Network got what it wanted
Jim Nantz, the signature voice of CBS Sports, called it "the greatest Super Bowl" of them all during the trophy presentation, and you may not be able to dismiss that as "MC hyperbole."
What the Patriots and Panthers did was give CBS what it most needed and wanted -- a competitive game that went down to the final seconds. CBS Sports president Sean McManus said repeatedly over the past two weeks that the quality of the game was more important than the marquee value of the participants or the size of their home TV markets.
What the teams also did was provide four hours of entertaining football that put the much-ballyhooed commercials [mostly duds, it says here] and halftime show to shame.
The Patriots' official line was that "having been there before" and having two weeks to prepare for the game gave them time to savor the "Super Bowl experience" this time around.
Everything CBS did around the game, starting with the "Phil Simms All-Iron team" at 1 p.m. and the ensuing four-hour "The Super Bowl Today" pregame, was geared to building the suspense and capturing the atmosphere of the game. The foursome of Nantz, Dan Marino, Deion Sanders, and Boomer Esiason spent the first two hours outside Reliant Stadium, watching fans tailgate and walk into the stadium. We saw players leaving their hotels, arriving at the stadium, and going onto the field to warm up as the seats filled.
The game started as a 0-0 tractor pull -- the longest a Super Bowl had remained scoreless was a fact we heard from both CBS's Greg Gumbel and Phil Simms and WBCN's (104.1 FM) Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti.
Boston viewers also were in a comfort zone. The CBS crew of Gumbel, Simms was working its seventh Patriot game of the season so viewers knew what to expect.
CBS producer Mark Wolff and director Larry Cavolina played it straight. Their quick-circling Eyevision replays got mixed reviews in our family room: The younger the viewer, the higher the mark. A replay of Adam Vinatieri's winning field goal from the CableCam showed how long a kick it really was. No plays were missed.
If nits have to be picked with the telecast, you can say a late-game replay went to a screen of green static, a flag was on screen against the wrong team, a down-and-distance with the wrong distance (after a penalty), and a couple of commercials (one pregame, one in-game) seemed to jump on screen before their times.
Just when viewers wondered where CBS had hidden its "Field goal graphic," -- the first cousin of the first-down yellow line, which shows a kicker's accuracy at various distances, it popped up before Vinatieri's kick.
Gumbel and Simms were steady, and about the only time Simms overextended was in prematurely awarding a first down to Antowain Smith on a play where he looked to have running room only to have the hole close quickly.
Simms ("Can I say how much I hate the squib kick?") was right on when the Patriots used that play after going ahead, 14-7, with 18 seconds left in the first half. The Panthers struck quickly to get John Kasay's 50-yard field goal before intermission.
CBS went to a camera high atop the stadium during the streaker incident at the start of the second half, showing little dots moving below, then further "covering up" by placing the first-half statistics graphic on the screen. The network was too late in applying the same strategy when Janet Jackson's breast was bared during the halftime show.
Once the game resumed, a potential conflict arose when an apparent Christian Fauria TD reception in the third quarter was ruled an "out of bounds" catch; however, Smith scored so quickly afterward the play became moot and never was reviewed.
When Carolina coach John Fox made the decision to go for a 2-point conversion after his team went ahead, 22-21, Simms said, "I'm not going to make a big deal of it now, but you never chase extra points until you have to."
The Panthers missed.
When the Patriots went for two to go ahead, 29-22, after Mike Vrabel's TD reception in the fourth, Cappelletti said, "I bet you a bottle of wine they make it." The Patriots converted on a direct snap to Kevin Faulk.
In the interminable wait before Vinatieri's winning kick, CBS first was able to broadcast a compilation of his greatest kicks and graphics, showing him 14 for 19 on game-winning or tying attempts. Gumbel said, "You have to wonder if it's in the cards for Adam after going 0 for 2 today." CBS followed that with a graphic showing Vinatieri was 31 for 35 on indoor attempts -- and that all four misses had come at Reliant Stadium.
One streak that will continue: Santos's radio call of the victory should live for the ages, joining his call of the team's 2001 championship in the archives where Super Bowl clips are kept. Bill Griffith's e-mail address is griffith@globe.com
