It's great to be here. Wow, the Super Bowl. You play your whole life to get here, and it's just great. We played some great teams to get here, and we're fortunate to be playing this weekend. I expect a great game. We've got two really great teams, so I expect a great matchup. Tough teams, well-coached, we'll have to play the game to see what happens.

…

	The Super Bowl: When media attack ...

You're right. That's a good question. I think we turned it around sometime around midseason, after we went through that bad stretch where we weren't really focusing out there. Guys pulled together, though, you know, because this is what we play for, right here.

…

Probably a coyote. I've always liked coyotes.

…

Doesn't bother us at all. We're coming in to play the game like it's any other game. You know, it's been the same all year. Somebody else was always better than us, or hotter than us, or whatever you guys say. We didn't pay any attention to any of that. When you said the Chiefs were the team, we didn't pay any attention. You said the Chargers, but where are they now? Then it was the Broncos, and the Jets, and then Tennessee. You guys write what you want to write, but the guys in here know exactly what the deal is. We didn't pay any attention to any of that, especially the time you said our o-line wasn't good enough to get here, or when you said our running game was too weak, or when you said the injuries to our secondary would keep us from winning the division. We didn't pay attention to any of that, at least I didn't. I almost forgot about it before you mentioned it just now. We just go out and prove what we have to prove to ourselves. Nobody else matters except the guys in the locker room.

…

Usually I eat four pancakes, but if I'm really hungry I'll go five.

…

No way. He said that? He said that about me? (long pause) I don't care about any of that. Nothing anybody says matters to any of us in the locker room. (longer pause) You sure he said that? That ain't right, man.

…

He's six.

…

Max.

…

Rottweiler.

…

I don't know, dude. Why you asking me that?

…

Dude, she looked 20, all right? Leave it alone.

…

Hummingbirds. I know it sounds funny coming from a guy as big as me, but I've always been fascinated by hummingbirds. The way they hover next to the feeder, with their wings moving so fast you can't see 'em? Man, I could watch that all day.

…

That was a long time ago, and I don't like to talk about it. If you don't mind. Things happen, and that was one of them. You ever done something you weren't proud of? You know what I mean? Why do I have to keep answering that question? Next question.

…

My grandfather. He was a great man. I still leave a ticket for him wherever we play, and he…

…

No, not this Sunday. You know how much those tickets cost? I'm having a hard enough time getting my family in, so if you know anyone with a few extras…

…

(uproarious laughter, totally beyond the scope of the humor)

…

That's right, my grandfather. He was a great man, knew a lot about football and life. I remember he used to tell me, "No man ever achieved his goals before he decided what they were." It's hard to argue with that.

…

Six years ago.

…

Farming accident.

…

I like all kinds of music.

…

Obviously, we have to start strong, come out of the blocks like we mean it and keep at 'em. We can't let up. We know what they're capable of doing if they get going. I think it's going to be a great matchup. Two great teams, well-coached. We'll have to play the game to see what happens.

This Week's List

Perils of fame, Part I: If everyone keeps asking "Who is this guy?" about Bill Callahan, we're eventually going to hear the answer so many times we might be sick of him before we really get to know him.

The way it looks from here: Bill Callahan -- all football, all the time.

The next time you hear someone say Jon Gruden doesn't have a considerable advantage on the Raiders after having coached them the past four years, consider this: It's not that Gruden knows the Raider offense or defense or even their tendencies; it's that Gruden knows them as people, which means he knows individual weaknesses, and what irritates them, and what an opponent can do to get them out of their games.

In other words: He can tell Warren Sapp what to say, as long as he's going to be running his mouth anyway.

The way it looks from here: Jon Gruden -- all football, all the time.

Just for the heck of it: Gordon Gravelle.

It's time once again to go inside the huddle, beside the chin strap, upside the earhole and out the air vents to bring you the final word on the bottom line: Tampa Bay might have the best defense in the NFL, but the Raiders offensive line will keep Simeon Rice and Sapp off Gannon long enough for the Raider QB to find his third and fourth receivers, especially that one guy who always, and I mean always, manages to be open, just standing there about eight yards downfield right smack in the middle of the field; doesn't anybody ever see that guy?

The most dominating player at his position in the NFL this year: Lincoln Kennedy.

Let this be a lesson to you -- 0.1 milligram of vitamin C per day? Just not enough: A college student in the Northeast was found to have developed scurvy after a strict diet of cheese, crackers, soda, cookies, chocolate and water.

Following the storylines of Super Bowl week, there's only one thing left to say: Thank God there's only one week between games.

And don't even get him started on Franco Harris: On the Raiders radio broadcast Sunday, one of the biggest days in franchise history, maybe an hour after the team earned its first Super Bowl in almost 20 years, George Atkinson could be heard raging about the vendetta NFL officials carry against the Raiders.

And finally, speaking as someone with no vested interest in the outcome: No matter the hero, let it be someone other than Keyshawn.

Tim Keown is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at tim.keown@espnmag.com.