When I was at the newspaper we'd try each year to find a way to "localize" the Super Bowl. Sometimes we were lucky, like the year when an area resident managed to develop some kind of long-distance, fan-player relationship with Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith. (I know, I know. It sounded a little fishy to us as well, but we found out it was true.) Another time someone from the area knew the Philadelphia Eagles owner and if I remember correctly watched the game from the owner's box.
Then there were the years when we looked up, down, in and out and we couldn't do much better than find someone who could find Buffalo on a map or spell Indianapolis. I kid, but you get the idea.
This is one of the years when I almost wish I were back at the paper because there's an embarrassment of riches when it comes to potential stories. (Editor's note: The operative word in that sentence is almost.)
In advance of the Cincinnati Bengals-Los Angeles Rams Super Bowl here is a list of people we might have written about:
Cincinnati Bengals
• Former Big Green linebacker Reggie Williams '76, two-time Super Bowl player
• Former wide receiver Dave Shula '81, Bengals head coach 1992-96
• Former quarterback Mike Brown ’57, TU’58, team owner.
• Katie Blackburn ’86, executive vice president
• Elizabeth Blackburn ’15, director of strategy and engagement
Los Angeles Rams
• Former safety Tony Pastoors ’10, vice president of football and business administration
• Former receiver Jon Marc Carrier ’17, player affairs management
• Former Big Green broadcaster/writer Kevin Demoff '99 TU'06, chief operating officer
• Dan August ’07, ticket planning and analytics
• Joanna Hunter (August) ’06, senior director of corporate communications
• Former receiver Dave Shula '81, father of linebackers coach Chris Shula
• Former quarterback Jeff Kemp '81, Rams quarterback 1981-85
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While it remains to be seen what our local daily will do, other outlets are already doing their part . . .
KARE11 TV out of Minnesota has a piece headlined, From Totino-Grace to the Super Bowl, Tony Pastoors is living out his dream. To read the story and watch the video, click on the screengrab below or just click HERE:
(Editor's Note: I've posted about this before but when Pastoors was battling injury and illness at Dartmouth I was asked to write a story about him, and he told me of his dream to be a pro sports general manager. I was so impressed speaking with him that I emailed Kevin Demoff, who I had known for years, this LINK to the story and said when he needed someone in an entry level role, Tony would be someone to consider.)
From a story in The Olympian under the headline, Rams assistant Chris Shula carving his own coaching legacy among rich family history (LINK):
There are times when Chris Shula will watch Los Angeles Rams star cornerback Jalen Ramsey attack the ball at the team’s facility in Thousand Oaks, California, and he will quickly think back on his days as a young boy, watching talented athletes at Cincinnati Bengals training camp practices. He would spend weeks at the team’s dormitory, joking with players and acting as a ball boy while his dad, Dave, led the summer sessions.
And . . .
Chris called his father, an “early morning, disciplined man” his biggest coaching influence, and reminisced on the various stories players told him about his grandfather, a “harda--” who over time “morphed into a goofy, lovable type of grandpa.” He treasures the day-long talks he would have with Don, who died May 2020, about football and life but has taken bits and pieces of Dave and Don’s personalities while trying to put his own personal spin on it as a coach.
Forbes has a story headlined Meet The Billionaire Family Behind The Cincinnati Bengals, The NFL’s Second-Least-Valuable Team (LINK).
The Athletic has a story headlined On brink of Super Bowl, Bengals’ Katie Blackburn is one of NFL’s best-kept secrets that includes Blackburn sharing this from her adventures with the Dartmouth women's ice hockey team (LINK):
"The full story, I was a wing for the first two years and I finally scored couple goals. I was finally making some progress. Definitely still not great, but I was making some progress. Then the goalie graduated and I was like, 'Hey, the goalie gets to be on the ice all the time, right?' So they didn't have a goalie, so I volunteered to be the goalie. I made it through probably two or three games before they went to the field hockey team to find other options."
Pretty funny, but it also includes this:
Final stats for the 1985-86 season show Blackburn with 199 saves, 24 goals against and a 4-4 record.
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I think if I were still at the newspaper I'd have pushed the Dave Shula angle because he's the only one still local, and because he's got a foot in both camps.
The story I always flirted with writing when I was at the paper but never did was to cruise around the Upper Valley and find people who had to work during the Super Bowl and write about them. You know, the police officer, the nurse, the um, "associate" at Walmart, the person selling tickets at the movie theater (to people who apparently aren't interested in the game), the tow truck driver etc.
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EXTRA POINT
When I wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble falling back asleep I turn the TV on. That's not recommended by the experts but I don't watch anything.
I'll turn on YouTube with a black screen version of the English trio Marconi Union's track Weightless. That piece is described on Wikipedia this way (LINK):
The song features guitar, piano and manipulated field recordings. It is punctuated throughout by low tones that supposedly induce a trance-like state.
It was reported in a study conducted at the Sussex Innovation Centre in Brighton that listening to the track reduced anxiety of the patients by up to 65%, being 11% better at inducing relaxation than other relaxing music.
In November 2011, Marconi Union were featured in Time magazine's list of Inventors of the Year for recording Weightless, describing it as "the world's most relaxing song."
The version I put on can run for 8.5 hours although I set the TV to turn off after a half hour. Curious? Click the video and the picture will go dark as the music starts:
