Tag: Indianapolis Colts (Page 11 of 12)

Super

January 25, 2010 / DB

There were some football games yesterday.

One of my favorite parts of Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch is when he relates how he and his soccer loving friends debated what the perfect win was. They settled on a 3-2 win in which their team twice trailed and tied and then scored a late game-winner.

I’ve often thought of what my criteria would be for the perfect win. It obviously varies from sport-to-sport, but I think the perfect football win is when your team struggles early, rights itself, and by the end of the game has imposed its will on its opponent. The Colts’ win over the Jets Sunday might qualify. Down early, looking sloppy and overwhelmed, it appeared that the Colts might again be wetting the bed when the games mattered most.* They steadied themselves, remained patient, slowly turned the momentum, and midway through the third quarter turned into the Colts we watched through the first 15 weeks of the season.

(Had they lost, my postgame Facebook update was going to reference Colts shirts going on sale around the city tomorrow, but the buyer would be left to remove the pee stains.)

Whatever, the Colts are in the Super Bowl again. That’s pretty cool. It was a fine performance. Not as cathartic as the win over the Patriots three years ago, but still pretty great. On both sides of the ball it was the Colts who made the adjustments that changed the course of the game. The defense was outstanding, aside from two plays. The offense was as explosive as we’ve seen this year. It was interesting watching the Colts struggle with the Jets’ blitz early and then render it totally useless by the second half. Pierre Garcon was huge. Austin Collie and Joseph Addai made some plays. Peyton Manning finally played great in a big game. Check that, he’s never played as well in an important game in his career. This should help balance all those awful games in January in the first half of his career. And, once again, a few flukey bounces with their way (Reggie Wayne’s fumble that bounced right back to him between four Jets defenders being one example). They just might be a team of density, er, destiny.

So that might have been the perfect win. But the NFC title game was pretty damn exciting, too. Nice of the Drama Queen to wait until the last possible moment to revert to his classic form with a senseless turnover that cost his team the game. As much trouble as Minnesota had holding onto the ball, I was beginning to wonder if either the balls were being doctored somehow, or if the entire Vikings roster had money on the outcome.

It’s a shame we’ll have to see two dome teams built to play on a fast surface contest the Super Bowl on natural grass. Let’s just hope the weather is better than the last time the Super Bowl was in Miami, when the Colts and Bears played one of the sloppiest Super Bowls ever in the rain.

The Saints offense seemed out-of-sync yesterday, and I expect them to correct that. Their defense could not slow down the Vikings, though. Given what Manning and company just did to the Jets defense, that does not bode well. The Colts have been here before, and Manning will keep them focused all week as he did three weeks ago. I see an easy Colts win in two weeks.*

(Bookmark this post for jinx references after the game.)

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Karma Or Redemption?

January 18, 2010 / DB

The football gods are watching!

We can take at least that much from this weekend’s playoff games. The football gods are watching and next Sunday they will render their decision on the Colts pulling their starters against the Jets a month ago.

That’s the only explanation for the Jets clawing their way first into the playoffs and then through the first two rounds to reach the AFC title game, right? The gods want to offer their judgement on Jim Caldwell’s decision for all to see? Either his hubris will be punished, karma will kick his ass, and the Jets will make an unlikely run to the Super Bowl,* or they will signal their approval and the Colts will attempt to capture their second championship of the Manning era.

(Remember back when the Jets were sizzling in the early part of the season and I called them sexy and they promptly went in the tank? Just to be safe I’m going to say it again: the Jets are sexy. I like the match-up better than going against the Chargers, but I’m not going to risk it.)

It’s an interesting match-up, to be sure. The Jets were hanging in there in week 16, down 9-3 at the half, before Manning et. al. took to the bench. They have a stout defense, a fantastic running game, and can do just enough in the passing game to keep you honest. In many ways, they’re the mirror opposite of the Colts, who are lucky to manage three yards a carry and do everything in the air. The Jets have no fear, are on a serious roll, and have a coach that is pushing all the right buttons. If they win next week, that Super Bowl itinerary is going down in the coaching motivational ploy Hall of Fame.

Yet I’m confident the Colts are going to win. They may not have all eight cylinders turning in unison the way they did in the middle part of the decade, but they have learned to compensate for the lack of explosiveness by making all the little plays. Reggie Wayne can’t get open? Dallas Clark, Pierre Garcon, or Austin Collie will. Need seven yards on third down? Any of those guys will get eight. Blitz Manning? The line will give him just enough time to put the ball on the fingertips of an open receiver. They’re a little more workman-like than in the past, but they still get the job done.

I had to chuckle at some of the post-game analysis Sunday. One talking head after another kept pointing out how the Colts haven’t been getting big plays out of their offense, how they “struggled” to score 20 Saturday. Apparently all these people forgot the Colts were playing Baltimore, one of the stoutest defenses in the league. I don’t know a whole lot of coaches or players who will turn down 17 point wins, that are essentially over at halftime, in the playoffs.

It’s all setting up so, if they want to, the Colts can somehow play the underdog card on Sunday, despite being the #1 seed with home field advantage. Everyone is going to be pimping the Jets and Rex Ryan and Mark Sanchez’s beard.* The Colts are old, can’t run, were lucky to get every call against the Ravens, etc. Something tells me the defense, especially, comes out pumped up and, much like they did against the Chiefs in their Super Bowl year, shut down the Jets running game early and dare the Sanchize to beat them. Meanwhile, the o-line will pick up the blitzes, the offense will move the chains, and they’ll put together another win more reminiscent teams that grind it out than the high flying Colts of the Harrison-James era.

(As I type this, I’m still unshaven after three weeks, so I better not make too much fun of other bearded people.)

Colts 20 Jets 13. OK, maybe I’m not that confident after all.

I was hoping for more from the New Orleans – Arizona game. Some big plays, yes, but not the back-and-forth sequel to last week’s game in Arizona I was hoping for.

Nice of Dallas to wait a week to lay their annual playoff egg. Who knew Prince was such a big Vikings fan? That NFC title game should be a good one. Favre has to blow up at some point, right? And by blow up I mean force balls into triple coverage and kill his team with untimely picks. I think I’d rather the Colts face New Orleans than Minnesota if they beat the Jets, so I’m hoping the blow up comes this week.

I know I have fans of many teams reading this: Cowboys, Colts, Chiefs, Broncos, Rams, Bears to name a few. We all agree that Philip Rivers is a prick, right? It’s a shame he doesn’t play in a bigger media market so he can become the most disliked player in the game. I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t a Chargers fan or North Carolina State alum who likes him. I’m glad he won’t be torturing the Colts’ defense this weekend. I hate that dude.

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‘Tis The Season

December 29, 2009 / DB

For second-guessing the Colts.

(Update: I wrote everything below the jump yesterday. I still believe in my core argument: that yanking the starters was a completely appropriate, defensible strategy. But, not only will the controversy not go away, but it seems to be spiraling out of control. The entire city is in an uproar. This might indeed wreck the Colts season. We’ll see. But, since I put so much time into it, my original post follows.)

I think national sports commentators love this time of year. They have the BCS to bash, NFL playoff scenarios to hash out, coaching carousels to ponder, and for much of the last decade, the Colts to rip.

Once again, a Colts team that has locked in their place in the AFC playoffs decided to rest the starters late in yesterday’s game against the Jets. The Jets immediately took the lead and held it, denying the Colts a perfect regular season.

Waaah.

I understand people at the game being upset. It’s not like the Colts and the NFL were going to reimburse them 30% of their tickets because they didn’t get to see Peyton, Dwight, etc. for the final quarter-plus.

I don’t get all the national hand-wringing. So what if the Colts threw away a chance at 16-0? As they’ve shown time-and-again over the last decade regular season excellence does not necessarily translate to post-season success. Why not maximize the chance that your most important players be both in game shape and healthy for the playoffs?

The arguments I’ve read and heard today center on the idea that if you’re going to rest the players, why start them in the first place. The obvious counter-argument, generally offered by another talking head or as an aside in the column, is that you can’t give a team nearly a month off and expect them to be ready to play in the divisional round of the playoffs. “Then play them the entire game,” goes the counter to the counter, “You can get injured on any play.”

This is a dumb argument. I think it’s a good mathematical choice that Jim Caldwell made. He gets his front line players reps but at a reduced level. It’s not about eliminating the chance for injury, it’s about minimizing the chance. A calculated risk that Peyton, Dwight, etc. won’t pull a hammy or blow out a knee in two-plus quarters and that that work will be enough to have them in optimal condition for the first playoff game.

Perhaps a dumber argument I heard is that this puts doubt into the minds of the Colts players. They were humming along, 14-0, and now they’ve lost a game and they’ll start wondering if they’re really good enough.

Really? That makes no sense at all. I think this team, from its veteran leaders down to its rookies, is an incredibly smart squad that understands exactly what is at stake. They understand how to prepare for games, how to react to in-game challenges. Losing a game to a mediocre team because the coach pulled the starters in the third quarter is not going to make them question their talent, either individually or as a whole.

Jim Caldwell might just be a genius. He’s taken away the perfect season pressure. He’s made himself the bad guy. Now, instead of “Can you beat the Patriots/Chargers or are you going to lay another playoff egg?” the questions are going to be about him and his methods. Maybe he’s deftly adjusted what the line of questioning will be for the next month, removing the storylines that were already in place and putting himself at the center, knowing his team isn’t going to come apart because of it.

We’ll see. I think most people expect the Chargers to beat the Colts, if it comes down to that in the AFC title game. New ENgland is looking frisky again, and they did dominate the first three quarters of their loss in Indy last month. Nothing was guaranteed, regardless of what happened yesterday or next week in Buffalo. If the Colts win the Super Bowl, this will all blow over. If they lose along the way, Caldwell will obviously face a lot of off-season heat. Many of the same critics who are loudest today would also be screaming if Manning, Freeney, etc. had suffered an injury in the fourth quarter yesterday.

I’m not suggesting Caldwell’s choice can’t be questioned. I am saying many of the most outraged voices outside Indianapolis that I’ve heard today are making dumb arguments.

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Nothing Gets By Reggie

November 16, 2009 / DB

The buzz this morning is about a certain coach’s certain curious decision late in a certain game played in a certain midwest city last night.

I don’t want to talk about that (the decision).

I want to talk about Reggie Wayne.

Lost in the columns pouring forth this morning is my man Reggie’s catch for the ages that completed the Colts comeback as they beat the Patriots 35-34 last night.

It’s premature to call the AFC race; the Colts are seriously banged up on defense, are relying on several young players on offense who showed some nerves last night, and are wading into the most difficult stretch of their schedule. But last night’s game will go a long way towards ensuring that the Colts get the first weekend of the playoffs off and will be hosting a divisional round game, at least.

The game kind of had everything. Early, it looked like it was going to be a classic back-and-forth affair, similar to either the 2003 regular season game or the 2006 AFC title game.*

(Or was it 2007? I always get confused as to how to refer to NFL games that are part of a season that began in the previous calendar year.)

24 straight New England points made it look like a classic Belichick beatdown of the Colts. The opposing coach might have changed, but the result was the same. The Colts showed some life, and then Wes Welker’s punt return was the gut punch that reminded the Colts the Pats were still the team to beat in the AFC. And then the comeback, assisted by several interesting coaching decisions.

I’ll admit I considered going to bed at halftime. Then, I muted the TV, turned on some music, and only kept half of my attention on the game. When the Colts held on fourth down, I sensed my actions were having an effect on events downtown, so I kept listening to <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thievery_Corporation”>Thievery Corporation</a>, lest I force another Manning interception.

And then came the catch. When Marvin Harrison was still a Colt, I always enjoyed the different ways he and Wayne caught the ball. Harrison seemed to catch the pass delicately, at the ends of his fingers, almost accidentally stopping its forward motion. When Reggie caught the ball, on the other hand, it seemed to disappear in his big mitts.

On the winning catch last night, though, Reggie went all Marvin on us. I have no idea how he held on to that ball and kept it from moving at all given that he barely got his fingertips on it. But catch it he did. The brilliance of that catch should not get lost as the myth of this game is written.

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I Don’t Think That Means What You Think It Means

November 14, 2009 / DB

As you probably know, I’m annoyed by small things at times. A current example: in this week’s hype-fest for the Patriots-Colts clash Sunday night, ESPN’s Josh Elliott called Peyton Manning’s career “incomparable.”

As Amy Proehler and Seth Meyers would say, really?

My dictionary offers two definitions for incomparable.

1 – without an equal in quality or extent; matchless
2 – unable to be compared; totally different in nature or extent

I know ESPN is full of smart writers and producers and anchors who went to some of the nation’s finest journalism schools, have experience at a wide variety of other sports outlets, and in general are familiar with the english language.

But incomparable?

If anything, Peyton’s career is the definition of comparable. It’s comparable to his contemporaries like Tom Brady and Brett Favre. It’s comparable to the members of NFL quarterbacking’s Golden Age: Elway, Marino, Montana, Young. It’s comparable to the legends of the old school: Staubach, Bradshaw, Unitas. Unless he shatters every record these other guys hold: most wins, most Super Bowl victories, most yards, most touchdown passes, most games started, etc. etc. etc. his career will always be comparable.

I know it gets old using the same old adjectives to describe transcendent athletes. You can only call someone amazing so many times. But if you’re going to branch out, at least use the right word.

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Futbol Americano

October 12, 2009 / DB

Please join me in celebrating Hispanic heritage month. This week, it’s all about el futbol.

A long weekend for el futbol. There was a game of some interest to me Thursday. However, given the math, which seemed to require that I pull for Missouri to beat Nebraska, I stuck with Must See TV and didn’t watch any of the Deluge in Columbia.

Friday, that weather moved into our area. Fortuitously, that just happened to be the night I was assigned to cover my first Friday night futbol game of the year. I had a good assignment, though: traveling to a big school with a very nice, completely enclosed press box. So I stayed warm and dry all night. Until I had to cross the field after the game. I sunk past my ankles into the mud as I chased down the coach. Not sure how those kids kept their footing all night. Midway through the second quarter, I couldn’t read the numbers on the jerseys of any of the backs or receivers on the team wearing white. So I just listened to the PA and radio announcers next to me, and figured whoever they said had the ball would get the carry/catch in the official stats. Oh, and my team lost 34-0, so another ass-whoppin’ when I’m on the job.

Saturday, thanks the glorious Vs. HD, I was able to witness the shootout in Lawrence. As a KU alum and lifetime fan, I will never apologize for or take being 5-0 lightly. More often than not, the Jayhawks would consider 3-2 a great record at this point in the schedule. But one thing was obvious during and after the narrow win over Iowa State: the distance to travel for the Big 12 North title is even farther than most of us had hoped. Unless the defense makes some major changes, there’s no way we’re going to get the sweep of Tech, Nebraska, and Mizzou we need to win the North. As good as the offense is, you can’t ask them to score 40+ every week just to eek out a win. From his post-game comments, Mangino is aware of the issues and may be making some changes this week. It seemed like everyone was kind of standing around on Saturday, rather than being aggressive. Hopefully it is just a matter of making some small tweaks, inserting a couple guys who are highly skilled but have struggled grasping the schemes, and so on that will allow them to keep opponents under 500 yards/game.

The final Iowa State play of the game was nearly a miracle/disaster finish. If Arnaud can throw a better pass (and that was an exceptionally difficult pass, I’m not knocking him at all), it is reminiscent of a certain game-winning pass thrown by a certain quarterback on a certain team that a certain blogger follows closely. Not nearly as cool, of course, but close.

I exchanged e-mails with my friend Sean the Clone throughout the game. I commented that it would really suck to be a defensive player these days. All the rules are against you and for the offense. You have to play these ridiculous schemes that spread the offense across the entire field. Unless you have NFL-caliber speed, it’s very difficult to get to the quarterback. And once you’re spread out and each defender is on an island, any halfway decent quarterback can pick you apart all afternoon. I didn’t keep exact stats, but it felt like only 2-3 incomplete passes in the KU-ISU game were because of the defense. The rest were drops or bad throws. Even with the 4-2-5 scheme becoming more popular, those back five don’t have much of a chance.

As soon as the game was over, I hopped into the car and jetted south to cover a sectional soccer final. It was an entertaining game, ending in a 3-1 win for the favorites. Both teams fall under our coverage umbrella, so it was win-win from a writing perspective. Should the winners win again on Wednesday, I would not be surprised if I cover their regional final next weekend.

More soccer. The US national team played a World Cup qualifier in Honduras late Saturday. Because of some strange rights issues, the game was only available on closed circuit.* Sports Illustrated writer (and KC native) Grant Wahl was in Honduras for the match, though, and offered live updates via his Twitter feed. It was another example of how small the world is, as I got immediate updates on a soccer match via my iPhone. 30 years ago, I might have to wait until Monday morning to see the score in the paper. The US came from behind and got a 3-2 win, securing their trip to next year’s World Cup in South Africa.

(Closed circuit? What is this, 1982? Remember when big boxing matches were on closed circuit and you could go to theaters to watch them?)

Most of Sunday was spent finishing up my soccer story and then keeping the girls occupied. I saw bits of futbol here-and-there, mostly the Denver – New England game. I take back what I said about Seattle’s uniforms two weeks ago: Denver’s AFL throwbacks might be the worst futbol uniforms ever. Then again, they were so bad they were almost good, so perhaps Seattle still holds the title. They did remind me of a uniform I wore in my Taco Bell days. If only we had to wear the vertical-striped socks, too!

Maybe we all over-estimated New England. They certainly don’t play with the same swagger they did two years ago.

A big night for the Colts. I’m not sure how much you can take away from their hot start, given who they’ve played. But, amazingly, the offense looks about as good as it’s ever looked. Big props to everyone for getting Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon integrated into the offense so well and so quickly. The defense is doing some nice things, with a banged up secondary and Bob Sanders yet to play a down. It’s early to be getting excited, but they’re close to wrapping up the division title, and can start worrying about home field in the playoffs soon. I’m not ready to say they’re strong enough on both sides of the ball to make the Super Bowl, but given the topsy-turvy nature of the AFC, anything is possible. If, by some miracle, Pittsburgh and/or San Diego miss the playoffs, I like their chances against any of the other AFC contenders.

As I wrap this up on Monday, I must say I enjoy the Miami alternate orange jerseys. That’s a quality way to incorporate a third color without getting too crazy or altering the overall look of the uniforms.

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I Was Ready For Football

September 13, 2009 / DB

A big weekend for football.

Things got started Saturday afternoon, when I headed to Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis to cover my first high school game of the year. On paper, it appeared to be a blowout and, well, the paper did not lie. As usual, the team I was covering was the underdog and got their behinds handed to them. But they’re young and looking for silver linings in every cloud, so the coach was very helpful and full of useful comments afterwards.

I spent most of the game in the press box, which is about the highest vantage point possible in Lucas. In fact, it kind of hangs from the roof rather than sits on top of the deck below. You are way the hell up there, but at least you have a good view. Although there were official stats,* since this was my first game of the year I busted out my stat-keeping system to shake off the rust and be prepared for the night I’m sitting in a high school stadium press box and responsible for every stat myself. There were some tricky moments in the first quarter, but soon I was getting everything down and reasonably close to the official stats.

* The biggest perk for some journalists is that they have access to a hospitality room (i.e. free food). I’ll take official stats over free food every time. My math isn’t always the best.

I headed down to the field midway through the fourth quarter so I could be in position to grab the coach after the game. I made it down in time to be standing on the goal line as my team scored their only touchdown of the game. I went from being as far away as possible, to being about as close as possible without having a uniform on. The change in perspective was kind of jarring.

It was a beautiful day, so the roof was open. It’s an odd roof at Lucas, in that even when open, it still covers most of the seats, but the wall above the north end zone opens completely, so you can look out of the stadium into downtown.

As I headed back to the locker rooms, I literally ran into one of the teams for the next game.* The nightcap was a contest between two perennial 5A powers that are loaded with talent. The team I walked through wears dark purple uniforms, with even darker helmets. I swear every guy on the team was taller than me, and with their pads and helmets on, it was a little intimidating walking through them.

* There were four games in the event.

After doing my interview, I stayed on the sideline for the first quarter of the next game. Talk about a difference. Both teams were loaded with fast, big players, and amped to be on the field. It was a quantum leap up in quality from the game I covered, although I’m sure some of the difference in perspective was due to my closeness to the action.

I think this was the first time I’ve ever been on a Field Turf field. It’s interesting, especially compared to the old Astroturf-styled surfaces. Very soft, almost spongy. It has a wet feel to it, which is strange since I assume the roof at Lucas is closed 90% of the time, so it’s not like it gets soaked every time it rains. To go with that feel, the predominant smell is a musty, wet-cardboard odor. It’s not entirely pleasant. There is also a healthy whiff of warm rubber, since the surface is made from recycled tires and sprinkled with small rubber bits for added cushioning. Unless you’re used to it, you can’t help from continuing to notice those odors, because they’re so counter to the way a football field normally smells: warm, earthy, slightly damp, and above all organic.*

* If only I had more space in my story, I would have described what the field smelled like to my paper’s subscribers. I would have asked players for their views on the subject. “So, you got your asses handed to you, but what about that wet-dog smell?”

So that was fun. Thanks to the beauty of AT&T’s lightning fast 3G network here in Indy,* I was able to track college scores from the press box and on my walk to my car after the game. I was home in time to follow most of the KU game. UTEP seemed kind of scary when the schedule came out. A road, night game against a team that can score a lot of points. When KU has rarely scheduled this kind of opponent in the past, they’ve tended to get their asses handed to them. Thus, this seemed like a big test. Or maybe not. It’s clear UTEP wasn’t as good as advertised, although I think KU’s defense had something to do with that.

* Apparently it pays to live in a medium-sized city. 3G in Indy is awesome. So good I’ve shut off my iPhone’s wifi access completely. Even on my home network, it takes several seconds to connect, so I stick with 3G. I’ve heard less-than-great things about the networks in Chicago, San Francisco, and New York, among other places.

Amazing how much of the post-game discussion centered around how Todd Reesing was off all night. Yet we still racked up over 500 yards of offense. The defense has been solid, and is now getting pressure on the quarterback. The coaching staff showed a willingness to mix things up after some of the breakdowns in week one, and those changes seemed to work. Jake Sharp looks, ahem, sharp. Dezmon Briscoe was back on the field and putting up huge numbers.*

* It’s entirely possible this year’s All-American receivers could be Dezmon Briscoe and Dez Bryant. Briscoe is 6’3’’ 200. Bryant 6’2’’ 215. Both are from Texas. Both are juniors. Both play in the Big 12. Wacky, wild stuff.

A nice win, not unexpected but easier than anticipated. Now we have to be careful not to start looking too far ahead, to say the Oklahoma game, and stub our toes like tOSU did on Saturday.

Onto Sunday and the first full day of NFL action. The Colts opened at home, under an open roof, against nemesis Jacksonville. Yes, all afternoon I kept looking to see where I was standing less than 24 hours earlier and telling the girls all about it. “Daddy was standing right where that cheerleader with the massive fake breasts is standing.”

The good was Joseph Addai running hard again. He didn’t rack up a lot of yards, but he looks like a different back than he did a year ago. The new defensive coordinator is already paying dividends. A blitz on third down? Unheard of in these parts. And it worked! You can’t complain too much about the Tony Dungy era. He did win a Super Bowl. But things had gotten stale, and while Jim Caldwell seems to be very much in the mold of Dungy in terms of personality, mixing things up on the field should pay dividends. Oh, and my man Reggie Wayne is going to have a huge year.

The bad: Anthony Gonzalez collapsing in a heap without being touched. That’s never good. Not being able to tackle Maurice Drew-Jones for the 180th straight game. Not creating consistent space to run on offense.

And of course, since it was a Colts-Jags game, the Colts had to play a little sloppy, the Jags had to hang around, and it looked like Josh Scobee might get a chance to kick his third game-winning field goal in Indianapolis in the last five years. Fortunately the defense held and it never came down to that. 1-0 is a better start than last year.

As I was running some errands Sunday evening, I listened to a local sports talk station. I was amazed that one of the big subjects was Lucas Oil stadium. The hosts and people at the game were complaining that it isn’t nearly as loud as the RCA Dome was and the open roof ruined the game for some. It’s a gorgeous building, designed as it is so that it can be easily adjusted to host the Final Four every fifth year. It has all the amenities you could ask for. And in year two people are turning on it.

It’s funny how many communities have spent loads of money on these fancy new stadiums, built to be luxurious and offer endless outlets for people to spend any money left in their wallets after paying for parking and tickets, and while they end up being wonderful to look at and comfortable, something is lost in the transition.

The RCA Dome wasn’t that old, it’s not like it was Wrigley Field or Fenway Park, but it was small and generic and its upper deck was entirely bleacher seats. People were cramped next to each other. It was hot and ugly and uncomfortable and loud. Lucas is comfortable and pleasant and the sound gets lost in the much higher roof when closed, or escapes to the city when opened. So the team and city got their new jewel, and a Super Bowl in 2011 as reward, but perhaps ruined some of their home field advantage in the process.

Hey, 27 new Peyton Manning commercials. Great.

I’m not sure there will be a better play this year than Brandon Stokley’s game-winning touchdown against Cincinnati. It was so good I sent my brother-in-law in Denver, who is a huge Broncos fan, an email that only said “Holy shit!”

I was feeling a bit under the weather in the afternoon, so I slept through the late games. In the five or so minutes I watched the New York – Washington game, the Giants looked awesome. I’m feeling pretty good about my Super Bowl pick one week in!

The Brett Favre Sears commercial is pretty great. I’m also enjoying Southwest’s “It’s On!” campaign. Genius.

The referees in this Sunday night game could have used a few more preseason games. They’re not in their best form.

Hey, let’s make this a tradition. 1500-2000 words about football every week!

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Three Games

November 2, 2007 / DB

The calendar has flipped to November, baseball has ended (only 14 weeks until pitchers and catchers report!), the furnace is on, and there is frost on the grass. All sure signs that football will rule my TV for the next couple months. Three games will hold most of my attention this weekend. Some thoughts below.

Game One: Manchester United at Arsenal, 8:45 AM EDT Saturday. When I say football, I mean all kinds of football. I’ll be fighting the girls for the TV tomorrow morning, as this is the biggest game of the still-young season in the English Premier League. The teams are level on points, although Arsenal have a game in hand (That means they’re tied for first, but ManU has played one more game, if you don’t speak soccerese). Both teams come into the match in top form. Arsenal have looked awesome, scoring nearly at will in every game except for last week’s 1-1 draw at Liverpool (In soccer, a road tie against a good team is considered a very good result). ManU has been scoring nearly as often as the Gunners, but have only allowed four goals, to Arsenal’s seven, in the Premiership. The defending champs were expected to be a step or two ahead of Arsenal this year, given the Arse’s youth and the fact ManU practice voodoo, cannibalism, and several other forms of pure evil. Arsenal got two big wins over the Red Devils last year, including the epic match last January when Thierry Henry headed home the winner in the final minute of play, and they’re a much better team this year. If they can continue to make up for the loss of Robin Van Persie up front, expect another victory for the North London side. Arsenal 2, Manchester United 1.
Game Two: Nebraska at Kansas, 12:30 EDT Saturday. Two years ago, I did a celebratory lap through my home as KU pounded the Huskers to get their first win in the series since 1968. I had given up hope, after two close calls during my days in Lawrence, that KU would ever beat Nebraska in football. Then, magically, it happened. Last year, KU should have won in Lincoln, losing in overtime when a missed PAT in regulation would have given them the win. Things just keep getting stranger, as the Jayhawks enter this year’s game as 19 point favorites. Nearly three touchdown favorites over Nebraska? Dogs and cats living together!

You might think that with Nebraska’s poor record and nation’s worst rushing defense I would feel rather confident about sitting in front of the TV for three plus hours and watching my ‘Hawks extract a little more revenge for three decades of blowouts. I’m not. Strangely, this has turned into a classic trap game, falling between last week’s historic win in College Station and next week’s showdown in Stillwater. There’s also some mental resistance to the idea that we should have an easy time with Nebraska. I know times change, but all those years of watching the We Backs and Black Shirts treat my alma mater like a high school JV team left some scars. The faster Brandon McAnderson and Jake Sharp run all over the Huskers the better. I’ll be happy with a three point win and a 9-0 record. Kansas 35 Nebraska 10

Game Three: New England Patriots at Indianapolis Colts, 4:15 PM EST Sunday (Don’t forget to change your clocks!). Have you heard about this game? Not much talk about it. The 8-0 Pats come to the Dome to battle the 7-0 Colts, who have owned them over the past two seasons. I think most people accepted that the teams were 1A and 1B coming into the season. The Pats have clearly created some distance, but I don’t think that gap is has broad as some others would have you believe. First, the difference between the Colts and the league’s third-best team, Dallas, is staggering. So trying to draw conclusions about this week’s game from New England’s beat-down of the Cowboys last month is just silly. Second, the Colts defense is really good. Really, really good. It will be the best defense the Pats have faced this season (and let’s be honest: they haven’t exactly faced a murderers row of D’s so far. Even Dallas’, which is statistically good, is wildly inconsistent and pretty much sat out the second half of the Pats game.). Finally, the Colts both understand how to play the Pats and lack the fear of them the rest of the league has. If last year’s AFC title game taught them anything, it’s that you can come back on the Pats.

With all that said, I still expect the Pats to win. They’re healthier (Marvin Harrison remains a big question), firing on all cylinders, and have every intangible in their favor. (Quick aside: how stupid is it that they are allegedly pounding teams to get back at the league for punishing them for spygate? It’s like they’re saying, “How dare you catch us cheating and then penalize us for it!” I think the whole scandal was way overblown [Everyone is doing it on some level. The Pats were probably far more refined in the practice and dumb enough to get caught. Let’s not pretend they were the first or only team to try this and that it’s not still going on in every stadium in the league.] Their childish response is soiling their reputation far more than the actual crime.) I see this game getting nasty, because both teams need to be physical on defense. Tom Brady traditionally does better in nasty games than Peyton Manning does. I think the Pats will throw everything at rookie left tackle Tony Ugoh, who has performed exceptionally well so far this season, and that may be the difference. I expect the Pats to win, but should the Colts pull it out, I wouldn’t call it the huge upset some others will see it as.

New England 31 Indianapolis 27

Seems like some solid material for a wrap-up post on Monday, no?

Indy Grows Up

February 4, 2007 / DB

For the first time in 21 years, I live in the home of a world championship team. And with the Colts’ title, Indy officially becomes a football town. I’ve shared this story often: the Colts couldn’t even sell out the smallest stadium in the league in time to lift the TV blackout for their home opener against their arch rivals the first fall I lived here. Four seasons later, they are Super Bowl champions, a sparkling new stadium with the fifth highest capacity in the NFL is being constructed across the street from the RCA Dome, and this city has finally fully embraced the team. It’s been an interesting and exciting run.

This Super Bowl was not one that will go down as a classic. Sloppy track. Sloppy play. Rex Grossman. A bunch of shitty commercials. But what matters is the Colts won and there are thousands of drunken idiots downtown at Monument Circle running around in the -15 windchills. (I was all bundled up just to take the trash out tonight. There are guys downtown without shirts on. I guess that’s the difference between drinking two beers and 20.) Oh, and lots of bad local TV which has been the real highlight of the night. There’s nothing like seeing a reporter who usually covers the Statehouse get stuck in a bar for six hours, and then receive kisses on the cheek from other men while trying to do a live report.

If this was college basketball, Dick Vitale would already be telling us who will win next year’s Super Bowl. Sometimes pro sports are better. When do pitchers and catchers report? (Correction: at 12:15 the tools on ESPN started discussing next season. Typical.)

Super Duper

February 2, 2007 / DB

Somehow I’ve managed to avoid most of the Super Bowl hype this week. It was S.’s week to work days, which helped. That meant I rarely had a chance to do more than glance at the paper, often in the evening, and when the local evening news is on, I’m generally finally taking a shower or hitting the books after a long day with the girls. So I’m actually looking forward to the game for the game itself, rather than as a break from the interminable hype leading up to it.

Oh, and I’m anxiously awaiting the rumored announcement that the Beatles catalog will show up on iTunes later this month. That could be a memorable commercial, if the rumors come true.

One piece of news I did follow this week was Indianapolis formally bidding on the 2011 Super Bowl. On the one hand, I think it would be cool to have a Super Bowl here. On the other, I don’t think it would be the windfall for the city proponents expect it to be. Indy is a nice city, but I shudder to think how thousands of people who will come for an entire week will keep themselves occupied. There are only so many nice restaurants and clubs in this city. It works for a weekend event, like the races at the Speedway or a Final Four, but I expect the columns slamming the city would start as early as Tuesday. Second, the forecast low this Sunday is 2. Monday, we’re expected to dip below zero. Sure, there’s always the chance we could get some balmy weather and have temps in the 50s, but chances are it will be cold in February 2011 just like it is most other Februarys. People will be stuck in their hotels and bored, and despite the city’s efforts to shine itself up, there will be few good things said by the out-of-towners.

Finally, according the the Indy Star, the NFL mandates that all hotel rooms the league reserves for the game have taxes normally levied upon them waived. So the league, which I’m guessing grosses in the billions each year, and makes hundreds of millions off of the Super Bowl alone, is too cheap to pay the room taxes that Joe and Judy Fan will have to pay if they follow their team to the title game. I’m not sure where Indy sends its hotel tax dollars, that’s a pretty good chunk of change that will not hit the city’s coffers. Yes, the city will experience increased sales tax revenues, but it will also be picking up a huge tab for extra security, lots of last-minute repairs and beautifications, etc. Every dollar counts. I’m not sure if it makes a huge difference in income for the week, but Indy isn’t exactly a city that is awash in money. Seems like a cheap move on the NFL’s part. Too bad no city ever called bullshit.

On to the game. My thoughts have not drifted much from my initial reaction when the match-up was set. I think the Colts are just too good offensively and the Bears too limited offensively. Interestingly enough, the Bears O has outperformed the Colts O in the playoffs, and the Colts D is playing slightly better than the Bears D. I’m not sure what to make of that. I think the Bears have to get an early lead, and I’m talking 10 or 14-0, no a field goal or single TD, to have a chance. If the Colts score early, I think the game is over early. The wildcard is what the Bears can do when they get a turnover or on kick returns. They need at least two take-aways and a return TD to win. They might get those and still lose.

I see Dallas Clark and Joe Addai catching a lot of short passes early in the game, moving the chains, setting up the running game. The Colts grab an early lead, take it into the locker room, and in the second half, Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison get into the act. Feeling pressure to catch up, the Bears start passing, which plays right into the Colts defensive strengths. Then, it gets ugly.

Colts 38 Bears 21

I won’t be surprised if the score is different. I will be surprised if the result is different.

Happy weekend. Stay warm.