Super Bowl Diary: The Missing Egg

Dear Diary,

The day got off to an ominous start. Not quite as eerie as yesterday's vulture visit, but still, it set the tone for a strange day. I won't bore you with all the details (there's a first!), but suffice it to say, when Reimer orders a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit for breakfast, there are three things he wants on the biscuit:

1. bacon
2. egg
3. cheese

When one of those components is missing, it throws off the whole equation.

I guess Joe Pesci was right. You always get . . . uh . . . violated at the drive-thru.

Sitting in the electronic media workroom at the Tampa Convention Center, which is serving as this year's Media Center, I just realized that I forgot to tell you something about yesterday. I had my first encounter with a scalper.

The guy was standing outside the Marriott last night as we headed inside to cover the Miller Lite NFL Player of the Year press conference. After a typical scalper conversation ("You got any tickets?" "No."), I asked the guy what people were paying for entrance to the big top on Sunday.

He replied, "Depends on what you got." I reiterated that I didn't "got" anything, I was just curious what the tickets were going for. "Anywhere from $1,000 to $4,000, depending on where the seats are."

$4,000 for the right to sit inside Raymond James Stadium on Sunday and watch Trent Dilfer and Kerry Collins try to move the ball?

Evidently the predicted Bush recession has not yet taken effect.

One of the greatest things about this job is the chance to witness what's not reported in every major media outlet in the U.S. of A.

You do realize, don't you, that you're only getting to see or read a fraction of what's going on down here in Tampa? I mean, TV and radio have only so much time that they can spend on the Super Bowl between all the advertisements and weather and witty anchor banter and traffic reports and sweeps month sex scandal stories and calls from Bob in Bloomington on why the Vikings don't trade Bubby Brister to the Ravens for Ray Lewis and Chris McAlister because that would shore up their defensive holes.

Newspapers also have limited space, based on the number of ads and such, and even in an unlimited format like the Internet, where you literally can post as much content as you wish, there's still a limit on the amount of time we have to share our observations with you. Meaning, there are still only 24 hours a day, and we've got to spend at least three of them sleeping and another two or three eating free food.

That means your opinion of an athlete is usually based on snippets and soundbytes and somebody else's opinion of an athlete.

For example, you probably buy into the popular perception of Ravens TE Shannon Sharpe, that he's a loud, obnoxious, disrespectful know-it-all. That's the cartoonish image portrayed in his TV commercials, and that's how he was portrayed when he stood up and defended teammate Ray Lewis on Wednesday.

But that's not the whole picture.

Today, at the Ravens' morning press conference, I got to meet Shannon Sharpe, the thoughtful, intelligent, insightful and deferential team leader. I spent an hour leaning on Sharpe's table and hanging on his every word, and I'm here to tell you, you're selling him short if you buy into his projected image.

In case you missed it, on Wednesday Sharpe leapt to the defense of Lewis, who was answering mostly football questions from reporters after an hour of intense grilling about his murder trial at Tuesday's Media Day. Sharpe hopped onto the stage, placed his hands on Lewis' shoulders and offered an impassioned defense that would have been the envy of any trial lawyer in the country.

Public reaction to Sharpe's move was mixed, at best. The most common response I heard was that Sharpe had needlessly stirred the pot when the media was beginning to finally let the issue die. And by doing so, Sharpe put further heat on Lewis by magnifying the media's treatment of the issue.

But what you haven't heard is that Sharpe is as loyal, thoughtful and passionate as anyone on the planet.

And he's an adult. Unlike many of his fellow players, he will look you in the eye when he answers a question. He talks a lot and he talks fast, but it's clear that he actually thinks about his answers.

Sharpe defines the term "team leader." The Ravens clearly feed off his energy and confidence. "I don't think any of my teammates even heard that conversation (regarding Lewis), but we went out and had our best practice of the year," Sharpe said, indicating that it was not a coincidence.

Here's another not-so-coincidental tidbit: Sharpe's teams have won their last 10 postseason games. I asked him if he uses the Broncos' shocking loss to the Jaguars in the 1996 divisional playoffs -- a loss that spurred the Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl victories the next two seasons -- to teach his young, inexperienced teammates a lesson about the perils of overconfidence.

"No, not really," he said. "These guys are very young. They're very cocky. They think they're invincible. And that's a good thing. We're gonna surprise some people."

He also isn't making any apologies for the Ravens' brash attitude.

"Are we cocky?" he asked. "Yeah. Is it a good thing? Maybe not for y'all (the media and fans), but that's who we are. Like I always say, a leopard is a leopard whether he's in the Serengeti or the zoo."

But behind his brashness, his unflinching confidence, is a humility, a man who gives credit and respect to everybody who helped him get to where he is today. He can rattle off his career stats in a heartbeat, but when asked if he will be the greatest tight end of all-time, he revealed a perspective not common among today's superstars.

"Some guys like Kellen (Winslow). Some like Ozzie (Newsome). Some like (Mike) Ditka. Some like me. But 10 years from now they're gonna forget all of us. All they're gonna remember is (the Chiefs' young superstar Tony) Gonzalez. The man can do it all."

And he expects the same sense of perspective from his young teammates, especially those who might be tempted to shirk their responsibilities to the league and its fans. "I tell them all the time, no matter how much money you make, in the NFL you are a microcosm of society." Sharpe reminds them that they are in the spotlight, and they must behave accordingly.

Rare words from a modern professional athlete. But as I found out today, Shannon Sharpe is a rare person indeed.

In a few scant minutes, on the other side of this wall, MTV's Carson Daly will emcee a press conference introducing the stars of the Super Bowl halftime show -- *NSYNC and Aerosmith. It appears that Daly did not bring along his own mob of screaming teenage girls, which will likely disappoint some of my colleagues to no end. I've already heard grumbling about Britney Spears being a no-show for the press conference, even though she is also performing on Sunday.

Carson Daly. *NSYNC. Aerosmith. Britney Spears. This is Super Bowl XXXV.

I may be, like, so totally lame and, like, the biggest dork ever and just a total hella loser. But I think Vince Lombardi is rolling in his grave.

The day ended much as it began. Reimer and I picked up barbecue on the way home -- good, Southern barbecue from a joint called Choctaw Willie's -- and when we got home we discovered that they'd given us the wrong order. And we didn't even use the drive-thru.

So much for Joe Pesci's theory.

Previous Diaries:
Wednesday, January 24 -- Midnite Vultures
Tuesday, January 23 -- Throng Of The South
Monday, January 22 -- And We're Off

Check back throughout the rest of the weekend to read more from our Super Bowl Diary.