Broncos Can Go Where No Team Has Sunk Before

Tony Kornheiser in the Washington Post: “At the moment the happiest people in America are Buffalo Bills fans, because the Denver Broncos are in position to take them off the hook.

“If the Broncos hold true to their Super Bowl form--and get croaked by the customary 30 points--the Buffalo Bills will no longer be the national joke by which pathetic Super Bowl teams are measured.

“If the Broncos lose the upcoming Super Bowl--and who among us believes they won’t?--Denver will surpass [is that the right word?] Buffalo and Minnesota, and become the only franchise to go 0-5 in Super Bowls.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the record for the longest run from scrimmage in a Super Bowl?

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Don’t bet on it: Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News, on the Knicks’ persistent use of the streaky John Starks:

“If Michael Jordan ever plays for the Knicks, Jeff Van Gundy still would play Starks ahead of him.”

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Mike’s caddie: Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune on NBC’s Ahmad Rashad working the AFC championship game:

“Ahmad Rashad shows up in Pittsburgh for the AFC title game, and I’m thinking, he had a permission slip from Michael [Jordan], right?”

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Everyone is a champ: Blackie Sherrod in the Dallas Morning News: “Geezers mourn for the simple days when there were world champ boxers in only eight weight classes and you could name them. Nowadays, there are as many as 17 classes in each of three different organizations.

“You are a real fight scholar if you can identify something called Sirmongkol Nakornthorn-Parkview as one of the bantam champs.”

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Who doesn’t? Heavyweight contender Shannon Briggs on his purse for fighting World Boxing Council champion Lennox Lewis on March 26 in Atlantic City: “I’m getting about $2 million--and I need it bad.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1978, the Dallas Cowboys took advantage of eight Denver turnovers on their way to a 27-10 victory in Super Bowl XII, the Broncos’ first Super Bowl and their only one without John Elway.

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Looking back again: On this day in 1991, John Stockton of the Utah Jazz was credited with 28 assists against San Antonio, tied for third best on the all-time NBA list and only two shy of the record set by Orlando’s Scott Skiles in 1990.

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Trivia answer: Marcus Allen of the Los Angeles Raiders, 74 yards against the Washington Redskins in 1984.

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And finally: Mike Tyson’s influence has apparently extended across the Atlantic.

Argentine Federico Mendez, one of three players suspected of biting a chunk out of the ear of an opponent in a English rugby match, said he didn’t do it.

In Saturday’s match in Bath, England, London Scottish player Simon Fenn said he was bitten on the ear by a Bath player and needed 25 stitches--and may still need skin grafts--to close the wound.