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American Morning

Super XXXVIII Bowl

Aired January 30, 2004 - 08:55   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: After two weeks in an ocean of hype and a sea of sidebars, the Pats and Cats are going at it Sunday night. A New England victory would be the second Super Bowl win in the last three years. They will talk about a dynasty at that point up in the northeastern part of the country.
Peter King from "SI" -- "Sports Illustrated" -- is down there live in Houston to talk about it.

Peter, good morning. Nice to have you down there.

PETER KING, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": Good morning.

HEMMER: And thanks for joining us.

KING: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: It's been 30 years since Houston has had this game. How is the town reacting?

KING: There's a lot of traffic, to put it mildly. They're handling everything great, except that you can't drive out of your hotel. It took me 48 minutes to go about seven blocks downtown last night.

HEMMER: You're kidding me!

KING: But other than that, you know, no -- you know, they're trying to make it good for the revelers and the party people, so they can use downtown sort of like a walking mall. But I'll tell you the one thing I've really been impressed with since I've been here, Bill, are the stadiums. You know, in terms of the baseball stadium. I went to the basketball arena the other night. This Reliant stadium is absolutely gorgeous. This town right now is state-of-the-art for sports facilities in the United States.

HEMMER: Wow! Let's talk about the game then. There is so much parity in the league today. Many believe this game ultimately comes down to the coaches at this point, and there are two very good ones here. How does John Fox, do you believe, match up with Bill Belichick?

KING: In a great way, because, in essence, they're from the same coaching tree, even though Bill Belichick worked a long time with Bill Parcels. In "Sports Illustrated" last week, I called John Fox "Bill Parcell's junior," because they both believe in establishing the running game, stopping the run, getting great field position -- a lot of the things that fans out there would say are going to make for a boring game, and why we'd rather watch the commercials than the game.

But I think it's going to be a really fun game. It's going to be pitcher's duel. It's going to be Pedro Martinez-Roger Clemons.

HEMMER: Yes. You know, one of the comments you gave one of our producers, you say there is not a lot of hype here -- meaning, down there in Houston. What do you mean by that? What does that portend, if anything?

KING: Well, I think, really, there are not a lot of guys in here who are marquee guys. I mean, you've got Tom Brady, who is the sporting Joe heartthrob. But other than that, I mean, most of America can't name, you know, a Carolina Panther. Elsewhere in the Patriots, you know, Ty Law is a really good player. Rodney Harrison was my NFL defensive player of the year. He's a safety for the Patriots.

But, in general, I think this portends a lot of where the NFL is going right now, Bill. Don't sign big stars in free agency. Try to build teams based on a lot of blue-collar guys who are not big salary guys.

HEMMER: Got it. We have 10 seconds, Peter. The Patriots are given seven points, six and a half. Do you like that?

KING: I like the Patriots 17-9, so I guess that qualifies me as a Patriots guy in Vegas. But I just think this: more field goals than touchdowns.

HEMMER: Got it, 17 minus 9 is eight.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: He's a Patriots guy. I'm a Patriots gal.

HEMMER: Peter, thanks. We'll see you in the traffic down there in Houston.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Peter.

KING: OK, thanks a lot, Bill.

HEMMER: "Sports Illustrated," Peter King there.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired January 30, 2004 - 08:55   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: After two weeks in an ocean of hype and a sea of sidebars, the Pats and Cats are going at it Sunday night. A New England victory would be the second Super Bowl win in the last three years. They will talk about a dynasty at that point up in the northeastern part of the country.
Peter King from "SI" -- "Sports Illustrated" -- is down there live in Houston to talk about it.

Peter, good morning. Nice to have you down there.

PETER KING, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": Good morning.

HEMMER: And thanks for joining us.

KING: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: It's been 30 years since Houston has had this game. How is the town reacting?

KING: There's a lot of traffic, to put it mildly. They're handling everything great, except that you can't drive out of your hotel. It took me 48 minutes to go about seven blocks downtown last night.

HEMMER: You're kidding me!

KING: But other than that, you know, no -- you know, they're trying to make it good for the revelers and the party people, so they can use downtown sort of like a walking mall. But I'll tell you the one thing I've really been impressed with since I've been here, Bill, are the stadiums. You know, in terms of the baseball stadium. I went to the basketball arena the other night. This Reliant stadium is absolutely gorgeous. This town right now is state-of-the-art for sports facilities in the United States.

HEMMER: Wow! Let's talk about the game then. There is so much parity in the league today. Many believe this game ultimately comes down to the coaches at this point, and there are two very good ones here. How does John Fox, do you believe, match up with Bill Belichick?

KING: In a great way, because, in essence, they're from the same coaching tree, even though Bill Belichick worked a long time with Bill Parcels. In "Sports Illustrated" last week, I called John Fox "Bill Parcell's junior," because they both believe in establishing the running game, stopping the run, getting great field position -- a lot of the things that fans out there would say are going to make for a boring game, and why we'd rather watch the commercials than the game.

But I think it's going to be a really fun game. It's going to be pitcher's duel. It's going to be Pedro Martinez-Roger Clemons.

HEMMER: Yes. You know, one of the comments you gave one of our producers, you say there is not a lot of hype here -- meaning, down there in Houston. What do you mean by that? What does that portend, if anything?

KING: Well, I think, really, there are not a lot of guys in here who are marquee guys. I mean, you've got Tom Brady, who is the sporting Joe heartthrob. But other than that, I mean, most of America can't name, you know, a Carolina Panther. Elsewhere in the Patriots, you know, Ty Law is a really good player. Rodney Harrison was my NFL defensive player of the year. He's a safety for the Patriots.

But, in general, I think this portends a lot of where the NFL is going right now, Bill. Don't sign big stars in free agency. Try to build teams based on a lot of blue-collar guys who are not big salary guys.

HEMMER: Got it. We have 10 seconds, Peter. The Patriots are given seven points, six and a half. Do you like that?

KING: I like the Patriots 17-9, so I guess that qualifies me as a Patriots guy in Vegas. But I just think this: more field goals than touchdowns.

HEMMER: Got it, 17 minus 9 is eight.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: He's a Patriots guy. I'm a Patriots gal.

HEMMER: Peter, thanks. We'll see you in the traffic down there in Houston.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Peter.

KING: OK, thanks a lot, Bill.

HEMMER: "Sports Illustrated," Peter King there.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.