Fairy-tale finale S U P E R B O W L X X X I V 16 23 Warner wings

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jan 31, 2000 by AP

It was a personal kick watching former Chiefs coaches Al Saunders, Lynn Stiles, Carl "Big Daddy" Hairston, Frank Gansz and John Bunting finally win the ring. It's easy to feel good for Dick Vermeil, deemed too old and too far removed from today's players to be a winner when he returned to football in 1997. It was a kick watching Warner complete his rags-to-riches story. It was fun watching former showgirl Georgia Frontiere ...

No, let's not go there, either.

It was a fun day, one for all kinds of isolated, non-related observations during the annual excuse-to-party we call Super Bowl Sunday.

Here, in no apparent order, are some of those thoughts composed before getting caught up in the excitement of a truly great finish.

- The All-Madden team has become a bad joke. Once a badge of honor for those selected to a team befitting the pioneers who once wore leather helmets, it's now nothing more than a promotion for Fox Sports' coverage of the NFC. Only eight of the 52 players selected were from the AFC. Why even bother?

- Nice tribute ABC did for Derrick Thomas in pre-game. Get well comments from Bruce and McNair were a very human touch. Nice to see Chiefs Hall of Famers Bobby Bell, Willie Lanier, Jan Stenerud and Lamar Hunt wearing a very visible 58 decal at the coin flip.

- Nice piece Robin Roberts prepared on Fritz Pollard, the first black athlete to play professional football in the late 1910s, long before the Civil Rights movement was born.

OUR FAVORITE COMMERCIALS, according to a group vote (with this narrator breaking all ties):

- Herding the cats, EDS. Never learned what EDS does, other than "bringing ideas and people together." The dusty cowpoke cleaning his vest with a lint roller was a stitch.

- Rex, the Bud truck-chasing dog. Leaps tall hedges in a single bound, but watch out for that van!

- The Wizard of Ex. A Fed Ex truck falls into Oz, killing the Wicked Witch while delivering helium balloons to Munchkins whose voices have inexplicably become low.

- Every designated driver is a great one, Budweiser. Wayne Gretzky takes the keys to the Zamboni and drives its impaired operator home. Shady Acres retirement village. Recent retirees Evander Holyfield, Tara Lipinski, Wade Boggs and Barry Sanders have planned well for their future, thanks to Charles Schwab. "You're on top," Charles Barkley tells new roommate Mike Ditka, pointing to the bunk beds.

RICK DEAN

Capital-Journal sports writer

Dean