Super Bowl Football Game

The NFL is willing to consider a return to its Los Angeles roots. Evidently, so are the San Diego Chargers. While the league is kicking around the notion of playing the 50th Super Bowl in L.A. -- where the first one took place -- the onetime L.A. Chargers appear to be inching closer to a possible return to their birthplace. As is always the case with the on-again, off-again saga of the NFL's flirtation with the nation's second-largest market, nothing is written in stone.

Like the Arizona Cardinals, who watched their lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers crumble away in the final seconds of Sunday's Super Bowl, the game's TV ratings fell just short of a history-making performance. An average of 95.4 million viewers tuned in to NBC's telecast, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research. That represented a drop of only 2% from last year's record-breaking game on Fox, when the New York Giants pulled off an upset of the New England Patriots.

Ads for this year's Super Bowl football game are selling for $3 million per 30-second spot, according to broadcaster NBC. About 90% of ads for the game have been sold, a spokesman for General Electric Co.'s NBC said.

Stung by the recession, some of the United States' biggest companies are slashing their advertising budgets. But television viewers won't know it from watching the commercials during this year's Super Bowl. Fans tuning in for the championship game Sunday will see 2 1/2 straight minutes of commercials they can watch in 3-D with special glasses.

Ed Palladini has run a limousine company in Tampa for 27 years, accumulating a fleet of more than a dozen luxury cars, ranging from a basic Cadillac sedan to a plush Mercedes minibus that seats 14. Even now, during Super Bowl week, when Palladini's business should be booked solid, some of those beauties will not leave the lot. "I've got a car that hasn't moved in six months, but I've had to keep the insurance on it for the Super Bowl," he said.

No one will be surprised to see this year's Super Bowl break all kinds of betting records because of the story lines connected with the New England Patriots and New York Giants. For bettors who like heavy favorites, you have the undefeated Patriots, who have attracted big money for their games throughout the season. Then there are the Giants, who have grown into the role as longshot underdogs through their impressive late-season run and the playoffs. Patriots versus Giants.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- No wincing. No limp. No walking boot. So will Tom Brady be ready for Super Bowl XLII? No problem. That's essentially what the New England Patriots quarterback told reporters Sunday evening, talking publicly for the first time about the high ankle sprain he suffered in the third quarter of the AFC championship game against San Diego. "This won't keep me out of this game . . .

New England's Tom Brady, who is already breathing rarefied air among NFL quarterbacks, has the chance to join an even more elite club. He needs one more Super Bowl victory to join Pittsburgh's Terry Bradshaw and San Francisco's Joe Montana -- Brady's childhood sports idol -- as the only starting quarterbacks to win four Lombardi Trophies. "Joe Montana is the greatest of all time, and he always will be," said Brady, who was raised in the Bay Area.

The zaniness of Tuesday's Super Bowl media day didn't faze Giants defensive end Michael Strahan, who answered all sorts of off-the-wall questions without so much as flinching. Then again, he plays football in New York. "This is like walking down Broadway," he said. "This is no big deal. Where is the naked cowboy? Is he out here strumming his guitar in some tighty-whitie shorts? This is what it is."

Throughout former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson's heyday, his intimidation in the ring was legendary. For years, it wasn't unusual for Tyson's opponents to fear his knockout punch so much, they were defeated before ever being hit. New England receiver Randy Moss doesn't wear boxing gloves but he has had a Tyson-like effect on NFL defenses this season.