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All right, already
In hours before kickoff, anticipation is off the scale
Posted: Sunday January 28, 2001 11:34 AM
By John Donovan, CNNSI.com
TAMPA, Fla. -- If you think the Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants had it hard getting to this point, you oughta consider their last couple days. Or these last few hours.
The temptation of one of the nation's biggest parties, right outside their door, has been unceasing.
The anticipation of maybe the biggest game in their lives has been building.
The frustration of waiting, and waiting some more, for the kickoff has been excruciating.
The expectations of all their family and friends who have swamped Tampa has become overwhelming.
Think they're finally ready to play in Super Bowl XXXV on Sunday night?
No question.
"We get to this point, I want quiet time. I want relaxing time," Giants head coach Jim Fassel was explaining the other day. "What I really need is quiet time by myself, not around anybody, not talking to anybody. There's nothing else going on in my life. I've got a lot of family and friends down here; they can go and do what they want to do."
After two weeks of buildup, the Giants and Ravens will arrive in Raymond James Stadium on Sunday afternoon ... then have to wait again.
Because this is the biggest sports show in America, the normal pregame routine is altered. The players will warm up on the field, as they normally do. Then they'll have to wait, an hour or maybe more, as the pregame festivities are played out.
"The veterans that have been here will tell you [pregame warmup] is an amazing experience, because the stadium is full and the energy is already high," says Ravens head coach Brian Billick. "So you tell [the ones who haven't been there] about it, you try to school them about it, but until they live it, I don't know that you can really help them any more than that."
Yeah. They'll be ready.
On to the final Super Bowl Day at a Glance and this question. Are you ready for the XFL?
The answer: Sorry. Just kidding.
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Super Sunday
A beautiful, mostly uneventful week culminates in one of the most curious Super Bowls in years. No one expected these teams to be here. Many still don't believe they're the best around. Get over it, folks. They are here. Finally.
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Ray Lewis
He started the week -- heck, the year -- as the NFL's most notorious player. On Sunday, he'll be one of the most closely scrutinized. Good, bad or in between, Lewis gets the spotlight again.
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The show
The Backstreet Boys with the National Anthem, Aerosmith and *NSYNC at halftime (with Mary J. Blige, Nelly and Britney Spears), a video from MTV with Adam Sandler and others, Survivors in the stands (you better believe it). Chips and friends and drinks at home. Football, too. Only in America.
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Flattery --
Gasparilla:
The pirate festival was moved up for the Super Bowl and proved to be a perfect way for guests to spend what might otherwise be a slow Saturday. Enlivened downtown too much for some, but give us a break. It's the Super Bowl.
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Flag --
Dumb partygoers:
You see them in every big event. Can't hold their liquor or hold back on their obnoxious behavior. They came out Saturday night at the Gasparilla fest, and they'll be there Sunday outside Raymond James Stadium.
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Flattery --
The Tampa area:
Wonderful hosts for XXXV. Beautiful weather, things to do if you want to try, nice folks who want to have the game here. Don't know what more the area could have done.
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Flag --
Game bashers:
No, these aren't the glamour teams. These aren't, say, the Dallas Cowboys or the Green Bay Packers or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, even. Thank goodness for that.
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CBS promises bold things with their Matrix-like replay system. We can't wait.
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Every parade in America ought to have bead-throwers. A great thing.
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Are you ready for Trent Dilfer, Super Bowl MVP? Could be.
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It's great to see Marv Levy in the Hall, despite those losses.
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"Are you ready for the game?"
-- Numerous people
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The week was great. The game may not be. Folks like to call it a defensive struggle, but no one will struggle more than the offenses in this one, and that'd be true even without these two top-notch defenses. That said, the DAAG likes the Baltimore defense better than the New York defense, and the Baltimore offense -- believe it or not -- better than the New York offense. And, in fact, the Baltimore special teams are better. That's not to say the Baltimore offense or special teams are good. Just better than the Giants'. So, the DAAG's take is this: Turnovers, especially early ones, plague the Giants, giving the Ravens an early lead, the Giants are forced to gamble to get back into it, which leads to a key late turnover in a 20-10 Baltimore win. And that's the DAAG's final bottom line.
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