Last weeks loss to the New England Patriots at home was a little disappointing, but it did show that if you play your “A Game” and play the entire game, that New England is not the unstoppable juggernaut that the sports media would like you to believe. (Through the first three quarters the Patriots had one touchdown and one field goal. And not to mention their paranoid cheating allegations. Enough said.)

But in the overall scheme of things, the loss last week wasn’t such a huge deal. It only means that there’s a better chance that we’ll have to play in Foxboro in January instead of the comfy Dome.

Now to the game tonight against the San Diego Chargers…

I’ll start on a positive note as to not sound too bitter.

• Our defense (which supposedly sucks according to all “expert” accounts) was excellent. They allowed only 10 points, all in the first half. They had two interceptions. And they recovered a fumble for a touchdown. Oh, and did I mention that they suck?
• Our offense controlled the ball for 60% of the game.
• We had 386 yards of total offense.
• We only had 21 penalty yards.

Now to the more negative, the excuses as to why we lost this one that should have been another mark in the “W” column.

• We just came off of a bad loss.
• Peyton Manning threw a career high six interceptions. Not one. Not two. Not three. Not four. Not even five. SIX interceptions. He had four interceptions total in the whole first half of the season.
• It was raining.
• Peyton Manning threw six interceptions.
• We only had 17 active offensive players (and 15 by the end of the game).
• Peyton Manning threw six interceptions.
• Our special teams were anything but special, allowing for two touchdowns and not realizing that a touchback, or even an out of bounds kick, is better than giving up a touchdown.
• Peyton Manning threw six interceptions.
• Vinny was apparently having trouble seeing where the uprights were located. Twice. (Dare I mention nightmares from our previous kicker who was also one of the NFL’s elite?)
• Peyton Manning threw six interceptions.
• We received the losing end of an “inadvertent” blown whistle after an interception.
• Dare I mention for a sixth time that Peyton Manning threw six interceptions?

Say what you will about the above game killer list, but in my opinion this loss has to rest on Peyton Manning’s shoulders with the ridiculous amount of interceptions. Sure, it’s tempting to point to the special teams issues and the fact that so many players were out of the game on both sides of the ball, but you can’t really do that when your quarterback has an extremely unusual “off night”.

Yes, a few weeks ago Tony Romo proved that you can pull out the win while playing very poorly, but he was really lucky with his five picks and he knew that. And yes, we had ample opportunities to win the game and came close to doing so, but regardless if we had pulled it off, the interception issue seriously needs to be evaluated so it doesn’t happen again. (And you know Peyton is probably already watching the game film as I type this.)

Now don’t get me wrong. Being 7-2 still isn’t bad. And looking at our schedule I wouldn’t be surprised if we lose one or two more games to finish the regular season at either 12-4 or 13-3, still winning the AFC South. But my worst rational fear is that we’ll do this sort of thing in playoff game against a team that can capitalize on these sort of silly mistakes (like the Patriots or the Steelers). It has happened in the past and I’d rather not go there again.

So let me stop rambling about the past and look toward the future. We have seven games left and have a good shot at wrapping up the division and possibly even getting a first round bye for the playoffs (depending upon how the Steelers play). So there’s an outside shot at one home playoff game and a handful of really good playoff games. Another trip to the Super Bowl will not be an easy task, but it is doable. Let’s see how the rest of the regular season shapes up first though.

NOTE: If you want to leave a voicemail comment for The Trolley Dodgers Podcast, you can do so at 317-565-425.

While it might not be the best Super Bowl in the new records department, it was a good game. The game started out on the wrong foot for the Indianapolis Colts, but once the Colts got it together the Chicago Bears ended up chasing after the Colts the entire game…in the pouring rain.

Here are some of my overall thoughts surrounding the Super Bowl:

DWIGHT CLARK & REGGIE BUSH

They seriously need to take the microphones away from the field reporters & commentators. On more than one occasion they referred to Dallas Clark as Dwight Clark (and so was the case among the sports writers as well) and during the game they even talked about Peyton Manning’s touchdown to Reggie Bush (not Reggie Wayne). Seriously folks, please do your homework before a game of this magnitude. You’ve had two weeks to familiarize yourself with the rosters of both teams and to figure out what Johnson’s and Clark’s were on the field, which Clark is long retired and which Reggie was playing in the big game. Come on, you’re getting paid for this, right?

INDIANAPOLIS 2011 SUPER BOWL BID

While seemingly many people don’t want a Super Bowl to occur “up North”, my hunch is that a big part of that would be from the whiny media who merely want to relive their college spring break days half clothed on the beach for a week with a beer in hand and attending parties every night for the week leading up to the big game. While that is nice and all, did they forget that there’s always the Pro Bowl in Hawaii the following week? And I bet it kills them that the NFL Combine is in Indy every year.

Anyway, I think that we would do a great job hosting. We’ve done it year in and year out with two large races (and a third one that most of us don’t think too highly of), Big Ten basketball tournaments, NCAA basketball tournaments (including multiple Final Fours) and the Pan American Games, not to mention the myriad of other events that we host throughout the year. And anyone that has traveled much at all can tell you that even the worst traffic in Indy isn’t really all that bad. The only real issue would be the weather outside, but as for a game you’d have no problems at all like the rain soaked game last night.

MVP

It’s nice to see Peyton get the MVP, but I think he knows as well as the rest of us that there wasn’t really a stand out MVP and that it was truly an all around team effort. Maybe Rex Grossman should have been considered the MVP as an honorary member of the Colts. Seriously though, we were getting close to this sort of team play last year and this year it finally clicked. Nothing against Edge, but the dual running back plan worked fabulously.

COMMERCIALS

I wouldn’t say that there was anything that I really liked this year, except the David Letterman and Oprah Winfrey CBS promo was hilarious. If I had to choose a favorite normal commercial, I’d say probably the Career Builder one where the delivery guy gets into the action.

PARTY IN INDY

The town is unofficially closed today, including many of the schools. The Indianapolis Public School (IPS) even closed, not due to the frigid weather nor directly to the Colts winning, but instead because their bus drivers decided to call in today and there was no way to get the kids to school (excellent and why didn’t they think of that while I was in IPS!?).

Monument Circle was packed last night, but I couldn’t convince my podcasting co-hort to join me in the festivities so I headed home after the party and watched the coverage into the wee hours of the morning. There were only a five “booze” related arrests and one unclear gunfire incident (someone apparently got a welt from being shot by some sort of gun). Overall, not to bad and no one was out flipping cars and setting them ablaze.

Today people began cramming the stores to land some Colts gear and there’s a parade at 4pm which ends at a pep rally at the Hoosier/RCA Dome before our Pro Bowlers head out to Hawaii tomorrow.

The town is electric and rocking and we’re ready to see what next season brings, but in the meantime we’re going to enjoy the Lombardi Trophy that we’ve all longed to see on display in Indianapolis, but have wondered when and if that would occur. While we all know that this is just a game, it is something that is truly bringing the city together and you just can’t put the ambiance into words. It’s just amazing to say the least.

“Look at the nations and watch –
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told. ”

-Habakkuk 1:5 (NIV)

The Super Bowl is normally a time that I get together with friends to watch the Super Bowl* (especially the new commercials) and eat some chili and wings.  But with our very own Indianapolis Colts finally making it to the Big Game it has such a different feeling to it this year.  When the Pacers went to the Finals in 2000, the town didn’t seem so pumped up about it (maybe we’re not as big into basketball as most people think…at least not on the professional level).  But this past few weeks the town has just been amped.

Everywhere you go there are flags, banners, Colts gear, etc. and everyone you see says “Go Colts!” to you in passing as if it were your usual Christmas greeting.  And Christmas is probably the best way to describe the feeling around town.  There’s just something in the air that you can’t quite explain, and beyond the occasional football Scrooge everyone seems to be into even if they’re not normally into football.

So this is a quite exciting time for those of us in the Circle City and hopefully our offense and defense will show up tonight and shine like we have all seen during the regular season.  My only worry is that almost everyone I’ve heard from in the national media gives the game to the Colts by a touchdown or two.  While my gut has to agree with their assessment, the up front “no contest” expectations aren’t always a good thing.  But I’m sure that our Colts are up for the challenge.

Now I must get ready for the evening festivities.  Go Colts and Go Horse!!!

* And yes, for the No Fun League knuckleheads, on a larger than 55″ screen and with more than one television.  And yes, I will be discussing the game afterwards as well…what in the world is the “for private use of our audience” warning all about?  And hopefully no Bengals or Chargers will be arrested before, during or after the game.

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

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!!!