What’s My Line? Forget hype — XXXIII means Denver win

Friday, Jan. 29, 1999 | 11:33 a.m.

Sal DeFilippo's pro football picks column appears during the football season. Reach him at 259-4076 or sal@lasvegassun.com

I remember when the Super Bowl meant something.

The last really good game with a Roman numeral suffix was XXV in 1991, when Scott Norwood missed a field goal on the final play to start Buffalo's nasty string of Super Bowl losses.

Remember the emotion of the underdog Giants during their embrace? Remember the dejected Norwood?

That was back when the game was about the game, and not which lizard would try to kill what frog during the commercial.

What about last year, you say? Sure, the game was closely contested for a change, but even the storybook finish for John Elway's career was tarnished by his insistence to come back and try it again. The nerve of that guy to ruin such a Hollywood ending.

Instead of Joe Namath guaranteeing the game will end with his team on top, we have Fox guaranteeing the game will end with the premiere of another animated series.

It used to be that teams got two weeks to prepare for the title game to get players healthy, analyze tapes and allow the hype to build. Now, we need the two weeks just for the pregame show.

If I sound bitter, my apologies, particularly to the Falcons, who have rekindled a forgotten spirit simply with their participation on Sunday. Their season is deserving of a better fate than to have Terry Bradshaw analyze their play for hours on end, regardless of how well they actually play.

At least the Dan Reeves-John Elway longtime tiff provides an intriguing sidebar, even if it is perhaps overblown.

Rather than spend the hours before the game watching Cris Collinsworth and Howie Long talk about -- well, anything -- I'll be trying to sort out the many proposition wagers available these days.

After all, who can pass up the opportunity to bet on whether Terance Mathis will score more often than an English Premier Soccer League team?

Speaking of proposition bets, for those who want a piece of the action without the cost, play the Super Bowl Proposition Frenzy contest on the Sun's website, Vegas.com. You'll make 100 picks involving Sunday's game -- more entertaining than any pre-game show -- and compete for prizes.

What about the game? Oh yeah, almost forgot. I'm 2-0-1 in Super Bowl picks in this column, including picking Denver to cover last year. Enjoy the game, everyone.

Super Bowl XXXIII

DENVER -7 1/2 at Atlanta, under 53 -- As the sun sets in Miami, John Elway rides away as a champion. A late touchdown causes heartache for Dan Reeves (last bad joke of the season, folks) and covers the spread for Denver backers. Denver 31, Atlanta 21.