THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 15, 1996 TAG: 9601150131
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Bob Molinaro
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Critics of the NFL are in hiding for the time being. Sunday's conference championship games were compelling and entertaining. In the case of the AFC showcase, even tinglingly taut.
Let football fans savor these special moments before another letdown arrives.
``We've had two great games,'' wailed TV analyst John Madden. ``Why can't the Super Bowl be a great game?''
John knows better than to ask why.
But there's always hope. Maybe this Super Sunday, in homes throughout America, interest in the game will last longer than the dip.
Stranger things have happened, though none spring immediately to mind.
For now, then, the suspicion persists that the 30th Super Bowl will be a demolition in the desert.
It is never too soon to begin handicapping the Super Bowl. For this game, excessive hype and wild speculation are all we can count on.
In the giddy aftermath of Sunday's games, the Pittsburgh Steelers are touted as having a defense that can prevent another Super rout.
Perhaps so. Then again, that wasn't exactly the '68 Colts the Steelers barely got by.
Years ago, Three Rivers Stadium was the site of Franco Harris' ``Immaculate Reception.'' Sunday almost produced another.
When the Hail Mary pass from Jim Harbaugh to Indy wide receiver Aaron Bailey was correctly ruled incomplete, the Steelers had to feel relieved, if not a bit embarrassed.
Pittsburgh had everything it could ask for in a title game. The home field. The sober determination that comes from just missing out on a Super Bowl. A wildcard entry for a foil.
Still, it took a gallant comeback and a tainted touchdown to get the job done.
There was nothing immaculate about the eyesight of the official who failed to detect Kordell Stewart stepping out of the end zone before catching a touchdown pass. The breaks of the game went Pittsburgh's way.
But a moment that transcends the score was a shot of the gritty, overachieving Harbaugh with fresh blood on his white pants and helmet.
Something like this can transform a game into riveting theater.
Speaking of showbiz, are there enough limousines in Tempe, Ariz., to contain the Dallas Cowboys?
``Stars play like stars in big games,'' TV talking head Terry Bradshaw said Sunday.
Nobody has more stars than the Cowboys. Even their owner is a star, by his own insistence. But while Deion Sanders, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin and Troy Aikman dazzled by turn, the play of the Dallas offensive line was just as demoralizing for anyone hoping for a competitive Super Bowl.
The gaping holes the Cowboys opened in the Packers' defense suggest that what the cheeseheads are wearing is Swiss.
It seems almost unfair for a team with so many weapons to use Sanders on offense. The Steelers, on the other hand, greatly depend on the gifted gimmickry of Stewart.
``The good thing about the Super Bowl,'' said Madden early Sunday evening, ``is that you have two weeks ...''
His voice trailed off before he completed the thought.
Two weeks to do what? Learn the names of the Steelers' players? Prepare the dip? Wish that the NFL would just quit while it's ahead? by CNB