Super Bowl XLVII: Blog of New Orleans, Gambit

Property owners blast city for lack of illegal short term rental enforcement

Charles Maldonado — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:02:11 -0500

At a meeting of the New Orleans City Council's Housing and Human Needs Committee today, bed-and-breakfast operators, property owners and representatives of the city's tourism industry demanded more stringent enforcement of short-term property rental laws, saying the city's apparently lax attitude toward the problem takes business from legitimate bed and breakfasts and hotels and costs tax dollars.

"Every year legitimate operators lose $13 million in potential bookings to illegal short-term rentals," said bed and breakfast operator Brian Furness, giving the estimates of the French Quarter Citizens Illegal Short-Term Rental Committee.…

Press release: Sheriff reports 1,681 arrests during Super Bowl, Mardi Gras

Charles Maldonado — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:06:30 -0600

According to a press release from the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office, 1,681 people were arrested in New Orleans between Friday, Jan. 25 and the end of Tuesday, Feb. 12, including 289 arrests during Super Bowl weekend. The Advocate reports 879 Carnival season arrest actions — a number that includes suspects who received summonses rather than being taken into custody — in the New Orleans Police Department's Eighth District, which covers the French Quarter and the Central Business District.…

Y@ Speak: Carnival 2013, part 1

Lauren LaBorde — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:55:00 -0600

Kelly Clarkson putting on an awesome show at Endymion. twitter.com/EPaulsenWWL/st…
— Eric Paulsen (@EPaulsenWWL) February 10, 2013

After a brief respite thanks to the Krewe of Super Bowl XLVII, Carnival is back in full swing.…

City Council questions Entergy on Super Bowl power failure

Charles Maldonado — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 11:03:17 -0600

New Orleans City Council's Utility Committee today held a special meeting with officials from Entergy and the Superdome to investigate the cause of a power outage that led to a 30-minute interruption in play during the Super Bowl. The meeting came shortly after the company issued a statement placing fault with an electrical relay device that mistakenly triggered during the game.…

Q: What was the best part of the Super Bowl?

Kevin Allman — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 10:51:39 -0600

The Winnipeg Sun asked its readers what they thought was the best part of the Super Bowl ...

Agreed.

*via

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Listen: Emergency scanner traffic during Super Bowl power outage

Charles Maldonado — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 10:45:39 -0600

Reuters reporter Matthew Keys recorded emergency radio communications during Sunday's power outage in the Superdome.

He notes a couple of interesting moments in the traffic.…

Y@ Speak: The Beyonce Blackout Bowl edition

Lauren LaBorde — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 11:53:00 -0600

Lights out!!! Any questions??
— Mr. Carter (@S_C_) February 4, 2013

All the lights are out!!…
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A super Sunday indeed as Ravens win NFL Championship

Gus Kattengell — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 09:48:00 -0600

It was definitely a memorable Super Bowl Sunday inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome as the Baltimore Ravens became champions with a 34-31 win over the San Francisco 49ers. The game was like a delicious gumbo as the event will be remembered for a handful of story lines that acted like key ingredients.…

Super Sunday is here

Gus Kattengell — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 23:07:00 -0600

Kick off for Super Bowl XLVII between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers is finally here. Super Bowl week has come and gone, and while the parties, celebrity sightings and functions were great, the real reason the masses have descended upon the Crescent City is for the big game on Sunday.…

Inside Jackson Square with CBS

Alex Woodward — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 21:00:00 -0600

Crowds swarmed Decatur Street on Saturday afternoon, gathering at the would-be entrance to Jackson Square — dubbed this week as "CBS Super Bowl Park at Jackson Square." The network has taken over most of the park with four stages for sports, news and talk shows as the network home to Super Bowl XLVII.…

All in a Super Bowl week

Kevin Allman — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 17:22:00 -0600

On Monday, Mayor Mitch Landrieu took the first ceremonial ride on the new Loyola Avenue streetcar before rushing down to the not-new-but-newly refurbished Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Landrieu was set to address members of the national and international press about Super Bowl XLVII, which was already beginning to make itself known in terms of traffic in the CBD and French Quarter.…

Roger Goodell talks bounties, brains, regrets and hospitality

Alex Woodward — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:30:00 -0600

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is not the most popular guy. We've been reminded, often, lately, about his help to keep the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, how he wants the Superdome to remain a Super Bowl destination, and how we should put the past behind us and move forward and just enjoy the game, will ya.…

Cab drivers face long wait times at city inspection station

Charles Maldonado — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:20:34 -0600

As the countdown to the Super Bowl quickly winds down, and throngs of out-of-towners descend on New Orleans for the game, cab drivers are still facing heavy wait times for city inspections proving they're in compliance with the Landrieu administration's taxi reform rules, which were passed by City Council last year and recently survived a legal challenge.

Many drivers, concerned they'll miss out on tourism business if they're not able to get an inspection soon, say the city hasn't done enough to improve service at its inspection station in eastern New Orleans.…

A gathering of old friends

Clancy DuBos — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 09:01:09 -0600

Roger Goodell looked a tad uneasy as he stepped off the elevator onto the 23rd floor of the Windsor Court Hotel Wednesday evening. Every eye in the room turned immediately toward him.…

Beyonce: "I love haters."

Alex Woodward — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:40:00 -0600

"Would you guys mind standing?"

Beyonce stepped onto the stage as an American flag graphic waved on the stage-sized screen behind her. She launched into a flawless, a capella rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," ending with, "Any questions?"

That pretty much evaporated any redundant questions about her performance at President Barack Obama's inauguration, during which she performed with a pre-recorded track to the national anthem.…

Gambit TV: 3-Day Weekend A&E picks, Super Bowl edition

Gambit TV — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 11:15:00 -0600

Gambit's Kevin Allman stopped by WWL-TV's New Orleans Tonight yesterday to talk with Sheba Turk and Tamica Lee about some of the big events leading up to the Super Bowl, while Noah Bonaparte Pais did the same thing today on the WWL Eyewitness Morning News.

While many of the big parties are either invite-only or sold out, there's a four-day festival in Woldenberg Park that starts tonight, with dozens of local bands, food booths and other fun — and admission is free.…

Here's the schedule for Super Bowl Boulevard music and food fest

Alex Woodward — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 10:25:00 -0600

That is, Verizon's Super Bowl Boulevard, the free four-day music and food event from Super Bowl XLVII spanning Woldenberg Park from Jackson Square to Canal Street.

The festival opens tonight with the delivery of the Super Bowl XLVII numerals by barge — they'll arrive at 6:30 p.m.…

Ten great moments in Beyonce history

Lauren LaBorde — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 09:57:00 -0600

Downtown New Orleans is abuzz with excitement, traffic and swarms of athletes, celebrities, athlete-celebrities and media types, which means only one thing — the Beyonce concert is quickly approaching.

OK, fine.…

NFL Experience opens: Deuce, the Lombardi, "epic" and peanut M&Ms

Alex Woodward — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:38:00 -0600

St. Augustine High School's Marching 100 blasted through the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, and at its lead were Louisiana State Police, looking crisp in blue and really pissed off (or stern, can't tell), surrounding Deuce McCallister, whose gloved hands carried the Vince Lombardi Trophy down a red carpet to its glass-cased throne under a massive portrait of itself.

That long-winded sentence is to say that people really love the Lombardi trophy.…

Gambit TV: The Super Bowl and Twitter

Gambit TV — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:30:00 -0600

Last night on WWL-TV's 10 p.m. news, Scott Satchfield spoke to Gambit editor Kevin Allman about Mayor Mitch Landrieu's attempt to crowdsource the wisdom of the city's Twitter community for the benefit of Super Bowl visitors under the hashtag #BestofNOLA. (And speaking of Twitter: Satchfield is @Satchfield, while Kevin is @NOLAKevin.)

…

Media Day is an event of football & flash

Gus Kattengell — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:40:09 -0600

The spectacle that is Super Bowl media took place inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Tuesday

There were a few story lines that stood out to me. Media used to be a day where media could have a one stop shop of story lines and players all in one location. The chance that a player could say or do something that could create controversy made it exciting as well.…

Gambit TV: Clancy's Commentary

Gambit TV — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:00:00 -0600

Yesterday, Jay Cicero, head of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation, made it official: New Orleans intends to make its case to bring the Super Bowl back in 2018.

Last night in his WWL-TV commentary, Gambit political editor Clancy DuBos said it’s not too early to plan for Super Bowl LII.…

Tara Ciccarone v. Clean Zones, the Super Bowl and Jazz Fest

Will Coviello — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:15:00 -0600

The ACLU successfully challenged the city's Clean Zone ordinance on the grounds that it violated free speech rights covered by the First Amendment. (The zone's rules have been changed.)…

Super Bowl Media Day photo roundup

Alejandro de los Rios — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:14:00 -0600

Boy was that a whole lot of craziness that just went on at the Superdome.

Having never been to a Super Bowl Media Day before, I don't know if there's much I can really offer other than saying that for one hour, each team is subjected to a barrage of questions and photographs from infinite angles.…

Super Bowl Media Day: Ray Lewis, gay marriage, root beer glazes and Edgar Allan Poe

Alex Woodward — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:20:00 -0600

The Super Bowl Committee estimates more than 5,000 reporters arrived in New Orleans to cover Super Bowl XLVII. Today, buses unloaded them all, seemingly, into the Superdome for Media Day.…