How We Saw The Super Bowl

It certainly helped that I was in Springfield, MO, at Sir Gregory's (a local sports bar there), with comedian and former Fox Sports radio show host Chuck Booms and some wonderful people I met on my trip there. Chuck had invited me to host his comedy show at Sir Gregory's and we ended up hosting their Super Bowl party as well.  With several hundred people celebrating each play, it certainly made for a more exciting game.

And yes, the Raider Nation extends to Missouri.  At the bar were Raiders fans wearing black and silver clothes, facepaint, spikes on their shoulders and waving Raiders flags.

I still don't understand the thought process behind calling a 4-yard pass on third and nine.  The Bucs did it once or twice during the game.  And it didn't look like it was simply part of Brad Johnson's progression; it looked like it was intended.  

ABC gets a big fat F for their football coverage this year, mainly for one word:  replay.  They showed too few all year long, leaving the audience at home wondering who was at the controls.  Madden actually was better than I thought he'd be, offering some actual insights into games at times.  Hopefully he and Al Michaels will be even better next year.

Did the Raiders have their last shot this year?  Maybe.  But, maybe not.  They seem to have a solid group of coaches; they have some nice draft picks coming to them thanks to the Bucs; and Al Davis has $8 million of the Bucs' money to play with.  While I'd be surprised to see the Raiders back in the game next year, they may be able to reload faster than most think.

The Lions fired coach Marty Mornhinweg.  It's about time.  He has been damn near taking over Wade Phillips' spot as the all-time clueless coach.  Now, with some talent on that team, the Lions could grab Denny Green or Steve Mariucci and be back in the playoffs by 2004 (if not this year).  If they can just get RB Larry Johnson from Penn State, they'll be my pick for potential surprise team in the NFL.

--I was wrong on Tampa Bay all season and I was wrong Sunday. I thought the Bucs were overrated and annoying. They’re still the latter (at least loudmouth Warren Sapp is), but not the former. It was a real spanking they applied to the Raiders and the Bucs are deserving champs. 

--I guarantee there are thousands of people in agony today over Dwight Smith’s “meaningless” interception return for a touchdown with only two seconds left that gave Tampa its final 48-21 margin. Anyone in those popular “100 square” pools who thought they were big winners holding 1-1 (Tampa Bay 41, Oakland 21) must have gagged as Smith ran it in and took their winnings with him. I know that some of these pools pay out thousands to the winners. 

--My friend Jim Allen was one who shrieked when Smith scored. Jim was two seconds from winning our party pool. Our gang of 13 erupted as Smith started running, the most excitement we showed in what was generally a pretty boring game. Jim cursed Rich Gannon for throwing the interception, Greg Spires for tipping the ball that helped cause the pick, Dwight Smith for making the interception and Doug Jolley for failing to tackle Smith. 

--Raider center Barrett Robbins went AWOL the night before and did not suit up. He apparently suffers from bipolar disorder and was in crisis. Robbins' absence brings to mind  two other notable Super Bowl mishaps  the night before the game: Stanley Wilson, Cincinnati Bengals, 1989 (snorting coke), and Eugene Robinson, Atlanta Falcons, 1999 (soliciting oral sex from an undercover policewoman). This happened a day after Robinson won an award from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

--The advantage of sports like baseball, hockey and pro basketball is that they get best-of-7 finals, allowing a dog game to be forgotten quickly. But the winner-take-all Super Bowl only magnifies the bad games. A trend continues: the Super Bowls played in even years are great (1996-1998-2000-2002), the ones in odd years (1997-1999-2001-2003) suck. 

--The Raiders really never looked ready to play. Their defense jumped offsides five times, Tim Brown dropped two passes when it mattered and MVP Rich Gannon was flat-out terrible. The guy who threw 11 interceptions in 18 games had five in one game. Gannon will go down as the goat of the game. 

--I guess it did matter that Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden was the Raiders’ coach the previous four years. The Bucs always seemed one step ahead of Oakland. Tampa safety John Lynch, miked by ABC, was heard saying, “Every play they've run, we've run in practice.” And Don Banks of CNN/SI.com wrote: "in practice on Thursday, Gruden took a turn imitating Gannon's cadences and on-field habits on the Bucs' scout team. The move was wildly beneficial to the Tampa Bay defense."

--Giving defensive back Dexter Jackson the MVP award for his two interceptions was lame. The award should have gone to someone from the defensive line like Simeon Rice (five tackles and two sacks). The relentless pressure on Gannon caused many of his interceptions. 

--ABC’s coverage was embarrassing. They repeatedly failed in the most elementary of TV production rules: showing replays. I counted ay least five times in the first half when they failed to show a replay on what could have been significant plays. And then, when the game was out of hand, they couldn’t show enough.  

--Don’t look for the Raiders to be back in the big game next year. They have to cut too many players to get under the league’s salary cap. And it’s hard to see how Gannon recovers from his dismal effort.  Age has caught up with the Silver and Black.

--As for the Bucs, history would say they will not repeat. It’s hard to see the defense being able to sustain the excellence they showed most of this season. That kind of intensity is difficult to conjure up again. Last year’s winning coach, Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots, in a column for Sunday’s New York Times, had this advice for whoever won:

"Two words, Champ: Last. Year. Get used to them. You may hear them after wins, but you'll be able to set your watch to them after losses.

"You'll notice that all your opponents know your team a little better than they did this season: they'll hit you a little harder and play a little better when you show up. Deal with it."

--My one consolation from being wrong in who would win: I bet zero on the game. Only my ego is wounded, not my wallet.

Week's Hot Players

Tampa Bay fullback Mike Alstott is constantly named as one of the hottest athletes by Outsports readers. They love his face, his bod and the way he plays. In Sunday's Super Bowl, Alstott scored one touchdown and had five key catches as the Bucs ripped the Raiders.