It took them 44 years to make it to the big game & 4 years after the terrible aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

None of that stopped the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV, as they overcame a slow start & got a key defensive TD to beat the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 to win their 1st championship in franchise history.

Early on, the Colts looked like the stronger team as they built a 10-0 lead in the 1st quarter after Peyton Manning connected on a 19-yard touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon with just 36 seconds remaining.

Garrett Hartley hit a pair of 40+ yard field goals in the 2nd quarter for the Saints, who actually lost a chance to score more points after a failed 4th & Goal call in the waning minutes before halftime.

Sean Payton made up for his blunder though to start the 3rd quarter, as his onside kick call worked to perfection as New Orleans recovered it.

The Saints did take advantage, as Drew Brees gave his team their 1st lead of the game with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Pierre Thomas at the 11:41 mark.

Indianapolis re-took the lead on Joseph Addai’s 4-yard touchdown run with 6:15 left, but Garrett Hartley’s 3rd made field goal from 40 yards or more (Super Bowl record) of the game gave the Colts a slim 17-16 lead entering the 4th quarter.

Matt Stover missed on a chance to extend that lead, as his 51-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left.

Brees would end up tossing the game-winner to Jeremy Shockey with 5:42 left, as Lance Moore’s 2-pt conversion was later ruled good after a New Orleans’ challenge.

That gave the Colts a chance to tie it, but Tracy Porter killed any chance of that happening with a spectacular 74-yard interception return for a touchdown off Peyton Manning.

Indianapolis tried to rally late to put themselves within 7, but Manning’s 4th & Goal pass went incomplete as the celebration began for New Orleans, who are  now Super Bowl champs after a 44-year wait.

Drew Brees was named MVP of Super Bowl XLIV after an excellent performance that saw complete 32 (tied Super Bowl record) of 39 pass attempts for a blistering 82.1%, 288 passing yards & 2 touchdown passes.

New Orleans also becames just the 2nd NFC South team (Tampa Bay in 2002) in the Super Bowl’s 44-year history to win a Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Congratulations to Saints running back Reggie Bush, who proposed to his longtime girlfriend Kim Kardashian on Friday evening!

Here are some fun tidbits about this year’s Super Bowl.

This will be the 10th Super Bowl played in Miami, with the AFC winning the last two games.

The New Orleans Saints will try to become the first NFC team to win a Super Bowl in the state of Florida since the San Francisco 49ers, who stomped San Diego 49-26 in Super Bowl XXIX.

This will also be the first Super Bowl ever to feature two domed teams.

Indianapolis’ Jim Caldwell will try to become just the 3rd rookie head coach ever to win a Super Bowl, following Don McCafferty & George Seifert.

Now, onto the game….

Super Bowl XLIV will present a fantastic matchup at quarterback, as the Colts’ Peyton Manning will aim for his 2nd Vince Lombardi trophy in 4 years against Drew Brees, who is responsible for the Saints’ top-ranked offense.

A big storyline all week has been the health of Indianapolis defensive end Dwight Freeney, who is questionable for Sunday with a torn ankle ligament injury that he suffered in the closing minutes of the AFC Championship Game.

If Freeney can’t go, then 8-year veteran defensive end Raheem Brock will see more playing time.

How much will the Colts trust their run game? Don’t be surprised if Indianapolis leans on Joseph Addai & Donald Brown more than usual against a New Orleans run defense that can be very vulnerable at times.

The Saints’ overall defense concerns me heading into the Super Bowl, as they have allowed 834 yards in two postseason games.

The Colts on the other hand, seem to be peaking at the right time. They haven’t allowed any 2nd half points all postseason, ran for over 100 yards on the Jets’ top-ranked run defense & also put up 24 unanswered points on the NFL’s best defense.

The key to this game will be whether the Saints can stop Peyton Manning in the red zone, as the Colts have converted on their last TWENTY-THREE possessions inside the 20.

I feel as if Indianapolis’ defense has the speed to contain New Orleans’ three-headed rushing attack of Pierre Thomas, Mike Bell & Reggie Bush, especially during screen plays to the outside.

I could very well see this being a high-scoring affair & quite possibly the most combined points ever in a Super Bowl game, but in the end Peyton Manning & his Colts will have just a tad bit more offense than Drew Brees & the Saints.

Mattie T’s Super Bowl XLIV Prediction: Colts 38, Saints 31.

In a surprising move, the Los Angeles Clippers announced Thursday that Mike Dunleavy has stepped down from his head coaching position, but will remain as the team’s general manager.

The Clippers only had 1 winning season in Dunleavy’s 6 full years there, which resulted in a Conference Semifinals loss to Phoenix.

In his 16 seasons of coaching experience, Mike Dunleavy’s Lakers made the NBA Finals in his rookie season, but he has failed to get back there since with just 5 playoff appearences.

Kim Hughes will take over as interim coach & will make his debut on Saturday at home against San Antonio.

One of the New York Knicks’ most influential figures in franchise history passed away Wednesday, as 84-year old Dick McGuire died from natural causes.

McGuire was involved in 53 of the 64 years that the Knicks’ organization has been going, as he coached legends such as Walt Frazier & Phil Jackson before later helping draft Mark Jackson, who would wind up breaking his record as the team’s all-time career assists leader.

He made 5 All-Star Appearences with the Knicks & helped lead them to 3 straight NBA Finals, which was a first for the league.

Dick’s #15 was retired by New York in 1992 & got inducted into Basketball’s Hall of Fame 1 year later.

McGuire ranks 3rd on the Knicks’ all-time career assists list with 2,950.

In a tight game, the Los Angeles Lakers squeezed past the Charlotte Bobcats 99-97 on Wednesday evening to give Phil Jackson his franchise record 534th win.

Jackson is just 11 more wins away to match the 545 that he amassed in 9 years with the Chicago Bulls, but he found a way to win despite getting just 5 points out of Kobe Bryant. (sore foot)

Phil commented on his historic win afterwards:

“It’s been a really good run. Having this opportunity to coach this team is always special. The fact that we’ve had some great teams, great players, is always a credit to them. It’s not really an individual record in my mind.”

Even though Bryant had one of the lowest-scoring games of his career on Wednesday, he was able to surpass Jerry West as the team’s all-time leading scorer during Los Angeles’ 95-93 loss to Memphis on Monday.

Justin Verlander is set for a big pay raise next season, as the Detroit Tigers agreed to a $80 million, 5 year deal with their 2-time All-Star pitcher.

Verlander’s new deal comes after a career 2009 season for Detroit, which he set new career-highs in games started (35),  wins (19), complete games (3), innings pitched (240), strikeouts (269) & E.RA (3.45).

1. Kentucky Wildcats (20-1)

Last game: Defeated #21 Vanderbilt 85-72 on Saturday.

Upcoming games: February 2nd against #18 Mississippi & February 6th at LSU.

2. Kansas Jayhawks (20-1)

Last game: Defeated #11 Kansas State 81-78 in overtime on Saturday.

Upcoming games: February 3rd at Colorado & February 6th against Nebraska.

3. Villanova Wildcats (19-1)

Last game: Defeated Notre Dame 90-72 on Wednesday.

Upcoming games: February 2nd against Seton Hall & February 6th at #7 Georgetown.

4. Syracuse Orange (21-1)

Last game: Defeated DePaul 59-57 on Saturday.

Upcoming games: February 2nd against Providence & February 7th at Cincinnati.

5. Michigan State Spartans (19-3)

Last game: Defeated Northwestern 79-70 on Saturday.

Upcoming games: February 2nd at #16 Wisconsin & February 6th at Illinois.

6. Texas Longhorns (18-3)

Last game: Lost 80-77 in overtime to #24 Baylor on Saturday.

Upcoming games: February 1st at Oklahoma State & February 6th at Oklahoma.

7. Georgetown Hoyas (16-4)

Last game: Beat #8 Duke 89-77 on Saturday.

Upcoming games: February 3rd against South Florida & February 6th against #3 Villanova.

8. Duke Blue Devils (17-4)

Last game: Lost 89-77 to #7 Georgetown on Saturday.

Upcoming games: February 4th against #22 Georgia Tech & February 6th at Boston College.

9. West Virginia Mountaineers (17-3)

Last game: Defeated Louisville 77-74 on Saturday.

Upcoming games: February 3rd against #17 Pittsburgh & February 6th at St. John’s.

10. Purdue Boilermakers (17-3)

Last game: Defeated #16 Wisconsin 60-57 on Thursday.

Upcoming games: February 4th at Indiana & February 9th at #5 Michigan State.

11. Kansas State Wildcats (17-4)

Last game: Lost 81-79 in overtime to #2 Kansas on Saturday.

Upcoming games: February 2nd at Nebraska & February 6th at Iowa State.

12. BYU Cougars (21-2)

Last game: Defeated Utah 82-69 on Saturday.

Upcoming games: February 2nd against TCU & February 6th at UNLV.

13. Gonzaga Bulldogs (17-4)

Last game: Lost 81-77 in overtime to San Francisco on Saturday.

Upcoming games: February 4th against Portland & February 6th at Memphis.

14. Tennessee Volunteers (15-4)

Last game: Lost 85-76 to #21 Vanderbilt on Wednesday.

Upcoming games: January 31st against Florida, February 4th at LSU & February 6th against South Carolina.

15. Temple Owls (18-4)

Last game: Defeated La Salle 64-52 on Saturday.

Upcoming games: February 3rd against Duquesne & February 6th at Richmond.

16. Wisconsin Badgers (16-5)

Last game: Lost 60-57 to #10 Purdue on Thursday.

Upcoming games: February 2nd against #5 Michigan State & February 6th at Michigan.

17. Pittsburgh Panthers (16-4)

Last game: Defeated St. John’s 63-53 on Thursday.

Upcoming games: January 31st at South Florida, February 3rd at #9 West Virginia & February 6th against Seton Hall.

18. Mississippi Rebels (16-4)

Last game: Defeated Auburn 84-74 on Thursday.

Upcoming games: January 31st against Arkansas, February 2nd at #1 Kentucky & February 6th against Alabama.

19. Connecticut Huskies (13-8)

Last game: Lost 70-68 to Marquette on Saturday.

Upcoming games: February 1st at Louisville & February 6th against DePaul.

20. Ohio State Buckeyes (15-6)

Last game: Defeated Iowa 65-57 on Wednesday.

Upcoming games: January 31st against Minnesota, February 3rd against Penn State & February 7th against Iowa.

21. Vanderbilt Commodores (16-4)

Last game: Lost 85-72 to #1 Kentucky on Saturday.

Upcoming games: February 3rd against Mississippi State & February 6th at Georgia.

22. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (16-5)

Last game: Defeated Kentucky State 98-50 on Saturday.

Upcoming games: February 4th at #8 Duke & February 6th at N.C. State.

23. New Mexico Lobos (20-3)

Last game: Defeated TCU 73-57 on Saturday.

Upcoming games: February 6th at San Diego State & February 10th at UNLV.

24. Baylor Bears (16-4)

Last game: Defeated #6 Texas 80-77 in overtime on Saturday.

Upcoming games: February 3rd against Iowa State & February 6th at Texas A&M.

25. UAB Blazers (18-3)

Last game: Lost 74-65 to UTEP on Saturday.

Upcoming games: February 3rd at Memphis & February 6th at Rice.

Arizona Cardinals’ quarterback Kurt Warner put an end to his 12-year playing career on Friday, as he announced his retirement from football.

Warner’s story to stardom is an astonshing one, as he had failed tryouts with the Green Bay Packers & Chicago Bears before returning to his native Iowa to become a grocery shelf stocker.

He spent two years in the Arena League before finally getting his chance in 1998 with the St. Louis Rams, but was sent to play in NFL Europe for a year. He was teammates with current Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme & led the league in both touchdowns & passing yards.

Kurt took the NFL in storm in 1999, but only due to an ACL injury suffered by 1st string starter Trent Green in a pre-season game.

That’s when he put together one of the best rookie seasons ever by a quarterback, as he threw for 41 touchdown passes & 4,353 passing yards while leading the Rams to a 13-3 record, which concluded with a Super Bowl XXXIV win over the Tennessee Titans after Warner threw a 73-yard game winner to Isaac Bruce with a little over two minutes left.

Kurt also holds a Super Bowl record for most passing yards with his 414-yard effort in the win over Tennessee.

Warner showed that his special ‘99 season wasn’t a fluke the following year, but he broke his hand midway through the 2000 campaign after tossing 19 touchdown passes in 6 games.

The very following year, the magic was still there as he threw for an NFL-high 36 touchdown passes to go with 4,830 passing yards (3rd highest single-season total of all-time) while leading the Rams to a 14-2 record, which won him his 2nd MVP award in 3 years.

This got St. Louis to Super Bowl XXXVI, but they were stunned by the underdog New England Patriots.

Warner then had two turnover/injury plagued seasons with the Rams, which forced them to go with the younger Marc Bulger, who would end up making 2 Pro Bowl appearences.

He spent 1 season with the New York Giants in 2004, but only lasted 9 games as Tom Coughlin benched him in favor of rookie Eli Manning, who lost 6 of his first 7 NFL starts.

Warner then signed with the Arizona Cardinals in 2005, and had some injury issues while almost losing his job to backup Josh McCown.

Dennis Green gave Warner another shot though, as he finished out the season as the team’s starting quarterback.

He then acheived a personal historic milestone in Week 3 of the 2006 season, as he became the 2nd fastest player in league history to surpass 20,000 career passing yards.

This was not enough to keep his starting job, as he was replaced by Matt Leinart for a majority of the season.

Warner would come off the bench in 2007, but had a memorable near comeback attempt against Baltimore where he passed for 258 yards in almost a full quarter & threw for 2 touchdown passes, but Arizona fell short in overtime.

Leinart would wind up suffering a season-ending injury, which caused Warner to start for the rest of the season.

2008 would be Warner’s year though, as he led Arizona to their first division title in 33 years & also led the team to their 1st ever Super Bowl appearence.

Despite losing Super Bowl XLIII to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Warner threw for 377 passing yards (3rd highest total) & now holds the top three passing yardage performances in Super Bowl history.

The San Francisco 49ers tried to pry Warner away from his Arizona Cardinals, but he wound up re-signing for 2 years at $23 million.

Kurt showed he still had plenty in the tank left during the 2009 season, as he completed 24 of 26 passes for an NFL record 92.3% completion rate during their 31-17 win over Jacksonville.

He was knocked out of their November 22nd win against his former Rams team with a concussion, but returned with a venegance as he went through a 4 week stretch with a QB rating of 120 or higher, which has only been done one other time in league history.

On December 27th, Warner tossed his 100th career touchdown pass in a Cardinals uniform, which made him just the 2nd quarterback (Fran Tarkenton) to throw 100 touchdowns passes with two different teams.

He led Arizona to a thrilling 51-45 overtime win over the Green Bay Packers in a Wild-Card NFC Playoff game that saw Warner have more touchdown passes (5) than incompletions (4) in the highest-scoring playoff game ever.

Warner became the 1st quarterback since the AFL/NFL merger to toss five touchdown passes in a playoff game twice & also became the oldest quarterback to throw for 5 touchdowns in the playoffs.

His last NFL game was on January 16th, where he was injured & re-intered the game during Arizona’s 45-14 loss to the NFC champion New Orleans Saints.

Chicago Bulls guard & reigning Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose put himself in some exclusive company on Thursday, as he became the 1st Bull since Michael Jordan in ‘98 to be elected as an NBA All-Star.

Rose is showing no signs of a sophmore slump, as he’s averaging a career-high 19.7 PPG & is on a tear in January with 23.1 PPG in 50.5% shooting in 15 games.

Derrick will also participate in the Rookie/Sophmore Challenge on February 12th from Dallas, Texas & will face off against fellow teammate & Bulls rookie Taj Gibson.

Brett Favre had a chance to make his first Super Bowl appearence in 12 years, but a late interception forced overtime, where Garrett Hartley’s 40-yard field goal gave New Orleans a thrilling 31-28 win.

Despite giving up 475 yards on defense, the Saints forced the Vikings into five turnovers, including a pair of Favre interceptions with his team in New Orleans territory.

Adrian Peterson finally broke the 100-yard mark for the first time in 9 games, but had a critical exchange handoff failure with Favre near halftime that led to a Minnesota turnover after Reggie Bush’s muffed punt set the Vikings up with 1st & Goal.

Despite only completing 54.8% of his passes & throwing for just 197 yards, Drew Brees threw touchdowns to three different Saints to finish with a 106.5 rating.

While the questions will begin to surround Favre regarding a possible 3rd retirement from football, New Orleans is headed to South Florida for a Super Bowl XLIV matchup with Indianapolis, as Peyton Manning will attempt to beat his hometown Saints.

I will be working on my extensive Super Bowl Preview, which will be up on Saturday, February 6th.