Excitement is building for Super Bowl LI in Houston,Texas between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons.
CBS Sports Radio's Amy Lawrence, the host of " After Hours with Amy Lawrence," tells WGBH for those who work in the sportscasting business they arrive at NRG stadium a week prior to the big game, so there's a "week-long gap" between championship Sunday and the Super Bowl, which means it takes energy to maintain enthusiasm about breaking down the match-up so many times.
the New England Patriots have Super Bowl experience and know what to expect, whereas the Falcons may have a surge of too much adrenaline at the start of the game because it's all new
While in Houston, Lawrence had a chance to interview the first woman NFL referee Sarah Thomas along "radio row", which is where all the radio sports announcers conduct interviews inside NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
Lawrence says Thomas tells her, "I don't watch football, I watch the area that I'm assigned to oversee."
Among the other Super Bowl topics, Lawrence shared with WGBH includes athletes and politics and Patriots player's Super Bowl experience. She says,"many of the Patriot's have Super bowl experience and know what to expect, whereas the Falcons may have a surge of too much adrenaline at the start of the game because it's all new."
She says all the discussion about Tom Brady, Roger Goodell, and the deflate-gate controversy shouldn't be a distraction for the quarterback.
While Lawrence is a New Hampshire native and has worked in Providence, Rhode Island she says she remains neutral when it comes to supporting any team.
She says she's looking forward to the game and can see the Falcons getting off to a "hot" start, which is important. She says this match-up has two great offenses, two amazing quarterbacks, two great coaches...and she's hoping the game goes down to the wire.
To listen to the extended interview with CBS Radio's Amy Lawrence and WGBH's Bob Seay click on the audio file above.
