Win The Super

OAKLAND, Calif. - With 16 seconds left in the biggest game of his life, quarterback Trent Dilfer embraced right guard Mike Flynn and let his emotions flow. There were tears in his eyes, cameras in his face and joy in his heart. After years of hard knocks and dry runs, Dilfer and the Ravens are going to the Super Bowl. They wrote that improbable chapter yesterday with a suffocating 16-3 victory over the Oakland Raiders in the AFC championship game at Network Associates Coliseum. They will rendezvous with the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa, Fla., in two weeks.

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.

MIAMI -- It was a Super Bowl buildup like few of the 32 that preceded it.Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Reeves rekindled a 7-year-old war with unsuspecting Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan.Atlanta cornerback Ray Buchanan issued a victory guarantee, wore a studded dog collar and said Denver tight end Shannon Sharpe looked like a horse.Sharpe's retort was even more biting: Buchanan was ugly. On top of that, he was a cross-dresser. Or so Sharpe heard.Two more Falcons, Cornelius Bennett and Terance Mathis, both confessed to excessive partying/drinking in their past.

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)

SAN FRANCISCO -- Quarterback John Elway, a three-time Super Bowl loser, likely will have public sentiment on his side when the Denver Broncos meet the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII.And Brett Favre doesn't mind one bit."I'm just happy we're there," the Packers quarterback said after advancing to San Diego with a 23-10 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game yesterday."John's had some chances to win it, and now he has another. People go down certain roads."The road Elway traveled to get to San Diego was labeled "wild card," and featured payback wins over Jacksonville, Kansas City and Pittsburgh.

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.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Brett Favre is going home, Bill Parcells is going back, and the NFL's two expansion teams are going out -- of the playoffs, that is.In the end, the prospect of an all-expansion team Super Bowl fizzled like a Fourth of July parade in a deluge.Invitations to Super Bowl XXXI two weeks hence in New Orleans went out yesterday, and there were no surprises.It will be the Green Bay Packers, 15-3 after a 30-13 victory over the Carolina Panthers in the NFC championship game, against the New England Patriots, 13-5 after a 20-6 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars for the AFC title.

The ghost of Jimmy still is hovering over Jerry.When the Dallas Cowboys proved they could win the Super Bowl last season without former coach Jimmy Johnson, it seemed finally to exorcise Johnson's ghost from the franchise for owner Jerry Jones.Coach Barry Switzer even screamed, "We did it our way!" after the Cowboys beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl.But with the 1996 season just one week old, the old questions about Switzer's coaching have been raised again.Johnson's Miami Dolphins beat the New England Patriots, 24-10, in his debut with five rookies in the starting lineup, but Switzer's Cowboys were embarrassed by the Chicago Bears, 22-6, Monday night.

DAVIE, Fla. -- In the summer of his rejuvenation, Jimmy Johnson was forever sending concise and, more often than not, caustic messages to the Miami Dolphins.To fat, indolent tight end Eric Green, he sent the message slothfulness won't make it at Camp Jimmy. Green, a two-time Pro Bowl player who missed 39 practices last season, was cut before training camp.To borderline veterans Keith Byars and Gene Atkins, he issued a message of fiscal prudence. Both were forced to swallow huge pay cuts after testing the market.

Troy Aikman is having fun again.The Dallas Cowboys quarterback, who has spent a season troubled by injuries and angst, is in the midst of his favorite time of the year."