The Sports Xchange: Pete's repeat would put Carroll in rare category

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange

PHOENIX — Think of the great NFL coaches over the last half century, the Lombardis, Shulas, Nolls, even the Belichicks, because no matter what we think of Bill, he is part of this category and a much rarer category -- a winner in back-to-back Super Bowls. 

Now consider adding the name of Pete Carroll to that list. Silly, you suggest, because Carroll, a product of California's fantasy-land Marin County, a guy whose easy-going ways when he coached the Jets were derided as "the good ship Lollipop?" 

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2015 The Sports Xchange 

The Sports Xchange: Seahawks notebook: Carroll learns game-ball procedures

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange

PHOENIX — Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, in his rimless glasses and dark suit, looked more like a businessman than a football coach. However, the questions he was asked moments after the Seahawks arrived for next Sunday's Super Bowl had nothing to do with finance.

Seattle's jet arrived at Sky Harbor Airport in the early afternoon, and not long after that, after the Seahawks' buses crept through the crowd of cheering, banner-waving fans at the motor entrance to the Arizona Grand Hotel, he was dealing with, yes, "deflategate."

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2015 The Sports Xchange

The Sports Xchange: Humble Smith named Super Bowl MVP

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — He is the quiet man, the counter to cornerback Richard Sherman. He is the linebacker who speaks with actions more than words. 

Malcolm Smith possesses a humility that belies his skill. The MVP trophy he earned Sunday while helping the Seattle Seahawks to an overwhelming win in Super Bowl XLVIII emphasizes it. 

Read the full story here.

COPYRIGHT © 2014 The Sports Xchange

The Sports Xchange: Even in New York, it's still Super

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange

NEW YORK — What a brilliant idea bringing the Super Bowl to greater New York, where a feta cheese omelet at Lindy's costs $18, the tabloid stories that haven't been about Peyton Manning have been about brother Eli, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell makes the concession, "We cannot control the weather." 

And we mistakenly believed the league could do anything it wished.

Read the full story here.

COPYRIGHT © 2014 The Sports Xchange

The Sports Xchange: Fox and Carroll couldn't be stopped

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — One was in charge of what journalists derisively labeled "The Good Ship Lollipop." That was Pete Carroll with the New York Jets.

The other was knocked for conservative play-calling that lost a championship game. That was John Fox with the Carolina Panthers. 

Read the full story here.

COPYRIGHT © 2014 The Sports Xchange