And some link goodness for this Wednesday…

• Getting Inside a Great Receiver’s Mind
  Marvin Harrison speaks to the media
• Column: Manning vs. Grossman a Contrast
• James happy Colts made it to Miami
• Manning Savors Shot at the Title
• Even the squirrels know
  Katie looks a little biased, egh?
• Bears helmet breaks on statue of lion
  Don’t Bears break just about everything?
• NFL to Offer Video Downloads on iTunes
  Neat idea, though I’d rather record it myself.
• Indy to make 2011 Super Bowl bid
  Now it’s official
• “Hot” patients setting off U.S. radiation alarms
  Radioactive people are everywhere? The players better stay out of the stands.
• Chargers’ Kiel Cited for Urination
  The Chargers and the Bengals need a serious off-season talking too…and could you please stay out of the football news until after the Super Bowl & Pro Bowl?
• Raw Cougar Meat Blamed for Trichinosis
  Who’s eating cougar meat? And eating it raw!? I guess that hasn’t made its way to Indiana yet.
• French health minister seeks nap study
  Sounds good to me…only if I weren’t running my own company
• Chicken Born With Duck’s Webbed Feet
  Next stop, your chicken nuggets
• Military Shows Off New Ray Gun
  As mentioned in Trolley Dodgers Podcast #20
• Bonds can lose contract if indicted: source
  But why sign him? Oh, the steroid induced “record”, right?
• Yankee Stadium to Host ‘08 All-Star Game
  Farewell to Yankee Stadium
• Student wants to ‘rent’ a girlfriend
  Ugh…in this country that’s called something else.
• ‘Gender’ Blamed for Katie Couric’s Low Ratings
  Riiight….I’m sure that’s the culprit

• Pack The Pews On Colts Super Bowl Sunday Feb 4, 2007
• More schools off for Super Bowl Monday
  Over 70 Catholic and Christian schools are taking next Monday off due to the Super Bowl. In Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) we didn’t even get the day off is there was a bomb threat. And there had to be a ton of snow to even get a “snow day”. (Needless to say, but I will anyway, yes IPS does have school next Monday.)
• Varvel’s Colts-Cubs Connection
• Mission in Miami - Q95.com WFBQ Indianapolis 94.7 FM
  Colts broadcast highlights, songs, videos & more.
• Mudkids MySpace Page
  Check out Russ & the gang and listen to Rock n’ Roll (”GO BLUE!”)
• Colts, Horses, and a Mule
  Jeff speaks up on the Colts
• News to Chicago: Indy’s Moved On
  by Bill Benner
• Super Bowl 41 Commercials on YouTube
  “Right after the game, all the Super Bowl commercials will be grouped together in a YouTube gallery.”
• Vancouver 2010 Winter Games RSS feeds

I think that it is starting to sink in that the Indianapolis Colts are headed to Super Bowl 41! After an awful first half against the New England Patriots on Sunday night I honestly began to get that feeling of “oh, so close” disappointment that has hung over us for years in major-league professional sports in this town. (As with just about everything around here, Indy seems to be a great place for development…then people move on to greener pastures.) But the Colts came out guns blazing in the second half and Peyton Manning lead the team down field for ample scoring opportunities (though not exactly pretty.)

The game was quite exciting and everything that a true Championship game should be like (though a bit taxing on the nerves of fans). And you college football BCS knuckleheads should take some notes…here you had the #3 & #4 seeds in the AFC battling it out in easily one of the best NFL games in history proving that the post season is a completely different animal that the regular season…and I can guarantee you that viewership was far better that if it had been a blowout game.

With that said, the town is hopping and I’m ready for an excellent & historic (the first black coaches in the Super Bowl and one guaranteed to be the first black coach to win the Super Bowl…very cool regardless of what your own skin tone may be) football game with the Chicago Bears. Man, it’s about time AND we have to pull out the win!

GO COLTS!!!

For New Years Eve we went to the Colts game and bought overpriced “souvenir” popcorn and Cokes. The Colts played the starters the entire game, which made me happy since they hadn’t done so the past few seasons when we’ve locked a playoff berth early. And while not overly dominating, we did pull off the win to go 8-0 at home this season. We’ll have to see how the playoffs go though…because everyone knows how horrible our defense is (thank God for the offense).

Once we got home after figuring out how to hitch a ride out of downtown Indianapolis (for some reason the police decided that it was a good idea to close down just about every street) we had a few friends over to ring in the new year and headed to bed around 1am.

So, New Years Eve 2006 year was definitely more exciting than last year when we had an early morning flight and sat in a hotel room in Jacksonville, Florida. I can say that I’m glad there was football on TV very close to midnight, because I must be so un-hip that I hadn’t clue who half of the “artists” on the various specials were…but frankly, I don’t care all that much, as it seems like I’m really not missing anything.