Miami gears up for Super Bowl XLI

By William Marquez
BBC News, Miami

Two rivals are still preparing for their Sunday night American football showdown, but the sideshow that accompanies the yearly winter ritual is already in full swing.

Chicago and Indianapolis will battle for the NFL's top trophy...

Super Bowl XLI, the main event, may be taking place in Miami's football stadium, but the special shows, autograph sessions, publicity stunts, press conferences, hospitality dos and parties spread from Palm Beach 100 miles (160km) in the north, all the way to the Keys down south.

The activities can sometimes be overwhelming, having invaded en force by land, by air and by sea.

Some, such as the multimedia NFL Experience, football clinics and charity events are sanctioned by the National Football League.

Most of them are not - like the half-dozen planes pulling colourful advertising banners all day long over Biscayne Bay, the speed boat races along Hollywood Beach, and the private yachts and football-themed cruisers taking punters out to sea.

Then there are the parties.

Forget about the game, this is where the real action is. And everybody wants to get in on it.

Who's hottest?

They have also become a competition of sorts, as the private enterprises that produce them vie to be designated "hottest ticket in town" and so make tons of cash with hefty entrance fees and alcohol consumption.

Private citizens - very rich private citizens, that is - politicians and bigwig CEOs also throw their own bashes.

... but for many, the Super Bowl is mostly a chance to party

Miami Mayor Manny Diaz had his at a recently-opened sports bar.

Basketball superstar Shaquille O'Neal had his invitation-only do on Thursday evening at the former Gianni Versace mansion in South Beach - paralyzing Ocean Avenue - while the White-Themed party at the Only Rush nightclub was abuzz, having promised A-list celebrities, athletes, models and musicians in attendance.

Most of these coveted parties are off-limits for the regular humans or their subspecies, the media.

We are all relegated to being simple spectators, if we're lucky.

Television channels and radio stations set up camp nearby to broadcast from the sidelines for play-by-play descriptions of the "beautiful people".

Here, the closest you'll get to describing American Football are the huddles of celebrities and wannabes, the rush of fans to get an autograph and the tackles of hopeful gatecrashers by hefty bouncers.

The longest throw may be the toss of a rumpled paper cup into a bin a few feet away.

Police 'prepared'

But the city is taking all the excitement in stride, the police say.

Security operations are very visible around Miami

"Miami is used to this," says detective Nelda Fonticiella, a spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade Police Department.

"This city has hosted visits by the Pope, dozens of heads of state for the Summit of the Americas in 1994, and other Super Bowls."

Detective Fonticiella admits that, since the 11 September 2001 attacks, special plans have been put into effect, but she would not reveal details.

But the barrage of activity, fans and extra tourists is being met by well-coordinated interagency co-operation, she says.

Indeed, the various police departments have officers working every single event, their conspicuous cars with flashing lights at every site.

There are ways the common punter can still partake of this extravaganza, other than getting stuck in endless traffic jams.

He can take advantage of the special sale on 24-packs of officially-sponsored beer and two-for-one gigantic bags of crisps, invite a few friends over and watch the game on TV.

The new adverts are the most exciting thing, anyway.

This is the ninth Super Bowl to take place in Miami. After all the hoopla, the host committee will make an assessment of the profits and impact and present a report.

It will then get ready to organise the next one in 2010, breaking the record of most Super Bowls hosted by one city.