The Sports Xchange
By Howard Balzer, The Sports Xchange
Media Day again the focus of the offbeat
NEW ORLEANS – It has become a staple of Super Bowl Media Day every year.
In addition to the hundreds of media members seeking information on the Brothers Harbaugh, Ray Lewis’ last game, the quarterbacks and numerous other angles, there are then those representing entertainment channels seeking the offbeat stories, others simply hoping to be noticed and those asking strange questions.
So it was on Tuesday in New Orleans that Katherine Webb, the girlfriend of Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron, was working for Inside Edition while Rocsi Diaz of Entertainment Tonight was playfully hawking Randy Moss’ Gatorade on eBay.
And that’s only the beginning.
Webb had her 15 minutes of fame during the college national championship game between Alabama and Notre Dame when ESPN cameras focused on her and broadcaster Brent Musburger noted how “lovely” she is. Webb’s Twitter account quickly blew up and Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Darnell Dockett tried communicating with her.
Tuesday, while making her rounds, Webb asked 49ers linebacker Clark Haggans to teach her his celebration dance, and then asked Haggans if he thinks Beyonce will sing or lip sync the national anthem Sunday. However, when a reporter asked Webb if she had met Dockett, she walked away and curtly said, “I can’t answer that.”
Diaz was standing near the podium used by 49ers receiver Randy Moss when the interview session ended, and was lifted over the metal fence by a player so she could have her picture taken with several players.
“Only ET can get over the barricades on the field with the players,” Diaz said.
After returning to the media side, she climbed into the seat used by Moss, and said, “This is the epitome of the epitome. It’s the Super Bowl and I’m being interviewed.”
Noticing that Moss had left a bottle of Gatorade at his spot, Diaz picked it up and said, “I’m selling it. It’s going on eBay right now.”
There was the usual appearance by a TV Azteca (Mexico City) beauty, this year Johanna Pena Gutierrez. Naturally, there was a man from TV Azteca (Jose Marquez Zamora), who had a clown face, with a wig made of multi-colored cloth streamers.
San Francisco tackle Joe Staley was asked that if he had a Pegasus, what would he name it. Pausing for a moment, Staley seriously said, “Bartholomew.”
There was a cartoon character from NickToons dressed in a superhero costume with the letter P on it, and Victor Jacobs from Fox Sports Radio in Los Angeles, dressed in what he described as a Super Bowl Samurai outfit.
“I am transmitting spirit and energy to the teams,” he said. “It is the ultimate warrior, the Zen warrior. The most desperate, most insane team will win.”
Whatever you say, Victor.
Finally, there was Rafael Hernandez Brito, the play-by-play announcer for the Univision national radio network that broadcasts 50 NFL games a year. He will be in the booth for Sunday’s game. But Brito admitted he had a problem.
“I’ve been coming to the Super Bowl for seven years and no one ever talked to me,” he said. “No one interviewed me. I can’t wear a wedding dress or high heels and I have no silicone.”
So what did Brito do? He covered his whole head with a mask that had been used at Univision music festivals last summer in Dallas and Los Angeles. The strange-looking mask said H2-O on it, which was the name of the music festival.
Mission accomplished. Brito conducted several interviews.
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