Not that I really want to focus on yesterday’s Super Bowl because my team lost, but having made so many previous posts on the topic, I feel obligated.

Yesterday, the better team won.  Ouch.  That hurts to say, but it’s true.  I felt that the teams were very evenly matched, and when you look back on it, which I’d prefer not to do, the final outcome really hinged on three or four plays, and for the most part, those plays went the Saints’ way.

Having made a pregame case as to why the Colts would win, here is what a friend wrote to me after the game:

“As I was saying…Better defense and a well-balanced offense is superior to a team that depends heavily on their QB, who somehow decided to turn in desperation to his anemic running game, which could only do so much in a game of this magnitude. Your thoughts?”

Here was my long winded response:

“Unfortunately, someone has to lose and it was the Colts this year. I will refrain from making excuses since I didn’t play the game. All I could do was yell at the TV. The other great thing is that my team was in the Super Bowl this year. They were there in ’07, and I’m pretty confident they will be knocking on the door next year and possibly for a few years after that. Most fans can’t say that. So I will enjoy the fact that the Colts went back to the Super Bowl and now enjoy an offseason where I will get a few more things done on Sundays.”

I’m disappointed that the Colts lost.  Probably not as much as those who spent a few thousand dollars to go to Miami and see the game live… although they got to go to Miami, while I shoveled snow here in Indy.  Ultimately, I’m just trying to enjoy the fact that my favorite NFL team is so good.  They’ve gone to the playoffs for eight straight seasons and had seven consecutive regular seasons with twelve or more wins.  This will not last forever.  Things can change quickly.  One day the Colts will not win twelve games in the regular season and they will not make the playoffs.  So while it hurts to see my team lose the big game, I’d rather feel this pain than the pain of my team being one and fifteen at the end of the season.

Now I’ll take some time to recouperate over the offseason and get some other work done. 

Congratulations to the Saints and Go Colts!

Oh, and one other thing, was it just me, or did pretty much all of the commercials stink this year?

The Super Bowl is almost here and my sports related posts will soon come to a close, but considering that I live in Indy and the Colts are in the Super Bowl, I have a few more football posts left in me.

Tonight I was watching the news and I saw Queen Latifah say that she was rooting for the Saints because they were the Cinderella team.  Since when?  If I remember correctly, the Saints only lost three games this season.  They dominated almost every team they played with a high flying offense and pounding defense.  Brett Farve was hit so hard two weeks ago I think they knocked his dentures out.

A Cinderella team is one that is not on equal footing with all the other teams, but for some reason is still competing and winning.  We see it every year in college basketball during March Madness.  A Cinderella is George Mason going to the Final Four, or NC State winning the whole thing.  The Cardinals of last year’s Super Bowl were more of a Cinderella team than the Saints.  I wonder if Queen Latifah was cheering for them.

Nothing about the Saints this season says “Cinderella”.  Sure the franchise has been a disaster for generations, but that does not make them a Cinderella.  Actually, for the past two or three years, the Saints have turned their franchise around, which is directly related to Drew Brees and Sean Payton.

In fact, the Saints remind me of the Colts before Peyton Manning showed up followed by Tony Dungy (Bill Polian had a big hand in there too).  The Colts were awful for so many years.  The only reason they were able to draft Manning was because they were flat out horrendous.  And they weren’t just bad for one or two seasons.  It spanned decades.

I get the fact that the Saints are the darlings of America right now.  It’s a great story.  A loser of a team for generations finally makes it to the Super Bowl.  The city is still rebuilding from Katrina.  And they’ve never won a Championship.  I would have been cheering for the Saints if the Colts had not made it.  I’m a huge Purdue fan, so I always want Brees to be a dominant QB in the NFL.  So it makes sense that the majority want to see the Saints win.

But let’s not kid ourselves.  The Saints are a high powered team that rolled through the season.  They are no Cinderella.  They’re an elite team.  One that is better than every other team in the NFC.  They are on equal footing with the Colts and should make the Super Bowl a spectacular event.

With that said, I still feel pretty confident that the Colts will win.  Maybe it’s destiny, but I think Peyton is on his way to three of four Super Bowl rings.  So my prediction for this one is Colts 35 and Saint 27.

So the Saints pulled it out and are headed to Super Bowl XLIV.  While I had imagined a “Perfect Bowl” (I created that term) between an undefeated Colts and undefeated Saints,  slightly imperfect Colts and Saints teams will have to do.

By the end of the NFC Championship game, it actually seemed like a contest of who wanted to win less.  Neither team looked impressive considering the Vikings kept giving the ball away and the Saints never really produced any offense.

I would have enjoyed seeing the Viking go, so we could have seen Manning vs. Favre, but I am much happier with this match up because Brees is a former Purdue quarterback.  So, I’ll wish Drew and his Saints the best, and quickly return to cheering my Colts on to a second Super Bowl Championship in the Peyton Manning era.

It could be a pretty entertaining game with a lot of offense.  On the other hand, the Colts defense looks very stout and the Saints put a huge beat down on Farve.  It should be a good game.  Right now I’m guessing the score will be the Colts 35 and the Saints 27.*  That sounds about right.

*I’ll reserve the right to change my mind a few times over the next two weeks.

Unfortunately, my quest for The Perfect Bowl disappeared last Saturday.  It was fun while it lasted.  Now I’m on to The Nearly Perfect Bowl.  My hope is that the Colts will continue their winning streak all the way through the Super Bowl.

Today the Colts play the Jets.  While any team can beat another most Sundays, the Colts should be able to easily handle the Jets.  Of course it also all depends on who plays for the Colts this Sunday.  I’ve made it no secret that I would like to see the Colts play through the end of the season.  In years past, when they have rested their starters, the playoffs have ended poorly for the Colts.  The one year that they had to play all the way through the end of the season, the Colts won the Super Bowl.

So, I’m pushing for the Colts to keep playing and winning, and while I wouldn’t mind seeing the Saints join them in the Super Bowl, it doesn’t really matter any more.  Whoever plays the undefeated Colts would still just make it a Nearly Perfect Bowl.

Share your thoughts here or at http://www.squidoo.com/ThePerfectBowl

In a matter of three hours, my dreams of a Perfect Bowl were dashed.  I was so sure that the Saints would pull out all the stops and make a run at a 16-0 regular season.  Unfortunately the normally hapless Cowboys decided to show up.

So there goes my hopes for a Perfect Bowl.  Of course there’s always next year.

For now, I’ll continue to cheer on my Colts and hope they pull off the perfect season.  I’m thinking it’s their destiny.

That was quite an offensive battle, but as has happened so often for the Colts this season, the defense steps up in the end and puts the game away.  As with all the games between the Jaguars and the Colts, this was a tight nail biter.  And with two and a half minutes left, the Colts almost let the Jaguars pull out a game ending score like the Colts have done to so many other teams this season.

So now we’re one step closer to The Perfect Bowl.  We’ll know by the end of Saturday if the Saints can keep their streak alive.  My feeling is that even though the Cowboys have forgotten how to win in December, the Saints will have their hands full.  I know I’ll be cheering New Orleans on, but probably won’t watch the game because it’s on the NFL Network.

Let’s keep dreaming of The Perfect Bowl.  Share your thoughts here or visit The Perfect Bowl page and vote in the poll.

My hopes and dreams of The Perfect Bowl (undefeated Colts & Saints in Super Bowl XLIV) could come crashing back down to earth tonight.  There’s something in me that feels a bit uneasy about the game tonight, but I’m enouraged to know the Colts’ history in primetime and on Thursday nights specifically.  I saw a stat this week that said the Colts are 4-0 on Thursday night games.  In addition, Peyton seems to play his best when he has the focus of the entire nation (as opposed to Sundays when several games are going on). 

While the coaches have said that everyone who is healthy is playing tonight, that doesn’t mean much.  I think there are over 20 players on the injury report for the Colts this week.  And considering that there is nothing really at stake (except my dreams of a Perfect Bowl), each game until the playoffs becomes more an exercise in attempting to stay sharp while not losing players to injury.

What do you think?  Can the Colts keep it going?  And if they do, will the Saints hold up their end of the bargain?  Feel free to visit http://www.squidoo.com/ThePerfectBowl to vote in The Perfect Bowl poll or share your comments here.  Also, tweet your opinion with the hashtag #PerfectBowl.

Go Colts!  Go Saints! 

Go “The Perfect Bowl”!!!

The Colts and the Saints are one step closer to making it a Perfect Bowl. Both teams moved to 13-0 today. The Colts started off on fire, and took a lead of 21-0 before letting the Broncos back in the game with 16 unanswered points. Once again the Colts defense stepped up and controlled the game when the offense was sputtering.

As for the Saints, I didn’t see the game. I watched the scroll across the bottom of the screen and for a while the score was tied at 23. In the end, the Saints hit a field goal and won the game by three.

It’s quite a long shot to think that two teams could go undefeated all the way to the Super Bowl. While it is improbable, it is by no means impossible. So I will continue to push for The Perfect Bowl.

If you want to join me in this little dream of mine, go to my Squidoo page and vote in the little polls I have, or tweet with the hashtag PerfectBowl (#PerfectBowl).

Let’s go Saints and Colts!

I can’t wait too long to make this post. By next Sunday the dream could be crushed. Most likely within the next four weeks it will definitely come to an end. But until that time, I’m going to dream. And if it comes true, well, you read it here first.

Right now the New Orleans Saints are 12-0 and the Indianapolis Colts are 12-0. Both teams are perfect from a win/loss perspective and with a little luck they could stay that way until Super Bowl XLIV (that’s 44). Can you picture it? Two perfect teams in the Super Bowl! Wouldn’t that be awesome? Think of the TV ratings. I figure even the less than casual, never watched a game, thinks a football looks like a foot, non-football fan would probably tune in.  I’m calling this The Perfect Bowl.

Now I have to confess. I’m a Colts fan. Ever since they defected from Baltimore, I’ve been riding the fan wagon. Through the bad times (and there were a lot) and now the good times. When I lived in Las Vegas, I remember coming out of a movie and seeing a Colts preseason game on TV.  It was Manning’s rookie year. Man, am I glad the Colts selected Manning and not Ryan Leaf! Anyway, I’m a little biased about who’d I’d like to see win, but I’m also a huge Purdue fan. So I’m always pulling for Drew Brees (the last quarterback to take Purdue to the Rose Bowl).

But what do you think? Is there an ice cube’s chance in Hell that the Saints and Colts can meet in Super Bowl XLVI and both still be undefeated?  Could there really be a Perfect Bowl?  Share your thoughts here or go to my Squidoo site and join the poll I have there. Go to http://www.squidoo.com/ThePerfectBowl.  You can also go to Twitter and hash tag the words PerfectBowl (eg. #PerfectBowl).  Join the discussion while you still can.