Sport: Surviving the Super Bowl

To the victors go the spoils, usually spoiling the victors

If the Super Bowl is the ultimate game, why is there another one next year?

—Dallas Cowboy Philosopher Duane Thomas, whose 1971 wisdom surpassed understanding

As the four surviving teams in the National Football League's Super Bowl tournament press on toward the ultimate game, the question is whether anyone ultimately survives at all. The last three Super Bowls were won by the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers, none of whom made it back even to the play-offs the following year. John Madden, who celebrated the 1977 Super Bowl...

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