Some alphabet soup for the Super Bowl-stricken soul

A is for American Football League. Kansas City and Oakland lost the first two championship games (the name Super Bowl didn't come until later) to Green Bay of the NFL, but the upstart AFL's last game before the merger was the Chiefs' 23-7 victory over Minnesota in Super Bowl IV.

B is for Bill Belichick. He coached New England through an improbable 2001 season, past Oakland and Pittsburgh in the AFC playoffs and to a 20-17 Super Bowl XXXVI victory over the Rams.

C is for Cowboys. Dallas has played in an NFL-high eight Super Bowls, winning five.

D is for Dolphins. They scored the fewest points in a Super Bowl, losing 24-3 to the Cowboys in Super Bowl VI. Miami was just warming up. It beat the Redskins and Vikings the next two Super Bowls.

E is for John Elway. He lost his first three Super Bowls before quarterbacking Denver past Green Bay 31-24 in Super Bowl XXXII. The next year he ended his career as MVP of the Broncos' 34-19 Super Bowl victory over Atlanta.

F is for Florida. The state is tied with California for hosting the most Super Bowls (11). The Sunshine State gets No. 12 in two years, Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville.

G is for Jon Gruden. He didn't get to the Super Bowl with the Raiders. He has done it with the Bucs and, hey, look who they're playing.

H is for Chuck Howley. The Cowboys linebacker was MVP of Super Bowl V, the first defensive player chosen and still the only one from a losing team.

I is for inches. About 12 of them, the distance between Kevin Dyson and the goal line when Mike Jones tackled him to preserve the Rams' 23-16 Super Bowl XXXIV victory over Tennessee.

J is for Jokers. NFL players Fred Dryer and Lance Rentzel "covered" Super Bowl IX for Sport Magazine dressed as reporters right out of the Front Page and asked inane, cliche-riddled questions. Most people, players and coaches included, laughed. The NFL didn't.

K is for Joe Kapp. The Vikings were the first team to lose four Super Bowls. Fran Tarkenton was the quarterback in three of them, but Kapp lost the first.

L is for Left out. That would be most everyday fans. Here's where the tickets go: The Bucs and Raiders, 17.5 percent apiece; the host team (Chargers), 5 percent; the other 29 teams, 34.8 percent; the NFL, 25.2 percent, most given to the networks with NFL contracts, corporate sponsors, charities and the host committee.

M is for Max McGee. He partied deep into the night on the eve of Super Bowl I. Then Boyd Dowler got hurt six plays into the game and the wobbly, bleary-eyed McGee replaced him. He caught seven passes that day, two for touchdowns, one for the Super Bowl's first points.

N is for New Orleans. The host city with the most Super Bowls (9 to Miami's 8) but still waiting for the Saints to play in their first -- anywhere.

O is for Jim O'Brien. Until Adam Vinatieri came along, the Colts placekicker had the latest Super Bowl-winning kick, with five seconds remaining to mercifully end Super Bowl V, the mistake-laden Blooper Bowl.

P is for Perfection. That was Miami's 17-0 record in 1972. It ended with the Dolphins' 14-7 Super Bowl VII victory over Washington.

Q is for Qualcomm Stadium. Hosting its third Super Bowl. Technically this is No. 2: The place used to bear the name of San Diego sports writer Jack Murphy, instrumental in luring the Chargers from Los Angeles.

R is for Refrigerator. William Perry, the Fridge, a huge Bears defensive lineman, scored a touchdown in their only Super Bowl. Walter Payton never had that honor.

S is for Sparrows. For Super Bowl VIII, the Vikings practiced at a high school with no lockers and sparrows nesting in the showers. The Dolphins used the Houston Oilers facilities. Vikings coach Bud Grant erupted. "This is a Super Bowl game, not a pickup game," he said. Commissioner Pete Rozelle fined him $1,500. The Vikings lost 24-7.

T is for touchdowns. Steve Young threw a record six of them in San Francisco's 49-26 victory over San Diego in Super Bowl XXIX. Second: Joe Montana, five for the 49ers five years earlier. U is for Ugly. There have been 10 "ugly" games in 36 Super Bowls, ugly being a game in which the winner beats the loser by at least 21, thereby making the fourth quarter pointless. Only one team has scored 21 in the fourth: the Cowboys, who won Super Bowl XXVII 52-17. V is for Dick Vermeil. He coached the Eagles in their Super Bowl XV loss. It took him 19 years, most by any coach, to get to another one. His Rams beat Tennessee 23-16 in Super Bowl XXXIV. W is for Randy White. He and fellow Dallas defensive lineman Harvey Martin are the only players to share Super Bowl MVP honors. They did it in the Cowboys' 27-10 victory over Denver in Super Bowl XII. X is for XI, XV and XVIII. The three Super Bowls the Raiders have won. They lost Super Bowl II; that doesn't have an X in it. Y is for Garo Yepremian. Miami's place-kicker made one of the best remembered -- and worst -- passes in Super Bowl history after his field-goal attempt was blocked. The ball squirted out of his hand, went straight up, down and into the hands of Washington's Mike Bass, who ran it 49 yards for a touchdown in Super Bowl VII.

Z is for Zero. If Yepremian had fallen on the ball instead of trying to pass it, Washington probably would have scored zero points in Super Bowl VI and Miami would have the only Super Bowl shutout.

-- Compiled by Bruce Lowitt.