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Ratings stay steady for big game

Although Sunday's Super Bowl went down to the final play, Fox's telecast drew the same ratings as last year's lopsided game.

An average of 40.4 percent of the 105.5-million U.S. households with televisions watched the New Englad Patriots upset the St. Louis Rams 20-17 on Adam Vinatieri's field goal as time expired in New Orleans.

That matched the ratings for last year's Super Bowl on CBS, when the Ravens routed the Giants 34-7 in Tampa.

While this year's game drew 131.7-million viewers, the most ever for Fox, it tied for the 27th-lowest Super Bowl rating among the 36 games.

This year's Super Bowl was played during February sweeps for the first time, putting it against tougher first-run competition from other networks. Ratings during sweeps periods are used to set advertising rates, so networks try to show their strongest programs.

The game was the fifth most-watched program in television history behind four other Super Bowls, but that reflects the growing number of TV viewers each year rather than the percentage of viewers watching the program.

In New York, the nation's top media market, the Super Bowl was watched in 37.6 percent of homes. In Boston, the No. 6 market and home of the Patriots, it was watched in 56.1 percent of homes. St. Louis, the 22nd-largest market, drew 52.4 percent.

FEEL-GOOD STORY: The Patriots stood, stared and prayed for 5 seconds as Vinatieri's kick aimed for the uprights -- an agonizing eternity in football time, but nothing, all things considered, for guard Joe Andruzzi.

For several hours on Sept. 11, Andruzzi didn't know if his three firefighting brothers had survived the attack on the World Trade Center. They did, and they were with him at the game when Vinatieri's field goal gave the Patriots the victory.

"It meant a whole lot to me, personally, to have the support of my three brothers here, and my family," Andruzzi said. "It is just a great feeling to have their support behind me, especially my brothers. They've been through a lot. This is for us."

IN LIMBO: Columnist Will McDonough of the Boston Globe writes that Drew Bledsoe has played his last game for the Patriots.

"It's as simple as this: Bledsoe is not a backup quarterback, and even if the Patriots want him to hang around in that capacity, he does not want to do it," the column said.

"Hey, whatever happens, happens," Bledsoe said after the game. "I'll see what the future holds for me. I still want to play, and I feel like I can play this game at a very high level."

TEAMWORK: The Patriots declined the customary pregame introduction and ran onto the field as a team. Coach Bill Belichick said it was to show how the Patriots played all season to reach the Super Bowl after starting the season 0-2.

BEST BEHAVIOR: Mitchell Dusset could have done without the drunkenness at the Super Bowl, yet was pleased that was as bad as it got.

Dusset, the deputy superintendent of police in New Orleans, said about 20 spectators were arrested Sunday. The charges included pick-pocketing, drug possession and public drunkenness, all minor crimes compared with what authorities were prepared for.

The U.S. Secret Service took over security after the White House declared the game a "national special security event" following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Forty-eight agencies were involved with the security, which was at the same level as a presidential inauguration, the Secret Service said.

"With all the law enforcement agencies working together, it really was a work of art," Dusset said. "There was pressure because it was a big event, and more importantly because of Sept. 11, but because of our expertise and our experience handling large crowds, it was like a regular night game for us."

BIG FIGHT: The outcome of the Super Bowl led to a jail-house brawl between about 50 inmates in Riverside, Calif. Five inmates were hurt -- the most serious for a broken nose.

"It was caused by the Super Bowl," Sgt. Shelley Kennedy-Smith said. Inmates at the Robert Presley Detention Center had watched the game in a lounge area when an argument flared after the end of the game.

"It was in a housing unit and half of them were for the Rams and half were for the Patriots," Kennedy-Smith said. "When it was over, two inmates got to discussing it, then they got into a fist fight and the others joined in."

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