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2B – Daily News – Tuesday, January 25, 2011 Super Bowl validates Packers’ subtle swagger Green Bay Packers GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — While B.J. Raji wasn’t one of the Green Bay Packers players who showed up for a preseason kickoff luncheon wearing a cowboy hat, he liked his teammates’ subtle show of swagger. Going into the season, most people took the Packers’ Old West costume caper as a playful-but-purposeful mes- sage that they intended to finish their season in cowboy country, the Feb. 6 Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium — and weren’t afraid to say so. And with the Packers now preparing to face the Pitts- burgh Steelers after beating Chicago in the NFC champi- onship game Sunday, Raji says the defensive linemen might be planning a motivational gimmick of their own. ‘‘I think the D-line has something up our sleeve for this trip,’’ Raji said Monday, still relishing his intercep- tion return for a touchdown against the Bears. To be sure, Mike McCarthy’s Packers will never be mistaken for Rex Ryan’s mouthy New York Jets. But the Packers did spend training camp openly embracing their role as Super Bowl favorites, displays of confidence that quickly were forgotten once injuries piled up and the Packers had to scramble just to make the play- offs. Had the Packers lost either of their final two regular season games, they wouldn’t have made the playoffs — so in their minds, they’ve won five straight playoff games. With the Super Bowl now a reality, the Packers’ con- fidence seems just as high as it was back in September. ‘‘We got to the point where they told us we had to win the last two games to get in, and everybody put it on their shoulders,’’ wide receiver Donald Driver said. ‘‘Every- body had to look at themselves in the mirror and say, ’You have to do your job better if you want to get here.’ Once we got in, we told everybody, ’You don’t want to see us.’’’ McCarthy said the Packers knew they were a good team coming out of training camp, and credited the play- ers for not losing confidence once the injuries hit. ‘‘Our particular path this year, in hindsight, has made us a stronger football team,’’ McCarthy said. ‘‘It’s shaped us in a different way. We’ve had an opportunity to play, really, five playoff games going into this Super Bowl so I think that really helps us. We feel like we’re a razor-sharp team as far as the level of play we’re bringing to the table here in the past month.’’ McCarthy hasn’t been particularly prone to making bold statements during his time as the Packers’ coach, but MCT photo Aaron Rodgers celebrates following Sunday’s victory in the NFC Championship. even he embraced his team’s Super Bowl expectations going into the season. Then the injuries hit. The Packers lost running back Ryan Grant to a season-ending ankle injury in Week 1, and it just got worse from there. ‘‘Once that started happening throughout the year, we knew we still had a chance to get in, and that was the crazy part,’’ Driver said. ‘‘You go through the year, you’re like, ’OK, we lose this game, we win this game, then you start bouncing back and realizing that you can do it.’’’ The Packers wouldn’t be getting ready for the Super Bowl without players who took on bigger roles, includ- ing inside linebacker Desmond Bishop, safety Charlie Peprah, right tackle Bryan Bulaga, running back James Starks and outside linebacker Erik Walden. ‘‘With the injuries we had early in the season, maybe some people wrote us off,’’ left tackle Chad Clifton said. ‘‘But again, I think that’s just a credit to the players we have in the locker room. Guys stepped up and played and played well and put us in position to get us where we’re at today.’’ Safety Nick Collins said the Packers’ preseason confi- dence carried over from their previous season, which ended with a disappointing playoff loss at Arizona. ‘‘The way we finished the season last year, we felt like we had an opportunity last year to go all the way and fell a little short,’’ Collins said. ‘‘We just came in with the mindset that we can go all the way and everybody buying in. It’s been paying off this year.’’ Now the Packers are going to the Super Bowl, a reali- ty Driver said hasn’t set in yet. ‘‘That’s when you start really feeling it once you start getting down to Dallas and start seeing all the different activities and things going on,’’ Driver said. ‘‘That’s when it will really hit you. Then the family is all excited. I know that, but it hasn’t really hit me yet.’’ Steelers embrace underdog status in Super Bowl Pittsburgh Steelers PITTSBURGH (AP) — The mighty Pitts- burgh Steelers, equipped with a record six Super Bowl titles, a 14-4 record, the No. 2 AFC seed and a veteran roster on the verge of three championships in the past six seasons, are underdogs for Super Bowl XLV. Really? Don’t worry. It’s not you. It doesn’t make much sense to the Steel- ers, either. But here Pittsburgh is, fresh off its 24-19 win over the New York Jets in the AFC Cham- pionship Sunday night, installed by the Las Vegas oddsmakers as about a three-point underdog against Green Bay (13-6), the NFC’s No. 6 seed. ‘‘I kind of don’t understand what every- body sees that we don’t see,’’ Steelers defensive back Ike Taylor said. For a team that was- n’t picked by many to win its division, told it would get off to a rocky start without its sus- pended quarterback for the first four games and fought through it all to get to the franchise’s record-tying eighth Super Bowl, being the underdog is a role the Steelers are eager to embrace. PGA FedExCup Standings Rank Points Money 1. Jonathan Byrd 2. Jhonattan Vegas 3. Mark Wilson 4. Bill Haas 5. Robert Garrigus 6.Tim Clark 7. Matt Kuchar 8. Steve Marino 9. Gary Woodland 10.Ryan Palmer 11. Steve Stricker 534 $1,146,606 509 $911,880 508 $1,000,700 330 $622,000 300 $635,000 299 $571,000 283 $561,125 250 $494,350 245 $440,000 210 $360,200 195 $429,500 12. Graeme McDowell 190 $412,000 13. Matt Bettencourt 183 $301,500 14. Brian Gay 15.Kevin Na 16.Jimmy Walker 17. Jerry Kelly 18. Jason Day 19. Carl Pettersson 20. Chris Kirk 160 $284,286 153 $247,357 135 $264,000 127 $223,556 123 $219,357 123 $286,500 122 $185,550 ————————————————— Upcoming schedule Jan. 27-30— Farmers Insurance Open, Torrey Pines GC (North and South), San Diego Feb. 3-6— Waste Management Phoenix Open, TPC Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Ariz. Feb. 10-13— AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Pebble Beach, Spy- glass Hill, Monterey Peninsula (Shore Course), Pebble Beach Feb. 17-20 — Northern Trust Open, Riv- iera CC, Los Angeles ‘‘I think we do our best when we’re under- dogs,’’ Steelers defen- sive lineman Chris Hoke said. ‘‘People were talking at the beginning of the season, how we were going to go 6-10 or 7-9. And how two years ago, when we went to the Super Bowl in ’08, we had the toughest sched- ule in NFL history, ’Are they going to be able to make it out of this schedule?’ ‘‘I think when you put our backs against the wall, when you tell us that we’re an under- dog and we can’t do something, that’s when we fight and we’re at our best.’’ Maybe Hoke is on to something. The fran- chise’s most recent run of championships began when it slipped into the playoffs as a No. 6 seed, upset three teams with better records on the road and beat the NFC’s top seed, Seattle, 21-10, in Super Bowl XL, on Feb. 5, 2006. Nineteen players from that team are on this roster in a season in which it played its first four games with a third- , and then a fourth- string quarterback. Ben Roethlisberger was suspended by the NFLPLAYOFFS Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 6 At Arlington, Texas Pittsburgh vs.Green Bay, 3:30 p.m., FOX Conference Championships Sunday’s results Green Bay 21, Chicago 14 Pittsburgh 24, N.Y. Jets 19 league until Week 5, and backup Byron Left- wich sustained a knee sprain during the pre- season. That meant Dennis Dixon and Char- lie Batch quarterbacked the Steelers to a surpris- ing 3-1 start. Four months later, they’re packing their bags for Dallas. ‘‘We like to go into every game as under- dogs,’’ receiver Mike Wallace said. But maybe — at least in Taylor’s eyes — it’s wishful thinking on the part of Pittsburgh crit- ics. ‘‘I feel like, deep down, in the back of people’s heads, they really don’t want us to win,’’ Taylor said. ‘‘People don’t like suc- cessful people. Just the tradition we have here, the success we have here, I just feel that a lot of people don’t want us to succeed. They’re getting tired of seeing the same people over and over again. I guess they want to see some- body new. ‘‘Until that happens, NCAA The Top Twenty Five The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Jan. 16, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th- place vote and last week’s ranking: Record Pts Pvs 1. Ohio St. (63) 20-0 1,623 1 2. Pittsburgh (1) 19-1 1,528 5 3.Duke (1) 4. San Diego St. 20-0 1,386 6 5. Connecticut1 6. Kansas 7.Texas 1,314 8 8.Villanova 9.BYU 9. Syracuse 11. Missouri 12. Purdue 18-1 1,490 4 6-2 18-1 1,293 2 16-3 1,267 10 17-2 1,199 7 19-1 1,095 9 18-2 1,095 3 17-3 887 13 17-3 881 14 13.Texas A&M 17-2 847 11 14.Kentucky LOCAL Red Bluff Parks & Recreation Basketball Jan. 18 results Vineyard 72, Arrow Fencing 59 Justin Kingsley 24 points J. Blaney 25 points Barnes Boys 91, Corning Glass 48 Ryan Stevens 47 points Roland Anger 17 points Red Bluff Parks & Recreation Volleyball Jan. 20 results Kids @ Heart 15, 15 Team Volleyball13, 13 St. E. Angels 15, 15 The L 8, 10 Just 4 fun Jan. 19 result 5, 3 Mt. Lassen Motor15, 15 15.Notre Dame 16-4 691 16 16. Minnesota 17.Wisconsin 18.Washington 15-4 584 20 19.Vanderbilt 20. Illinois 15-4 614 18 14-4 317 — 21. Georgetown 14-5 276 23 22. Florida St. 23. Louisville 24. Florida 14-6 279 23 15-5 218 — 25. Michigan St. 12-7 15-4 203 19 15-4 169 — 97 17 Others receiving votes: Cincinnati 85, Ari- zona 68, West Virginia 62, Saint Mary’s, Calif. 55, Utah St. 53, Georgia 23, Xavier 12, Memphis 11, Virginia Tech 8, Temple 7, Missouri St.6, UNLV 4, Tennessee 3, Baylor 2, Coastal Carolina 2, Va.Com- monwealth 2, Belmont 1, Duquesne 1, Harvard 1, Penn St. 1. Monday’s Top 25 result No.15 Notre Dame 56, No.2 Pittsburgh 51 Today’s Top 25 games No.1 Ohio St.vs.No.12 Purdue, 6 p.m., ESPN No. 5 Connecticut at Marquette, 6 p.m. No. 6 Kansas at Colorado, 5 p.m. No. 9 Syracuse vs. Seton Hall, 4 p.m. No. 24 Florida at Georgia, 4 p.m., ESPN 15-4 709 12 15-4 656 15 I’m just glad to be a Pittsburgh Steeler.’’ And why not? Taylor was drafted by a team that has advanced to the AFC championship game in half of his eight seasons. Add that run to the lore of the Steel Curtain teams of the 1970s — a unit that won four Super Bowls in six years, becoming the first true dynasty in the Super Bowl era — and the Steelers have quite the tradition for a bunch of underdogs. ‘‘You come here and see the pictures on the wall,’’ Hoke said. ‘‘Joe Greene and all those great guys on defense. Terry Bradshaw on offense, Franco Harris, there’s too many to name. You know there’s a standard here, and you know that winning is an expectation. You’re not hoping to win — you’re expecting to win here.’’ NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division Lakers WL Pct GB 32 13 .711 — Phoenix 20 23 .465 11 WARRIORS 19 24 .442 12 Clippers 17 26 .395 14 KINGS 932 .220 21 Southwest Division WL Pct GB San Antonio 37 7 .841 — New Orleans30 16 .652 8 Dallas 28 15 .651 8.5 Memphis 22 23 .489 15.5 Houston 21 25 .457 17 Northwest Division WL Pct GB Okla. City 28 16 .636 — Utah 27 17 .614 1 Denver 25 18 .581 2.5 Portland 25 20 .556 3.5 Minnesota 10 34 .227 18 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL Pct GB Boston 33 10 .767 — New York 23 21 .523 10.5 Philadelphia 19 25 .432 14.5 New Jersey 13 32 .289 21 Toronto 13 32 .289 21 Southeast Division WL Pct GB 31 13 .705 — Miami Atlanta 29 16 .644 2.5 Orlando 29 16 .644 2.5 Charlotte 17 25 .405 13 Washington 13 30 .302 17.5 Central Division WL Pct GB Chicago 31 14 .689 — Indiana 16 25 .390 13 Milwaukee 16 26 .381 13.5 Detroit 17 28 .378 14 Cleveland 8 36 .182 22.5 ————————————————— Monday’s results Sacramento at Portland, late San Antonio at Golden State, late Chicago 92, Milwaukee 83 Detroit 103, Orlando 96 Houston 129, Minnesota 125 Memphis 100, Toronto 98 New Jersey 103, Cleveland 101 New Orleans 91, Oklahoma City 89 New York 115, Washington 106 Philadelphia 105, Phoenix 95 Today’s games Charlotte at Sacramento,7 p.m.,CSNC Denver at Washington, 4 p.m. Cleveland at Boston, 4:30 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Utah at L.A. Lakers, 7:30 p.m. Dallas Ducks The Steelers main- tain they’re not yet con- sidering their legacy and how, with another title, they would pull to within one of their fran- chise ancestors of 30 years ago. Sounds as if they’ve adopted the mantra of their perpetually com- posed head coach. Only 38, Mike Tomlin can win his second Super Bowl in only his fourth season. Tomlin faced the tough task of winning over his players when he was hired as some- what of an unknown 34- year-old after the 2006 season. He had to replace the popular Bill Cowher, too, which was not easy. If Pittsburgh beats the Packers in two weeks at Cowboys Sta- dium, though, Tomlin will have doubled NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA 29 14 5 63 143 129 27 20 4 58 137 144 Phoenix 24 16 9 57 141 139 SHARKS 25 19 5 55 137 135 Kings Central Division Detroit 25 22 1 51 138 122 WL OT Pts GF GA 29 13 6 64 163 142 Nashville 27 15 6 60 132 114 Chicago 26 19 4 56 155 135 St. Louis 22 18 7 51 126 138 Columbus 23 20 5 51 128 149 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Vancouver 29 10 9 67 156 119 Colorado 24 18 6 54 155 157 Minnesota 24 19 5 53 126 132 Calgary 22 21 6 50 137 150 Edmonton 14 25 8 36 117 162 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA Philadelphia 32 12 5 69 169 128 Pittsburgh 30 15 4 64 153 114 N.Y.Rangers 29 19 3 61 145 122 N.Y.Islanders 15 25 7 37 117 157 New Jersey 16 29 3 35 100 143 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Boston 27 14 7 61 150 109 Montreal 27 17 5 59 128 118 Buffalo 22 21 5 49 134 142 Toronto 19 24 5 43 124 151 Ottawa 17 25 7 41 106 157 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Tampa Bay 30 15 5 65 152 154 Washington 27 14 9 63 140 128 Atlanta 23 19 9 55 151 166 Carolina 24 19 6 54 149 153 Florida 21 21 5 47 126 126 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. ————————————————— Monday’s results Carolina 6, Toronto 4 N.Y. Rangers 2, Washington 1, SO Boston at Los Angeles, late Dallas at Vancouver, late Nashville at Calgary, late St. Louis at Colorado, late Today’s games Anaheim at Columbus, 4 p.m. Florida at N.Y. Rangers, 4 p.m. N.Y. Islanders at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. Buffalo at Ottawa, 4:30 p.m. Montreal at Philadelphia, 4:30 p.m., VS Toronto at Tampa Bay, 4:30 p.m. Minnesota at Chicago, 5:30 p.m. Edmonton at Phoenix, 6 p.m. RODEO Pro Rodeo Leaders All-around 1.Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas $28,671 2. Rhett Kennedy, Chowchilla, Bareback Riding 1.Will Lowe, Canyon, Texas $20,986 2. Bo Casper, Fort Scott, Kan. $12,729 3. Joe Gunderson, Agar, S.D. $10,216 4. Chris Harris, Itasca, Texas 5.Kaycee Feild, Payson, Utah Steer Wrestling 1.Darrell Petry, Beaumont, Texas $13,780 2. Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos $13,100 3.Todd Suhn, Hermosa, S.D. $11,391 4. Dane Hanna, Berthold, N.D. $10,578 5. Dru Melvin, Tryon, Neb. $8,766 Team Roping (header) 1. Clay Tryan, Billings, Mont. $14,739 2. Joel Bach, Millsap, Texas 3.Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas $9,186 Team Roping (heeler) 1.Travis Graves, Jay, Okla. $14,739 2.Allen Bach, Weatherford, Texas 3.Patrick Smith, Midland, Texas 4. Jade Corkill, Fallon, Nev. $10,205 $9,892 $9,599 5.Martin Lucero, Stephenville, Texas $9,186 Saddle Bronc Riding 1. Heith DeMoss, Heflin, La. $14,472 2.Cody DeMoss, Heflin, La. $12,956 3. Cort Scheer, Elsmere, Neb. $9,386 4.Taos Muncy, Corona, N.M. $7,810 5. Cody Wright, Milford, Utah Tie-down Roping 1.Justin Macha, Needville, Texas $13,290 2.Cory Solomon, Prairie View, Texas $11,622 3. Hunter Herrin, Apache, Okla. $10,036 4.Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas 5. Clint Cooper, Decatur, Texas Steer Roping 1.Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas 2.Cody Lee, Gatesville, Texas $9,096 $6,237 3.Rocky Patterson, Pratt, Kan. $5,293 4. Scott Snedecor, Uvalde, Texas $4,662 5. J.Tom Fisher, Andrews, Texas $3,804 Bull Riding 1.Shane Proctor, Grand Coulee, Wash. $18,094 2. J.W. Harris, Mullin, Texas 3.Bryan Richardson, Dallas, Texas 4.Clayton Foltyn, El Campo, Texas 5.Zeb Lanham, Sweet, Idaho $14,362 $10,678 $8,643 $8,171 Barrel racing 1.Susan Kay Smith, Hodgen, Okla. $17,134 2.Mattie Little-Jackson, Ardmore, Okla. $10,276 3.Brenda Mays, Terrebonne, Ore. $10,254 4. Brittany Pozzi, Victoria, Texas $10,090 5. Jill Moody, Letcher, S.D. $9,817 $9,683 $9,129 $10,205 $9,892 4.Chad Masters, Clarksville, Tenn. $9,599 5.Luke Brown, Stephenville, Texas $8,961 $8,448 3.Paul David Tierney, Oral, S.D. $9,957 4. Cody Ohl, Hico, Texas $10,408 $9,495 Cowher’s one Super Bowl title in less than one-third of the time. ‘‘Going into training camp, we knew the odds were stacked against us a little bit in that first month without Ben,’’ Hoke said. ‘‘But (Tom- lin) kept us focused, kept that chip on our shoulder when people were counting us out a little bit. I think we played with a chip on our shoulder the first four weeks. And to be able to go 3-1 those first four games, knowing that we had Ben coming back, we put ourselves in a good position to be where we are now.’’ It shows. $7,452