Tampa Bay wins Super Bowl
SAN DIEGO, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- The National Football League's No. 1 defense dominated both early and late Sunday night, turning a franchise that once was considered the worst of all time into the champions of Super Bowl XXXVII.
Tampa Bay became the first team in Super Bowl history to score three defensive touchdowns in one game, two of them coming in the final 87 seconds to wipe out Oakland's comeback dreams and give the Buccaneers a wild 48-21 victory over the Raiders.
Quarterback Brad Johnson threw two touchdown passes to Kennan McCardell as part of a mid-game surge and the Buccaneers opened a 34-3 advantage to touch off an early celebration on the Tampa Bay sideline.
Oakland then scored three quick touchdowns to create the possibility of a remrkable rally only to have Derrick Brooks and Dwight Smith return interceptions for touchdowns in the closing moments.
In the first meeting ever of the league's top offense and top defense in a championship game, the defensive side was the clear winner.
"There are a lot of great defenses that came into this game and won it," said Tampa Bay defensive lineman Warren Sapp. "But I don't think any of those teams came and faced an offense like we did today. And we put a stranglehold on them."
Tampa Bay's defense intercepted five passes and sacked Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon five times. Safety Dexter Jackson picked off two passes in the first half, Smith intercepted two more and returned them both for touchdowns and Brooks brought his interception back for a score.
The Buccaneers' offense, meanwhile, took over the game with three touchdown drives on three possessions late in the second quarter and early in the third. Running back Michael Pittman added 124 yards on 29 carries.
The Tampa Bay victory came in the franchise's 27th season and in the Buccaneers' first trip to the Super Bowl. It also came at the end of Jon Gruden's first year as Tampa Bay's head coach, having been traded by Oakland at the end of the 2001 season for two first-round draft picks, two second-round selections and $8 million.
Gruden brought with him an offensive philosophy that began to take hold late in his initial Tampa Bay season and he inherited a defense which carried his team to the Vince Lombardi Trophy
The game carried a note of controversy on the Oakland side when starting center Barret Robbins was dismissed from the team for missing a series of scheduled meetings on the day before the Super Bowl.
There were reports after the game that Robbins was so distraught at not being allowed to compete, his wife checked him into a local hospital.
"The situation with Barrett is irrelevant," said Oakland defensive back Rod Woodson. "No one person wins or loses football games. Nobody on this team played a good game."
Although there were story lines involving Barrett and Gruden associated with the game, the biggest factor was the Tampa Bay defense.
Linemen Simeon Rice, Chartric Darby, Greg Spires and Sapp put constant pressure on Gannon early in the game and the interceptions from the linebacking and secondary corps sealed Oakland's fate.
"I don't know how it always feels for the winners of this game," said Tampa Bay strong safety John Lynch. "But considering where this franchise came from, this is amazing. This team to it to the next level.
"Whether we are the best defense, I don't know. We will leave that to the pundits. But we came out and did what we did all year and I think we will go down as one of the greatest of all time."
Tampa Bay owns the NFL record for most consecutive losses, having dropped the first 26 games in franchise history. But at the end of the 2002 season, the Buccaneers won three playoff games -- equaling the total they had amassed in their previous 26 years.
Carter victorious in return
TORONTO, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Vince Carter, who had missed 23 games with a strained knee, scored 22 points in his return Sunday to carry Toronto past Sacramento, 101-97.
as the Toronto Raptors snapped a
Toronto halted a five-game losing streak.
Sacramento, the Pacific Division leader, capped a 1-2 road trip with back-to-back losses to Eastern Conference lightweights Atlanta and Toronto.
The Raptors led, 91-80, after a running jumper by Voshon Lenard with 5:51 to play before the Kings closed to 95-91 on two free throws by Chris Webber with 1:50 remaining.
After Carter, who was celebrating his 26th birthday, hit a jumper 15 seconds later to give the Raptors a six-point advantage, Webber hit only one of two free throws with 1:13 to play and missed a pair with 56 seconds left.
Mike Bibby and Carter exchanged pairs of free throws before Jimmy Jackson made a three-pointer to get the Kings within 99-97 with 8.9 seconds left. But Carter sank two from the stripe a second later to cap the scoring.
Other NBA results: Boston 91, Orlando 83; Chicago 100, Houston 98; Indiana 108, Los Angeles Clippers 101; New ork 106, Phoenix 98; Portland 100, Dallas 93.
Capitals hot on power play
WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Robert Lang scored two goals and Sergei Gonchar added a goal and three assists Sunday in Washington's 7-2 whipping of the New York Rangers.
Washington scored five power-play goals.
Washington's power play has been hot of late and the Rangers played right into the Capitals' hands by giving them nine opportunities with the man advantage.
Jaromir Jagr contributed a goal and a pair of assists for Washington, which registered a pair of five-on-three goals in a 25-second span early in the third period to break open the game.
The Capitals, who matched their largest output of the season, have 13 power-play goals in their last nine contests. Against the Rangers, they scored one in the first period, one in the second and three in the third.
Other NHL results: Montreal 4, Chicago 3; Vancouver 1, Phoenix 0.
Oklahoma State wins 14th straight
LUBBOCK, Texas, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Tony Allen scored six straight points in a late 75-second span Sunday as 17th-ranked Oklahoma State downed No. 25 Texas Tech, 79-70.
The Cowboys stretched the nation's longest winning streak to 14 games.
Oklahoma State (16-1, 5-0 Big 12) did not trail in the second half, leading by as many as 15 points. But the Cowboys got sloppy holding the lead and committed a series of turnovers that allowed the Red Raiders to stay close.
Texas Tech (11-4, 1-3) used a 12-2 run to pull within 65-64 on Andre Emmett's turnaround jumper with 3:13 remaining. Allen went straight to the basket on the next possession and gave the Cowboys a three-point lead 17 seconds later.
Allen added a driving layup and came up with a steal and an uncontested basket for a 71-64 advantage, prompting a timeout by the Red Raiders.
In celebration, Allen hugged Cowboys assistant James Dickey, who was making his return to the campus where he compiled a 166-124 record as head coach from 1991-2001. Dickey was fired after the 2000-2001 season prior to the Red Raiders hiring Bob Knight.
In other action involving top 25 teams, No. 9 Creighton downed TCU, 89-79, and No. 18 Wake Forest was a 71-60 winner over Florida State.
Vijay Singh claims Phoenix Open
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Vijay Singh fired an 8-under-par 63 Sunday to overcome a two-stroke deficit and capture the Phoenix Open by three shots.
After moving within striking distance Saturday, Singh's final round was the best of the day at the TPC of Scottsdale. He pulled away from a three-way tie and overtook three golfers, including Harrison Frazar, who still is searching for his first career PGA Tour win.
Singh compiled a 23-under 261 and collected the $720,000 first prize for his 11th career tour win and first since the Shell Houston Open last April. He won this event in 1995 and finished tied for eighth last year.
Frazar began the tournament with a 62 Thursday and held or shared the lead after each of the first three rounds. But he shot a 69 Sunday to tie for third at 265.
John Huston shot a 67 to finish alone in second at 20-under 264, three shots off the pace.
There were 18 first-time champions in 2002, but the first three tournaments this year have been won by veteran superstars. Ernie Els won the opening two events on the circuit this year.
In Singapore, Lian-Wei Zhang became the first Chinese winner on the European Tour Sunday when he ended Ernie Els' quest for a fourth straight victory at the Caltex Masters.
World No. 2 Els led by one shot playing the final hole but rang up a bogey. He then saw playing partner Zhang hole from five feet for birdie to snatch the title.
