TAMPA — Sports Editor Eric Knopsnyder takes readers behind the scenes at Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Fla.



MONDAY:

Back in August, I never expected to be ringing in Groundhog Day at a party with Snoop Dogg (http://www.snoopdogg.com) and the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

First off, a 33-year-old white guy who was raised in rural Somerset County (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe;=off&client;=firefox-a&rls;=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs;=m2Q&q;=somerset+county+pa&um;=1&ie;=UTF-8&split;=0≷=us&sa;=X&oi;=geocode_result&resnum;=1&ct;=title) doesn’t normally run in the same social circles as gangsta rappers.

Second, the party wasn't an easy ticket to get.

Third, and in what might have been the biggest shock, I never forecasted a season like this for the Steelers. I thought they might go 9-7 or 8-8 and win the AFC North division. After all, the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens were awful. Only the up-and-coming Cleveland Browns posed much of a threat.

But there were too many variables for this Steelers team to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender. The schedule was far too tough to expect anything more than nine or 10 wins, if everything broke right.

The offensive line was too porous. The defensive backfield too prone to injuries and big plays.

Then, when the major injuries hit, I knew the season was doomed. Punter Daniel Sepulveda was gone before the first preseason game. Backup quarterback Charlie Batch (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200808/20080809pdsteelers0808l_500.jpg) followed shortly thereafter.

By September, guard Kendall Simmons was done for the season and, though we didn’t know it then, so was tackle Marvel Smith.

It wasn’t a knock against second-year coach Mike Tomlin or quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, but there was just too much for this team to overcome.

But there I was early Monday morning, watching Snoop rap about the Super Bowl champion Steelers, who happen to be his favorite team.

It was a rather surreal scene, hanging out with the players and their family members, plus assorted hangers-on, hearing all of them talk about a dramatic victory.

That's they way all of Pittsburgh’s wins seemed to be this season. Aside from a blowout of Cleveland – which wasn’t nearly as good as I expected – and a couple other games, almost every contest came down to the wire.

So it shouldn’t have been a surprise that in the fourth quarter Kurt Warner started looking like the Kurt Warner of 1999 and that Larry Fitzgerald looked like the Larry Fitzgerald of, well, this postseason.

Of course, it should have been even less of a surprise that Ben Roethlisberger found a way to get the Steelers down the field, or that Santonio Holmes found a way to keep his feet on the ground while reaching for the stars (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0440487/bio).

All of that seems rather plausible. At least compared with me hanging out with Snoop.



SATURDAY:

Well, the Pro Football Hall of Fame (www.profootballhof.com) got it half right.

The Pro Football Writers of America (www.pfwa.org) elected one former Pittsburgh Steeler on Saturday, but they missed out on another deserving candidate.

Defensive back Rod Woodson (http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=282), who played for four NFL teams during a 17-year career, made his mark with the Steelers. Woodson’s former teammate, center Dermontti Dawson, was just as effective as Woodson, just not for as long.

Both Woodson and Dawson were named The Associated Press All-Pro team six times, although Woodson made 11 Pro Bowl teams compared with just seven for Dawson. Woodson played four more seasons than his former teammate.

Dawson was the preeminent center in the NFL for most of the 1990s. He had the unenviable task of taking over for the legendary Mike Webster (http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=227).

Beginning in 1989, Dawson didn’t miss a game for 10 seasons, starting 171 consecutive games. He was named to the Pro Bowl every year from 1992-98. More impressively, he was named to the AP All-Pro team every year from 1993-98.

So if Dawson was clearly the best player at his position for the better part of a decade, how can he not be in Canton, Ohio?

Isn’t that what the Hall of Fame is supposed to be?

It’s not surprising, since offensive lineman seem to get overlooked in the selection process. In the modern era only 34 offensive linemen – including Randall McDaniel (http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=274), who was selected Sunday – have made it to Canton. Compare that with the 25 running backs or 23 quarterbacks that have made it, and it’s obvious that there’s a bias favoring the skill positions.

It could be worse. Dawson could be Gary Anderson. The former Steelers kicker, who will be eligible for induction next year, faces even longer odds. Only one kicker – Jan Stenerud (http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=203) – has ever been inducted into the Hall.

But that’s not the worst of it; no punter is enshrined at Canton.

For all the talk about football being the ultimate team game, it certainly seems as if some positions are more important than others.



FRIDAY:

Make no mistake about it, Bill Cowher’s fingerprints are all over Super Bowl XLIII.

You won’t see the jutting jaw (http://www.850thebuzz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/cowher-power.jpg).

There won’t be any need for a spit shield (http://cache.deadspin.com/assets/resources/2006/12/spitshield.jpg)). And there certainly won’t be any kisses from Joey Porter (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4cdb8i64zQ).

But the former Steelers coach, who is now a studio analyst with CBS Sports (www.cbssports.com), certainly has had an impact on the players and coaches involved in Sunday night’s game.

And it’s not just the Steelers, though 23 of the players suiting up for Mike Tomlin on Sunday played under Cowher in Super Bowl XL three years ago.

Sure, this team has plenty of ties to Cowher, but it’s taken on more of Tomlin’s identity in the past two years.

In all actuality, the Cardinals have nearly as many ties to Cowher as the Steelers do.

Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was Cowher’s offensive coordinator in Super Bowl XL, is planning to use some of what he learned from his mentor on Sunday night.

“When Coach Cowher used to stand up and talk, I wrote all of that down,” Whisenhunt said Friday. “I told Coach Cowher that I have notebooks with little tabs in there from when he spoke before the championship game, when he spoke before the Super Bowl, when he spoke at the minicamp meeting, all of those things.”

Whisenhunt plans to consult those notes and use them, to an extent, to get his team prepared for the game.

That means former Steelers such as Clark Haggans, Jerame Tuman, Sean Morey and Brian St. Pierre might have a feeling of déjà vu when Whisenhunt opens his mouth on Saturday night.

Of course, as Jimmy Kimmel reminds us (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DZqYrEhPNE&feature;=PlayList&p;=034463A91FEB44BB&index;=37&playnext;=2&playnext;_from=PL) Whisenhunt might not want to carry the Cowher tradition too far.



WEDNESDAY:

Maybe Sunday night’s Super Bowl will be the end of an era.

Maybe, just maybe, after three full years, Seattle Seahawks fans can stop whining about Super Bowl XL.

To be fair, the noise out of the Northwest had died down about a year after the Steelers beat the Seahawks, 21-10.

But the Steelers' latest Super Bowl appearance has stirred up the debate, yet again, over the officiating in Detroit.

One enterprising fan is attempting to take advantage of the situation with a well-timed eBay posting (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item;=270335449645&ssPageName;=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123).

The fan claims that Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney wrote a letter to him, in response to the fan's original letter claiming the officiating favored the Steelers.

The online posting has gotten plenty of attention, but it’s not the only thing that reignited the Seahawks’ ire.

I first noticed the backlash a month ago, when the Steelers seemed to get a break in their win at Baltimore. Referee Walt Coleman overturned a call in that game, ruling that Santonio Holmes had scored a touchdown on a critical third-down play late in the game.

Seahawks fans jumped to the defense of the Ravens, stating that it was clearly a case of the league loving the Steelers yet again.

Of course, Seattle fans tend to forget that the Steelers have been on the wrong end of some poor officiating as well. It happened earlier this season, when Scott Green mistakenly overturned Troy Polamalu’s fumble recovery that was returned for a touchdown.

And it happened three years on that very same road to the title in Detroit. Oddly enough, it was another Polamalu fumble recovery that was overturned, only to have the league apologize for fouling it up.

But it isn’t just the fans in Seattle who still haven’t gotten over Super Bowl XL. Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said on the NFL Network’s “Total Access” on Wednesday that he’s pulling for the Cardinals to win this one because the Steelers are like “the Evil Empire.”

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_empire#In_popular_culture)

Here’s hoping that when the Vince Lombardi Trophy (http://lh5.ggpht.com/fisherwy/R6XyY0P8J9I/AAAAAAAANSE/3vo3neivvBw/Vince+Lombardi+trophy+for+Super+Bowl+XLII%5B2%5D) is handed out at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday – whether it’s the Steelers or Cardinals accepting it – that Seattle fans and players can finally put Super Bowl XL behind them.



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TUESDAY:

I never expected to be “Dancing With The Stars” (http://abc.go.com/primetime/dancingwiththestars/index?pn=index) but that’s exactly what happened at the Super Bowl XLIII media day on Tuesday.

I ended up trying to find a way to two-step around former NFL star/ballroom dancer Warren Sapp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Sapp).

It happened on the sideline during media availability for the Arizona Cardinals at Raymond James Stadium. That mass of humanity was exceeded only by the scene present for the Pittsburgh Steelers media availability two hours later.

In the morning session I found myself in difficult spot – stuck between the hordes of reporters interviewing ESPN’s Chris Berman and the throng of semi-media members interviewing Sapp, the dancing defensive tackle.

While Berman fielded tough questions about his time with the Worldwide Leader, someone from “Access Hollywood” (http://www.accesshollywood.com/) quizzed Sapp on everything entertainment.

And that was before I spotted the ballroom-dancing competition that “Entertainment Tonight” (http://www.etonline.com/) got players to participate in.

But, that’s what media day at the Super Bowl is – a chance for reporters to interview players, reporters to interview reporters, players to pretend to be reporters and anyone with a media pass to see and be seen.

The silliness of this year’s event might have been tempered a bit by economic problems that have forced a number of media outlets to cut back, but the day was bankrupt of the bizarre.

The sight of a guy in red cocktail dress wearing sneakers was trumped only by the spectacle of a long-haired, bearded radio personality from Los Angeles who was sporting camouflage pants, a black “Samurai Pirates” T-shirt and black-fox fur hat in 80-degree weather.

Vic Jacobs said the ridiculous outfit was a tribute to the huge Pirate ship located at Raymond James Stadium just outside the one end zone.

What was even sadder was the group of reporters huddled around Jacobs to see what kind of insight he had into the trappings of media day. Even though I wanted to, I couldn’t resist listening in for a few seconds.

“We’re all here for the same reason, to feed on that frenzy,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs somehow convinced Steelers nose tackle Casey Hampton to wear the ridiculous hat.

Oddly enough, Hampton asked what might have been the best question of the day.

“How did he get credentials?” Hampton wondered after Jacobs had walked away.

Hampton was also asked to describe Jacobs in one word.

“Scary,” Hampton said with a chuckle.

Seems like an appropriate description of media day as a whole.



Eric Knopsnyder is sports editor for The Tribune-Democrat.