NEWS » well as coaches. You always take pride. This is a pr

NEW YORK, N.Y. - As if they were enjoying a morning coffee together, Pete Carroll and John Fox fulfilled their final media obligations leading to the Super Bowl. Relaxed, self-assured and even charming, the coaches of the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos answered questions for 30 minutes on Friday, joking with each other and the audience. No grumpy one-sentence responses. No agitated reactions to edgy queries. At one point, Fox wondered if he could say a specific crude word to the audience on hand. Watching on television, he then went ahead and used the word. Carroll immediately quipped: "You cant say that, John," eliciting laughs from reporters — and from Fox. Neither man seemed overwhelmed or even antsy about the biggest game of his life coming up on Sunday, even as they sat with the Vince Lombardi Trophy that is given to the NFL champion. "I think its a pinnacle for probably everybody that does what we do," said the 58-year-old Fox, who was with the Giants when they lost the 2001 Super Bowl to Baltimore, and led the Panthers there when they fell to New England in 2004. "Its something you work really hard (for). "As Pete mentioned earlier, you take individuals and try to paint a picture of where you want to get to. I think this is the pinnacle of it. Unlike different levels of football, theres only one happy camper at that end. Thats going to be the team hoisting that trophy." Carroll has hoisted championship hardware, but in college with Southern Cal. This is his first trip to the big game — he had never even attended a Super Bowl before this one. "The trophy really does symbolize the ultimate challenge and competitiveness in our sport and in our world of coaching or playing," said the 62-yard-old Carroll. "To dream about being in this position as a kid and then working all through the years of coaching, battling and watching other guys do it and for the first time for us; its a tremendous honour. "Its a tremendous opportunity and it creates an extraordinary challenge to see if you can be the one. It symbolizes a tremendous amount to all of us. We all live with that, our players and our coaches. Its great to be here, and (Im) thrilled to be doing it, too. It makes for so much fun. The whole buildup, the whole following, knowing its a global event on game day just adds to the fun of this thing. The challenge continues to be out there for us to reach for, so its very exciting." Both coaches have defensive backgrounds, and they made note of that. Yes, the NFL has become a light-up-the-scoreboard league — and no team ever did it better than Foxs Broncos, who scored 606 points this season. But Fox and Carroll made their reputations as defensive co-ordinators before becoming head coaches. Carroll spent one season in charge of the Jets and three with the Patriots before heading to USC. Fox led Carolina for nine seasons. "Youve got a couple old DB coaches here, and its interesting thats how it turned out," Carroll said. "It is an offensive era that were in, and with all the passing game its gone crazy. Maybe its fitting that weve been fighting our whole life trying to slow this thing down, and we get a chance to do it here on the biggest stage. "Really we have very similar paths and the fact that were defensive guys, maybe that gives the defensive guys hope that maybe we can hire one of those guys in the league soon." That already is happening, perhaps with the theory that strong defensive minds can slow down the points parade. Of the seven head coaching hires this year, four were filled by offence-oriented coaches (Bill OBrien, Jim Caldwell, Ken Whisenhunt, Jay Gruden) and three by defensive guys (Lovie Smith, Mike Zimmer, Mike Pettine). "I came up with a guy, Chuck Noll, who is a defensive guy, who I learned a lot from," Fox said of the Hall of Fame coach of the Steelers. "Ive been blessed to be around a lot of great people from ownerships on down to general managers, front office people, as well as coaches. You always take pride. This is a prideful thing to be in this position and play in a game like this with such great history. "Dont forget about those defensive guys moving forward." James Van Riemsdyk Flyers Jersey . -- The Seattle Seahawks and wide receiver Sidney Rice have agreed to terms on a deal. Oskar Lindblom Flyers Jersey . The Toronto Blue Jays star won his second consecutive Hank Aaron Award as the most outstanding offensive performer in the AL on Monday after votes by fans and a panel of Hall of Famers were tallied. http://www.flyersteamstoreonline.com/aut...-flyers-jersey/. His chance at winning a Stanley Cup in Philadelphia is over. Same with Jeff Carter. And Brian Boucher. Throw in Ville Leino and Dan Carcillo. Shayne Gostisbehere Flyers Jersey . Or take a relaxing vacation somewhere warm. Brayden Schenn and Scott Hartnell scored, Ray Emery stopped 32 shots and the Flyers beat the Calgary Flames 2-1 on Saturday for their fourth straight victory. Brian Propp Jersey .Y. -- Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire will have less time to remain eligible for the Hall of Fame ballot under changes made Saturday.A day after general manager Mike Gillis expressed doubt over his own future and that of his bench boss, Vancouver Canucks coach John Tortorella wouldnt let himself be drawn into the speculation over his job status after the season. "Mike Gillis is my boss and I cant speak for Mike," said Tortorella of his bosss comments on Friday afternoon. "I dont know how to answer to him because I cant speak for him. I dont want to do that. Mike and I are always talking, but to answer that, I just cant. Its not fair to him or me." Sitting six points out of the final wild card in the Western Conference with only five games to play, the Canucks are set to miss the playoffs for just the third time in 13 seasons and the first time since 2008. Still, Tortorella expressed no interest in publicly discussing his teams and, by extension, his own future. "Youre digging at a spot Id rather talk internally about," he said. "Thats probably something we can talk about after the season is over. I have to worry about coaching a hockey team. We have five more games, a team that needs to better and thats my focus." Gillis spoke on Thursday of his teams inability to play up to the style and level of play that theyre accustomed to for much of the season and Tortorella acknowledged his concerns, but maintained that he and Gillis shared a similar vision. "The style of play that were teaching, were onn the same page, yes," he explained.dddddddddddd"And it was a style of play that we played at the beginning of the year and no one else is responsible for the falter of the team and not staying up with the style of play that needs to be played here than me. I let it go just through our whole situation with the injuries and didnt grab a hold of it quick enough. No one else is responsible." While placing the onus on himself for his teams decline in play, Tortorella shot down the suggestion that he was overworking his star players to the point of injury. The Canucks have lost 282 man games to injury with key contributors including Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Ryan Kesler and Kevin Bieksa missing significant time. "Its easy to look at numbers and say you played them too much and that is not why theres been a struggle there," said Tortorella. "Youre not going to talk me into that. It just isnt, but I certainly have tried in the second part, as weve tried to get healthy in the second part of the year, tried to stretch it, but a lot of it is determined on depth within your line-up. I dont want to go much further than that because I think Ill be a little bit too critical and I dont want to do that here. Thats an organizational-type situation and an organizational conversation." The Canucks are next in action on Saturday night when they host the Los Angeles Kings. ' ' '