TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2003
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 3B
Super Bowl attracts high ratings
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — This lopsided Super Bowl had the second-most TV viewers in NFL, title game history: 137.65 million.
ABC's telecast of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 48-21 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday registered a national rating of 40.7 — 1 percent higher than last year and the best since 2000.
That means an average of 40.7 percent of the country's TV homes were watching at any given moment.
The vieworship estimate, based on everyone who watched
at least six minutes, puts Sunday's game second only to the 1996 Super Bowl between the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers, which was seen by 138.5 million on NBC.
In 2002, the New England Patriots' 20-17 upset of the St. Louis Rams on a final-play field goal had a 40.4 national rating on Fox. That tied 2001 for the fourth-lowest rating for a Super Bowl since 1972. Sunday's game ranks 27th of the 32 Super Bowls since then; of course, cable and the Internet have lowered broadcast ratings in general.
On the other hand, because more people own televisions.
lower ratings can still translate to higher viewership.
Viewership was consistently high throughout Sunday's broadcast, starting with 38.8 from 6.30 to 7 p.m. and rising to 41.5 by the end of the second quarter. Even halftime was popular, with a 40.1 rating from 8 to 8:30 p.m.
The audience — which advertisers paid ABC an average of just over $2 million per 30-second commercial to reach — dipped from 9 to 9:30 p.m., during which time Tampa Bay enjoyed its biggest lead, 34-3.
Oakland's mini-rally probably helped bring viewers back to the
game. The rating rose a bit from 9:30 to 10 p.m., and hit its peak for the final 18 minutes, from 10 to 10:18 p.m., with 42.4 percent of the country tuning in.
"There was a significant interest in the game: the matchups, the coaching story with Jon Gruden," said Neal Pilson, former president of CBS Sports and now a consultant. "And the game kind of rescued itself late in the third quarter, when Oakland scored a couple of touchdowns. We were headed for a real blowout."
The record rating for a Super Bowl is the 49.1 that CBS got for San Francisco's 26-21 victory over Cincinnati in 1982.
Costs
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The spending amount for basketball games varies by game because of the changing costs of officials, among other costs. Officials cost between $3,000 and $4,000 for non conference games and average $4,300 for conference games. The most the Athletics Corporation spent on officials last year was the Kansas State game where officials cost $5,000. The Big 12 Conference pays for its
After the game is over, someone has to clean up the shredded newspaper bits students tear with joy during the player introductions, so the Athletics Corporation hires a group to clean after the games. This is usually a student organization looking to make some quick cash. It is a long and tedious process, Wachter said.
facts right. One of the ways they communicate these statistics is through the networking and telecommunications services.
—Edited by Leah Shaffer
own officials, but the Athletics Corporation must reimburse the Big 12 for the cost of the individual Kansas games.
Different types of personnel needed to put on a home basketball game add up to one of the more expensive costs for the Athletics Corporation.
Police, fire and medical staff must always be present in case of emergency. The same applies to the facilities operations staff, which includes a plumber, electrician and crew to fix any problems during game time. When the recent Wyoming game
The athletics maintenance fee is what pays for the overtime the staff employees get for every home game.
started a few minutes late, it was the facilities operations staff that fixed the scoreboard so the game could go on as planned.
For every game, there are six statisticians and six statistic runners, who keep statistics communicated to all members of press row. Through these employees, play-by-play announcers always have the latest statistics and it helps sports journalists get their
Fans flock to Fieldhouse in droves
By Mike Norris
correspondence@kansan.com
Kansan sports correspondent
Jegen McDermott/Kansan
Alex Creek and Doug Seck. Overland Park freshmen, play a game on XBox while camping out in Allen Fieldhouse for the Jayhawk's basketball game against Arizona. They are both members of the camp group Leo IV.
Camping out at Allen Fieldhouse is nothing new. For years, students have spent a lot of their spring semesters inside the Fieldhouse. However, this year it seems there has been an increase in the number of campers. Everyone from fans camping for the Arizona game to basketball coach Roy Williams have noticed.
"Roy took us on a tour through the Field house and he said it was the most he'd ever seen since UCLA, the year after they won their last championship," said Andrew Gantenbein, Hope senior.
Gantenbein, who has been camping for two years, said he was impressed that 49 groups showed up for the lottery Sunday, the morning after the Arizona loss.
"I thought there would be more of a hangover from the Arizona game," he said.
Camper Kim White, Andover junior, said over 130 groups camped out for the Arizona game, compared with 50 to 60 groups for Big 12 Conference games.
Paul Beahm, Bentonville, Ark., junior, and a camper for two years, not only recognized the increase but also thought the competition of the Big 12 and better home games this year were the reasons.
"I can't think of a better schedule," said Beahm. "It's rare to play the number one team on a Saturday and then the number three on Monday."
White, whose group was number seven for the Texas game and was as high as number four earlier in the year, thought the success of last year's team contributed to the increase.
"After KU made the Final Four, students are realizing how important it is to get good seats," she said.
Whatever the reasons for the huge number of campers, not all campers are experienced ones. Sheena Morton, Garden Plain freshman, and Jeda Hays, Pratt freshman, tried camping for the first time during the week leading up to the Arizona game.
Other campers who were first-timers included Craig Paschang, Overland Park freshman. Paschang didn't say he was a diehard fan, but hinted that he would continue to camp out.
"We are going to keep coming out," said Morton. "We're die-hard fans."
When the Tigers roll into town, it doesn't seem to matter what either of the teams records are, there are always a large number of campers. With an improved Tigers team that reached the Elite Eight last year, maybe the record number of campers for the Arizona game will be nothing more than average.
With the large number of students showing up after the Arizona loss, even more are expected Monday when the Jayhawks take on rival Missouri.
"After the first game and all the energy that was there... it's probable," he said.
—Edited by Erin Chapman
Cowboys shock all with big wins
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If they gave an award for biggest surprise of the season, Oklahoma State would be a runaway winner.
The Cowboys (16-1, 5-0 Big 12) head into this week's games sporting a 14-game winning streak, the longest in the nation.
At 5-0, Eddie Sutton's team is off to its best start in the Big 12 Conference since Henry P. Iba, who coached Sutton, was 5-0 in 1964-65.
In addition, Oklahoma State is the only Big 12 team to have four players among the top 30 scorers in a league where hardly anyone expected them to finish much better than sixth.
But do not feel chagrin at being surprised by these Cowboys. So is Sutton.
"I don't think I would have bet one dollar, or maybe even 25 cents we'd have a record like we have at this point," Sutton said.
As impressive as any of the Cowboys' wins this year was their 79-70 triumph on Sunday at Texas Tech. Tony Allen, a junior college transfer who's made a seamless transition to Big 12 competition, scored eight of the Cowboys' final 12 points. Allen is averaging almost 18 points in his last 10 games.
He averaged 19 points in two road wins last week and was picked the Big 12's rookie of the week.
"I don't think the young man understands pressure," Sutton said. "He has that ability to elevate his game when he senses his team needs him."
Nevertheless, Sutton is still not sure he wasn't right when he said at the beginning of the season that Oklahoma State could not win the Big 12 title.
"Earlier we still had a lot of questions," he said. "I think the club has matured. There are still some questions in my mind as to how far this team can go. We still have to correct some things in order to continue to win. We still turn it over too many times, foul too much.
"I am pleased with the togetherness and the chemistry this ball club has."
Making the victory over Texas Tech even sweeter was the presence of one of Sutton's new assis-
"I think the old guy sitting on the bench with a scowl on his face is the secret to the whole
thing
Roy Williams KU basketball coach
tant coaches — James Dickey, who was fired two years ago to make room for the hiring of Bob Knight as Texas Tech coach.
"They wanted to win that game not only for themselves, but for coach Dickey." Sutton said. "It was a big celebration for all of us, that we could go in there and upset the Red Raiders."
Most of Oklahoma State's production has been coming from players who were on hand last year. But at least one expert would disagree that Allen's emergence is the key to the Cowboys' big start.
"I think the old guy sitting on the bench with the scowl on his face is the secret to the whole thing," said Kansas coach Roy Williams.
Also playing better than expected is Texas A&M, which is 2-2 for the first time ever in Big 12 play. The Aggies' 10-5 overall record is their best since 1993-94, the last time they advanced past the conference tournament.
A big help has been the addition of Antoine Wright. Wright has been a help to senior Bernard King, who's on pace to become the Big 12's all-time leading scorer.
"Bernard's had so much on his shoulders the first three years, he's had to carry such a big load," said Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson. "Now Bernard doesn't have to worry about shooting all the time.
Missouri guard Ricky Clemons, who has been charged with assault — a charge which he denies — was given a rough time by fans at Texas on Saturday. Coach Quin Snyder said it was nothing he didn't expect.
"When you go on the road there are things that can distract individual players and distract teams. You anticipate those types of things. That's part of the adversity of going on the road."
Greene
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Over the past few games, Beachem has began to earn more regular minutes, and she is good for giving the team a pick-me-up.
The best example was last Wednesday when, in just three minutes played, she did a dazzling spin-move in the low post for her only points and blocked a shot on an Oklahoma fast
break. With Ransburg having a tendency for foul trouble this season, Beachem will have to keep up her consistency when she comes off the bench.
The key to making the Big 12 Conference is depth, and if these three players can up their contribution off the bench, the Jayhawks' chances of a post-season berth might not be so far fetched.
Greene is a Vernon Hills, Ill., junior in journalism.