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In The Room: Corey Masisak is headed south for the NHL All-Star festivities in Atlanta. He’ll have the highlights on his blog.
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ON WASHINGTONTIMES.COM SPORTS BIZ BLOG EXCERPT
As if Super Bowl Sunday isn’t already a massive display of American excess, Fox announced it has added ubiquitous celebrity interviewer/host Ryan Seacrest to the pregame festivities.
Seacrest, the host of Fox’s “American Idol” and about 95 percent of all other programs on television, will contribute to the pregame show along with Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Jimmy Johnson and Curt Menefee. According to Fox executives, he will interview all of the celebrities attending the game.
“I’m not going to pretend to be as interesting as Terry or Howie in the sports conversation,” Seacrest said during a conference call with an unlikely horde of reporters from publications like US Weekly, Zap2it.com and The Washington Times. “I will go into this as if it’s America’s biggest unofficial holiday. This is the only event where the event is the focus, not the stars.”
For those who question Seacrest’s sports credentials, it should be known he was a former standout of the Pop Warner leagues, starting out as an offensive guard — “yes, offensive guard” — then moving to strong safety.
“I have some very incriminating photos of Ryan in his football uniform,” Fox Sports chairman David Hill said.
Seacrest said he got to “a couple of games” this season but declined to give a Super Bowl pick.
It should also be noted that Fox will promote the living heck out of “American Idol” by allowing show co-host Paula Abdul to debut a new single live during the pregame show. Last season’s “Idol” winner, Jordin Sparks, will sing the national anthem.
— Tim Lemke
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