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Sunday Morning News

Tampa Counts the Hours to Super Bowl

Aired January 28, 2001 - 8:09 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Here in the U.S., they're counting down the hours and putting on their party hats today in Tampa, Florida, as the city and the nation get ready for Super Bowl No. 35.

CNN's John Zarrella is, boy, talk about getting the long straw, John Zarrella having to cover the Super Bowl. Oh, gosh, John, we're so sorry. Are you going to have to -- you will get to see the game, won't you?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, I don't have a ticket.

O'BRIEN: You don't?

ZARRELLA: Sorry, no ticket.

O'BRIEN: Is anybody listening out there?

ZARRELLA: It's not the first time.

O'BRIEN: Help our poor John. Get him a ticket.

ZARRELLA: This is not the first time this has happened to me so I'm used to it, covering Super Bowls but no way to get into the stadium behind me unless I scale some fences. I can tell you, though, the week of partying is about over. A lot of the folks that came down for the game out all night, probably just getting to bed for a few hours of sleep. At 6:18 P.M. Eastern Time, 71,000 people will be inside Raymond James Stadium behind me for that big game and of course it'll be time then to put away all the party hats and get serious about football.

But all those folks who came to Tampa for all the festivities leading up to the game found out pretty quickly they needed lots of cash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA (voice-over): Isham Salam (ph) came down from Philadelphia to the Super Bowl.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody need a program? No long lines. Get your program right here from the little man.

ZARRELLA: In his shopping cart, Salam carries Super Bowl basilica caps and souvenir programs. But pedaling 15 buck programs isn't easy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The creator just sent me an angel. I was doing really bad and a couple of guys came over and bought nine booklets at one time and that's really good for me, you know? I get to eat tonight.

ZARRELLA: Kim Lloyd (ph) and Penny White (ph) have missed a few meals the past three days. The women, who drove in from North Carolina, have been standing on this corner 10 hours a day since Thursday, holding their sign and hoping someone has extra tickets to sell. The ladies say they'll pay the going price, $1,500 to $2,000 a ticket.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've met a lot of people, had a lot of fun, talked to a lot of people.

ZARRELLA (on camera): But no tickets?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But no tickets.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm thinking I might be going home watching it on TV. I hope not.

ZARRELLA (voice-over): Kim and Penny have plenty of competition for tickets. Brokers trying to fill orders are scattered along Dale Mabrey Highway (ph). They, too, will pay top dollar and everyone who comes to the Super Bowl has to come with deep pockets. Souvenirs don't come cheap.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it's never ending fun to drop nickels. I'd like to have them in my pocket, but you also need mementos of an occasion like this.

ZARRELLA: The last time a Super Bowl was played in this city was 1991. The Gulf War was underway. The theme was patriotism and the mood was far more subdued than the festive atmosphere surrounding this year's game.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA: Now, that 1991 game there was talk that they might cancel it for fear of terrorism, but then they thought again and said, you know what? It's important for the soldiers overseas in the Middle East that the game is played and it would send the wrong message to Saddam Hussein about us surrendering to terrorism here in the United States. So the game was played under the most intense security ever for a Super Bowl.

A far different atmosphere today. In fact, this morning, Miles, there's a lot of folks still lining the street out there, trying to fill orders for tickets, looking for tickets in this early hour of the morning. But again, I don't have one and I can't afford that $1,500 -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, we're going to set up a toll-free number, 1- 800-HELPJOHN. KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Nancy, can you get him a ticket to the Super Bowl?

NANCY NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If he's good I might have been able to give him his pass, my pass.

O'BRIEN: You know, Nancy's...

PHILLIPS: Ah, see.

O'BRIEN: He's got some weight down there. I think you ought to try to help out our poor pal down there.

NEWMAN: OK, John, I'll catch with you later.

O'BRIEN: Anyhow, so this is going to be, you know, a lot of defense.

NEWMAN: Hello, hello?

O'BRIEN: Low scoring you predict?

NEWMAN: Yes, that's what everyone's talking about.

O'BRIEN: Which means, of course, it'll be...

NEWMAN: I'm not going to be fooling...

PHILLIPS: Wait, are you talking football?

O'BRIEN: Yeah, I was talking about football. Isn't she here to talk about football?

PHILLIPS: I thought he only knew about space. I'm pretty impressed.

NEWMAN: Oh, the space man, Miles.

O'BRIEN: You know, if you...

NEWMAN: He's a closest sports fan.

O'BRIEN: If you...

PHILLIPS: Actually, he's coming out.

O'BRIEN: If you predict a low scoring defensive game it's going to be, you know, 63-42. You watch.

NEWMAN: Sixty-three to 42, huh?

O'BRIEN: Yes.

NEWMAN: No. Well, sometimes, though, I think what's going to happen is the defenses are going to be a wash and it'll come down to the offenses and see who makes the least mistakes. O'BRIEN: There you go. Yes.

PHILLIPS: She knows what she's talking about.

NEWMAN: OK, here we go, guys. You want to talk Super Bowl? We hope you're feeling super. It is super Sunday. We're hours away from kick off in Super Bowl 35. New York Giants, Baltimore Ravens, G-men riding a seven game win streak, the AFC champs a 10 game string.

What will give? Odds are not the Baltimore defense, which allowed a record low 165 points in 16 regular season games. The Giants from the portavac (ph) on out say they will be ready to oppose.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERRY COLLINS, GIANTS QUARTERBACK: We have a good feel for what they do and we've watched their games and they just line up and kick people's butt and don't do anything fancy.

ROB BURNETT, RAVENS DEFENSIVE END: We had a few games during the season where we thought we were going out there to pitch a shutout, but this one is not one. We're going out there, if we have to win 100-99, as long as we win and we have an opportunity to be world champs and walk up that field victorious, it wouldn't even matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWMAN: Of note, the Giants D is no slouch either. They've allowed just 10 points in two post-season wins, including that 41-0 rout of Minnesota.

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