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Monday NBA — Timberwolves at Hornets, 5 p.m., NBATV NBA—Jazz at Kings, 7 p.m., CSNC NBA — Suns at Warriors, 7:30 p.m., CSNB NCAA—Pittsburgh at West Virginia, 4 p.m., ESPN NCAA—Missouri at Kansas, 6 p.m., ESPN NHL— Rangers at Red Wings, 4:30 p.m., VS Sports 1B Monday February 7, 2011 Lombardi’s coming home Packers win Super Bowl Pittsburgh 25 Green Bay 31 ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Forget Lombardi on Broadway. Green Bay has the newest Super Bowl hit: Aaron Rodgers. Capping one of the great- est postseasons for any quarterback, Rodgers led the Packers to their first NFL championship in 14 years Sunday, 31-25 over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Packers reclaimed the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named for their legendary coach who won the first two Super Bowls and is making his own star turn in New York these days in the play named after him. Rodgers, the game’s MVP, thrilled his legion of Cheesehead fans with a spectacular six-game string that should finally erase the bitterness of the Brett Favre separation in Green Bay. He’s now equal with Favre in Super Bowl wins, and he extended the Packers’ record of NFL titles to 13, nine before the Super Bowl era. ‘‘It’s what I dreamt about as a little kid watching Joe Montana and Steve Young,’’ Rodgers said, ‘‘and we just won the Super Bowl.’’ The Packers QB threw for three touchdowns, two to Greg Jennings, and the Packers (14-6) overcame even more injuries, building a 21-3 lead, then hanging on to become the second No. 6 seed to win the champi- onship. Coincidentally, the 2005 Steelers were the other. Rodgers threw for 304 yards, including a 29- yard touchdown to Jordy Nelson, who had nine catch- es for 140 yards to make up for three big drops. Rodgers found Jennings, normally his favorite target, for 21- and 8-yard scores. ‘‘Wow! It’s a great day to be great, baby,’’ Jennings said. Then the favored Packers held on as Pittsburgh (14-5) stormed back. ‘‘We’ve been a team that’s overcome adversity all year,’’ Jennings said, who noted injuries to Charles Woodson and Donald Dri- ver. ‘‘Our head captain goes down, emotional in the locker room. Our No. 1 receiver goes down, more emotions are going, flying in the locker room. But we find a way to bottle it up and exert it all out here on the field.’’ Few teams have been as resourceful as these Packers, who couldn’t wait to touch the trophy honoring their greatest coach — and their ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Absolutely no need to bring up Ol’ What’s His Name ever again. Aaron Rodgers is a Super Bowl championship quarterback in his own right. And the game’s MVP, too, an honor Brett Favre, his Green Bay Packers pre- decessor, never earned. With precise passes and cool under pressure, Rodgers completed 24 of 39 passes for 304 yards, three touch- downs and no interceptions Sunday night to lead the Packers to a 31-25 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers for Green Bay’s first NFL title since Favre’s in the Jan- uary 1997 Super Bowl. Rodgers is 27 years old, just as Favre was then. And after biding his time as a backup until the Packers split with Favre, Rodgers has quickly established him- self as one of the game’s best. This was his third full title. Several of them kissed it as Cowboys great Roger Staubach walked through a line of green and gold. ‘‘Vince Lombardi is coming back to Green Bay,’’ NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said as the silver prize was handed to the team. After sitting for three seasons, Rodgers took the Packers to two late-season victories just to make the playoffs as a wild card. Then he guided them to wins at Philadelphia, Atlanta and archrival Chica- go before his biggest achievement — against a Pittsburgh team ranked sec- ond in defense. They barely survived a sensational rally by the Steelers, who still own the most Super Bowl rings — six in eight tries. But Pitts- burgh failed to get its third championship in six years with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlis- berger’s season began with a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. It ended with Roethlisberger stand- ing on the sideline, his head down, hands on his hips, feeling something he never experienced: defeat in a Super Bowl. ‘‘I feel like I let the city of Pittsburgh down, the fans, my coaches and my team- mates,’’ Roethlisberger said, ‘‘and it’s not a good feel- ing.’’ season as a starting QB, and he was particularly good throughout the playoffs, leading the No. 6 seed Pack- ers to three NFC road victo- ries before winning the championship Sunday. Despite his smart play, his zero-turnover evening, his scoring drives and his MVP award, Rodgers sought to deflect the praise. ‘‘Got to give credit to our defense. This is a great group of men that we put together here, a lot of char- acter, been through a lot together,’’ said Rodgers, who threw two TD passes to Greg Jennings and one to Jordy Nelson. ‘‘It’s just great to be able to share it with them.’’ Don’t forget, Rodgers’ strong performance came against Pittsburgh’s vaunted defense, the one that limited opponents to a league-low 14.5 points per game this season, and the one that fea- Not even a decidedly black-and-gold crowd, with Terrible Towels swirling throughout the $1.2 billion stadium, could make a dif- ference for the mistake- prone Steelers. Their two biggest defensive stars — Defensive Player of the Year safety Troy Polamalu and outside linebacker James Harrison — were virtually invisible. The offense didn’t seem to miss outstanding rookie center Maurkice Pouncey, who was out with an ankle injury, but Roeth- lisberger only occasionally made key plays until the second half. The biggest plays were left to Rodgers, Nick Collins with a 37-yard inter- ception return for a TD, Jen- nings, Nelson, and the rest of the guys in green and gold. In the end, they gave coach Mike McCarthy his first Super Bowl victory against the team he rooted for while growing up in Pittsburgh. Besides Lom- bardi, Mike Holmgren won a title in 1997 with Favre. ‘‘This is a great group of men here, a lot of charac- ter,’’ Rodgers said. ‘‘We went through a lot together.’’ Even on Sunday, they did. Woodson went out late in the first half with a collar- bone injury, a few plays after Driver was sidelined with an ankle problem. ‘‘It was very difficult to watch,’’ Woodson said, ‘‘but it feels good now.’’ tures NFL Defensive Player of the Year Troy Polamalu and linebacker James Harri- son. Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin said,‘‘He showed his mettle and continued to stand in there and throw the football accurately.’’ That’s not all Rodgers did. He changed plays at the last moment, reading the defense before the snap and adjusting. He overcame a poor start and a third-quarter lapse. And he did it all with- out the benefit of any help from a Packers running game that was limited to 50 yards. ‘‘We put everything on his shoulders,’’ Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. Rodgers was hardly per- fect all game. But perhaps he could be forgiven if he was experiencing some jit- ters: After all, the guy only played in one playoff game in his career before this sea- Tehama Tracker BOYS HOOPS Red Bluff 55 Lassen 35 The Spartans got over the beating they took earlier in the week, by earning a 55-35 road win at Lassen, Friday night. “Iwas so pleased with my team — the way they bounced back from a horrific night Wednesday,” Red Bluff coach Stan Twitchell said. “They played intense defense and relaxed offense. The way they responded showed tremen- dous resiliency. Jonah McInnis had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds and Carlos Tapia led the Spartans in scoring with 15 points as he connected on a trio of 3-pointers. Taylor Blaser, Dereak Webster and Mitch Robison sparked Red Bluff late in the first quarter as Red Bluff led 18-6 after eight minutes. Blaser and Robison each had eight points as every Spar- tan scored. “They really moved the ball well and played together,” Twitchell said. Corning 57 West Valley 42 Cameron Nye had 17 points and 15 rebounds and the Cardinals won a road league game 57-42 at West Valley, Fri- day night. Tyler McIntyre added 14 points. GIRLS HOOPS West Valley 50 Corning 51 The Lady Cardinals held off West Valley 51-50, Friday night. Corning improved to 2-3 in the Northern Athletic League and 12-11 overall. MCTphoto Aaron Rodgers celebrates a touchdown pass in Sunday’s Super Bowl. Woodson saw the Steel- ers, who rallied from a 21-7 halftime hole against Balti- more three weeks ago, show the same resilience. A 37- yard catch and run by Antwaan Randle El — an almost forgotten figure dur- ing his return season with just 22 receptions — sparked a quick 77-yard drive. Hines Ward, the 2006 Super Bowl MVP, had 39 yards on three catches dur- ing the series, including an 8-yard TD when he com- pletely fooled Jarrett Bush. A quick defensive stop and a 50-yard drive to Rashard Mendenhall’s 8- yard touchdown run made it 21-17. But with Pittsburgh driving for perhaps its first lead of the game, Menden- hall was stripped at the Green Bay 33 by Clay Matthews — one of the few plays the All-Pro linebacker made. The Packers recov- ered, and Rodgers hit Jen- nings for 8 yards and the winning points. Pittsburgh’s last gasp was on a 25-yard touch- down pass to Mike Wallace and a brilliant pitchout by Roethlisberger to Randle El for a 2-point conversion. Mason Crosby added a 23-yard field goal for the Packers and the Steelers had no more comebacks in them. ‘‘You play to be world champions,’’ Matthews said, ‘‘and that’s what we are today.’’ Aaron Rodgers named Super Bowl MVP son. Rodgers began the game by overthrowing receivers and generally being off-kil- ter, completing only one of his first five passes. But he knows a thing or two about slow starts. Just look at Rodgers’ career arc. Despite record-setting years during high school in Chico, the skinny Rodgers — he was 5-foot-10 and 165 pounds back then — was not seri- ously recruited by major college football programs. Rodgers went to a com- munity college. Then he starred for two seasons at California. Finally, he was on everyone’s radar, and although he wound up slid- ing on NFL draft day in 2005, Rodgers was available when Green Bay picked 24th overall. How good does that choice look now? Los Molinos 46 Esparto 38 The Lady Bulldogs won 46-38 at Esparto, Friday. Los Molinos improved to 6-12 on the season. Mark Wilson leads Phoenix Open Phoenix Open SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Mark Wilson had a two- stroke lead in the Phoenix Open when play was suspended Sunday because of darkness. Wearing a yellow visor and green shirt in support of his beloved Packers, the Wisconsin player broke a tie with Tommy Gainey with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 12th. Gainey three-putted for a bogey on the hole. Wilson and Gainey were facing 20-foot birdie putts on the par-5 13th when they decided it was too dark to finish the hole. Wilson was 18 under. Gainey was tied for second with Vijay Singh and Jason Dufner. Singh shot a 66, while Dufn- er had four holes left. The start Sunday was delayed a half- hour because of frost. About nine hours of playing time has been lost to frost and frozen turf, forcing the Monday finish. Wilson completed a 3-under 68 in the third round Sunday and was 2 under through 12 holes in the final round. On the amphitheater No. 16 in the third round, Wilson and caddie Chris Jones donned cheeseheads and led the fans in Packers chants. Gainey was 1 over in the final round after shooting a 68 in the third round to take a one-stroke lead over Wilson. Singh, winless since 2008, was the last player off the course, putting out on the par-4 18th in the dark more than 10 minutes after Wilson and Gainey stopped playing. J.B. Holmes (67) and Nick Watney (68) finished at 15 under. Martin Laird and Chris Couch also were 15 under. Scoreboard SUPER BOWL Green Bay 31, Pittsburgh 25 Sunday’s result At Arlington, Texas NBA Sunday’s results Boston 91, Orlando 80 Indiana 105, New Jersey 86 Miami 97, L.A. Clippers 79 New York 117, Philadelphia 103 Today’s games Utah at Sacramento, 7 p.m., CSNC Phoenix at Golden State,7:30 p.m.,CSNB Boston at Charlotte, 4 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Memphis, 5 p.m. Minnesota at New Orleans, 5 p.m. Cleveland at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Houston at Denver, 6 p.m. Chicago at Portland, 7 p.m. Saturday’s results Golden State 101, Chicago 90 Atlanta 99, Washington 92 Dallas 101, Charlotte 92 Denver 113, Minnesota 100 Detroit 89, Milwaukee 78 Houston 95, Memphis 93, OT L.A. Lakers 101, New Orleans 95 Oklahoma City 121, Utah 105 Portland 111, Cleveland 105 NCAA Sunday’s Top 25 results No. 1 Ohio State 82, Minnesota 69 No. 9 Notre Dame 76, Rutgers 69 No. 19 Wisconsin 82, Michigan State 56 No.23 North Carolina 89, Florida State 69 Today’s Top 25 games No.2 Kansas vs.No.14 Missouri, 6 p.m., ESPN No.4 Pitt at No.25 West Virginia, 4 p.m., ESPN Saturday’s Top 25 results No. 2 Kansas 86, Nebraska 66 No. 3 Texas 76, Texas Tech 60 No. 4 Pittsburgh 71, Cincinnati 59 No. 5 Duke 76, N.C. State 52 No. 6 Connecticut 61, Seton Hall 59 No. 8 BYU 78, UNLV 64 Florida 70, No. 10 Kentucky 68 No.12 Villanova 66, No.25 West Virginia 50 No. 13 Georgetown 93, Providence 81 No. 14 Missouri 89, Colorado 73 No. 15 Louisville 61, DePaul 57 Baylor, No. 16 Texas A&M 74, OT No. 17 Syracuse 72, South Florida 49 Oregon 81, No. 20 Washington 76 No. 21 Arizona 107, California 105, 3OT No. 22 Utah State 77, Boise State 49 No. 23 Vanderbilt 78, South Carolina 60 NHL Sunday’s results New Jersey 4, Montreal 1 Tampa Bay 4, St. Louis 3, OT Washington 3, Pittsburgh 0 Today’s games Atlanta at Toronto, 4 p.m. N.Y. Rangers at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Edmonton at Nashville, 5 p.m. Chicago at Calgary, 6:30 p.m. Colorado at Phoenix, 6:30 p.m. Ottawa at Vancouver, 7 p.m. Saturday’s results San Jose 2, Boston 0 Anaheim 3, Colorado 0 Buffalo 6, Toronto 2 Carolina 4, Atlanta 3, OT Columbus 4, Edmonton 3 Los Angeles 4, Calgary 3, SO Montreal 2, N.Y. Rangers 0 Nashville 3, Detroit 0 N.Y. Islanders 5, Ottawa 3 Philadelphia 3, Dallas 1 Phoenix 1, Minnesota 0 PGA Waste Management Phoenix Open At TPC Scottsdale Scottsdale, Ariz. Purse: $6.1 million Yardage: 7,216; Par: 71 Play suspended due to darkness Partial Fourth Round Leaders Vijay Singh 69-65-68-66 — 268 -16 Nick Watney 70-66-65-68 — 269 -15 J.B. Holmes 65-70-67-67 — 269 -15 Brandt Snedeker 69-68-66-67— 270 -14 Webb Simpson 70-66-67-67— 270 -14 Ryuji Imada 68-67-69-67 — 271 -13 Cameron Beckman65-70-67-69—271 -13 Brian Gay 69-68-65-70 — 272 -12 D.A.Points 68-66-69-69 — 272 -12 Frank Lickliter II 72-64-65-72 — 273 -11 Rory Sabbatini 70-66-68-69— 273 -11 Pat Perez 69-67-67-70 — 273 -11 Alex Prugh 70-67-66-70 — 273 -11 William McGirt 70-65-68-70— 273 -11 Brendon de Jonge 67-72-68-66—273 -11