GLENDALE -- This is Super Bowl XXV for me.

I did the math while sitting here in the press box at University of Phoenix Stadium, awaiting the start of Super Bowl XLII in about 2-1/2 hours. I counted 'em up, and this is the 25th Super Bowl I've covered for the Journal, going back to Super Bowl XIV, in the Rose Bowl, when the Steelers won their fourth championship in six years by coming from behind in the second half to beat the Los Angeles Rams, 31-19.

That was one of my all-time favorite Super Bowls, only in part because it was my first. It was an unforgettable day for me, sitting in the huge, open-air press box atop the Rose Bowl, on a brilliantly sunny day, watching the legendary Steelers, with such all-time greats as Terry Bradshaw, Lynn Swann, Franco Harris, "Mean Joe" Greene, Jack Ham, Jack Lambert, Mike Webster, Mel Blount, Donnie Shell, John Stallworth, L.C. Greenwood, Dwight White, Rocky Bleier.

I honestly don't think of that game as being all that long ago, until I stop and realize that this is Super Bowl XLII, that was Super Bowl XIV, and many of the Patriots playing today weren't born when I covered my first Super Bowl.

I've often said, and written, that, for writers, the ideal Super Bowl week would be to spend Monday through Friday before the game in New Orleans, enjoying the food and festivities in the French Quarter, then fly to L.A. on Saturday to play the game in Pasadena on Super Sunday.

I've covered five Super Bowls in New Orleans, three of them involving the Patriots. I was in the Superdome for Super Bowl XX, when the Pats were overpowered by the defensively dominant Chicago Bears, 46-10.

The Bears' "46" defense that season, designed by Buddy Ryan, was the best I've ever seen in 32 years of covering the NFL (dating back to the '76 season, when I covered George Allen's Washington Redskins for the late, lamented Richmond, Va., News Leader.) With Richard Dent, Dan Hampton, former Patriots lineman Steve McMichael, and William "Refrigerator" Perry up front, Mike Singletary, Wilber Marshall, and Otis Wilson at linebacker, and Doug Plank and Gary Fencik in the defensive backfield, the Bears were fearsome.

Dent was quoted somewhere this week as saying that this New England defense couldn't compare with Chicago's. He's right about that. But it's also true that the offense of the '85 Bears, despite having Walter Payton at running back, doesn't compare with the firepower of the 2007 Patriots.

Super Bowl XXXI was spoiled by the furor surrounding Bill Parcells' impending departure, as well as Desmond Howard's game-breaking, 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, after the Patriots had closed to 27-21 in the third quarter.

Super Bowl XXXVI, however, was truly memorable, with young Tom Brady leading the Patriots to a stunning, 20-17, upset of the St. Louis Rams, aka "The Greatest Show on Turf." The moment when Adam Vinatieri sent his game-winning, 48-yard field goal through the uprights as time expired is one Patriots fans never will forget.

A topic for debate tonight at Super Bowl parties throughout New England is whether a win over the Giants, completing an undefeated, 19-0 season, is "bigger" than the Patriots' first championship victory.