Glitzing up a spectacle ain't easy

Sporting News, The, Jan 27, 2003 by Fritz Quindt

* Glitzing up a spectacle ain't easy: Once upon a time, TV could trot out extra cameras, new graphics, maybe a celebrity segment, and you knew it was a Super Bowl. Nowadays, Monday Night Football dazzles viewers weekly with enough bells and whistles to power Terminator 3.

"With all the technology we use, it's harder to answer when people ask, `What's new this year?'" says ABC producer Fred Gaudelli, brandishing ESPN's Sky-Cam and 46 other cameras (seven for HDTV) ... plus big gun John Madden, analyzing his ninth Bowl but first with ABC and Al Michaels. Conventional weapons include host Chris Berman ... plus Mike Tirico anchored at the USS Preble with Dan Fouts, Joe Theismann and Bob Griese. Confidence is high that their guest-star analysts Brian Billick and Michael Strahan will make us proud.

Looks like eight gimmick-free hours--unless you count segments with Jimmy Kimmel, 14-year-old "sportscaster" Grant Paulsen and Penn & Teller. P&T will write down the score and MVP, then seal their predictions until after the game. (A better use of magic would be assuring a competitive game; the average victory margin on MNF this season was 14.2 points.)