Quick Hits with Elliott Harris

RANDOM THOUGHTS

CLOSE ENCOUNTER OF 41ST KIND

Random thoughts while wondering whether the Indianapolis Coltspossibly could have a defensive back play as poorly in the SuperBowl as Fred Thomas did for New Orleans in the NFC title game:

Here's the state of the union of two adjoining Midwest states:Bulls vs. Pacers on Monday in Indianapolis, Indiana vs. Illinoistonight in Champaign, Bears vs. Colts on Feb. 4 in the Super Bowl.Enough already. Sun-Times colleague Chuck Ulie notes the Bears-Colts matchup will be the closest in Super Bowl history --geographically speaking, with the cities being 181 miles apart. Thenext closest: 203 miles -- Super Bowl III (New York Jets vs. theBaltimore Colts) and Super Bowl XXXV (New York Giants vs. theBaltimore Ravens).

It's always interesting to hear athletes and coaches say theydon't pay attention to what the media say. And then point out howthey proved their doubters wrong when they win.

If early indications are an accurate reflection, Super Bowltickets won't be a bargain (unless maybe you want to wait untilhalftime of the game and find some still available). TicketsNow.comreports the least expensive seat seats are $3,750 and the mostexpensive $600,000 (if it's any consolation, that's the total sumfor a sideline luxury suite).

The Bears are an early seven-point underdog in betting circles.Meaning the Bears once again can use their postseason battle cry:Expect disrespect.

Sorry, but it's tough to feel sorry for a football coach whomakes only $1.35 million a season. Especially knowing he willreceive a huge salary bump -- regardless of the outcome of the SuperBowl.

SENT FROM TRENT

LISTEN UP, REX: DON'T LISTEN

It has been said Rex Grossman need be no greater a quarterbackthan Trent Dilfer for the Bears to win the Super Bowl.

The latest person to weigh in?

Trent Dilfer.

The former Baltimore Ravens QB (right), in his role as an analyston the NFL Network, was asked during a studio appearance if he hadany message for Grossman.

"Absolutely," said Dilfer, who was 12-for-25 with one touchdownin the Ravens' 34-7 triumph against the New York Giants in SuperBowl 35 (or XXXV, as we used to say in Latin class).

"Rex, listen to me. Real carefully. Turn off your TV. Don't getthe newspaper. Don't even get online. Don't listen to what we'resaying. Listen to this, but don't listen to everybody else. Theysaid I couldn't do it. They said we [the offense] don't have to winthe football game and all that stuff. It's all garbage.

"Do what you do. You are a winner. You know how to make thepeople around you better. And they will rally up, and they will playthe best game of their life.

"And if you do that, if you don't try to be a star and you don'tturn the ball over, you will be able to hoist up the Lombardi Trophyand experience something like there's no other feel in football."

Sounds like solid advice. Well, except for the part about notgetting the newspaper.

SUPER SOUVENIRS

SAY IT AGAIN: HERE'S BUY WEEK

From the Quick Hits Department of Redundancy. From the Quick HitsDepartment of Redundancy:

Let the record show ESPN-1000's Marc Silverman was the first towonder (or at least e-mail yours truly) about whether those clothes(right) that say "NFC Conference champions" is redundant -- in thatNFC stands for National Football Conference. So you have theconference conference champions. OK, OK.

Nikco Sports is offering a limited edition of 5,000 footballs tocommemorate the Bears reaching the Super Bowl. The balls, which comewith a display case, sell for $99 with $7.50 of that sum going tothe Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois. The football is available at(800) 345-2868 or on the Internet at www.nikcosports.com. Thefootballs feature three panels listing game-by-game results,historic information about the franchise and a color photo oflinebacker Brian Urlacher.

For fans who are flipping over the reality the Bears are in theSuper Bowl, the Highland Mint is offering a replica of the flip cointo be used in the Feb. 4 contest. The coin features the LombardiTrophy and helmet logos of the Bears and Indianapolis Colts on oneside with the Super Bowl logo, date and location of the game on theother side. The coin, priced at $69.95, comes in a velour bookletand is available at (888) 560-2727 or at www.sbflip.com.

NOTEWORTHY

Quick Hits can't help but think the team's cheerleaders played arole in the Indianapolis Colts compiling a 10-0 home record thisseason. As for the photo selection for this chart, it's like this:The choice was this group or the Colts'

offensive line, OK? Of the nine other teams that went 10-0

at home in a season, only the 1988 Cincinnati Bengals and 1990Buffalo Bills failed to

win the Super Bowl. The

10-0 teams:

1979 Pittsburgh Steelers

1985 Bears

1986 New York Giants

1988 Cincinnati Bengals

1990 Buffalo Bills

1996 Green Bay Packers

1998 Denver Broncos

1999 St. Louis Rams

2003 New England Patriots

2006 Indianapolis Colts

THE REAL STORY

JUST HIS LUCK: BECKHAM STUCK

For David Beckham, the reign in Spain is mostly quite a pain.

His fortunes with Real Madrid have bottomed out with the soccerstar sitting out matches, as he waits for his contract to expire sohe may join the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Even so, any chance of a premature evacuation seems unlikely.

"One thing is clear, he still has six months left in hiscontract," Real Madrid sporting director Predrag Mijatovic saidMonday. "He has to complete his contract."

Meaning the Galaxy and/or Major League Soccer will have to comeup with a plan (generally in the form of money) to extricate the 31-year-old midfielder, if he is to be available for the start of theMLS season in April.

"Like many other players who have done important things in thisclub, he wants to play," Mijatovic said. "But we have promisingyoung players.

I think that right now they have an advantage over him, becausethe future of Real Madrid is more important than the players thathave been here for many years."

TOUGH CELL

BRITISH OPEN CLOSED TO PHONES

Don't look for this to happen at any Nextel Cup races:

The British Open will not permit spectators with cell phones atthe 2007 event in July in Scotland.

There supposedly was a phone ban last year, but many spectatorsignored it.

Winner Tiger Woods was among the golfers who complained aboutphones at the 2006 championship at Hoylake.

"We have so far resisted the call to ban mobile phones on thegrounds that it may be an inconvenience to the public," David Hill,director of championships for British Open Championship organizerthe Royal & Ancient Golf Club, said Monday in an e-mail.

"However, after receiving complaints referring to the numbersthat were in use as play in The Open was proceeding, we feel thereis no other reasonable option other than a complete ban.

"As at the Ryder Cup, we believe that spectators will understandthat this measure is being put in place to make The Open a moreenjoyable experience for all spectators and players. ... we willinstall additional public telephones for use by members of thegeneral public."