Win The Super

Good morning --Ben Roethlisberger -- Win the Super Bowl and your name will be in lights - a lot of lights.

This week, each of the 32 NFL teams will start their seasons with renewed hope and dozens of reasons -- real or imagined -- to believe that they will be the ones leaving their sweaty fingerprints on the Lombardi Trophy at season's end. But let's be honest here: Most of those teams won't come remotely close to touching it. That's why I'm going to spare you the suspense and weed out more than half the field before they play their first games....

Poor Bloomberg. Now he has to be mayor of New York. Kathleen has so much money, she should run in a bigger state. Hey, Bud, if it is not in Washington, it is not the national pastime. Things are so back to normal, we'll soon fuss about Gary Condit again. It's ridiculous to think that a team with a 5-3 record could go on to win the Super Bowl.

I'm not very good at making preseason predictions. Two years ago, I picked the Giants to beat the Chargers in the Super Bowl. Last season, I wrote a column saying the Ravens would go all the way, and they might have had they not fallen apart against the Steelers. This year, I'm feeling good about the Patriots and the Packers -- and yes, I felt that way before Thursday night -- but considering my track record, neither will win it all in 2011. That's why I'm picking nine different teams to lift the Lombardi Trophy, with a reason why each of the NFL's true contenders will be showered with confetti at season's end. I like my chances of getting it right this year.

Now that the teams are set, which should be favored to win the Super Bowl? Forget all the drivel of analysis, semantics and persiflage you may hear over the next two weeks. This is the year that the Steelers will finally win one for their thumb. Bill Leavy Millersville Pittsburgh can't win. Any team that lost to the 2005 Ravens can't win the Super Bowl. Kelby Brick Catonsville As much as it pains me to say - the Steelers! They clearly have the momentum, and "The Bus" would love to go out on top, a la John Elway.

For what it's worth, the Maryland House of Delegates is strongly convinced that the Green Bay Packers will win the Super Bowl.With an extremely light agenda early in the 90-day legislative session, House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. yesterday instructed the House clerks to call the roll on the game's outcome.Before the vote was taken, there was even some lobbying. One Baltimore County delegate rose to remind his colleagues that the New England Patriots feature running back David Meggett, a former Towson State University standout.

SUPER BOWL HERORunning BackFRANCO HARRISFranco played in four Super Bowls with the Steelers (1975, 1976, 1979, 1980). Pittsburgh won all four games.Franco holds the Super Bowl records for career rushing attempts (101) and rushing yards (354).Franco was the MVP of the 1975 Super Bowl. He ran for 158 yards and one TD.SUPER FUN FACTSLinebacker Matt Millen is the only player to win the Super Bowl four times with three different teams!Matt won Super Bowls with the Oakland 1/8 Los Angeles Raiders (1981 and 1984)

David Modell, president of the Ravens, is fulfilling a promise with the Lombardi Trophy. He and the Super Bowl trophy will be the "guests" of honor April 17 at a dinner for Carroll County's 18 volunteer recreation councils. The councils will have first crack at the 600 tickets, which sell for $16. A sellout is expected. Modell has appeared twice at recreation council events and promised on both occasions to return with the trophy. "He never said, `If we win the Super Bowl,'" said Barbara Lages, county recreation supervisor.

According to a Reuters report I saw, the Nevada Gaming Control Board said it was only the second time since 1992 when such records have been kept that the sports books went in the red over the Super Bowl. The other occasion was in 1995 (San Francisco-San Diego). The killer bet for the sports books was the money line wagers on the Giants in which bettors were getting hefty odds for underdog New York to win outright. The dream bet, though, was for anyone who took the Giants on what is known as a "futures" bet to win the Super Bowl.

Let's hope Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy experiences a change of heart in the next few weeks as his undefeated team goes about wrapping up a division title and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. Let's hope he decides to make every effort to have the Colts become the first NFL team to go 16-0, and just the second in the modern era to finish a regular season with a perfect record. Let's hope he doesn't ease up in the last few games if the Colts have nothing left to play for, as he intimated he might late Monday night after the Colts thrashed the Steelers to improve to 11-0.

Monsters of the Midway Steve Svekis Sun Sentinel Based on performance in one season, the final four are the 1985 Bears, 1991 Redskins, 1973 Dolphins and the 1989 49ers. These teams had fewer than three losses and dominated their postseasons, including the Super Bowl. The 14-2 Redskins were the only such team whose regular-season opponents finished above .500 cumulatively. Still, they are far, far back of the 1985 Bears. With that smothering "46" defense, "Sweetness" and the funky QB known as Jim McMahon, Chicago lost only once in the regular season.

According to a Reuters report I saw, the Nevada Gaming Control Board said it was only the second time since 1992 when such records have been kept that the sports books went in the red over the Super Bowl. The other occasion was in 1995 (San Francisco-San Diego). The killer bet for the sports books was the money line wagers on the Giants in which bettors were getting hefty odds for underdog New York to win outright. The dream bet, though, was for anyone who took the Giants on what is known as a "futures" bet to win the Super Bowl.

Now that the teams are set, which should be favored to win the Super Bowl? Forget all the drivel of analysis, semantics and persiflage you may hear over the next two weeks. This is the year that the Steelers will finally win one for their thumb. Bill Leavy Millersville Pittsburgh can't win. Any team that lost to the 2005 Ravens can't win the Super Bowl. Kelby Brick Catonsville As much as it pains me to say - the Steelers! They clearly have the momentum, and "The Bus" would love to go out on top, a la John Elway.

Good morning --Ben Roethlisberger -- Win the Super Bowl and your name will be in lights - a lot of lights.

The possibilities are as enticing as they are endless. In short order, we could be watching a Super Bowl between Hall of Fame coaches -- one who's already got his bust in Canton, the Washington Redskins' Joe Gibbs, and another who's got reservations, the New England Patriots' Bill Belichick. It might not be much for sound bites, but it'd be great for X's and O's. Or we could have a coaches' Redemption Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks' Mike Holmgren and the Denver Broncos' Mike Shanahan.

Let's hope Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy experiences a change of heart in the next few weeks as his undefeated team goes about wrapping up a division title and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. Let's hope he decides to make every effort to have the Colts become the first NFL team to go 16-0, and just the second in the modern era to finish a regular season with a perfect record. Let's hope he doesn't ease up in the last few games if the Colts have nothing left to play for, as he intimated he might late Monday night after the Colts thrashed the Steelers to improve to 11-0.

There's a special group of players on the Senior PGA Tour who bring something extra to many of the events.These are the Super Seniors, those 60 and over, who have their own pro-am and their own tournament-within-a-tournament during each of the tour's regular 54- hole programs.It started in 1987, and has grown steadily to the point where this year, under the sponsorship of Georgia-Pacific, each week's 36-hole purse is $175,000 ($30,000 for first), and the year's total for 23 tournaments will be more than $4 million.

When Trent Dilfer returns to Baltimore on Sunday, he will find his old team on the ropes, his old coach under siege and a city wondering how it all happened. With great theater like this, who needs a playoff contender? This week, it's the jilted quarterback facing down the coach who banished him after they won a Super Bowl together five years ago for the Ravens. Dilfer, now with the Cleveland Browns, and Brian Billick, under fire for a 1-3 start, said all the right things yesterday about their impending reunion at M&T Bank Stadium.