SUPER BOWL XXVII : Notes on a Scorecard

It figured that a Super Bowl played in filmland would be a sequel, “Buffaloed III.” . . . The Bills must have been confident early in the third quarter when they trailed by 21 points and had Frank Reich at the controls, but then they discovered that they were facing the wrong team from Texas. . . .

How in the world did the Rams ever beat the Cowboys? . . .

If the Bills hadn’t had all that Super Bowl experience, they probably would have turned over the ball 10 times instead of nine. . . .

Best bet of the weekend was that it would rain in Pasadena on Saturday instead of Sunday. . . .

Super slaughters: Eight of the last 10 Super Bowl winners have scored at least 37 points and won by at least 13 points. . . .

Al Davis and guest Donald Sterling huddled in the press box, but Davis expressed no interest in acquiring Danny Manning. . . .

Remember when the knock on Troy Aikman at UCLA was that he couldn’t win the big games? . . . Jay Novacek should teach Cowboy teammate Leon Lett how to behave when he is carrying the football in the vicinity of the end zone. . . .

Sign outside the Rose Bowl at 11 a.m.: “I Need 1 Ticket. I’ll Pay You Good Money and Get You Beers.” . . .

The water and power department will be delighted to learn that the bowl lights were turned on at 3 p.m. . . .

Another cowboy who was fundamentally sound was Garth Brooks, who got all the words to the national anthem right. . . .

Brooks shook hands with Jimmy Johnson before the game. Near the end of the game, Jerry Jones hugged Johnson. . . .

The longest place kick of the day was a conversion--Lin Elliott’s from 30 yards out after the Cowboys were penalized 10 yards. . . .

There ought to be an award for defensive player of the game. . . .

Prime candidates Sunday would have included Cowboy linebacker Ken Norton Jr., tackle Jimmie Jones and safety Thomas Everett. . . .

The game--and accompanying TV commercials--lasted 3 hours and 23 minutes, about a half-hour longer than the average regular-season game. . . .

Saddest sight of the day was that of Jim Kelly hobbling on crutches on way to the Buffalo bench early in the third quarter. . . .

Worst named cheerleading squad: The Buffalo Jills. . . .

At least the Super Bowl is the one pro football game when we don’t have to hear about the importance of taking the home crowd out of the game. . . .

Halftime score: Dallas 28, Buffalo 10. Time of possession: Buffalo, 15 minutes 42 seconds; Dallas, 14 minutes 18 seconds. . . .

It probably would have been too much to expect the AFC to beat the NFC at the Rose Bowl the same year that the Big Ten beat the Pacific 10. . . .

Bills’ nose tackle Jeff Wright said, “They did what we thought we could do.” . . .

Those mini-scoreboards might be OK for the 1994 World Cup--soccer fans don’t give a damn about stats--but they are inadequate for football. . . .

During the fourth quarter, some fans switched stations on the transistor radios they were given. . . .

Pregame yell from a Buffalo fan: “Go Bills! We Don’t Throw Out Our Coach!”. . .

Confidence is trying a pass play on fourth-and-four on your opponent’s 38-yard line, as the Cowboys did late in the third quarter. . . .

The pass was batted down, but the Bills’ defense got that Rodney Dangerfield, lack-of-respect look. . . .

Among those beating the traffic were the Goodyear and Budweiser blimps that arrived several hours before kickoff. . . .

The Bills might have lost by only 28 points if wide-open tight end Pete Metzelaars hadn’t slipped on the play when James Washington intercepted a Jim Kelly pass to set up Dallas’ first touchdown. . . .

A New York critic introduced the “Hollywood” pregame show. . . .

Instant replay could have helped after Reich’s 40-yard touchdown pass on the last play of the third quarter that might have been thrown from across the line of scrimmage. . . .

Free agency will provide other teams with quick fixes, but the Cowboys are too young, well-coached, and well-organized not to have a good chance to become a Steeler- or 49er-type dynasty. . . .

After all the pregame and halftime pageantry, I felt cheated that there were no closing ceremonies.