HOUSTON -- Here are a few observations from Super Bowl XXXVIII Media Day on Tuesday in quite chilly Houston.
2:35 p.m. ET
•Panthers general manager Marty Hurney is the patron saint of sportswriters. Why? Because he's a former sportswriter, giving us all hope that we could do it, too! Marty covered Media Day from 1982-88 for The Washington Times. "Being an ex-sportswriter, I'll let you guys figure out" how long that span was. Now, here he is taking questions now. "I never liked to ask questions in a group setting. I never liked to bother people."
•The Tonight Show guy again. This time he corners offensive tackle Melvin Tuten. Geek: "What would you do if I told you my dream was to try on your protective cup?" Melvin: "I don't wear a cup." Geek: "You know you have a chance to hurt your testicles?" Melvin: "I'm a tough guy, I can take it." Geek: "So I can kick you in the testicles right now?" Melvin: "No way."
•Nice guy, that Melvin.
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The Patriots' AFC Championship hero Ty Law adds some style with the shades. (AP) |
•That kid again; this time he got ahold of WR Eugene Baker and was giving him crap about how skinny he is. Eugene is 6-foot even. The kid got Baker on a scale: 176 pounds. So the kid says, "I'll see you in the weight room."
1:35 p.m. ET
•Strange thing about the Panthers media segment is that former XFL great "He Hate Me" (Rod Smart) and Jarrod Cooper have the biggest throngs around them than anybody else on the team. Asked about being no-name players, Cooper looked at Smart and said, "They're calling me a ho and you a bitch. They say we're nobodys. They hate us. The media drinks Haterade like it's liquor." They may not play much, but those two can talk it up pretty good.
•Safety Deon Grant grabbed a camera and went up to teammate and fellow safety Mike Minter and asked him how his arms got so big. Minter said: "Me and Deon Grant do a lot of curls."
•Defensive end Mike Rucker was asked if he knew how to spell QB Jake Delhomme's name. Rucker: "D-E-L-" He then stopped to look Delhomme's direction. "I thought I could look at the back of his jersey, but I can't see that far. That's as far as I can get."
•President George Bush's niece, model Lauren Bush, is one media member getting a lot of attention working Media Day for E! Unfortunately, she's asking a lot of absurd questions.
12:40 p.m. ET
•Some wonk from the Tonight Show (Jay Leno) asked Rodney Harrison the weirdest place he ever made whoopee with his wife. Before Harrison could even answer, Paul Zimmerman from Sports Illustrated told the guy to "Get the hell out of here." Guy says, "What are you, the kicker?" Zimmerman: "Yeah, I'll kick your ass." Harrison did answer the question with, "I wouldn't disrespect my wife that way."
11:35 a.m. ET
•Last week on a national cable sports show, Tampa Bay lineman and loud mouth Warren Sapp ripped New England Patriots offensive guard Russ Hochstein, who replaced Damien Woody during the Pats' playoff win over the Titans. So Sapp, doing offseason work for the NFL Network, walked up to Hochstein and asked, "How did you like me making you the center of attention?" Hochstein, with a serious look, replied, "No more questions" from you. Hochstein continued to answer questions from other, uh, "reporters."
•Austrian TV is in town for the frenzy, and they were trying to interview Patriots TE Christian Fauria. But he decided to interview them instead, specifically, to ask the Austrian reporter about Arnold Schwarzenegger. The reporter, with his best Aahnold accent, answered with, "Let's bring New England baaack."
•Pats LB Mike Vrabel was asked how he was enjoying Media Day. Vrabel: "To be honest, I want to get out of here I have a tee time." Reminded that it's 30 degrees outside, Vrabel said, "When I left Providence, it was 5 degrees. I'm playing golf."
•The roof is closed for media day today, and it might be closed for the game.
•TV Show called The John Henson Project is here. Henson's a comedian who used to be on Comedy Central's Talk Soup. He's here asking players to read what he has written on cue cards: Pats backup WR Chas Gessner played along and read a couple. " I can't get enough of Howie Long in those Radio Shack commercials." And "In a superstitious effort to keep New England's 14-game winning streak, the Pats have vowed to give up watching Will and Grace."
•Bunch of kids here today. This one kid from Nickelodeon, dressed in a cape and mask, like Batman almost, asked starting QB Tom Brady what he'll do about his messed-up hair after Sunday's Super Bowl. Brady said, "I guess I'll have a bad hair day."
•Another kid from one of those kids' networks asked FB Patrick Pass how he could be running back with a name like Pass. "I'm just a runner," Pass said.
•These guys are pretty tolerant.
•Finally, I was interviewed by Gary Walker of the Texans. I used to cover Gary when he played for the Jaguars, and Gary is doing some TV for a station in Houston. "Go ahead, tell the people how you know me, Prisco." And with the camera rolling, I said, "Gary used to chase me around the locker room in Jacksonville threatening to kick my butt." Gary then said, "Go ahead, tell 'em more Prisco." And I said, "I used to tell Gary, 'Go ahead and do it, because every sack you get, I'll get a piece of the action.'"
That's good TV right there.
