MEDIA CIRCUS AT THE SUPER BOWL
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – Internet star Lil Terrio danced with cheerleaders, an Austrian man dressed as Mozart, another guy wore a Waldo costume and Nickelodeon’s Pick Boy was in the house. Welcome to Media Day, the annual Super Bowl circus. It seems fitting this event was held at a hockey rink, of all places, because there’s nothing ordinary about it. Thousands of journalists, pseudo-journalists and other credentialed “media” from all over the world gathered at the home of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils on Tuesday to meet the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks. Strange questions were the norm instead of football ones. A man asked Seahawks center Max Unger if he could touch his long, scruffy beard. He said yes. A woman asked Seahawks defensive lineman Brandon Mebane for a kiss. He said no.
BRONCOS KICKER READY TO GO
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – Denver Broncos kicker Matt Prater says he’s feeling “a lot better” after missing three practices last week because of an illness and expects to be “totally fine” for the Super Bowl. Prater kicked Monday for the first time since being sent home by the team last Thursday and says at media day on Tuesday that he didn’t feel too rusty. He missed practices last Thursday through Saturday, and felt as if “a truck hit me.” While resting at home, Prater thought it was “strange” to see his name on the TV news scroll listed as “questionable” for the Super Bowl. He adds that for the Super Bowl, “I guess everything’s a big deal.” Prater is 30 of 31 on field-goal attempts, including an NFL-record 64-yarder on Dec. 8 in Denver.
WATCH OUT FOR PHONY SUPER BOWL TICKETS
NEW YORK (AP) – Authorities in New York say two men have been charged with making and selling counterfeit tickets for the Super Bowl and other postseason NFL games. Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown and Police Commissioner William J. Bratton announced charges Tuesday against Damon Daniels, of New York City, and Eugene Fladger, of Philadelphia. Information on their attorneys was not immediately available. Authorities say blocks of high-quality fake tickets were also sold online for an AFC divisional round playoff game in Foxborough, Mass., and an NFC Wild Card game in Philadelphia. They say other forged tickets were offered for the NFL Commissioner’s Party at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, the NFL Honors Party at Radio City Music Hall, and Super Bowl parking. The NFL’s security division had tipped off the NYPD.
