press conference on Thursday. The band is the performing at half time of Super Bowl XLIII. [BRIAN CASSELLA   |   Times]

 

Wednesday's Super Bowl Photos

Fans gather to watch rehearsal for the Best Damn Sports Show on Eighth Avenue in front of Centro Ybor in Tampa. The cable program will broadcast from the location. [MARTHA RIAL   |   Times]

Tuesday's Super Bowl photos

The Bucs pirate ship is now decorated with Super Bowl flags. [BRENDAN FITTERER | Times]

Super Bowl Weekend weather: warm, clear, dry

Players and partygoers during this weekend's Super Bowl won't have to worry about the weather: meteorologists expect warm temperatures, clear skies and barely a breeze.

A cold front that could bring in thunderstorms from Wednesday to Friday will be swept away by Saturday, and temperatures are expected to settle in around 70 for the rest of the weekend, said Mike Cantin of the National Weather Service. He expects clear skies and no rain.

"The weekend looks very nice," Cantin said. "Especially for the people coming from Pittsburgh, who will be loving the sunshine."

-- Drew Harwell, Times staff writer

Monday's Super Bowl photos

The pilot waves a team flag out his window as the Cardinals exit a Northwest Airlines jet at Tampa International Airport on Monday afternoon.   [WILLIE J. ALLEN JR.   |   Times]

Super Bowl sellers travel far for big show

If you've bought any official Super Bowl merchandise in Tampa the last two months, there's a good chance you've been greeted by Patti Berryman.

She's the one helping, cajoling, teasing, joking, pushing, goofing on your driver's license picture and ringing you up.

She's from Detroit, where "we don't have a football team." She takes as good as she gives.

Since the first week in November, she has been working the Super Bowl Merchandise floor at the West Shore Boulevard location, in a converted restaurant that used to serve steak and ale.

Berryman, 51, is, well, a sales carnie.

She leaves home and husband for a few months every year to peddle Super Bowl merchandise -- this is her 12th Super Bowl in 13 years -- then returns to her regularly scheduled programming in Michigan.
Until the next Super Bowl, that is.

To read the rest of John C. Cotey's 'Man About Town' column, click here.

[Times photo: Brian Cassella]

Live from Channelside

What is usually a modest stage for cover bands in the middle of Channelside Bay Plaza quickly turned into a flashy ESPN Radio set Saturday afternoon.

“The Mike Tirico and Scott Van Pelt Show” will broadcast live from the Channelside courtyard Monday through Friday from 1-4. “The Herd with Kevin Cowherd” will be at the same site from 9-1.

“The Mike and Mike Show,” hosted by Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic, will broadcast live a few steps away from ESPN’s main set at Cotanchobee Park behind the St. Pete Times Forum starting Monday morning from 6-10.

For a complete schedule of live ESPN Radio broadcasts, click HERE.

-- Eduardo A. Encina, Times staff writer

Jennifer Hudson will sing anthem

Former American Idol contestant and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson will sing the national anthem at Tampa's Super Bowl on Feb. 1, the NFL announced this morning.

It will be Hudson's first public appearance since the killings of her mother, brother and nephew in October, the Associated Press reports. Her estranged brother-in-law has been charged in the killings. Hudson also is scheduled to sing at the Grammys' MusiCares event in Los Angeles a few days later. (She is nominated for four awards at the Feb. 8 Grammy Awards.)

One of the best-remembered versions of the anthem also happened in Tampa, back in 1991, when Whitney Houston teamed up with the Florida Orchestra during the first Persian Gulf War. So stirring was the performance that it was recorded and released as a commercial single, eventually hitting the Top 20 on the U.S. Hot 100.

Other artists to perform the anthem in Tampa include The Backstreet Boys (2001) and Barry Manilow (1984).

Associated Press

Video preview: Hudson sang at Democratic Convention

Double dose of Pennsylvania? Help!

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell is rooting for the Eagles and Steelers. [AP photo]

Don't look now, but the prospects of an All-Pennsylvania Super Bowl -- featuring the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers -- are growing each week. And while that might seem like a dream match-up to NFL fans, some of us in the host city might be shuddering at the idea.

As if dealing with Philadelphia Phillies fans during the 2008 World Series wasn't enough, an Eagles-Steelers finale would send a double dose of fans from the Keystone State to Tampa Bay. And that's something not lost on Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell.

The New York Times reports that "Rendell says an Eagles-Steelers Super Bowl would send happy, rowdy Pennsylvanians rushing to Tampa, Fla., whether they had tickets or not. And he would become the de facto mayor of Tampa for two weeks."

According to Rendell, 25,000 Eagle fans -- many without game tickets -- invaded Jacksonville in 2005 when Philly made it to the title game. Now imagine at least double the fans here in Tampa Bay -- and maybe now you've stopped smiling.

"Eagles fans and Steelers fans are such enthusiastic blue-collar rock 'n' rollers, there may not be much left of Tampa when they get done with it," Rendell told the Times. "[Fla.] Gov. Crist is a friend of mine, so I will offer to send the Pennsylvania National Guard down to help."

Oh great. Even more Pennsylvanians.

RayJay gets $85K Super Bowl turf-lift today

Workers roll out the Super Bowl sod at Raymond James Stadium on January 9, 2009. [Kathleen Flynn, Times]

After watching grass grow for a year and a half, crews began laying 95,000 square feet of Bermuda grass at Raymond James Stadium early this morning in preparation for the Super Bowl.

"We should get it all done by Monday," said Super Bowl field director Ed Mangan, who has served in that post for 20 years and also manages the field for the Atlanta Braves. "It will get rooted. We've got the chemicals and the science to do that."

Harvesting of the grass from Bent Oak Sod Farm in Alabama began yesterday, and the turf for next year's Super Bowl in Miami is already growing at the farm. Each 140-square-foot roll weighs 2,000 pounds. The field will remain until after a monster truck show scheduled at Ray Jay in late February. Painting of the field with hash marks, Super Bowl and team logos will begin about two weeks before kick-off on Feb. 1.

"We need to determine who the teams are before we paint the end zones," Mangan said.

Director of Super Bowl field operations Ed Mangan, middle, gives directions as workers roll out the Super Bowl sod. [Kathleen Flynn, Times] 

The Super Bowl turf is about a 1/4-inch thicker than the stadium's usual playing field, say officials with the Tampa Sports Authority, which manages the stadium. Replacement of the entire field, which requires removing the goal posts, hasn't been done in years. Typically, it's replaced piecemeal, a less expensive undertaking, to accommodate the University of South Florida and Buccaneers football schedules. In the past year, the sports authority has changed out portions of the field about nine times.

Construction of a media compound and the NFL
Experience, a theme park, began on the stadium grounds last week. The NFL will also add about 6,000 seats to the stadium, and replace the red Bucs decor with blue-and-green Super Bowl decorations.

Director of Super Bowl field operations Ed Mangan, middle, gives directions as workers roll out the Super Bowl sod. [Kathleen Flynn, Times]

"The advertising signs will stay," said Reid Sigmon, executive director of the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host committee.

NBC will broadcast from the pirate ship behind the west end zone.

Janet Zink and Emily Nipps, Times staff writer

Super Bowl organizers urge locals to be nice

 

Just be nice. That's what the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee wants the locals to do when hundreds of thousands visitors come to town for the big game. The committee's "Put Your Game Face On" campaign will feature friendly, smiling faces on television, billboards and the newspaper, and happy voices on the radio.

"A smile and a great welcome to our visitors goes a long way in promoting our community," said Reid Sigmon, executive director of the host committee. "It's very simple. Just be a great host. No matter who plays in the game we all win from a promotional stand point and economic development standpoint."

If people have a good experience in Tampa Bay, it could mean they'll return for a vacation, schedule a convention here, or even relocate their business to the area, Sigmon said.

So, what does it mean to be a great host? Well, there's the obvious, like don't curse or gesture meanly if you're stuck in Super Bowl-related traffic. And don't be afraid to reach out to that Ravens or Eagles or Chargers or whatever fan.

"If you see someone on the street corner and they look like they're lost try to help out," Sigmon said. "People are generally interested in the best place to eat or how do I get someplace."

Official Super Bowl banners available

Want to show your Super Bowl spirit? The Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee today launched the limited-time sale of official Super Bowl XLIII banners for area businesses, hotels and restaurants. They're available in seven different styles. Prices range from $9 for an 8.5-inch-by-11-inch flyer to $70 for an 8-foot-by-3-foot banner showing a sun-kissed giant football and the words "Believe in Now." Host committee executive director Reid Sigmon calls it a "regional decorations program." Committee chairman Dick Beard says the banners will help businesses attract some of the 100,000 visitors expected to descend on the region for the game, set for 6 p.m. Feb. 1 at Raymond James Stadium. Order your flair by Dec. 12 at www.tampabaysuperbowl.com.

SB Host Committee launches online calendar

Want to stay on top of Super Bowl related activities? The Super Bowl host committee has launched an online calendar of public events. So far, it includes info on such things as an NFL photo exhibit, a variety of celebrity golf tournaments, concerts and a barbecue festival. Expect much more in the coming weeks.