St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 1

4' PIUl yru Ul 50 2000 Monday, January 24, 2000 1 1 Proehl's catch sends Rams to the Super Bowl 1 vkHV f' fr Mf llsfiln I 6 t--? --rJ CHRIS LEEPOST-DISPATCH (tains wide receiver Ricky Proehl grabs a 30-yard touchdown pass from Kurt Warner with 4:44 left in the game Sunday to give the Rams an 1 1-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Trans World Dome. By Vahe Gregorian Of the Post-Dispatch he Rams appeared to be more a team of density than a team of destiny 1 But with 4 minutes 44 seconds left, receiver Ricky Proehl who hadn't scored a touchdown all season out-wrestled a Buccaneers defender for a 30-yard touchdown pass that he seemed to catch on his hip to put the Rams ahead 11-6. "How 'bout Ricky Proehl? Yeah!" Warner yelled as he entered the postgame interview room. Bowl appearance and cautioned, "I don't want anybody to think we're celebrating tonight, because this is not over I'm not letting that happen again." The Rams will meet the Tennessee Titans, one of only three teams to defeat the Rams this season. The Titans upended Jacksonville 33-14 in the American Football Conference title game Sunday.

See Rams, A7 "That," added safety Todd Lyght, "was totally money." And then the Rams defense put the final flourish on its splendid game by holding Tampa Bay on downs to secure a berth in the Super Bowl next Sunday in Atlanta. "We're taking (owner) Georgia (Frontiere) to Georgia," said Rams coach Dick Vermeil, who as Philadelphia Eagles coach lost in his only Super verge of being punctuated by a staggering disappointment. Three interceptions thrown by quarterback Kurt Warner, three penalties on one series assessed to veteran lineman Adam Timmerman and a dropped touchdown pass by receiver Isaac Bruce contributed to the precarious position they found themselves in late in the fourth quarter trailing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6-5. for much of the National Football Conference Championship Game on Sunday at the Trans World Dome. Their unfathomable turnaround this season was on the ROAD TO THE SUPER BOWL: A 12-PAGE SPECIAL SECTION BEGINS ON CI.

I i RAMS VS. TITANS Where: Georgia Dome in Atlanta VlAien: 5:18 p.m. Sunday TV: KDNL (Channel 30) Tennessee pulls off upset the Titans forced six turnovers in toting Jacksonville 33-14. The Titers trailed 14-10 at the half but stored 16 points in about 4 min-tftes in the third quarter to pull away. Rams are favored by 8 They lost to Tennessee 24-2 1 on Oct.

31 in Nashville but are favored to win the Super Bowl. The flams rallied from 21-0 but fell sTprt of tying the score when Jeff Wilkins missed a 29-yard field goal. No tickets for sale tast week the Rams notified season ticket-holders who were lucky enough to win a lottery for Super fowl tickets. UK' Cues lose with class The replay didn't lose this game for us. We had plenty of opportunities to put this ballclub away in the fijurth quarter.

We just didn't make the play." Tampa's Warren Sapp St. Louis celebrates -j-Rams fans relish close victory, A9. (SecrasiAOl our Mind Iowans kick off Campaign 2000 with parly caucuses today Weather Today: Partly cloudy and breezy. High 32. Low 20.

Tuesday: Chance of flurries, High 30. Other weather, B8 clubs, fire stations and other sites today to support one of eight major contestants in the Iowa caucuses. The underdogs, all resigned to losing, were shooting for face-saving finishes and Iowa's true reward: momentum for New Hampshire's primary Feb. 1. "This is a marathon, not a sprint," Republican Steve Forbes said on NBC's "Meet the Press." The foot race in Iowa, a test of political organization, favors the national front-runners.

A Des Moines Register poll published Sunday of 1 ,200 people likely to attend caucuses showed Gore lead ing Bradley among Democrats, 56 percent to 28 percent. Bush led Forbes, 43 percent to 20 percent. The Jan. 16-21 survey had a margin of error of 4 percentage points. Bradley is in danger of finishing worse than expected in a contest that traditionally punishes candidates who fail to meet expectations.

His latest poll rating was beneath the intentionally low threshold that his advisers set as a measure of accomplishment: the 31 percent showing by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, See Campaign, A7 Sunday for last-minute support. The aspirants hit the campaign trail even as they began looking ahead to contests in New Hampshire and beyond. "This is the first step in several steps of the journey," said former New Jersey Sen.

Bill Bradley on CBS. He trails Vice President Al Gore in the polls for the Democratic presidential nomination. Entering the first election contest of Campaign 2000, Republican George W. Bush and Gore held wide leads in polls of voters who planned to visit schools, civic Gore, Bush maintain comfortable leads Challengers target New Hampshire The Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa On the eve of Iowa's caucuses, Republican and Democratic presidential hopefuls canvassed churches and national talk shows nnQtnPt mm I 0NLINE GUI0E posinei.comj to metro st. louis.

09189V 1100' 1.