D Tuesday, February 9, 2010 SPORT 21 AMERICAN FOOTBALL SUPER BOWL Drew Brees dedicated super Bowl victory to the city of New Orleans as the saints celebrated their upset 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Miami. Quarterback Brees completed 32 of his 39 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns to earn the Most Valuable Player award, with New Orleans winning in their first super Bowl appearance four-and-a-half years after the city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Four years ago, who ever thought this would be happening? said Brees. when 85 per cent of the city was under water, all of its residents evacuated to places all over the country, most people were wondering if New Orleans would ever come back or if the team would ever come back. But not only did the team come back and the city come back, so many players that are our core group of players came in that year as free agents and looked at one another and said were going to rebuild together; were going to lean on each other. Thats what weve done here for the last four years and this is the culmination of all that belief. Brees, like coach sean Payton, moved to the saints less than six months after Katrina hit. Just to think of the road we have travelled to get to this point and how much weve invested, how much adversity we faced along the way; but then again, how many people believed in us and gave us the strength to go out and do what we did tonight, added the 31-year-old passer. Colts head coach Jim Caldwell saw his teams chances of victory effectively ended when a pass from normally unflappable quarterback Peyton Manning was picked for a 74-yard interception touchdown by Tracy Porter late in the fourth quarter, yet he refused to pinpoint that moment as the key to his teams defeat. I dont think it boils down to just one play, said the Colts coach. we were missing a bit and werent quite as sharp as wed have liked but we give all credit to the saints. Born again Saints show theyre Drew believers The Brees knees: Saints quarterback Drew celebrates in Miami Picture: Getty Rory still on rise despite back woe GOLF: World No.7 Rory McIlroy visited a Belfast-based specialist yesterday to discover the extent of a back problem ahead of a maiden season on the US PGA Tour. The 20-year-old has developed the problem after enduring a gruelling practice schedule at the start of the new campaign which has often involved eight-hour sessions. He was still able to maintain his run of top-ten finishes with sixth at last weeks Dubai Desert Classic, which pushed the Holywood ace ahead of compatriot Padraig Harrington for the first time to a career-high ranking. My back has been bothering me for a few days now, he said. Im strapped pretty good. Ive had the problem for a while, and its just whenever I undertake a lot of practice. Ive been out in the Middle-East for four weeks so I think its just a repetitive injury and comes from hitting a lot of balls. It just niggles a little bit. Slow start is just fine by Westwood GOLF: European No.1 Lee Westwood shrugged off his winless start to the new season following Sundays play-off defeat at the Dubai Desert Classic. The 36-year-old world No.4 lost to Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, missing two championship putts in the play- off after letting slip a two-shot advantage following a final- round level-par 72. Westwood missed the cut kicking off his campaign in Abu Dhabi before claiming third in Qatar and insisted: Results, although Id liked to have won last week, dont really concern me too much. Im mentally not quite sharp enough but Im hitting the good shots. Ulster in Rush to snap up Xavier RUGBY: Ulster have bolstered their pack further ahead of next season with the signing of former New Zealand No.8 Xavier Rush from the Cardiff Blues. Rush, 32 (pictured) has agreed a two-year deal with Ulster and he will join the former South Africa lock Johann Muller in moving to Ravenhill on July 1. Success in northern hemisphere rugby is built around the pack of forwards, said Ulsters director of rugby operations David Humphreys. Over the past number of seasons, Xavier has been one of the outstanding back row forwards in European rugby. sportdigest Moving on up: McIlroy is up to world No.7 GAA NATIONAL LEAGUE DuBlIN skipper Paul Griffin insists it will take more than one league win over Kerry in early February to undo the horror of their most recent Croker choker last August. The sky Blues gained revenge of sorts on sunday with a two-point win over Kerry to kick start their 2010 Al- lianz league top-flight campaign. But experienced defender Griffin was at pains to point out that the 1-12 to 1-10 win does not come close to making up for their 17-point Championship humiliation at the hands of the Kingdom. rather, he claimed the real value of the away win was the character laden performances of newcomers such as Michael Daragh McAuley, James McCarthy and Kevin McManamon as they build for the future. You are not going to undo the All- Ireland quarter-final of last year, said Griffin looks past Kerry at big picture Griffin. It is a fresh season. Kerry were doing the same as us building towards the summer again. so all we can do is keep taking it week by week and see where that takes us. Praising the fresh talent uncovered in the Dublin ranks at Fitzgerald sta- dium, Griffin added: Mick McAuley was super at centre-forward and Kevin McManamon was very good. rory [OCarr- oll] did a great job in defence as well, the same as Philly McMa- hon and James McCarthy. Thats what you were really looking for going down to Kerry a good test for these guys against a strong team. Meanwhile, Dublin will be without defender and former county hurler ross OCarroll for three weeks be- cause of a thigh injury picked up in the sigerson Cup. Young gun: Griffin was impressed by emerging star Kevin McManamon Kerrigans not looking for final revenge Corks Paul kerrigan insists revenge will not be the motivation heading into saturdays All-Ireland final rematch with kerry. kerrigan hit 2-2 in round 1 of the Allianz league on sunday as Cork overcome Monaghan by a point. The rebels will not lack motivation going into their meeting with their Croke Park nemesis, but kerrigan says it has more to do with gaining vital momentum for a title tilt than gaining revenge on the old enemy. Its just important to get another win, said kerrigan. Wed be looking to win every game. Well want to get two points again on saturday and get a bit of momentum in the league. Were back in Division one and we want to prove ourselves with the big boys. By Paul Keane Its a fresh season, well take it week by week index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html