Dad says he’ll stay impartial

Impartiality is paramount to a journalist's credibility, but that guideline should be tabled this week for a reporter from the weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.

Larry Fitzgerald Sr. is in Tampa, Fla., to cover the Super Bowl for his newspaper, and he has close ties to an Arizona Cardinals player.

He is the father of Larry Fitzgerald Jr., the team's record-setting receiver.

This is the 28th Super Bowl the older Fitzgerald has worked.

"No cheering in this press box? Forget it, Larry. I'm taking cheering and the points, or maybe crying and the points," wrote Martin Fennelly of The Tampa Tribune.

But the father couldn't ignore the magnitude of the event while he watched his son Tuesday sit on a riser during Super Bowl media day.

"I never dreamed about this," Larry Sr. said.

Fennelly wrote the father "has never received a 'no comment' from the receiving star, except for the time Larry Jr. refused to go on or off the record as to who drew crayon kitty on the wall. That was awhile back, we hear."

The proud father will live the dream of many fathers on Sunday but is trying to be a crusty, old newspaper man.

"I'm going to say it again ... 'It's another game. It's the Super Bowl, but it's still another game to me.' I'm not going to act any different."

If Fitzgerald changes his mind, we'll understand.

• CONTACT SPORT -- Parents of cheerleaders long have worried about the activity being a "contact sport" because of what might transpire between their daughters and boyfriends after high school games.

But a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday determined cheerleading is a contact sport.

Seven justices unanimously turned down an appeal by a former high school cheerleader in western Wisconsin who sued over injuries caused when a teammate failed to catch her during a routine. It is the first legal decision of its kind, according to the National Cheer Safety Foundation, a group founded by parents.

Brittany Noffke's team was practicing a "post to hands" stunt before a basketball game in 2004, and after being lifted up to stand on the shoulders of a fellow student, Noffke fell backward, striking her head on the floor.

The 16-year-old male cheerleader who lifted her, and then was supposed to be a spotter, failed to catch her.

The girl's family sued the boy and the school district, claiming the coach was negligent by not having a second spotter and not providing safety mats.

It is not known if the lad who failed to catch her is an ex-boyfriend.

• A YEAR IS A LONG TIME -- Coach Bobby Bowden signed a one-year contract extension Wednesday with Florida State.

Bowden, 79, had said earlier this month that he was planning on returning this fall for his 34th season. His contract, which paid him a little more than $2 million in 2008, expired Jan. 4.

Bowden's 382 career wins are one fewer than Penn State's 82-year-old Joe Paterno, the winningest coach in major college football.

A one-year deal doesn't seem like a long time, but it is when you're 79 or 82.

COMPILED BY JEFF WOLF LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL