Party line: security affecting fun

By Joanna Weiss, Globe Staff, 2/3/2002

NEW ORLEANS - This week has all the trappings of Super Bowliana. Rams and Patriots fans, traveling in herds, hold shouting matches on Bourbon Street. NFL stars in leather pants pass through the hotel lobbies. Out-of-towners make regrettable impulse buys (the feather boa in team colors).

But cab drivers are griping that their fares are down, sportswriters are musing about a lack of buzz, and some people are having trouble selling tickets to the game. There's something different about Super Bowl XXXVI, and it probably has to do with the police state.

As Super Bowl preparations reached their final stages, it was clear Sept. 11 had left its mark on the party. Hotels are surrounded by layers of guards. Streets are filled with law enforcment troops of varying stripes: uniformed and plainclothes New Orleans police, National Guard soldiers in fatigues, Secret Service agents with earpieces. There are bag checks and metal detector wands at every official NFL site. The Superdome is guarded like a prison. And no one is exempt.

''What an operation they've got going there,'' said salsa star Marc Anthony, who will sing ''America the Beautiful'' in the pregame show. As he prepared to appear in a fashion show Saturday morning, Anthony said he went through lengthy checks to get into rehearsals, but didn't mind the inconvencience.

''That's a good thing,'' he said. ''You get this overwhelming sense of security once you get in there.''

The promise of safety may be one reason city hotels are fully occupied. And New Orleans has added about 4,000 rooms since it hosted the 1997 Super Bowl. But the fans, NFL staff, and the thousands of media in town are facing some new obstacles such as road and highway ramp closures for security reasons.

''It's not a logistical marvel. Just put it that way,'' said Jerry Magee, a writier for the San Diego Union-Tribune who is on his 34th Super Bowl. (He missed II and III.)

Still, Magee has seen far worse trouble in New Orleans. In Super Bowl IV, when a group reenacted the Battle of New Orleans on the field before the game, somebody got his foot shot off, he said. Compared to that, a pass through a metal detector isn't going to hurt anyone.

What the Super Bowl veterans complain about more is the vibe. It's calmer, this year, they say, less thrilling.

The fans, though, seem determined to have fun - some, a little too much. For the especially drunk, it's a case of bad timing: Because there are so many more police officers patrolling, the chances of being caught are higher. New Orleans police arrested about 100 people Friday night, mainly for minor crimes such as urinating in public and drunken and disorderly behavior, said Sgt. Paul Accardo.

Most fans, though, are content to make noise and spend money. And Super Bowl goods are flying out of the stores, at hefty prices. John Kelley, a memorabilia salesman from Hyde Park, said he walked down Bourbon Street with an armful of official Super Bowl leather jackets Friday night - $225, $300, and $375 - and was so mobbed by would-be purchasers he couldn't move.

Patriots merchandise also seems especially hot, Kelley said. Patriots jerseys and AFC Championship hats were sold out of his stores by yesterday.

It shows in the French Quarter. In 1997, Green Bay fans clearly outnumbered the New Englanders. This year's crowds, judging solely by team paraphernalia, look to be more even.

A red-white-and-blue-bedecked group from the South Shore, their faces covered in Patriots temporary tattoos yesterday, said they could feel the difference. The New England odds seem better this year, they said - in the street and on the football field.

That's the biggest difference between this Super Bowl and 1997, said Colleen Dwyer, 48, of Raynham. This year, she thinks she has a chance to walk away happy.

''We know. We're fans,'' said Colleen Dwyer, 48, of Raynham. ''It's our job to believe, and we believe.''