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Buzz Me When The Game Gets Ready To Start

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This year's Super Bowl lacks the excitement of Joe Namath's guarantee before Super Bowl III in 1969.

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 30, 2009

TAMPA - The three words I'm about to type in the next paragraph may not make it through the filters the NFL planted in our computers, designed to prevent anything but "happy" things from being printed during Super Bowl week. I'm going to risk it anyway.

There's no buzz.

There have been a lot of parties and more than a few celebrities. And you know something is big when the Boss shows up at a news conference to talk about his new album and, oh, yeah, the Super Bowl halftime show.

I'm one of those weird ducks who actually thinks the Super Bowl is about what happens for 3 1/2 hours on Sunday night, though, and after exhaustive, totally unscientific research of at least 10 or 15 minutes I have discovered the only people talking about the actual game are Chris Berman, Al Roker and the guys on radio row at the Super Bowl media center.

Just our luck. In Pittsburgh and Arizona, we have drawn a pair of teams filled with warm stories, solid citizens such as Kurt Warner and Troy Polamalu and understated coaches such as Mike Tomlin and Ken Whisenhunt (he's the Cardinals' coach, right?)

There is no Jim McMahon insulting the women of Tampa the way he did the ladies of New Orleans when the Bears and Patriots played there. There is no Joe Namath guarantee. I even miss Warren Sapp soaking up the attention at Media Day like he did when the Bucs stormed San Diego.

Instead, we have the Steelers saying how much they respect the Cardinals.

We have Arizona with a teeny, tiny chip on its shoulder about the lack (YAWN!) of respect, but the Cardinals really respect Pittsburgh.

Their mamas would be proud of their gentlemanly behavior, but it makes for a boring buildup.

Same Ol' Stuff

We should have expected as much.

Tampa is becoming the black cat of Super Bowl host cities. This is the fourth time we've had the game, and there always seems to be something going on that makes it an afterthought.

In 1991, the Gulf War had just begun, and it didn't seem right to have revelry going on in Tampa while our troops were liberating Kuwait. It was the Somber Bowl. The NFL canceled a lot of the parties, and basically everyone agreed that we'd stage the game but wouldn't enjoy it.

The next time the game returned was right after the Florida election debacle of 2000. It wasn't exactly the best time for a Florida city to be showing off to the world. Besides that, we had a pair of boring teams: Baltimore and … um … who did the Ravens play that day? Oh yeah, the Giants.

Good game, too: a 34-7 rout for Baltimore.

Now the game is back, and we're in the middle of an economic meltdown, although that didn't stop the NFL from raising ticket prices to a cool $1,000 apiece while laying off more than 100 employees.

Somewhere, though, can't you picture a bunch of suits at NFL headquarters cackling as they say, "Hey, why not make it a grand! They'll pay it! Hey, Gruden's here with the pizza."

Just Play The Game

Maybe it'll pick up a little now that the game is almost upon us.

Until now, the only people in town have been media – not nearly as much as usual – and Carmen Electra. The game is still a big deal, but it hasn't been the Super deal everyone hoped for.

Arizona is a compelling story, but let's face it: Here in Tampa, news that the Bucs hired Jeff Jagodzinski as offensive coordinator is a much bigger story than whether the Steelers' secondary can contain Larry Fitzgerald.

Pittsburgh's quest for a "six-pack" of Super Bowl wins has a nice ring, so to speak, but I doubt it has been the subject of much discussion around local dinner tables this week. We've basically learned everything about these teams we need to know, and the general impression is that they're pretty good, there are some nice stories and it ought to make for a pleasant diversion Sunday evening.

Now if they'll just play the game, it will be just fine. It doesn't mean Tampa hasn't been a good host, and it doesn't mean everyone would love the game to return.

But buzz?

Not feeling it.

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