* Tampa, which has hosted four Super Bowls, has earned its reputation as a first-class host and standard-setter when it comes to impressive presentations. But this week’s Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis has an interesting back story on the successful Indy pitch.
While not as important, to be sure, as a new retractable roof stadium downtown and the building of a 1,000-room Marriott nearby, this one, according to Indy officials, had marketing magic. Instead of just mailing off the initial bids, as cities have always done, Indianapolis sent them via courier–kids. Thirty-two local eighth graders, accompanied by chaperones, were selected to hand-deliver the bids to owners. That they did, and all 32 walked into a team owner’s office and personally presented the proposal. By all accounts the owners were smitten, and according to the Indianapolis adults, the owners all got the message that Indy was, indeed, approaching things a bit differently.
By the way, the next three Super Bowls are in New Orleans, East Rutherford, N.J. (outdoors!) and Glendale, Ariz.
* Face value of an Indianapolis Super Bowl ticket ranges from $600 to $1,200. For the (1967) first one, which wasn’t even called the Super Bowl then (the Roman numeral-challenged AFL-NFL World Championship Game), tickets were $6, $10 and $12. Tickets went for $60 back in 1984, when the SB came to Tampa for the first time. For the most recent SB here, 2009, tickets were $500 to $1,000.
* Anybody else get the feeling that the Bucs, who for a time were the only NFL franchise without a head coach and were regularly ridiculed as a result, wound up a lot better off than media and fans could have imagined?
New coach Greg Schiano, who turned a woebegone Rutgers program into a Big East contender and consistent bowl game winner, has impressed. He’s relatively young, at 45, absolutely passionate, verifiably smart, notably well-spoken and definitely disciplined. As in no-nonsense. And did I mention disciplined?
Anybody think that wasn’t an issue last season?
Schiano still has assistants to hire, players to draft and talent to lobby for via free agency. But no one who knows football thinks a football team would dare quit on this guy. And there is, as we know, precedent for that happening around here.
* And speaking of the Bucs, the team was unsuccessful in its attempt to negotiate with offensive-coordinator candidate John McNulty, who is currently the receivers coach with the Arizona Cardinals. He previously coached under Schiano at Rutgers.
But because McNulty is still under contract to Arizona, he needed the Cardinals’ permission to interview within the league. The Cardinals denied it, as was their right. But even though the Cardinals wanted to retain McNulty, was this a pyrrhic victory? How effective and loyal is an employee going to be after being denied the opportunity to reunite with a friend and receive a promotion?
* Two sure signs that the USF Bulls football and men’s basketball teams have finally arrived will be: First, they start landing more in-state blue chippers, especially from their own back yard. Second, they are no longer reliant on junior college transfers.
* We now know that the Rays will open the season April 6 at the Trop against the Yankees. In a way, that’s too bad. The Yankees, along with the Red Sox, always draw well here. And opening day is a big-crowd scene anyhow, even if it’s Baltimore or Kansas City in town.