While I attended the Bloomberg Sports Baseball launch in New York today, three press releases from CBS Sports flew into the Fang’s Bites inbox. I could not post them right away, but I give them to you now. All deal with the Super Bowl which CBS Sports is airing next Sunday.
First, CBS tells us that NFL Today studio analyst Boomer Esiason will be pulling double duty during the Super Bowl, being part of the Super Bowl Today pregame show as well as being the game analyst on Westwood One Radio. This is a duty that Esiason has performed twice before for CBS/Westwood One.
CBS SPORTS’ BOOMER ESIASON DOES DOUBLE DUTY IN SOUTH FLORIDA AT SUPER BOWL XLIVEsiason to Serve in Studio as Analyst on CBS Television Network’s Pre-Game Show, THE SUPER BOWL TODAY, then in Booth as Game Analyst with Call of Westwood One’s Broadcast of Super Bowl XLIVCBS Sports’ Boomer Esiason will play two positions for the CBS Television Network and Westwood One’s broadcasts of Super Bowl XLIV live from Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Fla. on Sunday, Feb. 7.Esiason will join James Brown, Dan Marino, Shannon Sharpe and Bill Cowher in anchoring the CBS Television Network’s pre-game show, THE SUPER BOWL TODAY (2:00-6:00 PM, ET), in previewing the game with news, features, highlights and analysis, as well as all the excitement leading up to Super Bowl XLIV.Immediately following CBS Sports’ SUPER BOWL KICKOFF SHOW (6:00-6:25 PM, ET), Esiason will make his way up to the Westwood One broadcast booth to join play-by-play announcer Marv Albert, along with Mark Malone and James Lofton as sideline reporters, to call the game on radio.Esiason also pulled double duty for both CBS Sports and Westwood One for Super Bowl XXXVIII (Houston) and Super Bowl XLI (Miami). This year marks his 10th year broadcasting the Super Bowl on Westwood One and his fourth as part of CBS Sports’ Super Bowl coverage.
CBS also previews the “Phil Simms All-Iron Team: Super Bowl Edition” program that airs before the Super Bowl Today next Sunday.
“PHIL SIMMS ALL-IRON TEAM: SUPER BOWL EDITION” HIGHLIGHTS ALL-TIME SUPER BOWL TEAM TO BE UNVEILED ON SUPER BOWL SUNDAY, FEB. 7 ON CBS SPORTSCBS Sports lead NFL analyst, New York Giants Super Bowl XXI MVP and 15-year NFL veteran Phil Simms, along with his play-by-play partner, Jim Nantz will unveil the PHIL SIMMS ALL-IRON TEAM: SUPER BOWL EDITION on Sunday, Feb.7 (1:00-2:00 PM, ET), prior to THE SUPER BOWL TODAY on the CBS Television Network.Hosted from Miami, Fla., home of Super Bowl XLIV, this year’s All-Iron Team highlights the All-Time Super Bowl Team. These men make up Simms’ All-Time Super Bowl team that best represent the qualities of Iron Men and have defined their roles in their teams winning a championship.Traveling all over the world from Hawaii to Ireland, the PHIL SIMMS ALL-IRON TEAM includes the first broadcast interview in 20 years with Jake Scott, a safety from the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins team and Super Bowl VII MVP, who now lives a simple life in Hawaii. The show also looks at a day-in-the-life of Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who is currently serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland.In addition, the one-hour special also includes an in-depth look at legendary defensive guru Buddy Ryan, architect of the famed “46-Defense” which led the Chicago Bears to victory in Super Bowl XX and father of New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan.The All-Iron Team consists of six Hall of Famers, 37 combined Super Bowl wins, 46 combined Super Bowl appearances, seven combined Super Bowl MVP Awardees and four combined NFL MVPs.CBS Sports showcases all 12 All-Iron players, coaches and owner with their game highlights and up close and personal profiles, both on and off-the-field.The All-Iron Team trophy is an old fashion cast “iron” signifying Simms’ obsession with ironing. According to Simms’ mom, Barbara, “As a child Phil even ironed his football and baseball uniforms.” To this day, he is still committed to his creases.Steve Karasik produces and Pete Radovich directs. Mark Wolff is Coordinating Producer of the All-Iron Team.
And CBS will unveil some high speed cameras and new graphics packages for the Big Game.
HIGH-SPEED CAMERAS AND HIGH-TECH GRAPHICS HIGHLIGHT CBS SPORTS’ TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES FOR SUPER BOWL XLIV COVERAGEWhen CBS Sports presents Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday, Feb. 7 (6:00 PM, ET) from Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Fla. live on the CBS Television Network, highlighted among the technological advances that will be incorporated during its coverage are high-speed cameras and informative high-tech graphics displays. Super Bowl Sunday also features the CBS Television Network’s biggest one day of programming in high definition television format.?HIGH-SPEED CAMERASTHE SUPER BOWL ON CBS will feature six high-speed cameras, known as SuperVision, that will be in hard and hand-held configurations located on the field, in the stands and on sideline carts. Each camera will have the ability to shoot 300-500 frames per second (normal cameras shoot 60 fps) in 1080i high definition format. These Vision Research Phantom V-640 cameras are supplied by Inertia Unlimited and are particularly used in determining questionable calls on the field (ie. fumbles, receptions, out-of-bounds, etc.) from all different angles.?HIGH-TECH GRAPHICSIn addition to the regular first down line, available on CBS Sports’ primary cameras throughout the 2009 NFL season, five other cameras will be calibrated with the first down line by SportsVision including Skycam and endzone cameras. As was done during the regular-season, EyeVision will be utilized as a multi-dimensional tool for Phil Simms’ analysis. Given the situation of a field goal or an extra-point conversion that passes above the goal posts, virtual extensions of the goal posts can be added to determine the flight path of the ball and whether the kick was good or not. Hyper Zoom, provided by ORAD, will allow CBS Sports’ coverage to zoom into any video utilizing high resolution. And, the launch of a new animation package for new elements for transitions, roll outs and open animation will be integrated to upgrade existing graphic elements.?SAP (Secondary Audio Programming)CBS Sports will broadcast the Super Bowl in SAP. Armando Quintero and Benny Ricardo will call the action for the Network’s SAP broadcast of Super Bowl XLIV.?HIGH DEFINITION TELEVISIONCBS Sports’ coverage of Super Bowl XLIV will be the Network’s biggest one day of programming in high definition television format as SUPER BOWL XLIV (6:28 PM, ET, kickoff), the pre-game show, THE SUPER BOWL TODAY (2:00 PM, ET), and the halftime show, as well as all it’s ancillary pre-game programming including THE ROAD TO THE SUPER BOWL (12:00 Noon, ET) and PHIL SIMMS ALL-IRON TEAM: SUPER BOWL EDITION (1:00 PM, ET), will be broadcast in HDTV. CBS Sports’ Super Bowl XLIV HDTV broadcasts will feature the highest definition television format – 1080i lines of picture resolution – and 5.1 digital surround sound.Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will call the play-by-play of SUPER BOWL XLIV, along with Steve Tasker and Solomon Wilcots reporting. Lance Barrow will produce and Mike Arnold will direct.Sean McManus is President, CBS News and Sports and serves as executive producer for the Network’s coverage of the NFL and Super Bowl XLIV. Harold Bryant is Vice President, Production, CBS Sports. Ken Aagaard is Executive Vice President, Engineering, Operations & Production Services, CBS Sports.
That does it for this post. Time to shut the blog down for the night.
