Friday Walk-Thru: Will Super Bowl Get Lost in NYC Shuffle?

OK, just a few more words on the New York Super Bowl.

(Sorry, New Jersey, but get used to second billing ... if any billing at all)

The Doomsday scenario, of course, is a snow or ice storm of biblical proportion that paralyzes the Northeast and gridlocks Manhattan on sports' biggest weekend. It would be a nightmare for everyone and put the NFL up for incredible (and well-deserved) ridicule, with a blizzard of media We-Told-You-So's.

Probably won't happen, though.

How 'bout a Super Bowl XVLIII blowout on a clear but bitterly cold night? Routs aren't that uncommon in the game's history, with 18 decided by 17 points or more. Wonder how those blimp shots of a near-empty Meadowlands stadium would play to a worldwide audience.

Now that could happen.

But something that seems to have been lost in the run-up to last week's historic vote in Dallas -- something that has nothing to do with game-day conditions -- is the notion that New York might be the one place where a Super Bowl could get swallowed up. New York not only is one of the world's most electrifying cities, but an international hub that buzzes with business travelers and tourists 365 days a year.

The Super Bowl? Oh yeah, that ought to get the folks on Broadway fired up. "Wicked" and "Promises, Promises" might even sell out that weekend. Perhaps there will be long lines to go up the Empire State Building or to take a ferry to the Statue of Liberty. Maybe the Guggenheim will be packed. The finest hotels might even be booked.

In fact, let's take a closer look at the latter.

There are 36 hotels rated as four- or five-star properties in New York City, according to AAA. FanHouse obtained a list of the hotels that partnered with New York in its Super Bowl bid. Guess how many of those 36 chose to take part.

Two.



Share Put your hands together for the Renaissance New York Hotel-Times Square and the West New York Union Square, both of four-star ratings.

As for, say, the Four Seasons?

"We're not a convention hotel," spokesperson Leslie Leskowitz said.

Guess that makes Robert Kraft and Jerry Jones a couple Shriners. Drink up, fellas.

"It doesn't concern me," Giants treasurer and Lowe's Hotels CEO Jonathan Tisch said of the room-block participation. "When it comes time to put our best offers out there for hotel rooms, our best hotels in New York and New Jersey will participate."

But seriously, why would the Pierre A Taj or Waldorf Astoria want to be part of the Super Bowl? Their clientele is more along the lines of billionaire Japanese investors, not couples wearing matching Peyton Manning jerseys.

Combined, Tampa and South Florida don't have the number of four- and five-star hotels of New York, but the majority of marquee properties at those venues covet Super Bowl business. The same can be said for the other destination sites, such as Phoenix and New Orleans. And there's just something about touching down at those Super Bowl sites and sensing the magnitude of the event the moment your foot leaves the jetway. For those places, the Super Bowl is as big as it gets.

New York is already as big as it gets.

Another "convention" -- like the NFL's championship game -- will just get in the way.


KICKING OFF A POLITICAL CAREER

Placekicker Jay Feely has never been shy in the presence of microphones -- no matter the subject -- and usually is brutally honest. Take last week, for example.

Feely, 34 and about to play his 10th pro season with a fifth team, hasn't so much as split an upright in an Arizona Cardinals uniform, yet there he was weighing in on the state's hot-button immigration issue during a Tucson radio interview.

"I think that a lot of people have put it on Arizona and talked in a derogatory manner about the state, but the reality is that the federal government has failed to address the situation," Feely said. "And because they haven't addressed the situation, because the politicians and presidents have not stepped in to a difficult situation because they're scared of it, then they leave it to the four or five states that are dramatically impacted by the problem to then try to find a solution.

"I think that's what the state of Arizona is doing, saying, 'We have a problem. We have an undue burden because we have illegals that come over that place a burden on our schools system, that place a burden on our health-care system, on our police force, and we have to find a solution and our federal government hasn't done that. And they've failed the states in doing what they should have done, and that's finding a comprehensive solution. Because I don't think you can make small decisions and correct a big problem."

Nothing like a kicker, already under pressure, putting himself even further out there. Then again, Feely surely knows Arizona citizens favor the new immigration laws by nearly 4-to-1 (which is close to Feely's 81-percent career field-goal percentage). Maybe he's just playing politics (at which he also excels) as much as talking it.
QUICK SLANTS

• Reggie Wayne is due more than $11 million over the next two seasons, but the Indianapolis star wideout will boycott mandatory minicamp, because he wants the kind of jack Brandon Marshall and Larry Fitzgerald got in recent contract extensions. Fitzgerald got a $15 million signing bonus for a re-done deal from Arizona in '08 and has banked more than $33 million the last three seasons. Miami gave Marshall $24 million guaranteed after acquiring him in a trade from Denver in April.

• So Pittsburgh placekicker Jeff Reed, following an alcohol-related dispute last season, was forced to undergo evaluation, too? The Steelers may have to open a clinic for psychiatrists at team headquarters.

Oh, and Ben Roethlisberger is considering a sit-down interview with Oprah or Ellen or Larry King to get it all out there. C'mon, let's make it really interesting, Ben Bender. Go with Jon Stewart.

• One of the biggest busts in the last 20 years, linebacker Keith McCants, was arrested for the fourth time since October (and second time in 30 days) Friday in Mobile, Ala., and charged with use and possession of drug paraphernalia. McCants, the Alabama All-America linebacker, was taken fourth overall by Tampa Bay in 1990. Worth noting: The year before, Bucs coach Ray Perkins took linebacker Broderick Thomas (bust) sixth overall; and the year after McCants, Perkins traded the team's first-round pick (which turned out to be the No. 2 overall choice) to Indianapolis for backup QB Chris Chandler (also a bust with the Bucs).

• The Twitter battle between Darren Sharper and Visanthe Shiancoe -- you know, "X" marks the spot -- apparently was all in fun, both say. Maybe so, but I bet we revisit it for that Saints-Viking opener.

• Regarding that new stadium vote in Santa Clara next week, there might be some negative rooting going on in other NFL sites. A new stadium in the Bay Area will mean a slam-dunk Super Bowl, maybe even by 2016. That means the destination cities, plus Dallas, Atlanta and those other cold-weather hopefuls would have to watch while NoCal butts in line.

• George Allen, the former Virginia state senator, showed up at Redskins Park to see brother and Washington GM Bruce Allen this week. In an interview with Redskins Nation, the oldest son of Hall-of-Fame coach George Allen recalled this gem of a story when his father was coaching the Los Angeles Rams in the late-'60s:

"Richard Nixon, as a candidate, came to a game, a preseason game where the Rams were playing the Kansas City Chiefs. My father heard that Nixon was up in the stands, and said, 'Well, bring him a cup of water and a program.' So Bruce went up there and Nixon asked him to sit down with him. And so Bruce is watching the game with President Nixon, and Len Dawson moves into a shotgun formation, steps back from center. And Bruce stands up yelling, "Shotgun! shotgun!" -- he's thinking he's still on the sidelines. And all the Secret Service guys get all worried, looking around everywhere. And Nixon says, 'Steady boys, he's talking football.' "

• The Houston Texans may want to get in the sweepstakes for former St. Louis free safety and '09 franchise player O.J. Atogwe, who just hit the unrestricted free-agent market this week. When Eugene Wilson is your best free safety, you don't have a free safety.

• So the Bucs are considering using Josh Johnson in the wildcat this season. Let's see: 50 percent passing, four TDs, eight interceptions, a 50.9 passer rating and 0-4 record as a starter. Yeah, well the regular "Cat" wasn't working. Might as well go with the "Wild" one.

• Wes Welker. Amazing.