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CNN Live At Daybreak
Patriots are Underdog; Interview of Buddy Diliberto
Aired February 01, 2002 - 06:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And now to the Super Bowl. The St. Louis Rams may be the favorites of the flash, the so-called greatest show on turf.
But as CNN's Tom Rinaldi reports, there's something special about the New England Patriots.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM RINALDI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the game that has become America's unofficial holiday, in a season America will never forget, they may not be America's team officially, but they are the perfect team for these time. At a moment of such common passion, the national passion we call patriotism, who else should be here but the Patriots themselves?
Nothing against the Rams, of course. They're the former champions. They are the favorite. But America has always loved an underdog. And New England, the birthplace of our own revolution, a war won by the underdog that created a nation, New England is in need of a champion.
The rest of their teams, the Celtics, having a good season, but named after another country's citizens. The Bruins, in first place, but bears have no citizenship. The Red Sox, cursed citizens. Enough said.
But the Patriots, named for the citizen soldier, uniformed in red, white and blue. Although there is no home field advantage for the Super Bowl -- the game is played at a neutral site -- the Patriots' colors are everywhere, and so too will patriotism be.
Just look at their image, their logo, the patriot himself, steadfast and sure. Beneath his star, a comet of national color in his wake. Yet the truth is, a logo is about as far as our patriotism used to carry. America may be a mighty nation, but it dressed in quiet pride. The flag unfurled, beautiful, but in the background. Not now. Now the anthem is not an afterthought. National pride is not quaint, and feelings for America are not quiet.
So in the most American of events, it fits. The Rams will take their place, they've earned it. But the Patriots, their place seems born in history, and their moment seems made for right now.
At Super Bowl XXXVI, I'm Tom Rinaldi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Oh if life were only a movie. Because, you know, the Patriots, they're not favored to win. They're favored to lose by 14 points. For more on the big game, we're joined on the phone by Buddy Diliberto, Sports Radio Host for WWL in New Orleans. Good morning, Buddy.
BUDDY DILIBERTO, NEW ORLEANS SPORTS RADIO HOST: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: How are you doing?
DILIBERTO: Fine. Fine.
COSTELLO: Hey, I stole this from "The Washington Post," but tell me what you think. New England was in the Super Bowl two previous times. They lost 46-10 and 35-21. If you average those scores, they will lose on Sunday 40.5-15.5. What do you think?
DILIBERTO: I certainly hope it's not that bad. I'll tell you what I think, Carol. I think the St. Louis Rams will win the game, but I don't think they'll win it by 14 points. I think it will be closer than that, so consequently from a point spread standpoint, I like the New England Patriots. If you're asking just about the winner of the game, I think it will be the St. Louis Rams.
With that said, that prediction bothers me. And the reason it bothers me is that in Super Bowl history this Super Bowl has a trend that if you pick the winner of the game, you also win the point spread. Meaning that the favorite wins and covers (ph) the spread or the underdog wins the game straight up. Twenty-eight of 34 Super Bowls, if you had picked the winner of the game, you would have had also the winner of the point spread. And four of them were -- were pushers, that I call it, where they fell right on the point spread number.
So it means, in 35 games, only three times has the point spread come into play as far as the winner of the game.
COSTELLO: Interesting. Hey, Buddy...
DILIBERTO: That's very interesting. So that part bothers me, because it's a game that normally all you should do is try to pick the winner, and the point spread will take care of itself.
COSTELLO: Absolutely. Hey, Buddy...
DILIBERTO: But in this case, I'm going against that trend.
COSTELLO: Buddy, let's talk about the quarterback thing. Do you think Tom Brady is the right man to start?
DILIBERTO: Yes, I do think Tom Brady is the right man to start. And it's kind of a no-brainer, because if he shows that he has any problem with the ankle, you've got the other guy right there on the sideline ready to come in. So -- you know, and especially after last week's performance, you'd have no qualm about putting a man -- Drew Bledsoe right into play.
COSTELLO: OK. Let's talk a little bit about security, because they're asking people to arrive at the game five hours before the game. That's a very long day. Do you think people will actually do that?
DILIBERTO: Well, I'd put it this way, some of them better because they're very serious about this security thing, and I think that's a good thing. But, you know, some may say to you (ph), they are going to have a lot of entertainment and everything inside the dome prior to the game. So it won't be like they were just sitting on their hands. And five hours is a little bit of a stretch. I mean, I think they want to get some people in early, but I think five hours is a little bit of a stretch.
COSTELLO: Hey, has the party already started in New Orleans? Set the scene for us, Buddy.
DILIBERTO: Well, let me say to you, New Orleans is a city that is noted for the French Quarter and Mardi Gras, but there's a lot of other things around that if you were interested and took a little time you could enjoy. For example, the Aquarium of America is at the foot of Canal Street. And this week, they have in City Park the Celebration in the Oaks opened back up. It's usually just during the holidays -- Christmas and New Year's holidays -- but it's opened back up for this week and it runs through tomorrow. Celebration in the Oaks at City Park is absolutely beautiful.
You've got the Audubon Park Zoo. That's another very interesting family-oriented...
COSTELLO: Oh, Buddy. Buddy, people are going to go to New Orleans's to party. They're not going to the zoo or the aquarium.
DILIBERTO: OK. All right. Then you want to -- then you want to party? The main party for us is in the French Quarter. There's no question about that. No question.
COSTELLO: OK. Buddy, we have to wrap it up, but I want your prediction for the game. What do you think the score will be?
DILIBERTO: 27-20 Rams.
COSTELLO: 27-20 Rams. OK, we're going to call you on that Monday. We'll be calling you, Buddy.
DILIBERTO: I'll be here.
COSTELLO: OK. Thank you. Buddy Diliberto, Sports Radio Host for WWL, joining us this morning.
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