It - Super Bowl Week -< continued with special story angles - none better, of course, than the Trent- Dilfer-is-back yarn, with angles of other Bucs castoffs (tackle Harry Swayne), ex- Gators (Ike Hilliard, Lomas Brown and Jeff Mitchell), ex-Seminoles (Peter Boulware), an ex-son-in-law (Jason Sehorn, of the TSA's Barbara Casey), ex-Tampa area prep stars (Lakeland Kathleen's Ray Lewis), the annual profile of Super Bowl impresario Jim Steeg.

And finally, the new Hall of Fame electees, in this case most notably ex-Gator Jack Youngblood and TV guy Lynn (Why wasn't he in it already?) Swann. Simple. He didn't get enough votes until Saturday. He got them here, including mine, again, as did Jack.

It continued - this grand week - with the Tampa-only angles, the Gasparilla invasion and parade, too good and too well-attended to be considered hokey; and lap-dance king Joe Redner, his Mons Venus and the new American slang he and Mayor Dick Greco added to our vocabulary (the 6-foot rule); and forced denials of the silly rumors of an impending sale of the Bucs and Tony Dungy being an endangered coach.

AND IT CONTINUED with the game itself, considered by some to be foremost.

But not before this special angle.

``When we flew into Tampa this week, I could only think of now and in 1972, when George Young and I came on the Autotrain to Sanford and drove over here. A special time in my life, and look how far we've come,'' said Ernie Accorsi, now general manager of the New York Giants, an architect of this team, who this week was voted by pro football writers the NFL executive of the year.

``Not bad,'' Accorsi laughed.

In 1972, Tampa had no NFL team, of course, would not get one until 1974, not field one (the Bucs) until 1976. Accorsi in 1972 was the very young public relations man for the Baltimore Colts Carroll Rosenbloom owned and Johnny Unitas still quarterbacked.

Rosenbloom brought the Colts to Tampa, on special conditions developed by Ed Rood, Bill Marcum and their tiny we-want-a-franchise group, to play three exhibition games at old Tampa Stadium with Greco (in his first term as mayor) and South Florida's Dick Bowers doing what had to be done - including guaranteeing the sale of 26,000 three-game packages. Sold a lot more, and with that, Rosenbloom pledged to Tampa's NFL drive, a vow he upheld, even though while here he swapped the Colts to Robert Irsay for the Los Angeles Rams. Irsay first saw his new team at Tampa Stadium.

``Unusual times,'' Accorsi said. He had come back on another trip to practice here for the playoffs in Miami, with the Colts, ``and the late Art Pepin had the entire Colts team to his home for a New Year's Eve party. I'll never forget it.

``And none of us ever forgot Tampa. What a way to come back,'' but, in truth, somewhat ``bittersweetly, having to play my old boss, Art Modell,'' owner of the Baltimore Ravens and Accorsi's boss when the franchise was known as the Cleveland Browns.

And now this. A few years later, when Eddie DeBartolo had bought the San Francisco 49ers, DeBartolo, a longtime friend of mine now living in Tampa, inquired about Accorsi as a possible successor to Joe Thomas as general manager. I said he'd be wonderful. I checked with Accorsi. He said, no thanks. He wanted to stay in the East or Midwest.

Reminded of that this week, Accorsi laughed. ``Yes, all I turned down were five Super Bowl teams and rings, and, now a son lives in San Francisco. But ... here we are finally in it with the Giants ...'' and another shot at that ring.

TO THE GAME. Before it we wondered: Would the Dilfer melodrama continue through a game that would be as a sparkling as the pregame and halftime shows, the weather and the overall week's buildup?

The answers would be yes to the first part and no to the others, unless you enjoy bad quarterbacking (Kerry Collins), punting, interceptions (four off Collins), and kickoff returns for touchdowns (back to back, first by the Giants and then by the Ravens).

Dilfer did indeed end his comeback, come-home story with just enough good work to cause us all to salute him for winning a Super Bowl few of us expected him to even be in as a player. He was. Hail him.

Still believe the Bucs would have been here instead of the Giants, made a better game of it, had Martin Gramatica hit the field goal to beat Green Bay in the last regular-season game. Sour grapes?

Perhaps.

Does it matter? No. Can say anything I want in this last live column.

Can't I?

Did.

Speak with you again next Sunday, for a last goodbye.

Uh, one more time.