Joniak's Super Bowl Journal: Moving Media Day To Monday Evening Created Big Buzz
By Jeff Joniak--
(CBS) The Panthers and Broncos square off in Super Bowl 50 on Sunday evening in Santa Clara, Calif. Here are my observations leading up the big game.
First impression
This golden anniversary of the Super Bowl might require a great deal of patience in terms of getting around town. Traffic is always challenging in the Bay Area, but with a steady influx of tourists and NFL fans expected by week's end, it won't be simple to navigate. The media throng is settling in for the long haul on buses from downtown San Francisco to San Jose and Santa Clara for interviews with players and coaches through Thursday.
Second thought
Moving the annual Super Bowl media day from Tuesday morning to Monday night created an even bigger buzz than I expected. The NFL continues to get a bang for its buck by repackaging this at-times wacky event, calling it "Opening Night" and making it a primetime television event. Fans were lined up for several hours outside the SAP Center for several hours, home of the NHL's San Jose Sharks.
Third degree
One of the great stories of this Super Bowl week is Panthers coach Ron Rivera. The 1985 Bears linebacker and a former defensive coordinator in Chicago, Rivera will be peppered all week with questions about his evolution from player to coach, not to mention his roots here as a University of California alum. On the 30th anniversary of the Bears' championship, in the league's 50th Super Bowl, in the Bay area where he played his college ball, Rivera's story is sure to get a lot of sports front page attention throughout the week, battling the starting quarterbacks for top billing. Peyton Manning's likely final game against the young star Cam Newton will be the most-discussed story of the week.
Fourth-and-short
Panthers defensive tackle Kawann Short turned 27 on Tuesday. Central High School in East Chicago, Ind., is planning a Kawann Short Day on Friday. So he feels a great deal of support from friends and family in the area. Short was the 44th pick in the 2014 draft out of Purdue. Thirty years earlier, in the 1984 draft, Rivera was also the 44th pick. Short feels a bond with Rivera and loves playing for him.
Jeff Joniak is the play-by-play announcer for the Bears broadcasts on WBBM Newsradio 780. Follow him on Twitter @JeffJoniak.