by John Czarnecki

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The Super Bowl is America's most-hyped sporting event and for pure football theater, few championships will ever match last year's game when the road-energized New York Giants upset the unbeaten New England Patriots. It's the pinnacle of success. The magnitude of the game has always been top-shelf, but it's been gradually shaped through the decades.

The first Super Bowls in Los Angeles, a city now without any team, were not instant sellouts.

And consider ticket prices. For Terry Bradshaw's fourth and final Super Bowl, at the end of the 1979 season, tickets were $30. Next Sunday, fans will be lucky to get a seat for $1,000.

Howie Long was the star of the Los Angeles Raiders, the third and final Al Davis team to win a Super Bowl back in 1983. That was Super Bowl XVIII. The Raiders demolished Joe Theismann and the Washington Redskins in the first Super Bowl played in Tampa. Next Sunday will be Super Bowl XLIII (43, if you're not down with Roman numerals) and Tampa's fourth.

"It kind of puts it in perspective how long it's been since the Raiders have won and also when they were still in L.A.," Long said. "What I remember was that there was no security back then. Today, all the roads are blocked off by concrete barriers and you need three forms of ID to get near the stadium. We took a cab, and I remember walking the last half mile because there were no drop-off areas for cabs."

This was Howie's habit. He liked to get to a game early, be one of the first players there. The first team bus didn't leave early enough for him. He took a cab with the late Lyle Alzado and good friend Bill Pickel, the starting nose tackle.

"I liked to get there early because I was one of those people who would lie in bed at night and have nightmares about losing my cleats or not being able to get into the stadium," Long said. "It gave me a chance to get there, get dressed and get taped. Plus, I always liked to spend more time reading my scouting report and go through every (Washington) formation over and over again. That's how I did things."

Before last year's game with the Giants, Michael Strahan knew that there was way too much to the pregame festivities. "Being in a Super Bowl (following the 2000 season), I knew we had plenty of time to get jacked up," he said. "There is so much more time before the game really starts that you have to relax and pace yourself. I waited until the anthem was sung before I spoke to my guys. The key is not getting warmed up and ready too early. You have to remember that it is still a game and to save your energy."

There were two Super Bowls this decade that didn't include the typical bye week, the extra week of preparation that is customary.

"As a coach I liked the bye week," Jimmy Johnson said. "We installed our game plan that week in Dallas (for Super Bowl XXVII vs. Buffalo) and got the team on the same page with what we were going to do. By the time we got to Los Angeles, I knew the team was ready to go. We practiced at UCLA, so it was like old times for Troy (Aikman)."

At practice that week at UCLA, the Cowboys were loose and extremely confident about facing the Bills in Pasadena's Rose Bowl. "I had a really good feeling that we were going to win," Johnson said. "I didn't have any doubts, really. I remember telling the team that Buffalo turned the ball over too much and we were going to take advantage of that. That every time they made a mistake, we were going to score. That we simply had to play our game and attack Jim Kelly."

Jimmy was right again. The Cowboys won, 52-17, by converting nine turnovers into 35 points. Two Dallas defenders scored touchdowns and Leon Lett would have made it three, but Don Beebe caused him to fumble right before he crossed the goal line.

My first Super Bowl was Bradshaw's last. The mighty Steelers stayed in a Newport Beach hotel, a good 45 miles from the Pasadena game site. Media Day wasn't such an extravaganza back then and I remember spending almost an hour interviewing Bradshaw with a couple other reporters one day. Access to the players and the freedom to roam was so remarkably different 30 years ago.

"All I remember was that we were worried about the Rams' coaches knowing everything about us," Bradshaw said. "Their defensive coordinator was Bud Carson. And he was our coordinator when we had the Steel Curtain (in 1976). Bud knew me and what I liked to do so much. It drove me nuts.

"When he coached with us, he'd come by my locker and simply tell me 'not to screw it up' on offense, that the defense could beat anybody! I think the Rams had three of our former Pittsburgh coaches. All I know is that the deep pass I threw to beat them was one that I never completed in practice all week. Chuck Noll knew it would work. John Stallworth made the cover of Sports Illustrated out-jumping Rod Perry. He made a helluva catch."

Ten years later, I was in Canton, Ohio when Bradshaw was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Over a lot of beers, Bradshaw cried like a baby about Noll not being there for his special day. But Pittsburgh cornerback Mel Blount put his arm around Bradshaw and told him Noll didn't show in Canton for himself or Mean Joe Greene's day either.

Every player, every Super Bowl is different. There is a defining moment to each game. For Long's Raiders, the play he will never forget is defensive coordinator Charlie Sumner's call, "Jet rip, Blue slash." The Raiders were beaten during the regular season by the Redskins and a screen pass to Joe Washington. Sumner's call was to negate that screen pass. Jack Squirek replaced Matt Millen in the lineup and the play called for the safety to come off the strong side and for Ted Hendricks to blitz. Squirek intercepted Theismann's pass for a touchdown and the Raiders had 21-3 lead with :07 left in the first half. Like Howie said, it was a textbook, computer-printout defensive call.

Next Sunday, there will be a few players from both teams who will arrive early like Long did 25 years ago, but they will be on the first team bus. No cabs allowed because of extra security these days.

"I hated the pregame stuff," Long said. "I never liked it. Before the moment of impact is always the worst time. It's like being in a fight. Once you're in the fight, you're in a fight. Once you've been hit, it's OK. It's that faceless enemy that you worry about. So once the game starts, it's OK. Your instincts, your mind takes over."

Long remembers that Alzado loved to get there early in order to take a nap. His buddy, Pickel, used the extra time "to throw up." Everybody was different. "Lyle was very meticulous about his uniform and how he looked," Long said. "Lyle never looked at a play sheet. Some guys listened to music, but not like today when it seems like every player has 2,000 songs on his iPod.

"The funny thing about the game, the media day, two weeks and all that stuff is that you try to make things as normal as you possibly can," Long said. "But there is nothing normal about it. But once the national anthem is sung and once the coin is flipped and the ball kicked, then it becomes normal. It's a game once again. It's what you're used to, if that makes sense."