Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 29, 1994 TAG: 9401290041
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
And for the first time in the event's history, the same two broadcasters will be calling a second consecutive Super Bowl telecast.
NBC's Dick Enberg and Bob Trumpy are hoping that's where the repetition ends. As they prepared for Sunday's 6:18 p.m. kickoff (WSLS, Channel 10), Enberg and Trumpy weren't trying to buffalo anyone.
The thread that will weave through their work in the NBC booth Sunday? It's up to the Bills.
"I don't think the Bills have ever played a bigger game," Trumpy said. "They know people didn't want them back [for a fourth consecutive Super Bowl]. They're like a cornered rat. Everyone is against them."
That isn't to say the NBC team figures the Bills have no chance, that Super Bowl XXVIII is destined to be a rout like the 52-17 snoozer of Super Bowl XXVII - which still happened to be the most-watched show in U.S. TV history, with 133.4 million viewers.
It's just that Buffalo has to set the tone for the game and the telecast at the Georgia Dome.
"If I'm the Bills and I pick up the Dallas stats, I see where Troy Aikman has completed a higher percentage of passes with so few interceptions," Enberg said in a midweek conference call. "I see where Emmitt Smith has rushed for more yards than anyone else in the league.
"That tells me that Dallas is going to score. So, Buffalo knows the only way it can win is in a high-scoring game."
Trumpy said psychology could come up bigger than Bruce Smith or Emmitt Smith in this game.
"There's going to be a turnover in this game," Trumpy said. "There's always a turnover in the Super Bowl. How Buffalo reacts to its first turnover - whether it's an interception or fumble - is crucial.
"If the Bills think, `Oh, no, not again,' then they're in trouble. If they don't let it affect them, who knows what might happen?"
And if the Bills panic or fall behind big or stunningly begin routing the Super Bowl XXVII champions, then Enberg and Trumpy begin going to material that otherwise would be trash. For instance:
"The tallest tight end in the NFL, who happens to be in this game [Buffalo's Pete Metzelaars], had a great grandmother who was only 36 inches tall. Princess Numa - she was in the circus," Trumpy said, digging deep into his material.
That's the sort of information that gets used more often than not during a Super Bowl. First, most of the games in recent years have been lopsided. Second, the audience is very different from the one that watches Enberg and Trumpy work American Conference games on Sunday afternoons.
"This is an American celebration," said Enberg, who will be calling his sixth Super Bowl for NBC. "It's bigger than a football game should be.
"The way Bob and I approach it is, `Hey, it's another game,' and if we try to make it more important than others, we'll have failed."
They know, however, that many Super Bowl party people perhaps haven't seen much of what mostly was a boring NFL season in which too many games were won by kickers.
"Probably about half of the people that watch the Super Bowl didn't watch football all year long," Trumpy said.
"The Super Bowl is almost narcotic," Enberg said. "It drags you in whether you want to watch it or not. It doesn't matter who's there. What you're always hoping for is a competitive game.
"It's huge. Before I decide to quit doing this, I'm hoping I'll get to do an overtime game in a key playoff game. The people who get to do the first overtime in a Super Bowl, that will be the memorable moment of their career."
Enberg and Trumpy said the NFL shouldn't apologize for what has truly become a day of excess that begins with an NBC two-hour pregame show that includes Jim Lampley, Mike Ditka, Joe Gibbs, Bob Costas, O.J. Simpson, Will McDonough, Todd Christensen, Paul Maguire and Cris Collinsworth.
Enberg told a story about the Super Bowl Sunday his wife "took the children to the beach, then wondered why nobody was there." He laughed about that, while admitting he loves the excitement and pressure of the game.
"That doesn't mean people shouldn't have other pursuits," he added.
Trumpy, once an All-Pro tight end for the Cincinnati Bengals, said that as a former player, "the bigger the better. The Super Bowl is what you play for. This is Carnegie Hall, Churchill Downs. The hype? That's fine. These players have 60 minutes to make a name for themselves."
Trumpy said he has felt a nation somewhat divided about this Super Bowl - those who figure Buffalo has no chance, and others who are sympathetic to the Bills' bridesmaid existence. Any intrigue will build on that.
"If it's close at the half, if the game stays interesting, if Buffalo has a chance to win its first Super Bowl, if it's 28-27 with nine minutes left, I think you're going to see something parallel to what the U.S. Olympic hockey team did [in the 1980 Lake Placid Games]," Trumpy said.
"That [a victory over the Soviet Union] dragged people to the TV as it got later and later. It was unbelieveable. This could be like that. If Buffalo has a chance to win, you'll see cabs stopping and drivers looking for TVs."
And if Buffalo doesn't have a chance to win, you'll learn about Princess Numa.
by CNB