By Mike Lopresti
Gannett News Services

Close your eyes on Super Bowl XXXVII. What you see is Jon Gruden. It's Jon Gruden's old team against Jon Gruden's new team.

It's the Oakland Raiders, whom he left. And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who emptied their vault and their draft board to get him.

It's those who might feel jilted because he said goodbye, including a guy named Al Davis, who can have a long memory.

And those who could feel lucky because he said hello.

How much do the Raiders want to get back at him? How much do the Bucs love him?

And can any coach this side of Vince Lombardi really be worth four draft picks and $8 million, which is the ransom the Bucs sent west to placate the Raiders?

"I'm not an expert at compensation and all that. I don't know," Gruden said Sunday. "I wouldn't probably give up a size nine-and-a-half pair of turf shoes for me, to be honest with you."

For a Super Bowl week, this is the land of milk and honey: Intrigue, animosity, revenge - and all within each reach of a minicam or talk-show host.

You'll have to declare what section you want to be in this week. Gruden or no Gruden?

"I haven't talked a lot about how I got here," Gruden said Sunday. "But I respect where I came from.

"I know there's some players that maybe don't feel that, but I'm proud of my experience there.... It would be an honor to play them.

"Certainly there's some sensitivity and emotion to see Oakland play in the Super Bowl."

Ah, the Raiders. They are intent on breaking down the last gate, never mind whom they annoy. They aren't here to be liked. They never were before, and they aren't now.

You expect them to show up in San Diego on motorcycles.

Their owner, Mr. Pain-in-the-Neck and now in his 70s, yearns for another moment when the NFL must hand him the championship trophy with a forced smile, civil tone and clenched teeth.

It has been 19 years since the last Super Bowl for Davis, back during their sidetrip to Los Angeles. The Raiders have waited a long time; restlessly watching the Roman numerals go by.

And now, to be beaten by the young turk who ditched them to work down the road from Disney World?

One suspects the Raiders would rather eat fertilizer. They always thrive on us-against-them, especially when one of them used to be one of us.

Tampa Bay is a Super Bowl rookie, a long way from the unsteady birth that began 0-26. The Bucs are finally here because Gruden put the finishing touches on the package that Tony Dungy presented him. And it's the defense that Dungy built that he will need against an Oakland team that has scored 71 points in two playoff games.

"I don't know what a difference I made," Gruden said. "I did the best I could."

The Raiders are a pirate ship run by Graybeards - receiver Jerry Rice is 40, quarterback Rich Gannon and cornerback Rod Woodson are 37, and receiver Tim Brown and linebacker Bill Romanowski are 36.

Now they will be trying to beat a coach who could just as well be their fraternity brother. Gruden is 39.

Meanwhile, Oakland's Bill Callahan is a former high school baseball coach who has paid his dues, worked his way up the food chain, and could win a Super Bowl his first year as an NFL head coach, just in time for some people to learn his name.

So it's the traveling whiz kid worth a fortune against his unsung replacement. A game between two teams who have met only five times in history, the Raiders winning four.

It's a match of emotion, and maybe hurt feelings. Perfect for the carnival that is Super Bowl week.

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