"Super Bowl XXXVII" Talkback (spoilers)

[Memphis Bleek]

Chris Berman, Mike Tirico, Steve Young, and Joe Theismann host the Super Bowl XXXVII pre-game show. The pre-game show will feature musical performnaces by Santana and Friends, Michelle Branch, Beyonce Knowles, and Styx. The pre-game show starts at 1 PM CST/2 PM EST on ABC.

The AT&T Wireless Halftime show will feature musical performances by Shania Twain, No Doubt, and Sting.

From Qualcomm Stadum in San Deigo, the Oakland Raiders versus the Tampa Bay Buccaners in Super Bowl XXXVII. Quaterback Rich Gannon leads AFC champion Oakland against Defensive Tackle Warren Sapp and NFC Champion Tampa Bay. Kickoff for Super Bowl XXXVII is at 5:18 PM CST/6:18 PM EST on ABC.

This thread encompasses the pre-game show, the halftime show,the game itslelf, and the post-game show.

http://raiders.com/uploads/photos/perm/main/IBFBCBMONDOI/012503pod.jpg
Do you believe in Offense or Defense?

[Boy Wonder]

I believe in Defense. They have to hold the other team down, and if the Raiders can hold them, the game will be theirs. DON'T forget, the Bucs has some great football, and they can play.

[Buddy Lee]

Is it just me or has this been the most boring leadups to a Super Bowl in recent memory? There really isn't any compelling stories coming from these two teams.

As for the game itself, I look for the Bucs defense to assert itself early. They will handle the Raider offense like they control the Rams' high octane offense. Even though they lost in the NFC title game to the Rams, they were the best at keeping Warner and co under wraps.

The Bucs should be able to get at Gannon and Brad Johnson should be able to get the offense moving against a banged-up Raider secondary.

My predicition: Bucs 27, Raiders 20

Plus, does anyone really want to see that scumbag Al Davis holding the Lombardi trophy? :p

[RayChuang]

I just read on ESPN.com that Raiders starting center Barret Robbins has been sent home due to violations of team rules (e.g., he missed several team events yesterday).

Whether it will affect the game's outcome is unknown because Robbins has been affected by a foot injury and it was questionable if he was going to start anyway. It's likely that backup center Adam Treu has practiced as much as Robbins this week and it will probably have little effect on the Raiders' playbook plans.

(A quick update: it appears Robbins has been sent to the hospital for unknown reasons, according to the latest ESPN.com report.)

Oh by the way, what do you mean boring buildup? How could you escape the 'Chuckie' versus 'Saint Al' publicity?

[The Penguin]

As we continue to count-down to...
The Battle of the Evil Pillagers™

I just have to say how awesome I think those Don Cheadle play-off commercials are. I just saw one about "Roman Numerals" that was pretty cool. It gives you just enough to like it, but doesn't over do it.

EDIT:
Jimmy Kimmel says good-bye to cable was the best thing I have seen so far!! Visiting all the cable shows was cleverly done. I of course loved his good-by to WWE. He hugged Stacy Keibler twice!! :cool:

[Galaxia]

Originally posted by The Penguin
Jimmy Kimmel says good-bye to cable was the best thing I have seen so far!!

I saw that too! I liked when he was sitting on the CNN news ticker at the bottom of the screen, and when he was saying goodbye to Jon Stewart

Jon: *sniff* I'll tell BattleBots you said "goodbye" too!

Great stuff - I can't wait to watch his show tonight (I'm personally looking forward to the SNL Halftime Special on NBC ^^; I'm not a big Shania Twain fan)

[Cyber E.]

Well, at the current moment (34/9 Bucs) it seems preety much one-sided. I guess the victory is most likely going to go to the Tampa Bay Bucs, however this game is almost a disgrace, The Raiders seem to not even TRYING.

Sad...

[Zach Logan]

34:15, not as sad?

[Cyber E.]

Man, take about a change of pace. At the begining I thought sooner or later that the Raiders would come up strong but then I lost hope but then BAM outta nowhere they make 9 to a 15. Raiders messed up with that last play before the Commercial break but hopefully they will get it. (Was it just me or was he aiming for someone?)

[BlackoutCreature]

Its always been my opinion that when the game becomes this one-sided they should start changing the rules a little, to see if we get a more interesting show. Just little things, like letting The Raiders have an extra man on the field, or letting them carry weapons. Or just eliminate the rules altogether. Just throw the ball onto the field and say which ever team is holding it at the end of the quarter is the winner. What do u think?

[Chris Sanders MSX]

Tampa is runing these boys through the mud. I'm gonna brag so much in school tommorow. I was about teh only person in my school rooting for tampa.

[Crystalfox0]

YA!!!! GO TB! *starts dancing around celebrating the defeat of the raiders* Final score 48-21 TB!!!

[Bakasama]

The Raiders just gave Tampa Bay the game. The Raiders just played ugly and they payed for it. Even tho' I live in San Diego, I wanted the Tampa Bay to win.

[Memphis Bleek]

I didn't watch the pre-game show. The pre-game show was probably four hours of mindless banter with musical performances to keep viewers from falling a sleep.

The halftime show was medicore. What was Shania Twain wearing? Wow! Gwen Stefani did a push up! Sting's performance with No Doubt was bland. The halftime show at the Super Bowl is supposed to be exciting!

The ads were a vast improvement from last year.The Budweiser commercial with the zebra viewing instant replay was hilarious. Gatorade always seem to come up with creative ways to use Michael Jordan. Hulk's trailer was awesome! Hulk looks good. Daredevil's trailer was cool. Jennifer Garner is hot as Elektra. I'm juiced about seeing Daredevil in Februrary. Both trailers were great. The trailers did their job in building anticipation for their respective movies. Reebok capitalize on Nike absent. Reebok's Terry ad was the best Super Bowl commmercial of this year. Terry, the linebacker, was an ingenious move by Reebok's Marketing Department.

Offense fills stadiums, but Defense wins championships. Super Bowl XXXVII is a prime example. I was expecting a more competitive game. The Raiders kill themselves with penalties and turnovers. I was surprised that Simeon Rice wasn't the MVP. I guess Jon Gruden was worth four draft picks and eight million dollars. The Bucs are no longer paper champions.

[TimTwoFace]

Whoo! Tampa won! I'm not even a fan of the NFL - or football in general - but it's nice to see an "underdog" win a game so handily.

I have to admit, though, that if you weren't a Bucs fan, it wasn't a terribly exciting game. Why aren't more Superbowls actually entertaining?

-Tim

[czyznyck99]

Last year's was a thriller, as was the one in 2000. Tennessee was down by six on the last play and missed the end zone by half a yard. I've gotta believe they would have won the game with 10 more seconds.

Didn't watch it, but not really surprised Tampa won. We saw the same thing two years ago with Baltimore. DEFENSE always wins.

Later.

[Robin2099]

Yeah this was a rather awful Super Bowl this year, about the only thing I enjoyed were the comercials. Loved Shania Twain's outfit too.

[cross blues]

The Bucs won, of course. They have a lot more talent and showed a lot more heart. If anyone didn't believe defense wins championships, there's your proof. Hopefully the league realizes what retards they are for naming Gannon the MVP. He led in passing because his receivers can run. I wasn't at all impressed with his 5-yard passes. But the Bucs are #1, so they probably would have ripped any quarterback apart. I'm happy the Bucs won, and I'm glad it was so one-sided. They just proved how much more talent the NFC has. (Bucs vs. Eagles was the real Super Bowl.)

The halftime show looked great when Shania was on, but then No Doubt appeared and sucked the place up. Stupid no-talent Gwen even ruined Sting's song!

[Krayenhoff]

The NFL goes to show us all that if your team is comprised of thugs, losers, and morons, you will win a Super Bowl. The only thing the "Bucs" deserved was a locker-room full of cripples and national humiliation. Instead, that's what the Raiders got. Although, the Raiders deserved to lose anyway.

Rich Gannon is not the MVP. He is the Shoeless Joe of this era, though. I hope for his sake that he was throwing the game on purpose because I would not want to be that terrible of a player.

Warren Sapp, Keyshawn Johnson, and John Gruden should be banned from the sport. Sapp because he is a thug who is good for nothing but assaulting defenseless players, Keyshawn because he is a talentless loser, and Gruden because he is a traitor and a weasel.

The Buccaneers did not earn the victory. Anyone can beat a team that has a tired, old fool as its quarterback. Whoop de doo. And don't tell me that the "Bucs wanted it more!" No, they just wanted to put their fat faces on national TV, that's what. Well, maybe Sapp wanted to pick a fight with another elderly coach. I seriously hope that one day he does something so intolerable that he is beaten within an inch of his life on the field and has to retire in disgrace. He is truly a worthless person.

Sorry if that came off as harsh, but that game, combined with the NFL's gross disregard for the sport of football, puts me in a very disagreeable mood.

[FavreFactor]

I can't believe what the Oakland Raiders looked like last night. It looked like they didn't even care about the game. I guess I'm glad the Bucs won. The Raiders were droping balls everywhere. The Bucs were cheering their team mates on and everything. I think the Raiders didn't want to win as much as the Bucs did.

-FavreFactor

[DarkAngel]

Originally posted by Krayenhoff
The Buccaneers did not earn the victory. Anyone can beat a team that has a tired, old fool as its quarterback. Whoop de doo.

That's complete nonsense. The Raiders lost because their one-dimensional offense got shut down by an excellent defensive unit. The Raiders needed better playcalling and a running game, which they should have had with Charlie Garner.

[Krayenhoff]

That's complete nonsense. The Raiders lost because their one-dimensional offense got shut down by an excellent defensive unit. The Raiders needed better playcalling and a running game, which they should have had with Charlie Garner.

Okay, let's try this: we'll play a game of Stratego, except before I make a move, I'm going to declare which piece I'm moving, where I'm moving it to, and what I think I'll do next. Then when you beat me, we'll see how much you think you earned it.

Newsflash: Gruden and the Buccaneers knew EXACTLY what the Raiders were going to do because Callahan and Gannon were stupid enough to do the exact same thing that Gruden did when he was with the Raiders. Furthermore, they were too stupid to realize that the Bucs were onto them and they still probably haven't realized it anyway.

YOU CAN BEAT ANYONE IF YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO DO. IT IS NOT A BIG ACCOMPLISHMENT. All the Buccaneers needed to win was John Gruden telling them what was going to happen next, and a bunch of players who have hands. A high school team could have won under the same circumstances.

[DarkAngel]

Originally posted by Krayenhoff
Newsflash: Gruden and the Buccaneers knew EXACTLY what the Raiders were going to do because Callahan and Gannon were stupid enough to do the exact same thing that Gruden did when he was with the Raiders. Furthermore, they were too stupid to realize that the Bucs were onto them and they still probably haven't realized it anyway.


Newsflash: That's why I said the Raiders need better playcalling.

Gannon's not the coach. Callahan is, and he's the one that should be blamed (or the offensive coordinator).

And no matter how bad the Raiders blew it with the coaching, one can't take away the fact that the Bucs have a great defense. It's a fact.

[Jade_GL]

I agree with the statements that the Raiders didn't have good enough play calling. They had a great running back in Charlie Garner, but they decided to pass on almost every play. While I understand that Tampa Bay is an amzing defensive unit, they still should have tried to run more often.

Gruden did know what Gannon was going to do, but that just means that Gannon and especially his new coach should have adjusted their gameplan accordingly. They have amazing players, you're telling me that they couldn't have mixed up their plays, tried some new stuff They were pitiful and one-dimensional.

I give Tampa Bay all the credit. They were a great defensive team that played with a lot of heart when it mattered most. :D

[Pilmedium]

None of my favorite teams even made it to the Super Bowl, so I did not really care about who won. I found it disturbing how some people I saw today thought this was a close game, making it more exciting. It was not close, except near the beginning. I felt not much need to watch after the pullaway.

[Batman's Biggest Fan]

WHY? EAGLES? WHY? THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU!

[Moof]

Weeeellll

Told ya so...

[Jade_GL]

I thought the game was going to be so much closer. I was kind of disappointed. I wanted an exciting game, but the Raiders just kind of looked beat up and by the time they started to get their butts in gear, the Bucs were already ahead 34-3.

Wow, I thought the Bucs would win, but not by that margin.

[Stardust]

I was rooting for the Bucs. I had a feeling they'd win. Kinda disappointed the game wasn't that great, the commercials wasn't even that great, either. And the half time show was ok. Shania was lip synching, which kinda sucked.

[cross blues]

I don't think it's that the Raiders didn't care. I think it's that when they saw how good the Bucs were (about 5 minutes in) they realized they couldn't win. Seems like something they should have known well before the game, but oh well.

[The Penguin]

This belongs in the Super Bowl talkback thread, which is where we are now. The merge wasn't perfect, but we don't need two threads about the game.

[Doc Savage]

I am glad that the Raiders were whipped.
Any time the Raiders get beat that badly is a happy day for me. :D

[Supernovametalstar]

This is the first Superbowl game that I've watched aside from the commercials and the halftime show (I'm not a football fan). I thought it was pretty interesting. Probably because I root for the underdogs (everyone I heard was betting for the Raiders to win).

[The Penguin]

I must have missed Penn and Teller pull the pickle jar down after the game. Were they right?

[Jade_GL]

Originally posted by The Penguin
I must have missed Penn and Teller pull the pickle jar down after the game. Were they right?

Everything they wrote was right. They got the winner, score, and MVP. It was pretty cool. I really want to know how they did it.

I know it's not like they're psychic or anything, but it's an interesting trick and I want to know their secrets!!!!!!!

[Moof]

DUH!

They changed it before the cut to the segment.

Theres no way they even knew who Dexter Jackson is

[The Penguin]

Originally posted by Moof
DUH!

They changed it before the cut to the segment.

Theres no way they even knew who Dexter Jackson is Well obviously the did something, but there were people all over the place and they had Marines guarding the jar. It wasn't just changed, it's called "magic" my Buc loving friend. ;)