| | Fans arrive very early amid tight security
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS -- America saw the future of big-time sports
Sunday at the most heavily secured Super Bowl ever.
It was an eye-opening spectacle -- as much about military might
outside the Superdome as the football inside, and yet another
jarring reminder of how much has changed since Sept. 11.
Ticketholders arrived at the Superdome up to five hours early to
guarantee they wouldn't miss the start of the NFL championship game
between the New England Patriots and St. Louis Rams. Lines stacked
up outside the 8-foot-high fences and concrete barriers surrounding
the stadium.
Fans stood in queue an hour or longer to make their way into the
dome, waiting to be patted down by security guards, then getting in
another line to pass through metal detectors. The NFL announced
that 95 percent of the approximately 72,000 fans with tickets were
in the stadium an hour before kickoff -- almost unheard of, even for
a game this big.
On the whole, they were patient and understanding.
"But it's sad the country has come to this," said Ronnie
Barko, a ticketholder from West Palm Beach, Fla.
Cell phones and electronic devices were allowed, but strongly
discouraged, lest they slow down the security process. Foam
fingers, coolers and so much else that used to be a regular part of
football games were taken away at the gates.
"It's a sign of the times," Patriots fan Tricia McCarthy said.
"Whenever you have big crowds somewhere, you have to worry about
terrorism. It's pretty sad to say."
There were sharpshooters walking the perimeter of the Superdome,
and uniformed soldiers all over New Orleans. A no-fly zone was in
effect over the stadium.
Hardly anything was easy about the Big Easy on this Super
Sunday. Interstate 10 was closed to truck traffic, because the
major highway runs right past the Superdome, the stadium built in
the mid-1970s as a monument to big games like this one.
The Secret Service coordinated the biggest security effort in
the history of football, hoping to ensure New Orleans would be the
safest place in America on Sunday. The nation's leaders knew there
was more than a game hanging in the balance.
"We will always be alert to the possibility of a terrorist
event at a high-profile event like the Super Bowl, like the
Olympics," Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said on NBC's Meet
the Press.
Even more stringent measures are in place for the Olympics,
which begin next week in Utah. Still, the Super Bowl was much, much
more than a dress rehearsal.
It's the most-anticipated single sporting event in the country,
an unofficial national holiday of sorts, watched by 130 million
viewers last year.
Some say it's a tribute to excess -- that no game is worth this
much attention. But in a way, that's what made it even more
important in the post-Sept. 11 world. Football is an entrenched
symbol of American culture, and not playing the biggest football
game of all was never an option.
"You can't live in fear," Patriots fan Calvin Brown said, when
asked if the trouble was worth it.
NFL vice president of security Milt Ahlerich urged fans to
arrive as many as five hours before the 6:33 p.m. EST kickoff, and
the NFL put on a patriotic show inside and around the dome to keep
its ticketholders entertained before kickoff.
The Boston Pops played patriotic tunes during an extensive
pregame show, held inside and outside the dome. Barry Manilow sang.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was introduced to a rousing
ovation. Former NFL players read excerpts of the Declaration of
Independence on a videotaped presentation.
Maybe because of the tight security, tickets outside the stadium
seemed easier to obtain than in the past. Several scalpers,
reluctant to talk to reporters, simply shrugged their shoulders
when asked how sales were going. Todd Mitchell of Rollinsford,
N.H., said he lost his game ticket en route to the Superdome, but
bought one for the $400 face value.
"I was without a ticket for about three minutes," he said.
Still, the game was a sellout, as usual.
And this year, the Super Bowl really was more than a game. Fans
and players alike felt it was a statement about America, patriotism
and the country's ability to move forward despite tragedy and the
difficult obstacles ahead.
"There have been so many ironies to our season, and one of them
is that I'm wearing red, white and blue on Super Bowl Sunday," New
England safety Lawyer Milloy said earlier in the week. "I'm a true
Patriot right now."
|
|
|
SB XXXVI Over/Under
