I'm now a believer - Defense wins championships

I failed to learn it in 2000 when Mike Jones made the game-winning tackle against Tennessee. I didn't learn it in 2001 when the Ravens pounded the Giants. I didn't believe it last year when the Patriots stopped the greatest offense I've ever seen.

But I've seen enough.

Defense wins championships. The Buccaneers have had a great defense for years and they were finally, deservedly, rewarded. I'll never forget the images from last Sunday's championship game (because I have it recorded). It was the greatest defensive performance in championship history.

Two Super Bowls ago, another defensive-oriented team won it all. The Ravens had a great defense that year and still do, but the Bucs destroyed the best offense in the NFL. The Raiders weren't just dominated, they were thrown down a flight of stairs.

A waitress at Ruby Tuesday's reminded me last week of what it's like to be a true fan. She got her Buccaneers heart broken by my Rams in the 1999 NFC Championship game.

After 27 years of waiting and hoping, she and other Bucs fans can rejoice. Man, I love football -- and not just for the twins.

Here's something else I love, the week ahead:

Today

I don't know what the best paper in the area is planning to do, but this paper is letting you know ahead of time. Today is the start of the Mississippi Valley Conference Tournament at Meadow Heights High School in Patton, Mo. The boys' basketball tournament isn't a big-name headliner (there's Chaffee, Delta, Leopold, Marquand, Meadow Heights, Oak Ridge, Zalma) but it's worth the price of admission and lasts most of the week.

Tuesday

The Central boys' basketball team was dejected at best after Friday's home loss to Poplar Bluff. Meanwhile, on the other bench, Notre Dame smothered Park Hills Central at home Tuesday. Notre Dame is 3-2 in the SEMO Conference while Central sits at 1-2. How big is this game? Three words: Show Me Center. Girls at 6 p.m., and guys at 7:30.

Thursday

In 1978 Kyle Macy was a member of Kentucky's national championship team. Macy played seven seasons in the NBA and each year his team made the playoffs. Now Macy is the coach of Morehead State and he has his team in prime position for its first OVC title since 1984. But giant-killer Southeast Missouri State, which already has defeated Murray State and Tennessee Tech at home this year, stands in the Eagles' way. Morehead State at Southeast, 7 p.m. It's traditional to throw your hat onto the ice when someone scores a hat trick in hockey. I've always thought of it as pointless because you lose a perfectly good hat. Now there's a way around that. It's Fox Sports Net hats night at the Savvis Center for the first 15,000 fans. The team with the NHL's longest streak of playoff appearances without a Stanley Cup hosts the team with the second-longest active playoff drought. Rangers at Blues, 7 p.m.

Sunday

This one will require you to miss church. Bobby Knight one short of the 800-career-wins club and The General leads his team into the hostile Hearnes Center in Columbia, Mo. If your mom has a problem with you missing church, tell her you'll listen to a service on the radio on the way up. Missouri hosts Texas Tech at 12:30 p.m.

Down the road

It was in February of 1991 that an underdog fighter named Buster Douglas knocked out the undisputed heavyweight champion at the time: Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson fights another no-name fighter in February, but this time it's for a shot at the title. Tyson, with hopes of setting up a rematch with Lennox Lewis, will fight Clifford Etiene on Feb. 22 in Memphis, Tenn.

David Wilson is a student at Central High school and a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian. His column appears every Monday.