Thanks Kurt Warner ...

Unlike many Iowans, I didn't know anything about Kurt Warner until he started tearing up the passing lanes for the St. Louis Rams in 1999. Didn't know what a Hy-Vee was, or that the University of Northern Iowa even existed. Knew about the Arena League, but not the Barnstormers. I couldn't hit Cedar Rapids on a map if you spotted me the state of Iowa.

At the time, I was the Deputy Sports Editor for The Tampa Tribune and, among other things, I was responsible for our coverage of  the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the NFL.

As the Bucs and Warner-led Rams prepared to meet in St. Louis in the NFC Championship Game 10 years ago this month, we already had a game plan in place to drive and fly almost two dozen people - including writers, photographers, editors, TV anchors and videographers - to Atlanta for Super Bowl XXXIV. Unlike most years, when there are two weeks between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl and you have time to actually catch your breath, there was only one week that year. If the Bucs won, we would have to move very quickly to get into place at the site of the NFL title game and be prepared to cover all those important news conferences and pre-game hoopla, not to mention the game itself.

As the Bucs-Rams game progressed and Tampa Bay's defense kept "The Greatest Show On Turf" firmly grounded, I was finalizing plans to leave very early the next morning to drive 8 hours up I-75 with a minivan convoy and start the first of a week's worth of 12 to 15-hour days.

Just as I was daydreaming of downing hot dogs at The Varsity, one of Atlanta's most famous eateries, Warner tossed a go-ahead touchdown pass to Ricky Proehl with 4:44 remaining, the Bucs were stopped on their next possession on a controversial catch/non-catch by Bert Emanuel and the Rams had an 11-6 victory and a trip to the Super Bowl. The Emanuel play - with 47 seconds remaining - was the No. 1 topic of conversation in the Tampa Bay area for months. It even led to "The Bert Emanuel Rule" as the league attempted to define a valid pass reception, much to the "too little, too late" lament of Bucs fans everywhere.

As for me, I ended up tossing our Super Bowl plans in the trash can and canceling all the travel arrangements, finished editing all the championship game copy for Monday's paper and went home well after midnight.

All of Tampa was sad that night and the day after, but I slept in with a smile on my face.