Float with us now down our stream of consciousness for a Super Bowl pastiche. Begin with the moment the Bears stepped out onto the field. That`s when we noticed the trademarks all over their shoes, which is totally in violation of NFL rules and totally in keeping with their renegade image. Would those guys let us down? Never. . . . At the end of the first quarter, all the Bears walked to the opposite end of the field but William Perry. He trotted. Would Perry let us down? Never. . . . With the Bears up 37-3 and six minutes left in the third quarter, the scoreboard flashed a message alerting us that the game would go to sudden-death overtime if necessary. We chuckled, decided we`d seen enough and headed for the locker rooms way down under the Dome. . . . That was where we observed Bears` chairman of the board Ed McCaskey pacing outside. Except for a janitor leaning on a mop and a phalanx of security guards down the corridor, McCaskey was alone and deep in thought. Then, with five minutes left in the game, commissioner Pete Rozelle joined him and the two spoke privately.
Finally, it was over. All the days of preparation. All the hours of anticipation. We watched as the Patriots trooped into their locker room first, quietly, with dignity. There were no tears, no helmets thrown. . . . Then came the Bears. Mike Ditka was in the lead, with Walter Payton right behind him. Gary Fencik paused before he entered and went across the hall to shake hands with Patriots` coach Raymond Berry. . . . The players seemed unusually calm for guys who`d just won the Super Bowl. We noticed that the only time they waved their fingers was when the TV cameras lit up. It would take time to decompress. . . . Inside the Bears` quarters, Rev. Jesse Jackson was shaking hands and working the room. Outside the door, the soon-to- be-defunct Honey Bears were shaking to the Super Bowl Shuffle. . . . But the site that left the deepest impression on us was that of linebacker Brian Cabral, who`d spent the season on injured reserve and had been activated for the playoffs. He had climbed on top of the wooden locker stalls and was lying on his stomach across them, just gazing down at the madness below.
MEMORY LANE
Let`s go back a bit. It`s Saturday noon at NBC`s hotel. The pregame piece on former Green Bay Packer coach Vince Lombardi is completed and available for viewing. Paul Hornung, the Golden Boy, already has dropped by to see it, and now Willie Davis and Jerry Kramer appear and ask to do the same. As the cassette is prepared, they settle in chairs right in front of the TV. When the tape begins to roll, they stare intently at the screen. They are silent until Lombardi is shown raging at his players during a game, which is when Davis laughs and says: ”He is something.” He is, Davis says, not he was, even though Lombardi has been dead many years. There are more smiles each time Lombardi is heard in full voice, and then the feature ends. ”Whew,” Kramer says as he gets up. ”The juices still flow,” Davis says as he gets up. ”He still brings a flutter,” Kramer says to Davis as they walk out the door. Five minutes later, Max McGee walks in the same door and asks to see the same cassette.
It`s now late Saturday afternoon at the Bears` hotel. The mannequin atop the awning in the lobby bar wears Bear uniform No. 74, yet it is so skinny it would be dwarfed by Jimbo Covert`s right arm. The mob around the bar wear enough souvenir buttons and hats and T-shirts and jackets to start two novelty shops. Other patrons cruise the scene with cameras ready just in case a Bear appears. None do. Raider mahatma Al Davis politely declines a request for a TV interview, saying, ”I think I`ll leave this Super Bowl alone.” . . . It`s Saturday night at the NBC party. ”Miami Vice” star Don Johnson appears, which means the hall is filled with the network`s top advertisers. Johnson, using a cane, is surrounded by four bodyguards who keep the riff-raff away. Redskin running back John Riggins doesn`t need bodyguards to keep people away. His surly demeanor manages that quite well, thank you, and when he is asked to do a TV interview, he sends the man away with a locker room epithet.
It`s late Saturday night on Bourbon Street. ”The Birds.” Remember that famous Hitchcock movie and all those birds massed together on the jungle gym? And ”The Blob.” Remember that old sci-fi movie and the monster that moved like a waterbed slithering along the landscape? That`s Bourbon Street. A throng as tightly packed as the birds moving along like the blob. . . . People looking for tickets scream out their desires. People selling tickets covertly sidle up to prospective customers and whisper, ”Need any?” . . . And the scene that most clearly defined the Hype, Hype, Hurrah aspect of Super Duper Week: Charger quarterback Dan Fouts, who is working for a San Diego TV station, is in front of a camera taping an interview with a Patriot. Three other cameras from three other stations are taping Fouts taping the interview. NOTHING`S EASY
Believe it or not, NBC`s much discussed Bathroom Break Minute had to be reproduced late Friday afternoon. The original version had the dancing ice cream cones and popcorn boxes that were telecast Sunday, but during the minute itself, the countdown was done with both the Roman and more-familiar numerals. ”It was too busy. It defeated the whole purpose,” explained NBC Sports executive producer Michael Weisman, who dreamed up the gimmick and reproduced it himself.
NEWS, NOTES AND NONSENSE
Self promotion I: Someone called NBC to let the network know where Steven Zucker, Jim McMahon`s attorney, would be sitting during the game in case the network wanted the scoop on McMahon`s headband plans in advance. . . . Self promotion II: Another man called NBC and identified himself as Bill Anderson, the head of the Illinois State Acupuncture Society. He wanted to know if the network could use a medical report on the Bears. . . . More on headbands:
McMahon`s decision to wear a headband reading ”JDF CURE” had been planned at least a few days before the game. In fact, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation issued a release on Friday alerting newspapers that McMahon would be supporting its cause with a band. The quarterback lives next door to a JDF board member, and along with Ditka, has helped raise funds for the group through personal appearances. . . . Even more on headbands: Ken Margerum told us that McMahon was given 20 to 30 headbands bearing various messages through the week. Some bore references to McMahon`s much denied feelings about New Orleans` women. Said Margerum: ”I think he showed a lot of class with the ones he chose.” . . . Not so Super Duper: When former De Paul coach Ray Meyer returned to his room at the Fairmount Hotel after eating breakfast Sunday, he found that it had been rifled. ”Lost all my souvenirs, invitations, everything,” moaned Meyer, who then pulled his game ticket from his coat pocket. ”Good thing I had this with me or I would have lost it too for sure.” . . . Super Duper Speculation (nonfootball variety): The reign of Roone Arledge as head of ABC Sports is reportedly near its end. We hear Cap Cities, which took over ABC earlier this month, has decided to strip the sports division of the autonomy it has always enjoyed, to fold that division into the larger corporation with a vice president as its head and to remove Arledge from his post while letting him remain as head of ABC News. Two other points to the story: Former Channel 7 head Dennis Swanson, who now oversees the network`s five owned-and-operated stations, is a top candidate to replace Arledge. And Jim Spence, long Arledge`s right-hand man, is reportedly out altogether at ABC.
And finally: Yes, Virginia, he does have a sense of humor. Rozelle dined at the table next to ours late in Super Duper Week and leaned over to talk to one of our companions. As they chatted, the Commish pulled a ”Rozelle”
headband from his coat pocket and displayed it for the group.
