Nothing’s final until dotted line is signed

Today is national signing day for college football recruits, but let's keep this warning in mind: Just because a prospect has committed to a school doesn't mean he's going to sign.

Until those letters of intent are faxed in, football coaches will sweat for at least awhile.

There is no better example than in 1986 when highly touted running back Harvey Williams was expected to stay in state and sign with Texas A&M. He was on his way to his high school's signing ceremony when fellow classmates kept singing the Aggies' fight song.

Suddenly, Williams couldn't stand the idea of listening to that song anymore.

He got to the stage and said into the microphone, "L-S-U."

UNLV coach Mike Sanford better hope the recruits he plans to sign aren't tired of hearing "Viva Las Vegas."

• REVIEWING THE REVIEW -- Much has been made of why the NFL didn't review the fumble by Kurt Warner that essentially ended the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Here's the rub: The play was reviewed.

Peter King of Sports Illustrated wrote that because a penalty was called against Pittsburgh and there was a change of possession, replay official Bob McGrath had about 90 seconds to examine replays using a touch screen in front of him. He determined that Warner began losing his grip before his arm went forward, and saw no reason to buzz referee Terry McAulay on the field.

But King wrote McGrath still should have notified McAulay to eliminate any questions from fans. Viewers at home only saw the Steelers line up for a game-ending kneel-down and didn't realize a video replay had occurred.

Of course, such issues are magnified during a Super Bowl, and so is officiating as a whole. Despite complaints by Cardinals fans, King wrote there was only one bad call and another he called "ticky-tack."

• HOW TO COPE -- Even if you're a fellow Steelers fan, once the parade is done and the Super Bowl is replayed 21 times, the realization now begins to sink in that football season is over. And please don't mention the Pro Bowl.

So what do you do?

For now, we have to turn to other, lesser sports. Get involved in an office pool and pretend to care about the NCAA Tournament. Watch Tiger Woods come back and put on the second-best show to football. Use the NBA and major league regular seasons -- both of which are too long -- to catch up on naps.

Throw in a vacation or two, if you can afford it, and NFL and college training camps finally start in August.

• OK, ONE MORE FOOTBALL NOTE -- Think Detroit Lions fans are a little bitter?

While Matt Millen provided analysis for NBC during the Super Bowl, the network affiliate in Detroit ran the following crawl: "Matt Millen was president of the Lions for the worst eight-year run in the history of the NFL. Knowing his history with the team, is there a credibility issue as he now serves as an analyst for NBC Sports?"

Wow.

COMPILED BY MARK ANDERSON LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL