|
| Jennifer Jones dances outsidethe Superdome before the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013, in New Orleans. |
NEW ORLEANS
(AP) -- Around the Super Bowl and its host city with journalists from
The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of everything
surrounding the game:
---
THIS IS RAVENS TERRITORY
The New Orleans Riverwalk has become the Ravenswalk.
The
walkway lining the Mississippi River is the site of one of the weekend
fan fests, and fans of all teams are there listening to music, eating
New Orleans food and just enjoying the warm, sunny weather. But a
section across from Jackson Park has turned into a gathering place for
Ravens fans. A Baltimore radio station broadcasting from a riverboat on
the section across from Jackson Park, and the whole area is a sea of
purple.
- Nancy Armour - http://www.twitter.com/nrarmour
---
QUICKQUOTE: JOHN HARBAUGH
After
arriving at the Superdome on Sunday, Baltimore Ravens coach John
Harbaugh told CBS that he and his brother, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh,
haven't spoken much this week.
"We have each
other in our hearts but we're going against each other today," the
Ravens coach told a reporter during the network's pregame show.
---
TICKETS, ANYBODY GOT EXTRA TICKETS?
There are still tickets available for the Super Bowl, but it's going to cost you.
A lot.
Three
hours before the game, one fan outside the Superdome was selling a
single ticket for the terrace level - aka the nose bleed section - for
$1,500. That's almost double the face value.
Tickets
were a little cheaper on NFL Ticket Exchange, the NFL's official ticket
reseller, but not by much. Terrace-level tickets were going for $1,250
to almost $2,200. By comparison, tickets on the first level were
practically a bargain, ranging from $2,400 to $2,600.
- Nancy Armour - http://www.twitter.com/nrarmour
---
PIZZA WEARY
Pizza
Hut is thinking some people will be over regular pizza after the Super
Bowl. So it's hoping tiny new pies will be enough of a temptation.
The chain is introducing "pizza sliders" on Monday.
Pizza
Hut says each slider is roughly the equivalent of a slice, meaning a
person might eat two or three. A pepperoni slider has about 260
calories, compared with 250 calories for a slice of a medium pie and 370
calories for a slice from a large pie.
It's not clear whether they have a higher profit margin than regular pizzas.
- Candice Choi
---
SECURITY TIGHT, BUT NOT LIKE 2002
Alongside the Superdome runs Poydras Street, a main eight-lane artery into and out of the heart of downtown New Orleans.
There's
no auto traffic on it on this Super Bowl Sunday, however. The entire
stretch bordering the Superdome property is filled with a maze of metal
barricades draped with purple and gold Super Bowl banners, as well as
security tents.
Fire department personnel are
stationed near hydrants, and volunteers, emergency medical staff and
security forces have are visible at every turn.
Farther away, Concrete barricades prevent vehicle traffic from getting within two blocks of the stadium.
The
Super Bowl is deemed a national security event, but not quite on the
same level it was the last time the game was in New Orleans in 2002.
That was the first Super Bowl after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist
attacks, so security was run by the Secret Service. There were tanks in
the street and snipers on roofs.
This year, the public plazas surrounding the dome look a little more festive and a little less militarized.
- Brett Martel - http://twitter.com/brettmartel
---
PHELPS THE RAVEN
Michael Phelps missed out when the Baltimore Ravens won their first Super Bowl title.
Not this time around. No way.
Phelps,
who retired from swimming last summer after winning a record 18 Olympic
gold medals, is in New Orleans to cheer on his hometown Ravens.
"It's destiny," Phelps told the AP. "Ravens by seven."
When
the Ravens won the 2001 Super Bowl, Phelps was a teenager just getting
started on his record-breaking career. He remembers being at a meet in
France with his longtime coach when Baltimore routed the New York Giants
34-7.
"I slept through the alarm to wake up
and watch the game," Phelps said. "It was already 34-7 when I woke up. I
was like, `All right, we're done. I can turn it back off.'"
He went back to bed.
Phelps is attending the game with his mother, sisters and several friends.
He hopes his buddy, Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, can go out a champion - just like Phelps did in London.
"This
time, I'll be there for the whole game," Phelps said. "I'll be able to
watch Ray hopefully finish his career and his last game the way he wants
to."
- Paul Newberry - http://twitter.com/pnewberry1963
---
AGAINST THE HOMETOWN GRAIN
Despite growing up in District Heights, Md., San Francisco linebacker NaVorro Bowman has no allegiances to the Baltimore Ravens.
And no, it's not because he was a Washington Redskins fan.
"I
was a Cowboys fan," Bowman said. "Being the youngest in the house,
being the baby, my mom, my brother, my aunts - everyone liked the
Redskins. So I decided to go to the rivals with the Cowboys."
- Nancy Armour - http://www.twitter.com/nrarmour
---
DAHLBERG ON SAFETY
The latest piece from AP national sports columnist Tim Dahlberg asks: Could football end up killing itself?
It's Dahlberg's take on the current state of safety in the NFL, and where Commissioner Roger Goodell says things are headed.
An excerpt:
On
Sunday perhaps the biggest audience ever to see a Super Bowl will
gather in front of televisions for parties of their own. The game has
become America's unofficial national holiday, its tradition of chip
eating, beer drinking and commercial watching as deeply ingrained in the
country's fabric as turkey and stuffing.
We
celebrate the game even as it takes a brutal toll on those who play it.
Football is a hurt business, and the biggest cheers on Sunday will be
for those who deliver the biggest hits.
So
remember when you jump and down and holler and scream that former
players, some of whom entertained us in Super Bowls past, are suffering
in the worst possible ways because of the beating their brains took on
the playing field.
That the NFL is finally waking up to the crisis is commendable. That it took this long is deplorable.
It's hard to comprehend, and it may be the ultimate paradox. But football itself could be the one thing that kills the NFL.
Read the full column here: http://bit.ly/YuGUA1
- Tim Dahlberg - http://twitter.com/timdahlberg
---
TEAMS ARRIVE AT SUPERDOME
The Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers have arrived at the Superdome.
The teams left their hotels in buses roughly 3 1/2 before kickoff was scheduled Sunday.
---
(NOT) PLAYING FAVORITES
Jack and Jackie Harbaugh know where they'll be after the Super Bowl.
"There's
going to be one winner and one (son) that's going to be totally
disappointed," Jack Harbaugh said.
"Our thoughts go to that one that
will not experience the thrill of victory."
With
Baltimore Ravens coach John facing little brother Jim's San Francisco
49ers, the thrill of the NFL title game also puts Jack and Jackie in an
awkward spot, knowing one son will celebrate the highlight of his career
while the other will be absolutely gutted.
They got a "dry run" last season, when John's Ravens beat Jim's 49ers. On Thanksgiving Day.
"We
opened the door to the Ravens locker room ... guys jumping up and down,
the smile on John's face.
They were just ecstatic," Jack Harbaugh said.
"Then you realize that you're not needed here. So you walked across the
hall to the 49ers locker room ... and finally saw Jim, all by himself
in this room, just a table and a chair. He was still in his coaching
outfit. His head was down in his hands and you looked into his eyes and
you realized that this was where you're needed as a parent. Every single
parent can identify with that.
"That thrill
of victory and the agony of defeat. On Sunday night, we're going to
experience both of those great emotions," Jack Harbaugh said.
- Nancy Armour - http://twitter.com/nrarmour
---
ADS BONANZA
With
30-second spots going for as much as $4 million this year, the Super
Bowl is advertising's biggest stage.
Companies that shell out that cash
want the more than 111 million viewers expected to tune in to remember
their spot come Monday.
Most advertisers have released their ads already, trying to get a head start on capturing the buzz on social networks.
But some companies are still planning big reveals, including M&Ms, Chrysler, Oreo and BlackBerry.
"What
we see on the night of the game is really important," said Kelly
O'Keefe, professor at a professor, creative brand management, at the
Virginia Commonwealth University Brandcenter.
- Mae Anderson - http://twitter.com/maetron
---
GEARED UP FOR THE GAME
Any
fan can show their love for their favorite player by wearing a jersey.
Four Baltimore Ravens are doing it with entire outfits.
In
addition to the heavy painted leather coats he and his fellow "Ravens
Posse" members are wearing, Rick Bowlus (far left) has linebacker Ray
Lewis' number and face painted on his jeans.
- Nancy Armour - http://twitter.com/nrarmour
---
RATINGS HOPES
Three years running, the Super Bowl has set a TV viewership record. CBS is hoping that happens again on Sunday.
Last year, NBC's broadcast hit an average audience of 111.3 million people.
But
ratings are a mere point of pride for CBS heading into kickoff. The ads
have already been sold (some at more than $4 million a pop), so the
network can now only hope to put forth its best broadcast and redirect
as much of the Super Bowl glow toward its other programs and its cable
sports network.
Telecasters Jim Nantz and Phil
Simms will call the game while more than 60 cameras cover the action -
with at least one keeping an eye on the parents of 49ers coach Jim
Harbaugh and Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh.
- Jake Coyle
---
NO RG3 IN THE HOUSE
There's only one way Robert Griffin III wants to go to the Super Bowl.
As a player.
The
electrifying Washington Redskins quarterback came to New Orleans to
pick up The Associated Press 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
But he won't be going to Sunday's game between the Baltimore Ravens and
the San Francisco 49ers, planning to watch it with his family instead.
"I'm a firm believer you don't go to the Super Bowl unless you're playing in it," Griffin said.
- Nancy Armour - http://www.twitter.com/nrarmour
---
HERE COME NINER BETTORS
After
heavy betting on the Baltimore Ravens, sports betting professionals and
last-minute casual bettors in Las Vegas and around the world are
heavily swinging toward San Francisco.
The
49ers were favored by 5 points when betting action started two weeks
ago, meaning San Francisco bettors need them to win by at least two
field goals to collect. But the spread encouraged lots of bettors to
take Baltimore, pushing the line down to 3 1/2. Now, San Francisco
supporters have moved the line back up to 4 points in most sports books
and 4 1/2 in others, according to gambling expert R.J. Bell of
Pregame.com.
Bell says that a few days ago,
nearly two-thirds of the bets taken in Las Vegas and online sports books
offshore were on the Ravens. It's close to 50-50 now and the 49ers are
closing the gap quickly in the hours before the game.
Adjustments to the line are encouraging bettors on the fence to pick sides.
"The moves are taking a lot of money right now," Bell said.
An
estimated $10 billion is expected to be wagered on the Super Bowl, with
less than 1 percent of that coming from legal sports books in Nevada,
Bell says.
- Oskar Garcia - http://twitter.com/oskargarcia
---
VAMOS CUERVOS
Rodolfo
Rodriguez is in New Orleans all the way from Monterrey, Mexico, to
cheer on his "Cuervos," the Spanish name for the Baltimore Ravens.
He's predicting a 28-24 Baltimore victory over San Francisco.
Rodriguez
spent part of his weekend on Super Bowl Boulevard at Woldenberg
Riverfront Park, waving toward a cruise ship arriving on the Mississippi
River into the Port of New Orleans near the large Roman numerals for
the Super Bowl.
- Julio Cortez - http://twitter.com/juliocortez-ap
---
LIL WAYNE ROOTING AGAINST SF
The
San Francisco 49ers prevented Lil Wayne's favorite team, the Green Bay
Packers, from going to the Super Bowl. So the rapper wants the Baltimore
Ravens to get a little revenge on his behalf.
"I'm salty about the team that beat us, so I gotta root against them, and that team is the 49ers," he said.
But his desire isn't all based on bitterness.
"Who
doesn't want to see (Ravens linebacker) Ray Lewis succeed? And also who
also doesn't want to see (49ers wide receiver) Randy Moss get his first
ring as well?" he said.
"I'm kind of iffy about this game. I don't mind the outcome of it, I think either or, it's gonna be beautiful for both of them."
Lil Wayne plans to be in a suite for the game - after all, it's in his hometown. His friends and family all wanted tickets.
"I
had to pay for those tickets and my team isn't even playing in that
game - ah man, that hit the pockets kind of hard," he laughed.
Lil Wayne is well-documented sports fanatic.
- Nekesa Mumbi Moody - http://twitter.com/nekesamumbi
---
BROTHERLY ADVICE: AARON RODGERS
Baltimore
Ravens coach John Harbaugh and San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh
are hardly the only high-profile siblings who've squared off in their
arena of expertise. The AP is asking some others who can relate how to
handle going against a family member in the Super Bowl.
As
the middle of three brothers, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron
Rodgers knows a thing or two about high-stakes competitions with
siblings. It wouldn't matter if he was facing one of his brothers in the
backyard or the sport's biggest stage.
"I'd want to beat them pretty bad," the 2011 NFL MVP said. "I really would."
Less
than two years separates Rodgers and his older brother, Luke, now on
Fuel TV's "Clean Break," and the two are "very competitive."
"My older brother and I had a lot of great matchups, great one-on-one games. We competed a lot in sports," Rodgers said.
There's
still a chance Rodgers could wind up facing one of his brothers on the
field, maybe even at the Super Bowl. Jordan Rodgers led Vanderbilt to
its first nine-win record since 1915 last season and is now preparing
for the NFL draft.
"I hope so," Rodgers said of the prospects of a "Rodgers Bowl." `'And I hope we would win if that ever happened."
- Nancy Armour - http://twitter.com/nrarmour
---
TWITTER BUZZ BUILDING
Americans on Twitter are already buzzing about the Super Bowl with about 6 hours until the game kicks off.
Four
terms related to the game between the Baltimore Ravens and San
Francisco 49ers are trending in the United States: "Happy Super Bowl
Sunday," `'49ers," `'Beyonce" and "Ray Lewis."
None, however, are trending worldwide yet.
- Oskar Garcia - http://twitter.com/oskargarcia
---
GUN AD
Washington
lawmakers watching the Super Bowl in the beltway are getting a
30-second visit from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's gun control
group.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a
coalition of more than 900 mayors in 48 states, paid six figures for the
local spot, according to a Bloomberg spokesman.
The
ad calls on lawmakers to pass rules requiring background checks on
guns. It is narrated by children with "America the Beautiful" playing in
the background.
---
QUICKQUOTE: ANDREW LUCK
Andrew
Luck has high praise for San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, his
old coach at Stanford. Even if he did pick an unusual way to express it.
"I
always enjoyed playing under coach Harbaugh. He always brought a lot of
energy and enthusiasm," the Indianapolis Colts quarterback said. "He
was the type of guy you'd want in an alley fight with you. You could
tell he wanted to win just as bad as the next guy."
