Covering Super Bowl remotely way better than on site (national preview & 10 other articles on the game inside)

It is sure a lot more fun to cover the Super Bowl remotely than in person.

I covered two in San Diego and one in Phoenix and there are so many headaches and hassles.

I’ll never forget the one day I reached the edge of downtown San Diego and it took me 55 minutes to get to the Convention Center and another 20 minutes after parking to reach the Pro Football Hall of Fame press conference.

When I covered the Broncos-Packers Super Bowl — also known as John Elway’s big day — I parked at a trolley stop 3 miles from the stadium. I finally squeezed into a trolley on my seventh attempt and reached the stadium 75 minutes after I parked my car.

The Buccaneers-Raiders Super Bowl had a painful postgame experience. After I was done working, I talked a bus driver to take me to where my car was parked 15 minutes north of the stadium. He dropped me off and a tow truck driver drove up and said “You’re lucky. Your car was getting towed in five minutes.”

Can you imagine if I had waited until a co-worker going in that direction gave me a ride? I would have been trying to figure out where my car was after covering the nation’s biggest sporting event. Ludicrous.

There are many other obstacles not worth spending bandwith on. The one plus to covering the Super Bowl is the free food. OK, and the Diet Coke stash you can build up.

In Phoenix, I at least got to spend the 11 days in an apartment and not a hotel. But wow, driving around the area to get to the Super Bowl festivities was horrid. Why does anyone live in a place that badly constructed with temperatures of 110 all the time?

So it was a great week this time around and I still have the game-coverage assignment on Sunday. Just like when I slaved away for a newspaper, I can claim to be among the best nationally at what I do.

Being a national entity is about 1,000 times better than being a local yokel. Not to forget that I now live in a very mediocre sports town.

Now it is time to help you get ready for the big game. The Cincinnati Bengals are the story of the football world while the Los Angeles Rams are hoping not to lay an egg like they did 36 months ago against the New England Patriots.

I had the national preview duty so that is attached at the top. The rest of my coverage is listed by day.

And wow, writing about the Ickey Shuffle? That was like going back in time and a video of the famous celebratory dance is below. I’d mention how long ago it was that Ickey Woods was all the rage but it might blow my cover of being 29 years old.

Funny to see old friends remotely like Eric Weddle, who I covered on the Chargers beat, and Kevin O’Connell, the former San Diego State quarterback who I covered on that turf.

OK, let’s get to this faster than the Bengals do a comeback … Enjoy the Super Bowl copy!

NATIONAL GAME PREVIEW

Bengals hope to cap rapid revival with Super Bowl win over Rams

The Cincinnati Bengals have crashed the Super Bowl after winning a total of just six games over the previous two seasons.

Bengals hope to cap rapid revival with Super Bowl win over Rams

MONDAY

RAMS MAIN STORY

Lions tenure readied Matthew Stafford for Super Bowl debut with Rams

A high-powered telescope wouldn’t have helped Matthew Stafford spot the Super Bowl from Detroit.

Lions tenure readied Matthew Stafford for Super Bowl debut with Rams

RAMS NOTEBOOK

NFL: Notebook: Rams’ Eric Weddle gets shot at Super Bowl after ‘whirlwind’ month

Eric Weddle played 201 regular-season games over 13 NFL seasons and knew he retired two years ago with a hole in his resume.

https://www.sports.cweb.com/football/nfl-notebook-rams-eric-weddle-gets-shot-at-super-bowl-after-whirlwind-month.html

WEDNESDAY

BENGALS MAIN STORY

Ja’Marr Chase’s quick rise paramount to Bengals’ success

It was a near-unanimous forecast that the Cincinnati Bengals should draft an offensive lineman with the fifth overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft.

https://www.sports.cweb.com/football/nfl-jamarr-chases-quick-rise-paramount-to-bengals-success.html

BENGALS NOTEBOOK

Notebook: ‘Ickey Shuffle’ returns to center stage

The “Ickey Shuffle” has been removed from storage and is back in the spotlight with the Cincinnati Bengals participating in the Super Bowl for the first time in 33 years.

Notebook: ‘Ickey Shuffle’ returns to center stage

The Famous Ickey Shuffle … as portrayed in a GEICO commercial in 2014 … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1H9gLnY6og

RAMS MAIN STORY

Rams’ Aaron Donald chases elusive Super Bowl ring

It is clear Aaron Donald knows there is something missing on his resume.

Rams’ Aaron Donald chases elusive Super Bowl ring

RAMS NOTEBOOK

RAMS NOTEBOOK: OC KEVIN O’CONNELL HAS ONE EYE ON VIKINGS

Kevin O’Connell will officially become coach of the Minnesota Vikings sometime following the Super Bowl, but the Los Angeles Rams’ offensive coordinator can’t yet publicly acknowledge his upcoming new gig due to NFL regulations.

Rams notebook: OC Kevin O’Connell has one eye on Vikings

THURSDAY

RAMS MAIN STORY

AFTER HISTORIC SEASON, COOPER KUPP GETS HIS SUPER BOWL SHOT

Cooper Kupp is looking to add the finishing touches to one of the top seasons ever put together by an NFL wide receiver.

After breakout season, Cooper Kupp gets his Super Bowl shot

RAMS NOTEBOOK

Notebook: Rams P Johnny Hekker would be happy with quiet Super Bowl

Johnny Hekker has been part of the Rams’ organization for 10 seasons, the first four when the franchise was housed in St. Louis before moving to Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Rams punter Johnny Hekker would be happy with quiet Super Bowl

FRIDAY

RAMS MAIN STORY

Path from Jaguars to Rams leads cocksure Jalen Ramsey to Super Bowl

Jalen Ramsey’s braggadocio approach seemingly took the day off Friday when he said Los Angeles Rams teammate Aaron Donald is the best football player in the world.

Path from Jaguars to Rams leads cocksure Jalen Ramsey to Super Bowl

RAMS NOTEBOOK

Rams notebook: Andrew Whitworth calls on peers to aid in community

If playing left tackle in the Super Bowl at age 40 weren’t impressive enough, Andrew Whitworth just raised the stakes even higher.

Rams notebook: Andrew Whitworth calls on peers to aid in community

Weeky links — ‘Crazy’ Jalen Ramsey seems to forget his team gagged in AFC title game; guessing Urban said ‘Schedule VCU,’ not TCU

Weekly links is here …

Jalen Ramsey is part of a defense that allowed two fourth-quarter touchdown passes in last season’s AFC Championship Game to watch a Super Bowl berth evaporate.

He apparently isn’t the least bit embarrassed that his Jacksonville Jaguars sank like the Titanic with such a huge accomplishment on the line.

The Jaguars and New England Patriots meet Sunday in the rematch and there figures to be plenty of tension in the stadium. A lot of it stemming from Ramsey, whose most recent verbal shots at the Patriots included his declaration that all-everything tight end Rob Gronkowski of the Patriots isn’t all that good.

Yeah, OK Jalen.

Jaguars defensive coordinator Todd Wash doesn’t agree with the assessment and said anyone that thinks Gronkowski is overrated is crazy.

Ramsey is a fantastic cornerback but the evidence is starting to grow — he’s truly crazy.

Here is the stellar preview — http://fieldlevelmedia.com/latest-stories?storyId=18049

Texans at Titans — Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson helped Houston roll up 57 points in his lone outing against Tennessee last season. Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota is bothered by a sore throwing elbow, which means Blaine Gabbert might need to play. You never want to see Gabbert in the game if you are trying to win.

Here is the stellar preview — https://www.gwinnettprepsports.com/sportsxchange/watson-hopeful-for-better-results-as-texans-visit-titans/article_b744a8e6-2fd4-578e-ad56-377655963c2b.html

Vikings at Packers — Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers delivered a superb opening performance when he injured his left knee in the first half and returned at the start of the second half to rally Green Bay past the Chicago Bears. The Vikings are expecting Rodgers to play no matter how often the Packers say that he might not. And hey, isn’t Minnesota’s Harrison Smith a great safety?

Here is the stellar preview — https://www.scoresandstats.com/previews/football/NFL/vikings-vs-packers-preview-and-predictions/305106/

Lions at 49ers — The Detroit coaching debut of Matt Patricia was an outright disaster. Look, he got the gig because of the New England stint (Lions general manager Bob Quinn is a former Patriots executive). If he had been a Buffalo Bills assistant, he wouldn’t be a head coach.

Here is the stellar preview — https://www.scoresandstats.com/previews/football/NFL/lions-vs-49ers-preview-and-predictions/305113/

 

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Boise State at Oklahoma State — Playing a Big 12 team rates as a big deal for the Broncos — sure beats playing Miami (Ohio) or Idaho State — and a victory in Stillwater would make Boise State the favorite to earn a New Year’s Six bowl. Nobody truly knows if Oklahoma State is any good or will end up being a four-loss team.

Here is the stellar preview — https://www.scoresandstats.com/previews/football/NCAAF/boise-state-broncos-vs-oklahoma-state-cowboys-preview-and-predictions/304118/

Ohio State vs. TCU — Thought it was a typo — Ohio State is actually playing a tough team outside Columbus, Ohio. Yes, they really are playing the Horned Frogs. Guessing Urban Meyer’s faulty memory is at play — he probably said “schedule VCU” and didn’t realize that school doesn’t field a program, just a club team.

Here is the stellar preview — https://www.scoresandstats.com/previews/football/NCAAF/ohio-state-buckeyes-vs-texas-christian-horned-frogs-preview-and-predictions/304121/

Alabama at Ole Miss — Nick Saban says the real season starts when his powerful Alabama squad opens SEC play against Ole Miss. Makes me wonder why the SEC doesn’t play nine conference games if the nonconference games aren’t “real.” And yeah, makes me laugh even more that The Citadel is on the schedule in November.

https://www.scoresandstats.com/previews/football/NCAAF/alabama-crimson-tide-vs-mississippi-rebels-preview-and-predictions/304408/

Washington at Utah — The Huskies scored 10 points in the final 58 seconds to steal last season’s game against the Utes. That was the game when Kyle Whittingham displayed that your local pharmacist might be better at clock management than him. Utah is just 1-10 all-time against Washington.

http://fieldlevelmedia.com/latest-stories?storyId=17974

Kent State at Penn State — The coach at Kent State is 32 years old. Youngest in FBS. That is the only thing remotely interesting about this matchup. The 40-point win will create more happiness in Happy Valley.

http://fieldlevelmedia.com/latest-stories?storyId=17958

Best player in BCS title game doesn’t go by Jameis – and wasn’t on the winning team

Seemed like most of the college football season, we were told Boston College’s Andre Williams was the best running back in the country.

Of course, those of us who live in the West knew that wasn’t true – it was either Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey or Washington’s Bishop Sankey who deserved that title. But you know, the East Coast falls asleep way too early to catch on that USC isn’t the only school West of Texas who participates in college football.

But we all know better now that the BCS title game has been played. It sure isn’t Williams, the Doak Walker Award winner. It sure isn’t Carey, the best running back in Arizona history. And it isn’t even Sankey, who has the looks of a future bell-cow back in the NFL.

Auburn’s Tre Mason is the best running back in college football. By far.

Jameis Winston may have produced the game-ending drive to give Florida State a 34-31 victory over Auburn in Monday’s title game at the Rose Bowl but he wasn’t close to being the star of the contest. That title belongs to Mason, who bludgeoned the Seminoles’ stingy defense for 195 rushing yards. (see stellar game recap here — http://sltrib.sportsdirectinc.com/football/ncaaf-boxscores.aspx?page=/data/NCAAF/results/2013-2014/recap41986.html)

Winston may have the Heisman Trophy on his mantle – wait, do college kids even have mantles? – and will rightfully have his game-winning touchdown pass to Kelvin Benjamin replayed over and over. But the most enduring memory of the final BCS game will forever be Mason’s scintillating 37-yard scoring run with 1:19 to play.

If Mason wasn’t so good, he might have been tackled on the play. If Mason gets tackled, perhaps Auburn works the clock down and scores a touchdown and Winston has no time to orchestrate a final drive.

But Mason was too good and so, so darn good that he somehow was still going strong on his 34th carry of the game.

He bulled through a tackle attempt by Florida State’s overmatched Jalen Ramsey at the 20-yard line and sailed into the end zone to finish off a scoring run worthy of being the game-winning points of the biggest contest of the season.

Watch the play again. Poor Ramsey couldn’t have tackled Mason if he had O.J. Simpson’s knife, George Zimmerman’s guns or an American tank at his disposal. No chance.

Mason finished the season with an Auburn-record 1,816 rushing yards. He surpassed the school mark of former Heisman winner Bo Jackson.

Repeat – the great Bo Jackson!

Perhaps the oddest part of the entire evening is that Mason felt he let Auburn fans down. Yes, really.

“We wanted to have the biggest turnaround in college football,” Mason said afterward. “I want to apologize for not fulfilling that. I tried to do everything to give us the best chance to win the national championship and I failed.”

Mason is only a junior but you have to figure that he will bypass his senior season and enter the NFL Draft. Running back is the one position where it behooves a player to leave early as there is only so much pounding the body can take before it begins to break down.

One college game typically doesn’t alter a player’s draft stock all that much. NFL talent evaluators rely more on the overall body of work and the measurables as opposed to getting caught up in any single contest.

But when you are the very best player on the field in the BCS title game – and excel like Mason did in the most pressure-packed moments – it tends to elevate your status and people take notice.

Kind of like how the entire sporting world caught on Monday – when Tre Mason was the best football player on the Rose Bowl turf.

By far.