Tuesday, February 05, 2002
Super Bowl aftermath
Super Bowl goes smoothly, leaves behind a mountain of trash
By MARY FOSTER
AP Sports Writer
NEW ORLEANS — The troops pulled out without a hint of trouble. The high rollers went home hung over and happy. The cleanup crews picked up a mountain of trash left behind by Super Bowl revelers.
The day after the New England Patriots beat the St. Louis Rams 20-17 for the NFL title in one of the most exciting Super Bowls, officials in New Orleans declared the game a success off the field as well.
“Everything went smoothly, the fans were wonderful about the extra precautions they had to go through and the delays, there wasn't a single problem around the Superdome,” Secret Service spokesman Jim Mackin said. “We said it would be a success if no one drew a gun. Well, no one drew a gun.”
There were about six arrests around the Superdome, Mackin said. Police said four of the people arrested were caught carrying drugs through the search points.
Despite putting fans through security checkpoints that included pat-downs, electronic searches and X-ray machines, things went surprisingly quickly, Mackin said.
“The gates were clear by 4:30 p.m., a full hour before the start of the game,” Mackin said.
In addition to security measures around the Superdome that included 8-foot fences, cement barriers, armed patrols and searches, the sky above the stadium was off limits to all aircraft.
“There were about six violations of the 45-mile no-fly zone,” Mackin said. “Military aircraft escorted those planes to a landing point and all the issues were resolved.”
All the encroachments were accidental, Mackin said. There were no arrests.
“The Dome was locked up tight as a drum, but we also had to worry about the French Quarter and the central business district where all the tourists and visitors would be staying and going to restaurants and other places,” said Duane Johnson, interim police chief. “In the French Quarter and central business district, there were no major violent crimes.”
Between Wednesday and Sunday night, there were 436 arrests over the weekend in the French Quarter and the central business district for minor offenses such as pickpocket, drugs, public drunkenness and disorderly conduct. Fourteen people were arrested for scalping Super Bowl tickets.
After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the game was postponed a week. There had been talk about whether it should be played at all. But despite the initial problems, the game went off without a flaw, said Jim Steeg, the NFL vice president in charge of planning the Super Bowl.
“I said, and the commissioner said all along, that there was only place the game could be held because of the infrastructure and that was in New Orleans,” Steeg said. “I think we proved that.”
Over the weekend, hotel occupancy in New Orleans' 28,000 downtown hotel rooms was at or near 100 percent, Mayor Marc Morial said. On Monday alone, approximately 30,000 people departed from Louis Armstrong International Airport, surpassing last year's record-breaking Mardi Gras departure of 24,000. The daily average for departures at the airport is 13,000.
The city sanitation department picked up 346 tons of trash before, during and after the Super Bowl. Measuring the amount of trash is one way the city traditionally marks the success of Mardi Gras.
“The weekend was like an Endymion weekend,” Morial said, referring to one of the city's larger Mardi Gras parades. “There was a lot of fun and festivities, and the trash that was there showed it.”
The Secret Service spent about $4 million to provide security for the Super Bowl, Mackin said. He did not know how much other federal agencies such as the FBI and FEMA spent. The city budgeted an extra $200,000, Morial said, but that included beefed-up security for Mardi Gras as well.
The NFL spent between $5 million and $6 million more on this Super Bowl, Steeg said. Not all of it was on security — some was on the pregame entertainment arranged for fans that had to arrive hours before the game.
“We've heard nothing but good things about the game and everything that went with it,” Steeg said. “I think people left thinking only about what a great time they had.”
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Super Bowl aftermath