Steelers coach Mike Tomlin meets the press

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin met with the media one last time Monday morning before leaving Tampa. Read the full transcript here:

Super Bowl TV ratings down from last year

Preliminary Nielsen Media Research ratings show the Super Bowl's audience was likely down from last year's peak, but about on par with the 2007 and 2006 games, according to an Associated Press story.

The Pittsburgh-Arizona game on NBC recorded a 42.1 rating and 65 share in Nielsen's overnight measurement of the nation's top cities. The same measurement for last year's New York Giants-New England Patriots game, which was the most-watched Super Bowl ever, was 44.7.

Read the full story here.

Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes meets the press

Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes met with the media one final time before leaving Tampa Monday morning. Here is the complete transcript:

Arizona Cardinals strike too quickly in Super Bowl

''The only problem with the quick-strike abilities of Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald was that they left too much time for Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who engineered a 78-yard touchdown drive. Roethlisberger tossed the winner to Santonio Holmes, who tightroped the end zone corner with 35 seconds remaining in the Steelers' 27-23 win.''

Read Rick Stroud's story here.

James Harrison's return 'biggest' play of the game

''Lost in all the late drama and an improbable finish, Steelers linebacker James Harrison had one of the best plays in Super Bowl history.

In Pittsburgh's 27-23 victory Sunday Harrison's 100-yard interception return for a touchdown at the end of the first half was "the difference in the game," Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley said.

"I think it was the biggest play of the game," Steelers cornerback Bryant McFadden said. "It took the momentum from them."

Read the full story here.

NFL has never seen anything like this Super Bowl

''In a hundred years, they will talk of this game. In a hundred years, they will talk about the plays, about the comebacks, about the amazing finish that came after the other amazing finish. In a hundred years, they will talk about the finest Super Bowl of them all.

Forty-three years, and a championship has never been this exciting, this breathless, this much fun. Forty-three games, and none of them has measured up to this: Pittsburgh 27, Arizona 23.

And tell me: Is your heart beating normally yet?

This was terrific stuff. This was amazing entertainment. This was everything you ever wanted in a Super Bowl. It was Ben Roethlisberger's arm and Santonio Holmes' toes tucked inside the sideline and James Harrison's wild ramble down the sideline. This was Kurt Warner's toughness and Larry Fitzgerald's speed and Anquan Boldin's hands. It was a team that refused to lose against a team that would not go away.

This was Super Bowl XLIII, and the NFL has never seen anything like it.''

Read Gary Shelton's entire column here.

Santonio Holmes is latest Steelers' Super bowl hero

''The list of the Steelers' past Super Bowl heroes is as long as it is impressive.

Names such as Franco Harris, Terry Bradshaw and Lynn Swann, each enshrined in Canton, immediately come to mind.

And then you have the man who can be credited with saving Super Bowl XLIII for Pittsburgh: Santonio Holmes.

The third-year Steeler didn't even rank as the most feared receiver in the game. But it was Holmes — not Hines Ward, not Larry Fitzgerald, not Anquan Boldin — who made the winning reception in a breathtaking 27-23 Pittsburgh victory Sunday over Arizona, a catch that will go down as one of the most remarkable in Super Bowl history.''

Read the rest of Stephen F. Holder's story here.

Ben Roethlisberger among Super Bowl's best

''Given a handful of moments, he changed history.

Entrusted with the dreams of a franchise, he passed for glory.

In one unforgettable evening, Ben Roethlisberger made you reconsider all that you once thought about a quarterback whose bottom line has always been better than his line of statistics.

Remember this moment. Savor this performance. For it was as good as any you will see by a quarterback with a championship in the balance. It took 122 seconds, it covered 78 yards, and it will last an eternity.''

Read John Romano's entire column here.

Harrison rumbles....and rumbles... and makes history

James Harrison (92) runs back an interception for a touchdown in the second quarter. Deshea Townsend (26) runs with him. [DANIEL WALLACE | Times]

Steelers LB James Harrison may have just came up with one of the best plays in Super Bowl history.

Harrison, the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year, did more than impress the capacity crowd with his 100-yard interception return to end the first half - the longest play in Super Bowl history. Harrison's highlight-reel play started when he stepped in front of a slant at the goaline to Anquan Boldin, rumbled all the way down the right sideline. He got a few blocks, including a big one by DB Deshea Townsend on Kurt Warner.

But Harrison got into the end zone as time expired and fell flat on his back, with the extremely exhausted linebacker trying to catch his breath for a couple minutes.

Big Ben on pace for big day

Teammates said all week that QB Ben Roethlisberger was on a "mission" in this year's Super Bowl, stemming from his struggles - and nerves - in the Steelers last Super Bowl win.

So far, Roethlisberger appears one cool customer.

Roethlisberger is 8-9 for 122 yards, and has the Steelers dominating this game so far, up 10-0 on the Cardinals. He's taking what the defense gives him, tossing some quick screens to Santonio Holmes and tight end Heath Miller, who has three first downs on three early catches.

There was the quintissential Roethlisberger "playground" pass, where he scrambled to his left, then his right, thwarted a would-be tackler and hit Miller for a first down on this current scoring drive.

The only miscue so far for Roethlisberger is underthrowing a potential touchdown pass to Nate Washington in the first quarter, which hung up in the air a little too long, giving Cardinals DB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie enough time to break it up..

A few more quarters like this, and Big Ben may be able to add Super Bowl MVP to his resume.

-- JOE SMITH

joesmith@sptimes.com

Can the elder Fitzgerald remain outwardly unbiased?

By now, you've probably read around 432 stories about Larry Fitzgerald Sr., father of the all-galaxy Cardinals receiver of the same name and a veteran sports reporter covering the Super Bowl. Larry Sr. has maintained that, true to the etiquette of his profession, he'll abstain from cheering tonight.

Well, we'll be able to tell you better than just about anyone else inside Raymond James Stadium if he holds true to his intentions. He happens to be sitting no farther than 7 feet from us in an auxiliary press area in the stadium's northwest corner.

We'll keep you posted on his emotions as his son's performance unfolds.

JOEY KNIGHT

Poll: Arizona Cardinals will win Super Bowl

The Arizona Cardinals will win Super Bowl XLIII ''by a hair'' according to results of a Times online reader poll. Here are the complete results, collected during the past week:

Who will win Super Bowl XLIII?

1. Cardinals by a hair 261 votes - 41%
2. Steelers in a nailbiter - 148 votes - 24%
3. Steelers in a blowout 141 votes - 22%
4. Cardinals in a rout 79 votes - 13%

Total: 629 votes

(Pictured: Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner. Getty Images)

Miss America won't miss game

There's one way to stick out on a media shuttle of sportswriters to Super Bowl XLIII

Be Miss America.

Yes, Katie Stam is completing a whirlwind month with a surprise Super Bowl ticket. Stam, 22, formerly Miss Indiana, was in Tampa for the week's festivities, and on Saturday night at the Taste of the NFL Party in St. Petersburg, somehow got hooked up with tickets to today's game.

Stam, flagged by several photographers, posed in front of the Convention Center before boarding the bus to Raymond James, where she'd likely find a spot tailgaiting. The crew of photographers said they'd be following her around all day.

Somehow, I don't think they'll be the only ones.

- JOE SMITH

joesmith@sptimes.com

(Pictured: Miss America, Katie Stam, talks to former Super Bowl MVP Joe Montana during Super Bowl week festivities Friday in Tampa. AP photo)

Let's do it again in 2014

TAMPA -- The 2009 Tampa Super Bowl hasn't even been played, and already some area boosters are looking at whether Tampa Bay should seek a place in line as host for a future big game.

There was scattered scuttlebutt during the Tampa Bay Host Committee's Gridiron Gala Friday night that local leaders of this year's effort may do just that.

"We definitely want to bid again," said Reid Sigmon, executive director of the Host Committee, when the question was put to him. "We haven't talked officially about when."

The chatter Friday night focused on 2014, though 2013 is the next available date. Miami; Arlington, Texas; and Indianapolis hold the next three.

Sigmon said the reaction to Tampa as a host town has been overwhelmingly favorable from the league, the teams, regular Joes arriving from out of town and even the out-of-town media.

"I think we've had a very good week," Sigmon said. "We feel good about what we've done."

-- Bill Varian, Times staff writer

Super Bowl Breakfast honors Warrick Dunn and Tony Dungy

TAMPA -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Warrick Dunn received the Atheletes In Action/Bart Starr Award at the Super Bowl Breakfast today.

The award honors exemplary players who make a difference off the field through community service.
Dunn was lauded for his Warrick Dunn Foundation Homes For The Holidays program, which offers down payments an furnishing to single parents and their children. So far it has provided 84 homes, the latest being awarded Tuesday in Tampa.

About 7,000 attended the breakfast at the University of South Florida Sun Dome, dining on eggs, bacon, strawberries, orange juice and coffee.

The ceremony also honored former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy.

Former players and friends spoke about his humbleness, faith in God and community commitment, and said they were exicted to see what he would do next, now that he has retired.

-- Jessica Vander Velde, Times Staff Writer

Athletes aplenty at Maxim party

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens (right) was the latest-arriving of many late-arriving athletes at Friday night's Maxim Super Bowl Party at The Ritz Ybor.

But Owens closed down the place, hanging out on the VIP area stage until the lights turned on.

However, the best sight of the night had to be two Hall of Fame icons in their respective sports -- baseball Ironman Cal Ripken, Jr. and five-time NBA champion coach Pat Riley -- sharing the same white leather VIP couch beyond the velvet rope (below).

DJ A.M. blasted Biggie, Beyonce and Lil' Wayne while buxom waitresses served Patron. The invite-only party's athlete guest crew included Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis, Joe Frazier, Ryan Howard, Antonio Pierce, Justin Tuck, Tony Gonzalez and even NFL Network main main Rich Eisen.

And even former Florida Gators quarterback Jesse Palmer (right interviewing Howard), also known to enertainment types from "The Bachelor" Season Five, was interviewing celebrities coming down the red carpet for E-Talk, a Canadian entertainment news show.

-Eduardo A. Encina, Times Staff Writer

(Times photos: Eduardo A. Encina)

Cato and KOs: Bucs, boxer hoop it up

Cato June's Super Slam Celebrity Basketball Game lived up to its name, with some A-list sports stars turning out at the Bob Martinez Athletic Center at the University of Tampa. Where to start? Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. showing a deft shooting touch? Raiders rookie Darren McFadden stepping in as guest coach? The Steelers' LaMarr Woodley taking time to officiate the game? Bucs rookie head coach Raheem Morris making a cameo to support his players?

-- "I'd got to come support my guys," said a well-dressed Morris, still able to walk in a Tampa crowd without being instantly recognized. "I told Cato I had a lot of stuff to do tonight, but I'd pop my face in, and you're lucky I can't take my suit off and give 'em the business." Morris played basketball in high school in Irvington, N.J.: "I'm decent," he said. "I used to be a big-time jumper. Now I just get a couple of rebounds and box out a little."

As for Sunday's game, it's an easy answer for Morris: "It's an emotional decision -- I'm going with the Pittsburgh Steelers," citing his close relationship with Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin. He'll be there Sunday, his first Super Bowl in person since winning one with the Bucs six years ago. "I wouldn't be going to this one if it wasn't for Mike Tomlin," he said.

-- June, asked about the basketball skills of his teammates: "Every football player swears they can play basketball ... we'll have to see," said June, who played at Anacostia High School in Washington, D.C. "I won three championships in high school," he said. "I'm not going to brag, but you can look it up."

The Bucs linebacker, on Morris showing up to support the event: "That's crazy. I told him 'Come on, the people of Tampa want to see their new coach. There's a lot of excitement in the air. It's a great thing that he came out to support this."

-- Woodley, who called a loose game working from courtside, said he's known June since he met him in 2002 while on a recruiting visit to Michigan, where he followed him as a starting linebacker. He said he'd be all over the court if he didn't have a football game to play in two days: "I'd go out there, show a little something of how players from Saginaw, Michigan, do it," he said. "I played a little ball in high school." Would Tomlin like to see him taking a charge? "I could maybe walk it up and down the court and have a little fun," he said.

-- Bucs receiver Ike Hilliard, holding his own at 32 with mostly younger players, said he played only two years of high school basketball in Louisiana but remains a fan of the game. He said he played with Kurt Warner for one season with the Giants, but said he has to root for Pittsburgh: "Mike Tomlin, because he was with us in Tampa. I'm biased. It'd be nice for Kurt to get another one, but I'd like to see the Steelers win."

-- Mayweather, who signed everything from photos to boxing gloves at halftime, was a hit: "My name is May, his name is June, so it's a good chemistry. I've got a good team with me today. ... I'm out here for a great cause for Cato June. You don't have to be the biggest or the best athlete or quarterback for me to come out and support you." Who's he pulling for on Sunday? "Kurt Warner. The guy went from stocking shelves and bagging groceries to winning a Super Bowl with the Rams. To fight his way back and lead another team to a Super Bowl is truly an amazing story."

Some guy in the crowd got Mayweather's entourage to stand up for a minute at the end of the Bucs' bench, saying he'd bet $200 he could take down the champ. Guy even took his jacket off, but it wasn't enough money for the folks around Mayweather, who is  ... worth hundreds of millions.

-- Greg Auman, Times staff writer

Super Bowl means rare beers for soldiers in Iraq

By now, you've got a pretty good read on the Super Bowl scene in Tampa.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals arrived, practiced, answered endless questions from the media and refrained from trash talk.

Also, there is a game on Sunday.

But what you might not know is that the Super Bowl is just as big of a story in Iraq.

So big, in fact, the Army announced that each soldier in Iraq would get two beers -- and two beers only -- during Sunday's game, a rare break from the no-alcohol-in-a-war-zone policy.

Read the ESPN.com story here.

More Super Bowl links worth checking out today:

+ Steelers Pro Bowl safety Troy Polamalu had nearly as much potential on the baseball diamond as on the football field, according to this Yahoo! Sports story.

+ When Steelers safety Ryan Clark laid out Ravens running back Willis McGahee late in the AFC Championship Game, McGahee had to be immobilized and carted off the field on a stretcher. Now, Fox Sports' Mark Kriegel wonders, are the Cardinals thinking about that hit?

+ We know how the Steelers and Cardinals feel. Even President Barack Obama. But does God care who wins the Super Bowl? NBC Sports explores the issue of faith and football.

+ Did Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger have x-rays on his back this week? Will he be healthy by Sunday? Who cares? writes Sports Illustrated's Peter King. It will have little effect on the outcome, anyway.

+ Steelers vs. Cardinals for the Lombardi Trophy likely is a lot more like Dungeons and Dragons, with role players of various skill levels employing strategies that, even when they are familiar, might not make any sense to the external witnesses, Post-Gazette columnist Gene Coller writes.

+ Where do Cardinals and Steelers fans rank among NFL teams based on excitement, team integrity, bonding with players and tradition. Get the results from the Arizona Republic.

Q & A: Ex-Cardinals QB Jim Hart

In this dizzying week of bird watching, we spotted one of the more prized Cardinals: four-time Pro Bowl quarterback Jim Hart. A 19-year NFL veteran (1966-84) who spent his first 18 years with the St. Louis Cardinals, Hart was among dozens of NFL alums signing autographs Friday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The event benefited the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund, which helps disabled and financially needy NFL alumni and is near to Hart's, well, heart. During a lull between signings, Hart, 64, spent a few minutes with the Times:

Do you feel like the plight of needy NFL alumni is finally being heard through the efforts of Mike Ditka and the GGAF?
Yes, I do. The message (Thursday) was to perpetuate it and keep it out in the public to make sure that more people know of the plight. It's a travesty. On the other hand, we knew what we were getting into. I'm one of those who took the (NFL's) pension early but I had to. I had a business that went south and I had two kids in college and another in private school, so I had to do it. So it is what it is. It's a lot less than if I had waited until 65, which is my almost-age now, but hey, taking it early I was able to put two kids through college and another in private school for a while.

Larry Fitzgerald has zero dance moves

So why doesn’t Larry Fitzgerald have a jaunty end zone dance? It doesn't necessarily have to be all Chad Johnson River Dance-y, but just a little something to underscore all those record-setting touchdowns? Seems we've found something the dreadlocked one can't do.

"I haven't danced since my prom and it wasn't pretty,'' he said.