Hooray for Super Bowl Media Day

February 1, 2012 @ admin → No Comments

Opening Super Bowl media day to the public Tuesday in Indianapolis was one way for the NFL to increase revenue (with more than 7,000 folks shelling out $50 apiece, that’s revenue)– and decrease the media’s sense of being special. OK, some media members will maintain their elevated estimation of their importance, undeserved as it may be. Reality is media need NFL more than NFL needs media. As long as there is television, gambling, fantasy football (a variation on the gambling theme) and sufficient corporate sponsorship, the NFL needs newspaper and radio folks about as much as Tom Brady needs another tight end to throw to — which, for those unfamiliar with the New England Patriots offense, would seem more than slightly superfluous.

Singer Ciari (left) was a Super Bowl XLVI media day interviewer and interviewee in Indy.

For those really unfamiliar with Super Bowl XLVI, the game will be Sunday in Indy with the Patriots playing the New York Giants. Among those on hand to interview players, coaches and team officials were familiar faces (and other body parts) Maria Menounous, singer Ciara, Mexican television personality Ines Sainz and her countrywoman Marisol Gonzalez and other assorted non-normal media types. Not that the regular media types are normal. But that’s probably another story for another day.

Anwyay, some quotes of note from Tuesday’s media day:

* Speaking of the Super Bowl and Patriots receivers, New England’s Chad Ochocinco was asked whether he would have oreferred to have a season with 100 catches or be in the spot he is. His response: “I’d rather be right here. I’ve already put up all the numbers. I’ve already done that. One of the things I that I was really happy about was that this is one of the few times, or really the only time, that I won’t be home at the Martin Luther King parade because I’m always home the first week of January. It’s so much bigger than what everybody else is thinking about. They’re thinking about the individuals. If I would have been thinking like that, I would have got cut Week 3, complaining about the ball. It’s been a joy.”

This is not the outfit that Marisol Gonzalez wore to Super Bowl XLVI media day.

* Speaking of Ochocinco, Patriots receiver Wes Welker was asked if he had seen him on “Dancing With the Stars” and whether Welker might someday show off his dancing skills. His response: “I may have caught like one episode or something like that. I think he did terrible, didn’t he? He didn’t last too long, did he? For being an athlete, you would think he’d be in the top two or three, right? I mean, come on. To answer your question, I really don’t see myself being on Dancing with the Stars; it’s not really my deal.”

* Patriots QB Brady on growing up with three older sisters: It was great, I didn’t have anyone to share clothes with, I didn’t have to fight over the bathroom. They were pretty easy on me. They dressed me up a few times in their clothes and painted my nails once, but it was nice. It was pretty easy when you were a kid and you had three older sisters. They’d bring all of their girlfriends over to the house. It was pretty cool. They (my sisters) were the best athletes in my house. They were certainly better athletes than me. They all had successful athletic careers. It was a very athletic family. We grew up on baseball and soccer fields. I loved just tagging along. I’d loved going out there and cheering them on. I was living and dying with every win and loss that they had.”

* Giants receiver Victor Cruz on whether he might retire his salsa-dancing celebration after this season: “No. I’m going to keep that going for as long as I’m playing in the NFL catching footballs, that salsa’s with me.”

* Giants QB Eli Manning on whether he will be on his brother Peyton Manning’s level if he wins another Super Bowl: “As a player, I don’t think you think about your legacy. You prepare to play games, to win games. We have an opportunity to win a championship. That is all I’m think about – what this will mean to the New York Giants organization and our fans. What it will mean for certain players – for a guy like Deon Grant who has played for 12 or 13 years and never won a championship. I watched Deon play at Tennessee with my brother – what it would mean for him to win a championship. What it would mean for Victor Cruz or Hakeem Nicks to win a championship. You put your teammates and coaches above yourself and what it would mean to them.”

* Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell on choosing to join the Giants staff over the Bears: “It was just a feel. I love [Chicago coach] Lovie Smith and enjoyed my time in Chicago and I knew that was coach Smith’s defense. He is an excellent defensive coach and I just thought that at the time, I probably needed to step out on my own and run my own defense. It was always going to be coach Smith’s defense and if I was going to make my mark in coaching, I had to do it Perry Fewell’s way, and that was one of the main reasons I came to New York.”

OK, it wouldn’t be Super Bowl media day without Mexican television personality Ines Sainz. So here she is: