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Here's what I do and don't miss about covering Super Bowl


Posted on: February 02,2013

Rick Cleveland

Rick Cleveland


As a sports columnist, I covered 29 Super Bowls. Now, people often ask if I miss covering it.
The answer is simple: I miss some aspects of it. I don’t miss a lot more.
I absolutely miss seeing my sports writing friends from around the country.
I do not miss 500 of us trying to interview one guy.
I miss doing columns on the Mississippians involved, and there are always plenty.
I don’t miss talking to some Mississippian about growing up here, getting him on a roll and then having some MTV announcer interrupt and ask him about his favorite singer or favorite song. Or if he can dance. Or, and I’m not kidding, if he would like to dance.

I miss New Orleans on an expense account.
I repeat: I miss New Orleans on an expense account.
(All Super Bowls should be held in New Orleans. Although, I will say, San Diego, in January, is really, really nice)
I do not miss those frigid Super Bowls that were held in Minneapolis and Detroit.

I most of all did not miss Tuesday’s Super Bowl Media Day, the most insane event in all of sports.
I do not miss the late afternoon kickoff and the four-hour game that has you writing against a brutal deadline.
I do not miss the post-game interview sessions, during which I once (in Pasadena) had my nose bloodied and eyeglasses broken by a cameraman racing from one podium to another.
(Try writing a 700-word column in 20 minutes with blood dripping on your laptop, which you can not see clearly.)
I will not miss coming home and having people talk about all the great Super Bowl commercials, which I didn’t see.
I do not miss the NFL treating this one game every year like the ultimate happening in the history of the universe. (Duane Thomas said it best: “If it’s the ultimate game, how come they play it again next year.”)
I don’t miss the Roman numerals.
I will not miss the early Monday morning Super Bowl press conference with the winning coach and MVP.
And I am certain I will enjoy watching this year’s game – and the commercials – with friends on my 60-inch high def, smart TV. And if it turns into a rout or a lousy ultimate game — as so many Super Bowls do — I will just simply turn the channel.
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We’ll have our own Madden Super Bowl at the Hall of Fame Feb. 13. Click here for details..
 
 
 
 
 

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