Battle of the Pirates Shaping Up for This Weekend
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, let's talk about what's happening in sunny San Diego. They're getting ready for the Super Bowl, No. 37 this time around, and this one is shaping up as a battle of the pirates. Josie Karp is checking in with the latest. It should be a good show, since we're talking about the best defense in the country versus the best offense in the country, and now we have got the best sports reporter, Josie Karp, checking in.</s>JOSIE KARP, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I hope I can live up to that, as I hope these two teams can live up to that billing too. You talked about the two pirates. They come from vastly different backgrounds, though. The Oakland Raiders have been to the Super Bowl. This is their fifth appearance. But Leon, it's the very first appearance for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and there are a lot of people out there who probably thought they might never see this day come. That is because for so long, Tampa Bay was held up as a model of ineptitude in the NFL. The Buccaneers came into the league in 1976 and proceeded to lose their first 26 games. Twenty-six games still stands as the longest losing streak in NFL history. This is an organization that didn't just have bad seasons, they had bad decades. From 1983 to 1996, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did not have a winning record, and in 13 of those 14 seasons, they lost at least ten games. That's why they've been called the Tampa Bay Yuks and the Bad News Bucs, and it is why, even here on football's grandest stage, they cannot escape the memory of once being the NFL's laughing stock.</s>JOHN LYNCH, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS: I was a big time football fan. The one team I had never seen a game of was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because out here, they just didn't play -- they weren't on TV. Direct TV wasn't around in those days, and that game was never on for whatever reason. So you know, I didn't know much about them, but I quickly realized that there was a perception around the league that it was the worst team in football, and you know it's been tremendous. I think you probably appreciate it more when you've been on the 5-11 teams, and now you have the opportunity to be here.</s>KARP: Even though the Buccaneers have turned things around in the last five or six years, one of the worst moments in their history happened back in 1999. They lost a game 45 to nothing, and coincidentally, Leon, they lost it to the Oakland Raiders -- back to you.</s>HARRIS: Oh, interesting. Talk about karma there. I think -- you know what? You have to also say -- got to say this is just the facts, folks, that the Buccaneers' record was only as ugly as their uniforms back then too. So they might have better luck this time -- this time around, since they actually look like a better team.</s>KARP: They're going to look a lot better.</s>HARRIS: That is for sure. All right. Thanks, Josie. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com