How you remembered the Super Bowl win from your comments ALAN NEEDHAM John Madden! Can you hear me! Al Davis! The Bloods and The Crips! Your boys took one hell of a beating tonight. The cast of Beverly Hills 90210! Eazy-E! Brian Wilson! Too Short! Bobby Seale! YOUR BOYS TOOK ONE HELL OF A BEATING! MYKE CROMBLEHOLME My Super Sunday was hosted at home on the Wirral, with a few NFL buddies (all Redskin fans), so with the children in bed, my wife (a Bucs fan) sadly working nights, all was prepared. Pizzas, beer, dips, Pringles, beer, garlic bread, Bombay mix, beer, lots of accompaniments and did I mention the beer? fter a long time suffering this was to be our big day, so I welcomed my mates in and held back on the beer till kick off. No nerves, alot of banter and away we went. Kick off, I cracked open a pint of Marstons "Firestoker". Then another, then another.......by the end of the first quarter I was on my sixth and final beer! A superb night followed (I think), partying, celebrating and loads of fun. I managed to find a bottle of quality red wine for the celebrations and then rewatched the game next day, just to check it really happened. (and my wife still hasn't spotted the wine stains on the carpet ! ) PAUL PENNINGTON In September 1992 I took my 9 years old son to watch the Bucs play Phoenix at Tampa Stadium. Vinny inspired the Bucs to a 23-7 win. Overall it was a pretty poor 5-11 season. But we had introduced ourselves to the Bucs and later that season I joined the Bucs UK! Now 10 years later and many nights watching NFL on Sky and looking for the Bucs score on the Internet we win the Super Bowl-unbelievable! My son is now 19 and at Leeds Uni and on the night of Super Bowl I kept ringing him on his mobile as the game progressed! It's a family affair at our house as my wife and my daughter age 16 both stayed up until 4.00am to watch the Bucs beat the Raiders! In fact each game we have been to since in Tampa wehave gone to as a family. DAVID de WINTER For the week following the game I was apparently grinning like a cheshire cat throughout the day at work, prompting questions from colleagues whether I'd won the lottery!. Not quite was my reply but the Bucs being world champs is not that far off, and a few short years ago you would have gotten better odds on the lottery. Just a year ago we seemed the laughing stock of the league again with the search for a new head coach, who would have predicted then that we would win the Super Bowl with a quality offense to match our awesome defense, and a 100 yard game from a Bucs' running back! PAUL DAVISON On one hand I can't wait for next season, on the other I want the Bucs to be the champs for as long as poss - it's not often during my sports supporting career when I've been able to say MY team are the champions......... PAUL GREENFIELD I had planned on going up to London and watch the game at Cheers with other Bucs fans but three days before the game I fell off my bike and ended up going to causality and finding I had cracked 3 of my ribs and any movement was painful. So had to content myself with watching the game at home. I was told by the doctors to try not to move about too much in the next few days. yeah right! The Bucs in their first ever Super Bowl and I'm going to sit there and not cheer>1 Has there ever been a Bucs game with so much to cheer about. What with interceptions, sacks, Bucs first downs and above all the touchdown I forgot the pain I was in and was leaping around the room like a madman. I think all the cans of Fosters I drank helped dumb the pain as well. I dont know what my neighbours thought of me shouting out at 3am but who cares. the Bucs won the Super Bowl. The game itself was like a dream apart from the first 5 mins it was totally dominated by the Bucs. Even the Offense played well. Michael Pittman was my MVP. To run for 129 yards in any game was a great achievement let alone the Super Bowl. just hope he keep improving. Our offensive line was excellent. No sacks in the game you cant ask for anything better than that. What more is there to say about the defense, I can't believe there has been a better defensive unit in the history of the NFL. The ravens 2 years ago were excellent but this defensive also scores a lot of points as well. We have seen throughout the season great Quarterbacks(favre, Vick, Mcnabb and now Gannon) look very ordinary against our defense. Not only is Jon Gruden a great coach he is also a great person as well. To praise Tony Dungy both after beating the Eagles and after winning the Super Bowl shows what a great person he is remembering all Dungy has done for the Bucs. Couldn't have imagine Parcells saying the samething if he had just won the Super Bowl. GRAEME REID I watched the game at a Super Bowl party at Walkabout Sports Bar in Glasgow City Centre. As luck would have it, I was seated at a table with three Raider fans. I took great enjoyment leaping around the place giving high fives to other Bucs fans at each score. Needless to say I was worn out with all the celebrations after all the big plays dished out by the Bucs that night. By the end I was almost sorry for the Raider fans around me, but, what the heck, they'd have laid it on thick if they'd been hammering us ! PATRICIA McBRIDE Boring old farts that we are, we stayed at home and watched the game. We decorated ourselves and the house up though (our neighbours have a flagpole,but we didn't have a Buc's flag to string up it so we had to decline the offer), and then started the day with what we call 'Football Food' : orange juice, bacon, pancakes, hash browns etc followed by reviewing the possible gameplan (sad that I am, I've got a set of little players that go back to the days when I first started to learn about formations, blitzes and pass routes!) Continuing on into the day ( with the Southern Californian theme now ) we went Mexican - none of your bought stuff mind, I've got my own tortilla press! Finally at around midnight, Pizza was on the menu, washed down with copious amounts of Rolling Rock and Bud, and not even the small matter concerning that early interception was enough to dampen the procedings, or cause indigestion! Went to bed about 4am. Couldn't sleep although it was nothing to do with my cooking, we just couldn't believe after all these years that the Bucs were finally Champions. Not as grand as being there like yourself, but we enjoyed our homemade festivities.... MARC KEMP Only the Bucs could do it this way, turning what appeared to be a stroll into a nervous couple of minutes before Derrick and Dwight proved that defence can clinch a championship. Shame about the after-game though-Bon Jovi cut out a lot of the Sky coverage with his singing! What a feeling! What a night! What a shame mum came down and told my dad and i that we were sad for dancing around the living room with a Bucs flag at 4am! And what about Nick Halling predicting a Bucs win and it coming true! STEVE GARGET Much as I enjoyed the win over the Raiders, not once did I have that gut wrenching, knotted up feeling that I had the week before during the Championship game. To me the game of the season and my Super Bowl was the win over the Eagles. What a performance and so many monkeys off our back in a single game. May be I'm saying this with hindsight knowing we are now world champs, but at times I felt as though I wasn't really bothered whether we won the big one or not, just being there was enough. The game turned out to be almost surreal, at times I couldn't believe what was unfolding on the screen in front of me. Hardly drank anything during the game, the euphoria generated by the game was more than I could have got from a bottle. Plus I think I was still drying out from the week before when I got absolutely ratted during the Eagles game. Talk of a repeat, recent years would suggest not but I can't wait for next season. The "D" hopefully won't have lost a step and the "O" can only get better. IAN TAYLOR Who would have thought that the Bucs would get so many points. It was a great experience to see them win after all this time. I have been a Bucs fan for 13 years now and have been going to watch them every year at least once. DAVID AND JANET MOLDAUER The decision to go to San Diego was made at approx. 11.30 p,m. on Sunday 19th January. 3 1/2 hours earlier following the first minute of play in Philadelphia I was less than optimistic about our chances. You will have to excuse me referring to the Bucs as "us" but the time from first seeing them play live in Tampa until Super Bowl was 14 years and 3 months and I think that is a good enough excuse. I had discussed a possible trip, if we won, earlier in the day at a family party for my grandsons first birthday. Most people thought I was mad or joking or both! However, I was so excited by the win over the Eagles that I went straight on to the internet to sort things out. Tickets were the main priority with flights and hotels etc., less of a problem. To cut a long story short we flew from Manchester on Thursday morning to Los Angeles via Chicago. We then hired a car and drove down the coast to Oceanside, a smallish resort some 30 miiles north of San Diego. The next two days were spent purely as tourists. San Diego is a beautiful city to host a Super Bowl. The weather was incredible and the people were friendly. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of Bucs supporters everywhere, great atmosphere, some obnoxious Raiders fans and plenty of decent ones. The worst insult I suffered was to be called an "inbred redneck" because they thought we were from Florida! On the Saturday morning we collected our tickets, face value $400 each. I am not saying what I paid and even my wife, who was with me, does not know. We both agree that whatever they cost it was more than worth it. The day of the game started with a 7.30 a.m. phone call from my daughter to report the football scores and to wish us good luck. We got off to an early start and were at the stadium by 9.30 a.m only to find that there was no parking within a couple of miles. However, a pretty good shuttle bus service was run from a massive car park facility and we used this in both directions with no problems. Security at the stadium was reasonably tight but no problems getting in. We were in a mixed section of the crowd with very good seats with a few noisy, drunk and abusive Raider fans nearby. We didn't hear much from them after half time! We sat next to two fans from Tampa, one of whom said he had a box at RJS and would like us to be his guest at a game next season. He was perhaps a little drunk but we have his e-mail address and will be in touch just in case. The game was just spectacular although it wouldn't be the Bucs without a little sloppiness creeping in to encourage the Raiders into thinking they had a chance. They didn't! The whole experience was incredible and we are so grateful and lucky that we have had the opportunity to watch football history being made. Our only mistake, apart from losing Phil Jones' mobile number, was to have arranged flights home on the Monday when all we wanted to do was stay and celebrate. We now understand what Phil has been on about for years. I have been to a world cup final plus two European Cup finals but this has been the biggest event over a number of days that I have ever seen. I will be on a high until at least the beginning of next season and probably beyond. I have never been to Houston. Not as warm as San Diego but if the Bucs can do it again nothing will keep me away. MIKE CARLSON You and Phil are probably the nightmare of travllers looking to just relax and enjoy the flight, especially if the drinks are free! It was hard to find fault with the Bucs' performance. Oakland were outplayed but even more so outcoached by both Gruden and Kiffin. I'm starting to think Barrett Robbins had a bad effect on the team besides his obvious loss in terms of not calling blocking assignments and getting downfield on runs. Was Kerry Jenkins offered a WWF contract yesterday? Shania Twain ought to give the dress back to Xena or whoever she stole it from. How about the greatest disparity between looks and talent? Celine Dion was also less than convincing in asking God to bless America - her home sweet home? She's Canadian. At least her looks match her talent. KEITH BURROWS What can I say except - wow! Sounds like the trip was all it could have hoped to have been. I watched it at home on my own (apart from the 6-pack!) but I bet I was as excited as anyone else watching in a group or crowd in the UK. Good job my wife wasn't still up - she tells the kids off for jumping and bouncing around the furniture like I was doing from the 2nd quarter onwards! My highlight, I think, was Dwight Smith's first interception return for the TD - that's when I was really sure it was in the bag. DONNA FRANCIS We got together with 13 friends (15 of us in total) and watched the game at a friend's house. Each time the BUCS scored we all did a Jell-O Shot (don't light a match near one of ours!) or a shot of Coquito (a Puerto Rican concoction made by a friend containing lots of rum, coconut milk & spices). Obviously after 48 points none of us was feeling anything but deliriously jubilant! The drive home was such fun. Everyone for miles was blowing car horns, waving flags out the windows, shouting.... and contrary to the Oakland fans, we were well behaved! We did not riot, burn cars, or break into and loot stores! Obviously the Oakland fans have no class! The party continued on Monday when we showed up at the stadium with 65,000 of our closest friends to welcome the BUCS home. The jumbotrons were showing highlights of the game and you would have thought the game was actually happening at that moment with the deafening cheers and celebration. The cannons were firing, people dancing, "We are the Champions" playing.... and when the plane neared the airport they banked low and circled the stadium twice, sending everyone into a total frenzy. I still get chills today thinking about it and describing it to others who did not go. STEPHEN MANN What a great night Sunday was. It is just amazing that the Bucs have done it after all the years as a long suffering fan - 1985. The game started as the championship game then bang, we took total control and had a big lead. Then I thought no we can't throw this away now, then Oakland were within 2 scores and the nervous tension returned and concern that we were going to be on the end of the biggest comeback in history. But the defence became big again and we are the champions. It was so exciting, so fantastic, so brilliant I could not sleep and went to work and I didn't even feel tired. I told anyone who would listen how fantastic it was, if nothing else they know who won the Super Bowl this year. Just to make sure you haven't forgotten did you know the great great Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the World Champions! Next season cannot come quick enough for me. MARK CARESS I will need the smile surgically removed , apart from a couple of minutes mid way through the 4th quarter I loved every minute of the game. I guess no -one can close to winning the score prediction competition! why not make the winner the person who was closest from the truth! BOB FERRIER What a performance for all three play off games. We have dominated our opponents. Who would have believed we would have scored 48 points in the Super Bowl when we are not supposed to have a serious offense. Andy Reid, the coach of the year, didn't exactly offer much in the championship game and seemed unable to change his tactics during the game. Rich Gannon, NFL MVP - 5 sacks and 5 interceptions by the Bucs' defense show how hollow that accolade is for him. STEVE BAKER FANBLOODYTASTIC!I may of joined BUCPOWER this year but i've been a Bucs fan since '85, and even now i find it hard to beleive that the Bucs have achievd the ultimate prize, when you consider what we had to endure all those years. JEFF FULLER I took my family to Raymond James to welcome the team home and the stadium was packed as if for a game.The noise was the loudest i've heard there. My four year old son loved the cannons and now sings 'We Are The Champions' to anyone who cares to listen and my six year old daughter liked the music and chanting.The schools here had Super Bowl parties so all the kids really feel a part of it. It was touch and go picking the kids up from school and getting to downtown Tampa for the 3.30pm victory parade,but we got there just before the team went past.It was great to shout go Bucs and have the players turn to look directly at you.Maybe my English accent caught their attention. SARAH NICHOLLS I was watching the Super Bowl at the sports cafe in Manchester. There quiet a few Bucs fan there. Hi Neil Julie and any one else that was there I can't remember everyones name. It was an amazing night and definitely unforgettable. NIGEL SMITH To make the evening more memorable, our family (one son is already a BucsUK member) accompanied me to the sports bar in Birmingham. Large screen viewing at the rear bar, with several other telly's around the room and toilets. Buccaneer shirts definitely outnumbered Raiders shirts. Wondered if there were other Bucs UK fans there, but didn't recognise anyone from the annual meal. It was quite noisy there to start with, especially during the performance by Birmingham Cheerleaders! but once the game started most people were watching. I don't think either the Bucs or Raiders fans could believe what was happening. They were stunned and so were we! Enjoyed each and every touchdown but didn't feel like we could get too carried away mocking the Raiders fans, lest they should make a come back. That changed during the last few minutes of course. Winning is something that takes some getting used to, but I think that we are going to have to get used to it for the foreseeable future at least. Great all-round display. Defense proved themselves, as we thought they would, on the biggest stage. Credit too to the offense, which made some big drives to eat up the clock and help our defense. Churlish to pick out any individual performance - so I won't. Congratulations to all the players and coaches and of course Rich McKay and his team, who put all the pieces in place for Jon Gruden to put together so well. TONY STERN I'm not sure I can quite put into words what the Bucs winning the Super Bowl really means to me. I've been a Bucs Fan for 15 Years now & although I was watching the game thousands of miles away, I could not have felt any prouder if I had been sitting there in San Diego. For somebody who has only over the last couple of years not been laughed at for supporting the Bucs, this wipes out all those terrible seasons, it also means that we will never be laughed at again. I suppose this will bring a lot of 'Glory Hunter' Fans, but I know I've been there throughout it all & nobody can take last Sundays feelings away from me. However, My one dissapointment will always be that I didn't 'Live for Today' & take my wife's advice & go to the Game myself. NEIL FERGUSON I went with Julie to watch the game in the Sports Cafe in Manchester. Met Jason Donald, Sarah Nichols and a few other fans there. About 15 Bucs fans, 50 Raiders and a whole bunch of yanks supporting both teams. Didn't want to be late for the 11.15 start so arrived at 5.pm! 8 pitchers of beer later and we are in heaven. If only i could have been there. have to wait for next year. The Bucs were on a mission this year and the poor old Raiders just got in the way. We would have beaten any NFLl team on Sunday and probably by the same score. Picture the scene - the game has just finished and Julie turns round and tells me I am to be a dad again for the 2nd time. Don't you think that is maybe a little to much to take in at one time? DAVID SCOTT I was disappointed that the raiders did not really make a game of it and also that Tim Brown had such a quiet game as he is one of my favourite players and one of the few NFL players still playing that was drafted when I was still at school. That said obviously delighted that the Buc's won. Thought the MVP award went to the wrong person as usual, Its not hard too get 2 picks when 7 players are in pass coverage every time the ball goes in the air. Personally I thought the MVP should have gone to any member of the D-line, Rice in particular or Pittman but there you go. Anyway the best way to sum up this Super Bowl was that I was awake the whole way through for the first time in ages, and if the Buc's can win the Super Bowl maybe this is the year that the Red Sox will end there 90 year world series drought. DAN MONEY My Super Bowl evening was made all the better by my getting my hands on an American bird called Tiffany who was more than willing to continue the party back at my house and share the joy and pleasure of the Bucs winning the Super Bowl (even though she was a Jets fan). I would divulge more details but there's more than enough filth on the Internet already, and I think you want Bucpower to remain a family site! Either way it was a quality night, and I'm glad I booked Monday off work. JOHN DAVIES Still finding this unbelievable. What a contrast to the last two years. After the playoff defeats to Philly, how sweet is this. Two years ago I sat alone on New Years Eve in my living room as the clock turned 12 and entered 2001. The Bucs were getting stuffed by the Eagles and as the country brought the new year in, I stared at the TV screen in silence - with a mixture of seething and bewilderment. Last year was slightly better, as I wasn't alone, this year however........... After the victory at the Vet, it took a couple of days to sink in that the Bucs were going to San Diego but then the decision had to be made as to where to watch the game. In the end I figured if I couldn't get to Qualcomm, the next best place was Leeroy Selmon's restaurant. Six days after the NFC title triumph, I was in Tampa soaking up the atmosphere. I went to the mall where nearly every shop had made an effort with it's window dressing to show support for the Bucs and nearly everyone I saw was wearing something with a Bucs logo on - a stark contrast to my first visit to Tampa when it was considered an embarrassment to wear anything with Bucko Bruce on it. I had persuaded my boss to give me Friday, Monday & Tuesday off work - holiday I didn't actually have but as a Coventry City diehard I think he understood how I felt - Although I do not support Coventry City, I work in the city centre and the whole thing reminded me of the days leading up to the 1987 cup final - their first ever final and still the only thing they've ever won - with the way that everyone got so excited and the whole place was buzzing. People who usually didn't bother showed an interest. I think he empathised with me. On gameday I got to Selmons at 12.00 noon, having walked there from my hotel, slightly early for the game but who cares. Eleven hours later I left after one of the most emotional evenings of my life. Walking back towards the stadium afterwards, everyone was tooting their horn and shouting out of their windows. When I reached the junction of Dale Mabry and Columbus close to the stadium, the place was jumping. There was a complete log jam of vehicles and the noise was absolutely deafning - people were dancing on the top of their pick-ups, hanging out of cars and hugging/kissing/high-fiving anyone within range! Helicopters from the TV networks hovered overhead beaming the shots back for everyone to see at home. I just stood and watched for an age shouting back at everyone that passed - unbelievable. Back in the hotel room I could still hear the car horns at 4.30 a.m Maybe it was my shortest trip to the States by a long way, but boy was it worth every single penny! Thank You Bucs......here's to a repeat! JASON DONALD Personally I met up with Neil ferguson and his better half at The Sports Cafe in Manchester and along with a few other Tampa fans we out shouted a bar full of Raider rooters. Even the bar staff had Raider face paint on but we didn't care. We were sat with a guy from Tampa whose folks were at the game and I spoke(slurred!) to them on the phone at half time. A great time was had by all and I couldn't help but feel a little guilty as at 34-3 I took my Sapp shirt off to reveal my Orange Vinny shirt. When it got to 34-21 the Sapp shirt went back on as I'm sure it was the curse of old Tampa! Most remarkably of all I had 11 pints , got home at 4.05 am and was up at 7am and in work for 8.30 hangover and headache free. Even better was my trip to the bookmakers to collect my winnings at 16-1 from he start of the season. It was without a doubt the best moment in 25 years of watching the sport and I'm not sure I believe it even now and I've watched it twice more on video! MARTIN GOURLAY I remember being slightly "miffed"early on in the game,but the way the "D" playing I knew if we could get ahead we stood a chance.I remember wondering what Paul must be feeling at half time,and at 34-3 I sent a mail to a Detroit Tigers fan here in the UK asking if I should celebrate yet! STUART FLETCHER I've just about recovered from the greatest night for supporting the Buccaneers. Unfortunately I don't have access to Sky so the plan was to watch the game on Channel 5 with a friend from over the road, who although not a fan does enjoy watching games. As the evening drew closer I sent both the wife and kids to bed at 10am, took the 24 bottles of budweiser from the fridge, 2 family size bags of popcorn and 2 tins of hot dogs. I was proudly sporting my Mike Alstott top and signed England hat, signed by John Lynch. I must admit to feeling pretty apprehensive before the coverage began, but grew more confident once the panel of "experts" in the studio decided to tip the Raiders. I was pleased to see Rob Hart in the studio, as I managed to speak to him briefly in training camp during August, whilst at Disney, although I couldn't quite grasp why Seal was on the panel, although there was a tenuous link with Santana who played as part of the pre-game show, as they recorded a song together, although they never actually met - weird! The first quarter was pretty even, but once the lads got on top the result was never in doubt, nice to see the panel of experts, suddenly start tipping the Bucs to win once it was clear the Raiders has no chance! The second half was a blur, too much beer and shouting, to the extent the wife came storming downstairs at 2.15am, threw my friend out and brought a pillow and blanket fot me to sleep on the couch, although I never used them as I never got any sleep, as I tape the game and after it finished, watched the whole thing again. CHRIS HARRIS I cannot claim to be one of the people who has supported the Bucs when they were the laughing stock of the league playing in orange. I started following the team after the Glazer family and Tony Dungy had brought some stability to the franchise. However I have still seen the team (especially the offense) heavily criticised by the press. That makes the Super Bowl victory even sweeter. It seemed to me that everyone wanted the Raiders to win. Tim Brown was meant to win a ring as was Jerry Rice (again) and all the rest of Oakland's future hall of famers. Did anyone really expect the Bucs to win it all going into the playoffs? Watching the team come together in the playoffs was great to watch. Despite demolishing the 49ers I still doubted the Bucs chances in Philly (for obvious reasons). When they won there I started to believe. I wasn't able to do anything special for the Super Bowl (because of the whole student poverty thing). I just bought some beers and watched the game on 5 with my flatmates. I still didn't want to get too excited in case the Bucs lost. This helped when Brad Johnson threw a pick on the first drive. We all know what happened after that. The game was sensational (for Tampa fans). Once again the offense came together (I thought Jurevicieus in particular had a good game, underrated player) and the defense was out of this world. I can't really say anything that hasn't been said about the game itself. On a personal level I am still on cloud nine. The game is still in the VCR and has been repeated many a time. It is immensely satisfying to be able to say that the team I support are no longer nearly the best, they are the champions! The offense has been brilliant to watch through the playoffs. Unlike the Ravens a couple of years ago Tampa has the offense to complement a great defense. What chance of a repeat? I wouldn't bet against it!