THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 30, 1996 TAG: 9601300046
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
LET'S HEAR IT for Diana Ross. Before 74,000 people in a Tempe, Ariz., football stadium, and a zillion others watching Super Bowl XXX on television here and abroad, the diva completed four costume changes without missing a beat during Sunday's halftime show.
Did you see her leave the field in a helicopter after belting out the Supremes' 1964 hit, ``Baby Love''?
Very impressive.
She almost upstaged the Dallas Cowboys' cornerback Larry Brown, whose two interceptions earned him the most valuable player trophy. Not bad for a guy who saw 235 players drafted ahead of him when he came out college hoping for a career in the National Football League.
NBC's on-field cameras showed the Dallas Cowboys' cheerleaders, bare navels and all, a total of five times. Not a Super Bowl record.
What else stood out in NBC's Super Bowl telecast? The nothing-else-is-a-Pepsi commercials.
They were the best of the lot. Second best were the Nike commercials: the Pee Wee Football Year in Review spots.
Cute. Clever.
Third best were produced by NBC. These commercials reminded viewers that the sitcom ``Mad About You'' would be back in its 8 p.m. time slot next Sunday. NBC brought in members of the Green Bay Packers to hang out with ``Mad About You'' stars Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser in their apartment.
The Packers brought cheese.
They asked to meet Murray, the dog.
Cool.
I also appreciated Visa's commercials promoting the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Loved the ones in which foreign visitors learn to speak like they do in Georgia . . . ``I do declare.'' And the image of the sculpted mashed potatoes in the Doritos spots stayed with me as did pictures of the Budweiser Clydesdales kicking a football around.
USA Today's ad meter, a poll of viewers taken after the game, ran up a big score for Pepsi. Most popular commercial: The Pepsi spot seen early on in the game which showed a guy who works for Coke breaking into a Pepsi cooler as Hank Williams in the background sings about a cheating heart.
Pepsi's performing fish named Sparky was a hoot, too. Last year, Pepsi's ``boy in a bottle'' was the viewers' favorite. Pepsi's on a roll.
As for the coverage of the game - and it was a darn good Super Bowl for a change - it was ordinary or even below network standards. Why were Dick Enberg, Paul Maguire and Phil Simms so quiet in the booth when the Cowboys were milling around waiting to be introduced before the game?
NBC viewers were left adrift for a few seconds. And where were the NBC on-field cameras when Pittsburgh successfully completed an onside kick in the fourth quarter which all but turned the game around? NBC's camera crews were as clueless on that play as the Dallas players who lined up for the kickoff. It didn't even look good in replays.
For highly paid armchair experts, and for men who once played the game and played it well, I didn't think that Maguire or Simms added much to the telecast. It wasn't until I heard the players in post-game interviews did I learn exactly how the Dallas' pass defense frustrated Pittsburgh quarterback Neil O'Donnell.
As analysts, these guys are small-time compared to John Madden on Fox. And speaking of Fox, why doesn't NBC and the other networks adopt the ``Fox Box,'' that gizmo in the upper right corner of the screen which gives the score and time remaining at a glance?
I will give Enberg a salute for dropping neat little factoids into the telecast. He mentioned how the mother of Cowboys' tight end Jay Novacek earned her plane fare to Tempe, Ariz. by gathering up aluminum cans and selling them for scrap.
I can see her now on the side of the road, scooping up every Bud Light can in sight.
Novacek has played on three Super Bowl winners. He can afford to send his mom plane fare.
Pepsi's clever ads, or mini-dramas, as some people call them, were directed by Joe Pytka. Nobody spent more than the soft-drink maker to advertise on NBC - four minutes in all with the goldfish, Deion Sanders of the Cowboys and Wile E. Coyote featured. The bill came to $8 million. Sanders also hustled honey-frosted Wheaties, and caught a pass in the first half.
Other observations about the Super Bowl coverage: Vanessa Williams' rendition of the national anthem was classy. Ford pushed hard to sell its T-150 1997 model trucks. Aren't they made in Norfolk? ESPN's post-game coverage was solid as was its SportsCenter wrapup at 11 p.m.
It was in that segment I heard Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman sum up the game as well as anyone. ``It wasn't the prettiest game for us. But a win is a win.''
And at the same time, Sanders was heard to say that the Cowboys have so much glitz and glamour, the owner should consider moving them to Hollywood. Don't you love this guy? by CNB