Super talk

Rams-Pats queries fill up the 'bag

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This is the way it works. I'm doing this thing late Thursday night. Unfortunately, a lot of you hadn't read the piece that got posted on Wednesday where I matched up about 60 players or so from the two teams, so some of the questions and and answers will be more redundant than usual. Still interested? Here it comes.

John of Chicago is worried that the Patriots' linebackers are not quick enough or good enough to slow down the Rams' greyhounds. That's where coaching comes in. I have faith in Bill Belichick's ability to keep his guys out of positions in which they would be overmatched. I do feel, though, that New England's dime back, Terrance Shaw, No. 22, will give up at least two big plays.

A couple of rips from the suburbs of St. Louis. Michael of E. St. Looie and Shawn of Laramie, Wyo. (never underestimate the breadth of the Rams' fan base), who feel that rating Troy Brown over Torry (spelled right by only one of these gentlemen and I won't tell you which one) Holt is just one hell of a joke. Dear fans, Brown caught 20 more passes, but gained fewer yards. Brown broke up the Pittsburgh game while Holt caught five shorties against Philly. Why am I explaining all this? Everybody knows who's better. "When the Rams are up by 30 in the fourth quarter, I will laugh at you and your ignorance," writes Cowboy Shawn. Now you listen here. You can laugh at me but leave my ignorance alone.

An of Milpitas, Calif., wonders how much the speedy artificial surface in the Superdome will factor into the equation. Terrell Buckley, the Patriots' nickel back, was asked that on Thursday. He said, "It makes their receivers faster, but it makes me faster, too." I don't think I can add much to that.

Donald from Charlotte, N.C., thinks it's ridiculous that some people entertained the thought of Bledsoe starting over Brady. Me, too, and I wrote it in my Super Bowl advance in the magazine this week. Others disagreed. Nothing new. Everyone disagrees with me about everything.

Tim of Waterloo, Ill., feels that fullback James Hodgins is the most underrated member of the Rams offense. Kind of, but he comes off the field a lot, too. My candidate would be, let's see, would be, Marshall Faulk! Just kidding, relax. It would be tight end Ernie Conwell.

David of Toronto argues for Warner over Faulk for MVP. I'm really tired of these star wars. My guy was Michael Strahan.

Mike of Boston builds a case for Patriots RCB Otis Smith. Read my matchups. I did, too, using just about the same language you did.

Two quickies from Shane of Bangor, Maine. If the Rams offense is so great and their defense was No.1 and they still lost two games, doesn't that say something about Miami's unbeaten team of 1972? I have one answer to that. If you're riding in a train going 70 mph, and you pass a field with 42 sheep in it, doesn't that say something about the weather west of Missouri? Shane, baby, I'm afraid I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Besides, the Rams were No. 3 in defense, not No. 1.

His second one is easier to answer. Any ideas for a low-cost honeymoon destination, some place where I've taken the Redhead on a vacation? Off the top of my head, I'd have said Maine, but you're there already. I don't know what you mean by low cost, but we watch our pennies and we usually end up in the Mendocino area in northern California. Look it up in the phone book and call Mendocino Coast Reservations and get yourself a nice cottage for a week. Ask for Elizabeth. Tell her I sent you. If you're there late this month, you might check me out. I'll be at the Fetzer tasting room, drinking myself stupid. The Redhead will be out in front, flagging down an emergency vehicle. Can't miss us.

Paul of Annandale, Va., believes that the Rams are vulnerable when trying to come from behind in a close game. And they can't manage the clock. And they frivolously waste timeouts. I talked to Mike Martz about all these things this week. His answers were long and detailed, too long for this space. The thrust of it was that he runs his offense, hopefully without distractions. He calls timeouts for a purpose, even though not all folks recognize it. The Rams aren't in a lot of close games because they have a habit of making games that figure to be close, not close at all. Is this so bad?

To Terrell of Houston, who feels that the Steelers blew it because they were looking ahead to N'Awlyins. Teams don't always blow games. Sometimes the other guys deserve a bit of credit. The Pats won on two big special teams plays and two picks at the end. I thought the intensity was pretty high on both sides. I enjoyed the game. I am a gentleman of breeding who does not go around looking for trouble, at least not this week.

Jarvis of Atlanta wonders why Roger Craig is not on this year's Hall of Fame ballot. Well, don't look at me. I voted him to a spot on the preliminary ballot. Evidently my confreres felt different. Part of the problem might be that too many Niners have made it recently. Don't laugh. There are people who care about such things.

I don't like to duck questions, but in answer to Walt of Silver Spring, Md., who wants my recollections of Night Train Lane, all I can say is that I'm doing a piece on him for next week's issue of Sports Illustrated and I don't think the magazine would like it if I scooped myself here. But in answer to where I'd rank him among DB's alltime, I'd say top half dozen, along with Deion, J J Johnson, Willie Brown, Herb Adderly and Mike Haynes. Thanks for your complimentary words.

Some hard questions about Pat Summerall from R.J. from S.F. No, I don't think my broadcasters column had anything to do with his being pushed out. The network people care very little about what comes off the typewriter of trash such as I. You suggest that his longevity and track record caused FOX to keep him on longer than they should have. There's some truth in that. I think they were hoping that he'd get back in shape so it could be business as usual in the land of their No. 1 team. Didn't happen. Goodbye, Pat. Keep the hot milk handy. I'm heading there myself.

To Dave of Reston, Va.: Based on his record, Hank Stram deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. But his habit of running up scores and rubbing teams' noses in it got him in bad with a lot of people, including some of the selectors. Hell, his own players didn't even like it.

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