Luke Simons has been racking up the frequent flyer miles recently, with the WJET-TV sports anchor’s latest trip taking him and cameraman Kent Urbanski to Tampa for a week’s worth of coverage of the Pittsburgh Steelers successful run at the Vince Lombardi Trophy at Super Bowl XLIII. The JET-TV team was the only Erie television reporting unit on the ground in Tampa. They were joined by John Dudley of the Erie Times-News for the weekend and game.

I asked Luke to share his experiences at the biggest media event of the year. Here he is in his own words, exclusively on The Press and Tower:

P&T: Why did JET-TV make it a priority to follow the Steelers to the Super Bowl?

LS: When it comes to this year’s Super Bowl, I don’t think there was any question as to whether or not we would go.  We have been covering the Steelers all year long and it was only appropriate that we were there when they made it to the Super Bowl.  There’s no doubt that Erie has a huge Steelers fan base, but I also think that there are a lot of football fans that were interested in all of the stories that surround the week of the Super Bowl.  I know it’s hard for Browns and Bills fans to see, but believe me when I say that if those teams were there, we would have made the trip for them too.


I wanted to bring the stories to our area that you won’t see on ESPN or any other national program.  I was able to talk to former Meadville Bulldog Randy Fichtner who is now the receivers coach in Pittsburgh.  That is not the type of story that you will see anywhere else, and that is just one example of what made our coverage unique.  It’s not always about the highlights of the game and the score.  I think our area appreciates the stories we bring whether it is a local high school player or the Steelers.

I have been here almost five years now, and I am very fortunate to work at a station where our General Manager and News Director understand that our local sports coverage is very important.  It’s not often that a sports story is the top story, but every now and then it does happen and our management understands that.  It’s no secret that financial times are tough for everyone, including TV stations.  It was actually kind of funny when we got to Tampa, because we found out that every Pittsburgh station had their crews drive down just like us.  That was an 18 hour drive.

One thing I also want to point out is the fact that the coverage of our local teams did not stop.  This is a total team effort when you cover an event like this and for an entire week, Craig Smylie (weekend sports anchor) was covering the Erie area.  We are just a two-man sports department and while I was in Tampa all week long, Craig was holding down the fort here in Erie.  It is nice to be at the Super Bowl, but we would not do it if the rest of our coverage was to suffer.

P&T: What kind of credentials and security do you have to endure in the course of your coverage this week?

LS: First of all, I was not alone on this trip.  I had a photographer, Kent Urbanski, with me.  On day one (Sunday), we arrived in Tampa and checked into our hotel which was in downtown and right across the street from the Convention Center.  The convention center was Media Central for the entire week.  Once we checked into our hotel, we made our way to the media center where we checked in and were given a credential with our picture on it.  That credential gave us access to the media center, but not to the game.  We had to get a separate game credential on Friday for game day. Credential requests for special events like playoffs and Super Bowls are made several months in advance.

Every single time we entered the Convention Center, we had to have our bags checked.  They were marked with a band that showed we had been through the security checkpoint.  By the end of the week, I had all different colors because they switched them out every day.  The Convention Center was well protected with more security personnel than I can count.  Throughout each day, many NFL stars were going in and out for interviews in Radio Row and security was tight.

On the first day, Kent also had to take our camera and wireless microphone to a special check-in area.  They had to make sure that the frequency from our microphone would not interfere with anyone else’s.  I’m sure the list of radio frequencies is endless.  Even Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s helmet has a frequency so that he can get calls from the sideline.

To prove that they were checking, during the Bruce Springsteen’s Press Conference a photographer had not checked his frequency in and interference began messing with the audio from his microphone.  They found him in the middle of the mass of photographers and kicked him out.

Gameday security was actually very easy and well orchestrated.  We walked into the media entrance area which was a huge tent filled with all kinds of security equipment.  If you had a camera, tripod, or bag, you had to set that in an area on the side.  This area had three rows on the ground that we set our things on.  Then security roped it off so that no one can get to it and that’s when the bomb sniffing dog entered.  While “Fido” was sniffing out our bags, we made our way through metal detectors.  It was actually very quick and easy.  Once “Fido” was done, they marked all of our bags so that everyone knew they had been checked and we were on our way.

Overall, I was very impressed with the way the NFL Super Bowl Committee had its security in place.  I never felt uncomfortable no matter where I was.

P&T: Who has been your favorite player or coach to interview; how about least favorite?

LS: When it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers, there are many guys that you can go to for a great soundbite.  Hines Ward is a fan favorite, but it’s not as fun interviewing him because every media person at the game wants to talk to him.  I have always had a great time interviewing Jeff Reed (place kicker), Aaron Smith (defensive lineman), and Max Starks (offensive lineman).  If you saw my interview with Jeff Reed with his crazy blonde hair, then you know he’s a great guy.  He actually makes regular stops on one of the local Pittsburgh stations and is very comfortable in front of the camera.  Aaron Smith can get a little too comfortable in front of the camera and many times that is a good thing for me.  Max Starks is probably one of the biggest surprises.  He is very soft spoken and is a gentle giant.

Although it is fun covering these guys, the mentality around a Super Bowl is totally different.  For instance, everyone in Erie and in Pennsylvania knows that the Steelers have a very loyal fan base.  The problem, however, is that when they play a team from Arizona, the reporters and fans from out West don’t know that.  I can’t tell you how frustrating it is when these reporters are asking questions about all the stuff everyone here already knows.  I know it’s their job, but if I were to do a story on something generic like fan loyalty, everyone in Erie would turn the channel.  Every time that we are in an interview situation there is a time limit. Many times there are so many questions that everyone in our area already know the answer to it makes it difficult to do a story with a different angle.

I don’t really have a least favorite person to interview, but there are guys that just are not as comfortable talking in front of the camera.  For example, NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison (Steelers linebacker) hates doing interviews. For whatever reason, he just doesn’t like doing it.  Don’t get me wrong, he’ll still do the interview, but you can tell he would rather not.

One guy I didn’t like to interview just a couple of years ago was Ben Roethlisberger.  I felt that he was cocky and many times could be kind of rude about certain questions.  I saw him do a complete 180 this season.  If you remember his game against Bob Sanders and the Colts, Big Ben threw three interceptions in his team’s lost. When he met with the media in the lockeroom, he took all the blame.  He is one of those guys that has really matured and is actually fun to interview.  He gave great interviews at the Super Bowl and I’m glad his attitude changed a little bit this season.

P&T: What part of covering the Super Bowl would your colleagues in Erie find remarkable?

LS: This one is easy!!!  I love it when I go to a sporting event and everyone thinks that I was on vacation.  No one realizes that from about 8:00AM until midnight, I am working on something.  Most of the interview sessions are bright and early so that the players can get to practice around noon.  After that, I have to begin editing at least three stories per day.  It’s a lot to plan out, but it is nice having a cameraman like Kent around to help me.  We would plan the night before and hit the ground running each and every day.  There were even times when I was in the hotel room editing and Kent was out grabbing a press conference interview.

When it comes to the game, I don’t think people (my colleagues included) realize I am not enjoying the game like a fan. Credentialed media is not allowed to cheer or celebrate with the crowd. This was especially hard because the media was sitting in section 306 in the stadium (I was three rows from the top). During the game, I’m thinking about what angle to take for my next story.  Who am I going to talk to?  What was the biggest thing that happened? What questions am I going to ask?

Late in the fourth quarter, I thought I was going to be in a locker room full of upset players that just lost the Super Bowl.  Less than two minutes later, I was ready to talk about an amazing drive that finished with an incredible catch that my photographer had an amazing shot of.  Although I am a huge sports fan, I am not there just to enjoy a game…I’m there to bring you the best coverage of the game so that you can see the feeling these players are having after winning Super Bowl 43.  I hope the viewers in our area realize how fortunate we are to have the access to the Pittsburgh Steelers that we do.

One more note about sunny Florida.  Believe me when I say that I felt awful that my wife and everyone else was in Erie getting buried by snow.  I promise you that I was NOT just sitting on the beach enjoying the weather in sunny Florida.

Hats off to Luke and Kent for bringing home the local angles on this the biggest story in sports. It’s a teachable moment for all of us to be reminded that when we make smart investments in our content, advertising dollars will follow.