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Super Mistake: Okay, I Blew It
Posted: Tuesday January 25, 2000 03:29 PM
MONTCLAIR, N.J. -- I thought I could sneak home for a day and miss a meaningless Monday at the Super Bowl, then take a 5:15 a.m. plane this morning and get to the Georgia Dome in time to talk to the Titans and Rams and get you your first installment of "10 Things I Think I Think at the Super Bowl" by early this afternoon. Mea culpa. Super mea culpa. Instead, I just popped three Aleve. Instead of chatting up Eddie George and Marshall Faulk today, I shoveled five inches of snow out of our circular driveway -- along with my two blue-collar daughters, who probably wished they had school today -- and then went down to shovel out one elderly couple and one neighbor whose husband was traveling. Instead of lifting a notebook and pen, I'm planted on a chair. Lower back something or other. With Newark Airport closed -- more snow is expected this afternoon, ending at midnight -- you're getting my "10 Things I Think I Think" at the Super Bowl from the home office, as Letterman would say. Hopefully, I'll get down to the Big One with a booking on Wednesday's 5:15 a.m. Delta flight. Here goes: 1. I think the one guy the fans of America will get to appreciate this week is Marshall Faulk. Long thought of as selfish and moody, Faulk spent an ebullient 90 minutes with me last week talking about how excited he was to win, and he pulled me aside after Sunday's 11-6 win over Tampa Bay and said: "My numbers were nothing today, but what does that matter? We won. I've waited so long for this day to come. I know now I'd trade every yard, every touchdown to be where I am right now. The thing about numbers is, records will always be broken. My rushing-receiving-yardage record this year will be broken. But one day, if we win the Super Bowl, our name will be written in history as the best team of 1999, and nobody can break that record.'' 2. I think since North By Northwest is on this afternoon, I'm watching it.
3. I think all Rams defenders this week should cut out the we-don't-get-any-respect angle. You're in the Super Bowl. Enjoy it. "Peter King!!!'' London Fletcher yelled to me in the Rams locker room the other night, "You've got to write about us now!'' You'll get written about, guy. Just get on the Internet this week, scroll through Sportspages.com, and there'll be story after story about you and your mates. 4. I think London Fletcher, by the way, is to the Rams what Junior Seau is to the Chargers ... and the league. What a great player. 5. I think the maturity of Eddie George is a big reason the Titans are in this game. He's turned over a new worker-bee leaf, and the respect he gets when he walks into the locker room is huge. 6. I think America will get to know Samari Rolle Sunday afternoon, and America will like what it sees. Rolle is a Titans corner, a tallish, 6-foot, 190-pound force. Rolle will likely be man-covering one of the 4.4-in-the-40 Rams receivers much of the game, and I see much success in his short-term future. He's also contributing a daily diary to CNNSI.com. 7. I think everyone is cheering for you, Ricky Proehl. 8. I think the Rams offensive legacy hinges on this game, as I wrote in this week's Sports Illustrated. If they go out and lay a 13-point egg on Sunday -- even if, as was the case in the NFC Championship Game against Tampa Bay, they get a couple of receivers hurt and thus reduce what they can do offensively in the gameplan -- the Rams will be thought of as a very good offense that took advantage of a weak schedule in an awful division, not a great offense. 9. I think Marty Schottenheimer will not be coaching any team this year. 10. I think Bill Belichick's lawsuit is pathetic. Just pathetic. SI's King will file the 10 things he thinks he thinks every day leading up
to -- and even at halftime during -- Super Bowl
XXXIV.
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