Sights and sounds from the site of Super Bowl XXVIII. If you play it they will come:
WHO'S'ALL HERE?: Just about everybody except Rhett, Scarlett and Ashley. The spectrum goes from Michael Jordan, a surprise guest at Magic Johnson's party at the Hard Rock Cafe (retirement has its privileges) to Rush Limbaugh or Dan Quayle, fighting for position on the far right. Tim Allen is here, taping a segment of Home Improvement with John Elway, who also happens to be here. Jay Leno isn't in Atlanta but he's getting feeds from Peachstreet all week. Evander Holyfield is here but then he lives here, and Billy Joel, who will do a sold-out concert Friday night at the Omni, is NOT. The reason: He couldn't get a hotel room downtown. "They said they got us a room at the airport," Joel told the local media via telephone on Thursday. "To tell you the truth, we're thinking of just doing the concert and flying out."WHERE'ALL'S THE PARTY?: Although you'll find none of the above within miles of the place, the best deal in town is Coca Cola's World's Biggest Super Bowl Party being held in a huge tent next to the Coca Cola Visitor's Center in the heart of Atlanta's historic district. The party runs Thursday through Sunday and is free. For $2.50 you can go next door to the visitor's center and learn how Coca Cola got its start in an Atlanta drugstore in 1886 when a chemist named Dr. John Pemberton developed the "secret formula." Between then and now, Coca Cola has sold trillions of soft drinks and currently sells approximately 32 million drinks around the world every hour. Hence the ability to spring for a free party every now and then. Drinks are on the Pembertons.
WHERE'ALL'S THE CONTROVERSY: Political Correctness has hit Super Bowl XXVIII in the form of a flag flap. At issue is the Georgia state flag flying over the Georgia Dome, site of Sunday's game, next to the U.S. flag and the NFL flag. Since the Georgia flag includes a replica of the original flag of the Confederate States - the stars and bars, as it were - some groups are protesting its use on the grounds that it represents an affirmation of slavery.
Defenders of the flag say that it symbolizes the sacrifices of Confederate soldiers during the Civil War, soldiers who were both white and black as well as Indian, Jew, Hispanic and other.
Protests are planned by several black groups, including clergymen and legislators, outside the Dome Sunday. Inside the Dome, at least one black reporter, Terry Foster of the Detroit News, says he'll walk out of the press box during the National Anthem unless the Georgia flag comes down. After that, he'll walk back in and cover the game.
WHAT ABOUT THE PARAGLIDER?: Super Bowl security officials admit they're still shaking their heads over the veiled warning uttered by James Miller, the paraglider who crashed into the ring of the Evander Holyfield-Riddick Bowe fight in Las Vegas three months ago, that he would make another dramatic, and illegal, appearance at the Super Bowl.
"Just wait until the Super Bowl," Miller said two weeks ago when he was arrested for flying above the L.A. Coliseum during the Raiders-Broncos playoff game.
"We're indoors!" said Jim Steeg, the director of NFL special events. "How much can he do to us? He can't get in. Is this guy crazy enough to fly around outdoors?" Steeg added that Vice President Al Gore is reportedly going to come to the game. "I don't think he'd want to mess with the Secret Service," said Steeg of the impaired paraglider. "He might find the time he did in jail in Las Vegas very short in comparison."
WHO'ALL WILL BE WATCHING?: Seven hundred and fifty million people, give or take a million or two. The NFL estimates that 130 million Americans will watch Sunday's game on television, in addition to the 70,000-plus watching live (for $175 a seat) in the Georgia Dome. Another 620 million will watch around the world as the TV feed goes to a record 141 countries, 34 more than last year. The amazing part is that football isn't even played in about 135 of those 141 countries . . . but they all drink Coca Cola.
Such an audience is not lost on advertisers. All of NBC's 30-second spots have been sold - at $900,000 each. There are spots still available, however, on the feed going to Moscow, and for a much better price. Thirty seconds on the Turner Network feed to Russia goes for $2,000.