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Byline: Rich Hofmann
HOUSTON _ We arrived here, trudging, our briefcases packed with dread. Because this was the New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII. This was to be the Super Bowl without stars.
Now, that isn't quite like a Super Bowl without parties, or shrimp the size of your fist, or Janet Jackson; national emergencies all. But this was still a real concern. You came here for a week and listened to the coaches share a monotone. You came here and looked at the reams of statistics and saw the same thing everywhere, ordinary number after ordinary number.
Nothing jumped out at you - no player, no performance, nothing. Even the few personalities seemed manufactured. I mean, Ricky Manning ...