Sports briefs

Detroit will host 2006 Super Bowl

DETROIT (AP) - The city's comeback story yesterday fast-forwarded to Feb. 5, 2006, when the Super Bowl will be played at Ford Field downtown.

National Football League owners voted to award the league championship game to Detroit, which had no opposition. The vote came after a presentation by a delegation headed by Mayor Dennis Archer.

"What a great day for Detroit," said Ford Motor Co. Chairman William Clay Ford Jr., vice chairman of the Detroit Lions. "I think it's safe to say that we scored a touchdown on our opening drive today. The team that put together the presentation just did a fantastic job."

The Lions now play at the Pontiac Silverdome, which on Jan. 24, 1982 hosted the first Super Bowl in a cold-weather city.

Despite miserable weather and economic conditions amounting to a virtual depression that event pumped $100 million into southeast Michigan - or $179 million in today's dollars, Littmann said.