Now, that's a list!

Here's a photo that is sure to bring a smile to Paul's face...




Remember Muhsin Muhammad's 85-yard TD pass from Jake Delhomme in SB XXXVIII?




Wow, Paulie, you have gone beyond the call of duty in assisting me for that upcoming Super Bowl story! It's still several weeks away, and still in the conceptual stage, but you must have been reading my mind, because I envision a very similar story, ranking them in groups, with a one or two-line synopsis for each. Amazing. I feel like I should give you a byline.

I have no real disagreements with any of your rankings, which is also amazing for such a subjective topic. About the only thing I have had time to grapple with is which game or games I would put on top. The Pittsburgh 35-31 over Dallas can make a strong case. Great teams, great players, and great plays. That game had them all. The added angle of "Team of the '70s" adds extra fuel to case for this game. About all it didn't have was a rip-roaring finish, as the Steelers had moved to 35-17 ahead before the Cowboys made a belated rally late in the game. The last-minute drama in this one was basically seeing if the Cowboys could recover that last onside kick, but that should take nothing away from what was a tremendous game. Bettors, however, remember this in an altogether different fashion, as pointspreads bounced between 3 1/2-4 1/2, and that late, late Cowboys TD caused a lot of money to switch hands on the betting side.

I am tempted to put Panthers-Patriots from January '04 up there, even though the first half of the game was exceedingly boring. Down the stretch, however, that game turned into a real crackler, with the teams looking like exhausted heavyweights at the end of the game, throwing haymakers at one another, with defenses completely spent. Rams-Titans and Rams-Patriots also get into the mix because of the last-second developments in those games, though I think it took those Super Bowls a little longer to warm up than Panthers-Patriots, in which most of the 2nd half was a real donnybrook. I am also tempted to give Panthers-Patriots a nod because I am still mad that the Janet Jackson stunt got to much coverage at the expense of a great football game, of which that Super Bowl really was. It deserves to be rememebered for something other than Janet's antics.

I will have to do more research, but nothing really stands out from a good number of the Super Bowls, no great plays or anything, even some competitive Super Bowls like Eagles-Patriots last year. I really thought that was kind of a boring, methodical game, even though it was 24-21. It was kind of tense, but the drama was a bit muted compared to some of the others mentioned.


But talking about ugly Super Bowls...



As for all-time duds, there are plenty of candidates. Of course, some of the Denver pratfalls must be included, though the Broncs at least were ahead of the Giants 10-9 at the half in that Super Bowl. I thought Giants-Ravens was exceedingly boring, but there were those back-to-back kickoff return TDs. Other than a kickoff return, the Giants did absolutely nothing in that game.

That remains the only Super Bowl I ever watched on foreign soil, I was at the Hotel Ibis in Luton, England, ready to head to Cannes and Football Expo the next morning from the adjacent Luton Airport on EasyJet, sort of the Southwest Airlines of Europe. When I made the reservation, I called the hotel and asked specifically if they carried Sky Sports at the hotel, which they assured me they did. When I arrived that afternoon (after a long train ride from Harrogate through Leeds, where I saw Leeds play Liverpool the day before, and Sheffield, and finally to Luton), however, I discovered to my horror that my in-room TV was not carrying Sky Sports. I complained bitterly, but the Arabs who ran the hotel told me I had misunderstood, that they had Sky Sports only in the lounge TV, but they would give me complimentary food and drinks if I really wanted to watch the game in the lounge. They were lying Arabs (I know they told me different on the phone), but the lounge TV was better than nothing, and if they weren't going to charge me for food and drink, that wasn't too bad, so I guess they were fairly nice Arabs. Thus, I watched the game, starting at about midnight England time, basically by myself in a near-empty restaurant lounge, though a few other stragglers came in for a drink or bite to eat, and looked at me like I was crazy for watching the American football game on TV.

I watched the whole thing, suffering because we had released the Giants as our selection, though I probably stayed up for the whole fiasco because it at least reminded me of being at home. Sky had their own halftime coverage of the game, with KC assistant coach and ex-Charger head coach Al Saunders (?) as in-studio expert. The whole thing was a rather surreal experience, to tell the truth, though I have some unique memories from watching that one. When it was done, I had about 2 hours to sleep before heading to the airport for the early flight. What a crazy night.

Anyway, more discussions to come, I'm sure...