European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 21, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                January 1981 the stars and stripes Page 23 scratch a worry find a loser one visitor to new Orleans who has been to seven of these spectacles been in two super bowl games himself and owns a world championship is having the time of his life even though he int doing much of a Job trying to pass himself off As a everybody else Here is going around telling you who going to win next sundays Ball game Between the Philadelphia eagles and the Oakland but this who Speaks from personal expert goes the other he can give you a pretty Good line right now on Wholl be the till be the team that complains the most about All the outside says big John something of an expert on the subject inasmuch As he had to put up with those distractions and help others overcome them in two previous trips to the super first As an assistant coach with the raiders in 1968 and then As their head coach in Ive rarely seen it to fail the team that complains the most about the distractions usually and the team that complains the least about them generally says whose raiders manhandled the Minnesota Vikings in super bowl i after they had been eaten up by the Green Bay packers in super bowl ii when John Rauch was still head to Madden goes its simply a Case of and if youve been Here its a big advantage because you know All about the distractions and you can prepare yourself for them be Madden int talking about All the the dancing girls or the Mammoth Media hype which have become an accepted part of the week immediately preceding the super bowl especially in a carnival like City like this what Hes talking about Are the other the ones which now Are an almost integral phase of the con test itself and which ordinarily Arent Overly Public things for like the ring sizes of the the number of tickets each gets and the hotel rooms that have to be obtained for their families and Madden these Are the kind of distractions that can get in the Way and become a Factor As to whether a team wins or loses in the super maybe that surprises but its in Madden is saying that performance in the super bowl is heavily influenced by the degree of happiness or togetherness among the players on any competing an by the first expressed by the late Vince Lombardi after his packers demolished the Kansas City chiefs in super bowl mad Den is firmly convinced of regardless of anything he the most important thing is your Advance preparation of things like the the tickets and the and that where i think we did a Damn Good these Are the real the things that can weigh on a players mind and throw him off his with the each player gets 30 i think we gave them the tickets without charging but in not we also provided them with one room in addition to their own room if they wanted to bring their wives or mothers to the if the player said he had someone like his his Uncle or even his Girlfriend coming we had some one in the organization help set that we had our own charter plane also and a player could bring along one we didst specify who that guest should Madden is easily the most popular figure Here at super bowl everybody likes and with Good Hes never too Busy to say never too pressed to Grant an interview or sign an autograph and always honest to the the reason Hes apart from the fact he coached the raiders 12 years and still loves them and his former Al has to do with a Hes working the preview show on to to figure and exr aiders coach John Madden an Eye on the distractions before sundays game with Tom but even if he hed still be on hand for the some people say there is too much hype before the Madden i dont think that what makes it the super even if you had two championship teams playing in an empty lot and no one talking about everybody would be pushing each other to see the super bowl game is the everybody wants to be i think its to the super bowl is new years the Mardi the indy 500 All rolled into its the epitome of everything the senior Madden has become even More of a celebrity since resigning As coach of the raiders two years ago than he was while handling that mainly because of the commercials he has made for Miller Lite Beer on to and the splendid color analysis he has been doing on games for the exposure has been he you coach for 20 years and hardly anybody knows you do one 30second commercial and suddenly everybody John Madden is taking it All exceptionally theres no danger his hat will get too Small for his head because he never wears he int that Billy who manages the Oakland is a Good Friend of maddens and also does the same Beer commercial he Martin likes to give him some flak about being Able to do the spots in less and Madden enjoys giving it to him he also enjoys telling stories about like the time before super bowl i when he pulled a be believe it or he became the game was scheduled to Start at and i always liked to get to the Field at least two hours he recalls with a i told the team wed leave our hotel in los Angeles for Pasadena at but after our pregame meal at i made an announcement saying wed leave at i was ready to go when some people started talk ing to me in the hotel i lost a Little track of the time and called everybody on the we got to the stadium 20 minutes before earlier than i said wed even leave the hotel and i discover i forgot five players Back at the i look at my watch and say to in supposed to be the Captain of the ship and Here i sail without part of my Chatta Dummy i i Start looking for those five players All up and Down the locker but i cant find so i told our George what i i left five of my players Back at the i say he there i they cant he there hiding from whenever id look for pm in one part of the dressing they conceal themselves in another they had gotten a cab to the stadium and were afraid i was going to Chew pm they didst know How glad i was to see i never heard of another coach doing such a dumb thing As i United press International super bowls just an added attraction Orleans up this town knows How to throw a party and it seems that it never grows tired of doing the hotels will be the restau rants will be filled the ticket scalpers will be doing their Best to Dodge the Law and make a tidy it looks like a Normal super bowl week at least for new the super bowl protagonists arrived on the scene monday the Philadelphia eagles hitting town during the morning and the Oakland raiders coming in during the afternoon As is often the players themselves Are somewhat lost in the there is too much food to too Many sights to see and too Many hangovers to cure to worry a whole lot about who is going to win in the super dome on the town has been booked for about four said Edward executive vice president of the greater new Orleans tourist and convention commis now a lot of that booking was made in the anticipation that certain teams would be in the some of those come Back on the but they go quickly when they the interest starts to pick up when the football season starts and it builds from this will be the fifth super bowl for new which lures huge crowds each year for Mardi the sugar bowl and the somewhat lesser publicized jazz heritage festival and Spring so having throngs flowing through the French Quarter is but that Doest mean the people around Here Ever grow bored with having a Good said its just the Ive talked to several restaurant general managers this week and they Are All getting ready for the big they Are All putting additional people they have they want to do it wed love to have the super bowl Here every but we know that that int going to the More popular in the French at least the ones where reservations Are have Long since had to Start turning people our most popular times were booked before said a spokesman for one of the cites leading attractions when it comes time to sampling the but while the dining establishments count their the business Community quietly gloats Over the fact that new Orleans comes into the Public consciousness in such a splashy the City is Happy to have its image projected through the super bowl said Linda Hayden of the new Orleans chamber of the people who come into the town can see what a vital business Center new Orleans is instead of just looking at Bourbon we dont think of new Orleans As just a party but there Are a lot of people who and the biggest party of All will come Fri Murray hires Citadel aide a Mike who spent the past three seasons on the staff of the disjointed the Murray football staff As offensive coordinator and quarterback Day night at the River Gate a convention Center located just a few Steps from the Mississippi this is the nil super bowl party and tickets Are harder to come by than tickets to the game count Basic and his orchestra will per form along with the preservation Hall band from new the nil party has been held at such exotic locations As the Astrodome in hous the luxury liner Queen Mary at the port of Long Beach and the Hialeah race track in for the past three years the nil has Cut Back on the number of tickets it hands out to its but the event is still Wal Towall i dont think you will Ever see the people of this City bored by the super said since football is the biggest sport in the country and since there is so much excitement generated by having so Many people in i think the residents of new Orleans enjoy having the super bowl Here every third year or they like having new Orleans being a Center of and by sunday night new the City that knows How to enjoy will have added another extravaganza to its