Bob Collins
I’ve taken a sick day today, so I’m watching the NFL Network coverage of Super Bowl week. Several news conferences are broadcast live, which unfortunately gives people a glimpse into the kind of biting questions asked by some people who make their living as journalists. This afternoon, Alicia Keys and Jordan Sparks were announced as the pre-game entertainment, an event usually covered by the B-squad anyway, but still…
Lynne Miller (Ironstar) – “First of all, I love you. I think you’re fantastic….” It didn’t get better. She wanted to know what was in their iPods.
Amanda Jahn (Channel 3 News) – “First, you guys are so beautiful…” Why even bother with what her question was?
Yetta Gibson (Fox Phoenix) – “How ya doin? Where are your seats? And are you forced to root for the Knicks?” The what? The Knicks? I looked her up on the Internet. She’s described as “an Emmy Award-winning journalist.” That should tell you how hard it is to win a local Emmy.
Tom Petty, the halftime show, is up next. NFL Network analyst Terrel Davis says he’s never heard of Tom Petty. Ugh.
Update:
3:56 p.m. – “Let’s give it up for Tom Petty,” the moderator of the news conference says. And they do. The reporters… journalists… in the audience….. they do.
3:58 – “Would you please give a shout out to 103.7 FM, ‘The Mount’ in Seattle?”, asks a reporter from 103.7 FM. Petty does. I begin to understand better why The Current has so many online listeners from Seattle.
4:00 – “How awesome is it for you to be performing at a Super Bowl?” asks a reporter. I literally pray that Petty answers, “It’s awesome!” Instead, he says “it’s mind-blowing,” a subject about which Petty appears to know a fair amount.
4:01 p.m. – A reporter asks if a friend of his can sing a few bars of “American Girl,” and would Petty critique him. “Umm, no,” Petty replies.
4:03 p.m. – Amanda Jahn from Channel 3 (see above) is back for more. She begins her question with, “You guys are still smokin’ hot.” Good golly, she was once nominated for an Emmy. Here’s some of her work. Note the part where she refers to Chris Bergman.
4:05 pm. – Actually an interesting question here. “You’ve always been Mr. anti-corporation and here you are at the Super Bowl, a corporate orgy, in a halftime show sponsored by a corporation…” Petty says, “that’s just the way it is in TV. You just smile and be good boys.”
And take the cash.
