He’s Saying the Rams Are Super Confident

Gary Shelton of the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, on visiting St. Louis and listening to the cocky Rams before last Sunday’s NFC championship game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

“There are bonuses to spending a week in St. Louis. For one thing, it isn’t eight days. . . .

“The other things you learn along the way are these: 1) The Rams are pretty darned good. 2) The Rams think they’re pretty darned good. 3) No, they think they’re better than that.

“Today’s forecast? Smug. Followed later by cocky.”

The Rams, a 14 1/2-point favorite, weren’t that impressive in winning, 11-6.

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Trivia time: Who holds the record for rushing yards in a Super Bowl game?

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Yawn: The Super Bowl matchup doesn’t excite Woody Paige of the Denver Post:

“St. Louis and Nashville? How about a riverboat race or a biscuit-and-redeye-

gravy-eating-contest? There hasn’t been such an exciting championship since the World Football League and the ‘Superstars Competition’ went out of business.”

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So long, Sausage: Georg Hackl of Germany, gold medalist in men’s luge singles for the last three Olympic Winter Games, has announced he’s retiring after Salt Lake City 2002.

And with him will go one of sport’s most distinctive nicknames, “Speeding White Sausage.”

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Silent bust: Greg Cote of the Miami Herald, on talkative Tampa Bay defensive tackle Warren Sapp:

“He wears his hair in corn rows that fall to his shoulders in tightly wound strands. His smile is wide and full of teeth.”

“ ‘I want to be the first guy whose Hall of Fame bust has dreadlocks on it,’ he announces. That would be perfect, but for one problem. Bronze busts don’t talk.”

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No alternative: “With instant replay, we are now reviewing the spotting of the ball,” complains syndicated columnist Norman Chad.

“Folks, on each and every play in which they spot the ball, it is an approximation. It is not exact. We must accept this; if we do not accept this, we all might as well start watching soccer.”

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Training routine: From the Gallery column of the San Diego Union-Tribune: “Mike Tyson visited Madame Tussaud’s wax museum in London and posed next to a model of Muhammad Ali.

“Tyson hopes to wax his next opponent, Julius Francis, who presumably will be less of a stiff.”

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Happy birthday: Wayne Gretzky turns 39 today.

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Trivia answer: Timmy Smith of the Washington Redskins, 204, against the Denver Broncos in 1988.

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And finally: Thomas Boswell in the Washington Post, on Michael Jordan becoming part owner of the Washington Wizards:

“Right now, the best athlete of the 20th century is in a new game. He’s trying to be a top executive in the 21st. This time, Michael Jordan is the underdog.”