The Worst Sports Blog Ever

Blackhawks on a dream run, but will it end?

2009-05-20T21:48:00.007-04:00

So I haven't blogged for what feels like weeks. Been busy with personal stuff; haven't felt motivated to turn on a computer after work lately, let alone blog.

But through my computer-at-home time hiatus, the Blackhawks have gone on a serious run.

A. Serious. Run.

Back in October I hoped that the Blackhawks made the playoffs. If they hadn't, I would've understood. At that time a playoff series win would've been gravy.

Thanks to the Blackhawks, I've had my gravy AND gone back for seconds. The defeat of the Vancouver Canucks in round two has thrown me into an all out hockey tizzy; I'm as delirious with the thought of stick and puck action as I am pigskin action in January.

The only thing I can think right now is "holy eff balls, the Blackhawks are in the Western Finals!". For me this is like 1991 Bulls, 2005 White Sox and 2006 Colts all over again. That feeling of a good team on that first great, almost miracle run. The emotional roller coaster of facing the jaws of defeat and looking like a team that will win the Stanley Cup a full two to five years before it should has just been incredible. This run epitomizes why I follow sports ... it's been freaking incredible.

But now this incredible run faces my worst nightmare. The only team I loathe as much as the New England Patriots -- the Detroit Red Wings -- stand between me, the Blackhawks and Stanley Cup euphoria. The effing Red Wings. The Red Army, Dead Things, Soviet Army (yes, I know, that's dated), whatever you wish ... they're about ready to set off the alarm clock that will wake me from my dream. If I were to rank my Worst-Case Sports Ending Scenarios, this would rank very high. My top five:

Cubs beat White Sox in World Series
Red Wings beat Blackhawks in Western Finals
Patriots beat Colts in AFC Championship
Purdue beats Indiana in the NCAA Championship Game
Pistons beat Bulls in Eastern Finals

Games one and two thus far have been a gut wrenching experience. I'm drinking lots of beer during the game just to keep the nerves in check. Heck, I watched the third period of game two standing up in front of the TV. I just can't take it! There's too much riding on this thing: the possibility of getting to the Cup Finals and thus having a chance to end the Cup drought, and the pride/agony of engaging your worst enemy.

If the Blackhawks are going to win this series, they need to win games three and four at home. Then, preferably, game five in Detroit. Then, more preferably, game six in Chicago. Frankly, I don't think the Hawks can win the series if Detroit gets to three wins. The Wings are too good to mess with in an elimination game.

For the rest of this series, here's what I think the Hawks need to do to win:

Out hustle Detroit
Play more of a physical game
Make ZERO mistakes
Have Nikolai Khabibulin steal two of the next five games

It will take a miracle for the Hawks to win at this point. They have to make a lot of breaks go their way and just flat outplay Detroit in every remaining second of action. The Hawks lost all room for margin when Brian Campbell coughed up the puck in overtime. It was the last mistake the Hawks could afford to make and still have a chance to win.

I guess the only question now is if I believe in miracles ... the Red Army has fallen on the ice before. Can it fall again?

A few thoughts on Joseph Addai

2009-04-28T21:33:00.002-04:00

I would like to offer my two cents on the Joseph Addai situation.

I have heard at least three different times that the arrival of Donald Brown means Joseph Addai will get his walking papers in the near future … if not this year, then definitely after 2009.

I beg to differ with this view. Every time now I want to evaluate a Colts move, I reference it back to 2006 when the Colts won the Super Bowl. In 2006, the Colts used the two-back approach throughout the season. I figured it was mostly due to the fact that Addai was a rookie and Dominic Rhodes was a veteran, but as the season wore on, it became clear that even if the Colts split the carries to help Addai’s learning curve, the benefit it added was that both Addai and Rhodes were fresh down the stretch. The end result was that the Colts ran the ball down the Bears throat for over 200 yards in Super Bowl XLI and took us to the Promised Land.

He's not done, yet.

When I evaluate the Donald Brown selection, I see a similar situation to 2006. Addai will get the bulk of the carries as Brown goes through the learning curve, but the end result will be that both Addai and Brown will be fresh as the Colts enter December. Given that Addai seemed to be hampered all year by injury, I think that’s a very good thing.

Down the road we could find that the Colts won’t bring back Addai after his contract expires in 2010. That would not surprise me since it has been the Colts standard operating procedure since GM Bill Polian arrived. Despite this, I don’t think for a minute that the arrival of Donald Brown means the Colts are done with Addai or that Addai is washed up.

At least not now, anyway.

In Polian I trust

2009-04-28T21:17:00.001-04:00

NFL Drafts of years past have been anxious events. The Colts always seem to have the same needs – defensive tackle, offensive line and linebacker. And with each year come predictions from pundits on who the Colts should select: a fat defensive tackle; big and strong linebackers; and road grating offensive linemen. And, just like clockwork, the Colts go against the grain and select guys no pundit or fan had identified for the Colts … much to the frustration of Colts fans.

I can’t tell you how often I’ve asked myself “who’s that guy?” after a Colts first and second round selection. Hours and hours of research have gone for naught every single year.

This year proved no different with regard to surprise. Colts GM Bill Polian selected RB Donald Brown out of Connecticut with the Colts first round pick; another who’s that guy? in my limited database of college talent.

Here we go again, I think. Another year of Polian going rogue in the draft war room and not following the expectations. But then my perspective changed. After a little back-and-forth texting with @Jason266, I changed my outlook on the move. I started to like rogue Polian in the draft war room. The Colts could’ve gone defensive tackle or linebacker with the first pick, but instead Polian opted to take a RB that could’ve made a difference last year given that Joseph Addai wasn’t 100% for whatever reason. Knowing the Colts weren’t their playoff best until a solid running game was in place, I warmed to the decision.

Then, after I’ve warmed to rogue Polian, he gets conventional and selects defensive tackle Fili Moala. The thing about Moala is that he’s not your typical Colts defensive tackle; rather, he weighs over 300 pounds and can stop the run. What a novel concept! Later I learned on Colts.com that Polian had decided it was time to upgrade the defensive tackle position in order to improve run defense. So much for going against the grain. (EDITOR'S NOTE: It's about effing time, Bill)

The rest of Polian’s draft followed a very conventional approach in terms of need for the Colts. Jerraud Powers, a CB out of Auburn, seems to fit the Colts mold for cornerbacks in that he lacks size, but can cover and tackle.

Fourth round choice Austin Collie – WR, BYU – looks as if he will fill the slot receiver spot while the Colts promote Anthony Gonzalez to the number two spot.

The Colts then traded back up into the fourth round to get another wide-bodied defensive tackle in Terrance Taylor from Michigan. My friend who follows U of M and covers the draft about as intensely as Mel Kiper says that the Colts got a steal, and backed that up with the fact that Taylor was projected as a top 15 pick before the season started and fell down the draft board … partly due to the fact that Michigan had its worst season ever.

The pick I’m most intrigued with is 5^th rounder Curtis Painter. If another team had selected Painter, my guess is that he wouldn’t play until his second or third year at least. Now that the Colts have him, he may not play much in the next five years. But consider this: Peyton Manning turns 38 in 5 years. How much time does he have left? I think seven years, but if Peyton hangs it up in five I think Indy has its heir apparent in Painter. Why? Two reasons: 1) He played at Purdue and thus has experience throwing the rock; 2) look no further than the success of his predecessors: Drew Brees and Kyle Orton. Let’s see how this project develops; Painter will learn from the best.

The last two picks all fill a need: the Colts get a potential starting P and future kicker in Pat McAfee and add depth on the offensive line with Maryland guard/tackle Jaimie Thomas.

My bottom line on this year’s draft is this – I like it … a lot. I think the Colts have at least 4 starters: Brown, Moala, Taylor and McAfee. There are two projects in Painter and Collie; one will develop faster than the other. The other two picks add depth at positions where depth was needed. Overall it was a successful draft in my view. Sure, it didn’t warrant an A or B grade from pundits, but it filled several needs.

I’m not sure I’ve been much more pleased with a Polian draft than I am of this one. Big time needs were filled at DT, and we now have a viable situation at RB.

I like where this is headed.

WSBE to Briatore: Stop Whining, Start Innovating

2009-04-20T22:13:00.004-04:00

I'm perpetually amused by how much Formula One drivers and bosses whine and complain. It adds to the drama. Someone always gets upset about something, whether it's legitimate or not.

It seems like the latest wrong doing involves the FIA and its ruling that the rear underbody diffusers used by Toyota, Brawn GP and Williams were legal. In particular, Renault team boss Flaivo Briatore seems very upset. Briatore said this about the teams:

"Our (McLaren, Ferrari and Renault) drivers are or have been world champions, and then you have a (Brawn) driver who was almost retired, and another who is 'paracarro' (Italian for a roadside concrete post) fighting for the championship,'
'I don't know how we can say we have credibility. It is impossible to recover the ground we have lost on those teams.
'In three or four races the championship will be decided and I don't know what the interest of the TV viewers will be when Button has 60 points and (Williams' Kazuki) Nakajima 50. It will be better to listen only on radio and watch something else"

Briatore has it all wrong. What has happened in the first three races -- wins by Brawn GP and Red Bull combined with a lack of competitiveness from McLaren, Ferrari and Renault -- is exactly what Formula One needs. When it's proven that any team can have a chance to win in a season if it innovates (which, by the way, is at the core of F1 spirit), that makes for an extremely intriguing season. I've seen Ferrari, McLaren and Renault win championships ... big deal! I want something new, something different ... and this season has delivered results. In my opinion, this season has been the best in years. I haven't been this into F1 since Bernie Ecclestone and Tony George put an end to the US Grand Prix.

Your bad, not the FIA's.

That I'm this interested in F1 this season shouldn't come as a surprise. What's happening in F1 this season has brought success to other professional sports in the US -- namely the National Football League. The NFL is by far the most popular sport, and a contributing factor is that any team can win in any given season. Between the hope it gives fans of the lesser teams and the change of scenery at the top, what's not to love about a little shakeup every now and then to keep things fresh? I'm sure Briatore was thinking the same thing when Alonso won his first championship with Renault after years of Ferrari dominance a few years back.

Briatore's comments sound more like sour grapes because he didn't hit on the key innovations in the off-season to field a competitive car. If anything, Briatore ought to be frustrated with himself that he allowed these diffuser teams to gain an advantage on his Renault team.

Briatore and the others must now stop their whining, step up to the challenge and attempt to implement a solution that makes their entires competitive with Brawn GP. That will make the F1 season even better.

Everything is right about the Blackhawks

2009-04-16T23:02:00.004-04:00

The Blackhawks should be the sentimental favorite of the NHL Playoffs this year.

And I'm not saying that because I root for the Hawks.

The Hawks have all the attributes that make for a good, all-American story. Let's consider:

Comeback story -- the Hawks were a dead franchise 16 months ago. The organization had 3,400 season ticket holders and no hope for the future. Now, the team has over 14,000 season ticket holders, a season ticket wait list and has first round home ice advantage for the first time in over a decade.
Star players -- the Hawks have their share of star players: Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Martin Havlat and Nikolai Khabibulin for starters. If they make it deep into the playoffs, Duncan Keith, Brian Campbell, Patrick Sharp and Dustin Byfuglien will be known throughout the nation of casual hockey fans.
Team play -- despite what I mentioned above, the Hawks are a team above all else. No one player dominates the team; each plays a significant role in the team's success. For all the potential starts the Hawks have, it also has several role players like Andrew Ladd and Chris Versteeg to chip in with a little scoring and a little physicality when needed.
Rough play -- the Hawks play their best when they play physically. Most of the team will put on a hit going into the glass. Some guys, like Byfuglien and Adam Burish, look for contact at every opportunity (they're rougher than the Bears, that's for sure).
Fast play -- Again, another paradox. When the Hawks play physically, they also play fast. The hits usually create opportunities in either zone, and when that happens, guys like Sharp, Toews, Kane and Havlat get up and down the ice at a blistering pace to create breakaway chances.
Bright lights, big city -- one can argue that small-market success is great for all professional sports. But for the NHL, a resurgence in Chicago is needed. It's a big market that's been dormant for a long time and the NHL can't reasonably assume that it will meet all of its growth targets without an engaged Chicago. There's too much money to be made, first of all. And second, the Hawks historically have a loyal following that the Cubs and Bears enjoy. We all know how nostalgic those fan bases are; the NHL needs this in the long run. Hockey isn't hockey without Chicago.

The Hawks aren't the best team in the playoffs, but they have a legitimate chance to make a run. Especially with Nikolai Khabibulin in net. You can bet that there are a few NHL executives in Chicago that are thinking the same thing. I know I'm thinking it ... the story of the Hawks going from worst to first is too good to pass up.

As seen on TV

2009-04-12T23:14:00.003-04:00

The author of this blog is captured on television, courtesy of
Jermaine Dye.

Blackhawks breaking new ground with Twitter

2009-03-30T21:24:00.004-04:00

Just 14 months ago the Chicago Blackhawks were in the sports equivalent of the Stone Age. Only its road games were broadcast on free television and any attempt at a marketing campaign seemed disconnected with its distant and controlling leadership team.

Fast forward 14 months and the Blackhawks feel like a team on the cutting edge -- and I'm not just talking about the fact that all 82 games are broadcast on free television.

No -- the Blackhawks are using Twitter, the micro-blogging/free texting service, to reach the traditionally toughest-to-reach 18-40 something male demographic that is the core of its fan base.

I decided to try Twitter a few weeks ago; mostly because everyone else around me was doing it. I personally find little utility for it when it comes to tweeting about my life. Who cares about what I'm up to, right? Instead I use it to people watch -- it's my virtual airport.

Twitter does add lots of utility in another way, and the Blackhawks have it the nail on the head. Rather than navigate my way to either the Chicago Tribune or Sun-Times website to get news about the Blackhawks, I get the latest news delivered straight to my phone via Twitter.

It's a really simple thing, but yet amazing. I don't know who writes the tweets, but it reads like secret insider information in that it's detailed news delivered before it hits the internet or cable television shows. Now I have this strange feeling like I'm "in the know" with the Blackhawks, and because of this, I have this new and exciting personal relationship with the team.

No matter how much I love the Colts, I never felt this connected to them.

Twitter is a brilliant and free marketing tool. For the cost of a person's time to write the tweets (Twitter accounts are free), the Blackhawks have reached out to me in a way none of its other multi-million dollar marketing campaigns have.

How many brands, be it a sports brand or other product, can say they are truly connected with their customers? Very few. The fact that Twitter enables a company to build its brand through a personal connection of this sort will revolutionize the way marketers think about online advertisement and viral e-marketing strategies. Why send bulk e-mail when one can send a tweet with a link?

The Blackhawks are just scratching the surface with Twitter. It's the ultimate of opt-in campaigns because of its timeliness and personal connection to the individual, and will build untold wealth in terms of customer connectivity, brand loyalty and increased revenues. That none of my other favorite sports teams have caught onto this surprises me. It's too easy, cheap and effective for marketing departments to deny for long.

The Blackhawks have turned me on my ear. From the Stone Age to the Cutting Edge in 14 months. What will its marketing department think of next?

Formula One shows why it's the best

2009-03-29T18:50:00.002-04:00

Today's start to the Formula One season at the Australian Grand Prix is evidence as to why it's the best form of auto racing.

The results spoke for itself. The Brawn GP team -- remnants of the Honda outfit that closed its doors due to the global recession -- proved with its 1-2 finish that innovation within the new aerodynamic regulations can help even the smaller teams gain a competitive advantage against the top dogs at McLaren and Ferrari.

In what other series can an under achieving, bottom feeding team make such great strides in one off-season? None come to mind. Today's results had as much to do with ingenuity and innovation as it did with Jenson Button's skill.

Series that have fully (or near fully) specified cars and engines do have their benefits -- one of which is that you can make the argument that the best drivers win. But Formula One, with it's regulations that don't fully specify cars or engines, puts as much of the race outcome in the hands of engineering departments as it does the drivers and raceday crews. This leads to innovation in engineering, and from that we all benefit -- be it from enhanced competition on the race track or passenger car innovation in the automotive industry.

The other, more highly funded were a victim of circumstance, per se -- testing restrictions during the off-season kept them from learning valuable information about the performance of the car. But the lack of testing didn't give Brawn GP an unfair advantage; it just leveled the playing field.

I emphasize enough how refreshing it was to not have Ferrari, Renault and McLaren not in the running for a podium finish.

I love a level playing field. It makes sports interesting. This also gives me hope that the USGPE team can be competitive out of the box in 2010.

So bored

2009-03-23T20:26:00.002-04:00

I must have the most appropriately named blog ever, because right now I'm blogging like the Worst Sports Blogger Ever.

There are no witty posts, or insightful analysis. I haven't made fun of an athlete or called anyone names like the more popular blogs.

Nope, nada. Nothing. Zilch. Zero.

I think there's just cause, though. I've been sucked into the black hole known as The Time Between the Super Bowl and the Official Start of the Baseball Season. Right now as a sports fan I've been absolutely bored to tears. I've had nothing worthwhile to say.

I hate this time of year. I haven't liked basketball since Michael Jordan hit the 18-foot jumper against Utah in 1998 to win championship number 6. The way I figure it, the game today is much more individualistic than the one I learned how to play in southern Indiana. As a frame of reference, the summer basketball camp my parents used to sign me up for used to teach us defense, rebounding, passing and dribbling in the first three days of camp. We didn't learn how to take a jump shot until day 4. Needless to say, I can't relate to the game today, and because of that, I can't stand to watch it. Couple that with the fact that the alma mater didn't make the NCAA tournament this year, I have no reason to tune in (and I haven't).

Football, my real passion, feels like it's nowhere in sight. I've been listening to Sirius NFL Radio, watching NFL Network and reading about all the free agent signings, but with the Colts standing on the sidelines during free agency (which is probably the right thing to do), I don't have a whole lot to keep me stimulated. The fact I'm internally debating on what and how to read the Adam Seward signing tells you where I'm at (but seriously, does it mean the Colts will become more physical, or what?).

I've been watching a lot of the Chicago Blackhawks this year, and it's been great. They're a fun team to watch, and I love that the franchise has been reborn. But hockey right now is more of a hobby than a real passion. Maybe I'll change my tune when the playoffs roll around, but I just can't be bothered to do much more than watch the games before bed. Blog about it? Not so much.

Baseball will be what the doctor ordered, I think. It'll give me something to look forward to everyday ... something new, something different and yet, something that actually counts. Real honest regular season baseball. I need something that I can look forward to ... something that will produce at least two news stories per day that don't rehash old news.

I haven't felt that since the football season ended. The fact of the matter is that football is so great that I require a sports that plays every single day to keep my mind off the fact that we're nowhere close to football season.

Maybe I ought to rename this the Worst Indianapolis Colts Blog Ever. I follow all sports and know a thing or two about a thing or two, but my world revolves around professional football.

And so does my blogging.

My 2009 NCAA Tournament Picks

2009-03-19T11:10:00.005-04:00

Here are my picks for the 2009 NCAA Tournament. I used three principles in my selections:

Value record vs. Top 25 teams
Consider defense before offense
Don't fall in love with Big Ten teams

Let the games begin!

Thank God that's over

2009-03-12T21:42:00.002-04:00

Thank God the IU basketball season ended today.

After all of the misfortunes from the end of the Bob Knight era, to Mike Davis and then the Kelvin Sampson disaster, it felt like IU needed to purge itself.

It's unfortunate it had to happen to Tom Crean and his kids. They played hard and Crean coached well, but facts are facts - the majority of these kids probably had no business playing D1 basketball.

Despite that and their horrible season, they deserve a lot of credit. They took on a thankless task - keeping the IU basketball program on life support - and performed that task to the best of their ability despite the fact they probably all knew they would lose. That's no picnic at a storied program like IU, and they handled their situation well. It may have been the worst team in IU history, but it was one of the bravest.

Now comes the best part - the purge is over! Tom Crean gets help. And now that the IU program has been purged, he can start rebuilding efforts. Next year will be better!

USF1 changes name

2009-03-04T21:09:00.003-05:00

In the latest piece of evidence that that F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone must try to ruin everything he touches, it has come to light that he has requested that the newly formed USF1 team change its name so that it does not include the letters "F1".

This strikes me as an odd request since Toyota and Williams both use "F1" in their official names.

I guess Bernie's twisted rationale leads him to think that having "US" somehow degrades the value of his trademark. Clearly he does not feel the same about the other teams that use it. Any argument F1 management might make about trademark infringement or dilution of the brand
equity will not hold water unless the action is taken with all teams.

I had always wondered, albeit a little facetiously, if Bernie is bigoted against all things American. Maybe it's actually true.

The USF1 team did agree to change its name, despite Bernie's baseless request. It will now be known as the less exiciting US Grand Prix Engineering (USGPE). It sounds more like a contract engineering outfit than a race team, but I will love them just the same.

Glad Ray Lewis is going back to Baltimore

2009-03-04T20:41:00.002-05:00

Since free agency has started I've spent the time doing what all Colts
fans do this time of year -- watch from the sidelines.

I noticed a pattern in my observation that I did not like: the
Patriots loading up on talent.

First it was perrenial Colts killer Fred Taylor.

Then it was the trade of Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel for a second
round pick. I wasn't so overly concerned about that move until the NFL
Network folks started talking about how well Belichick drafts in the
second round. Crap.

The talk about Ray Lewis almost put me over the edge. He wouldve made
the Patriots, for all intents and purposes, a Pro Bowl team.

That's not what a Colts fan needs in this off-season of salary cap
discontent. Here's to the Ravens for working something out.

(stay tuned for commentary on Jeff Saturday)

Not how I pictured Marvin Harrison's end with the Colts

2009-02-24T21:03:00.004-05:00

I thought Marvin Harrison's career in Indianapolis would end differently. Something more along the lines of an in-season announcement about a retirement so the home fans could salute Marvin and enjoy what games were left in his Indy career.

The last-minute press conference to announce his end with the Colts in an effort to save $6M was not what I had in mind.

It's certainly not fitting for the end of Marvin's career in Indy. Marvin gave much more to the Colts, our community and the NFL to deserve this kind of an end.

But such is life in the NFL. This is the reality of the system that allowed the Colts to have and keep Marvin in the first place.

This is also a sign of the times for where Marvin is at in his career. Four years ago we don't even flinch at a $13M salary cap hit. Now the Colts are in a position where carrying $9M of dead weight against the salary cap and having $6M of open cap space provides them more utility than a healthy, 37-year old Marvin Harrison. I think that's the saddest part of all.

Marvin's best work.

I must say, though, that it's with mixed emotions that I bid farewell to Marvin. On one hand, I am forever indebted to him for what he brought to the Colts and the City of Indianapolis. He, along with Peyton Manning and Edgerrin James, brought us winning football and everything that comes with it. What made Marvin such a pleasure to watch was how he went about this business -- he never danced, called attention to himself or put himself above the rest of the team like other wide receivers. Marvin caught the ball, scored touchdowns and pitched the ball back to the referee. Marvin was all substance and no style, which is a quality that is very endearing to a Midwesterner like me. To say that I'm lucky to have watched Marvin in person throughout his entire career is an understatement.

On the other hand, there are parts to Marvin Harrison I won't miss. Like the legal trouble. Part of the deal with Marvin's lack of style came the silence ... I'm convinced we didn't really know the real Marvin Harrison. I'm not sure anyone in Indianapolis really knew him. So it's hard to say what will eventually come of the shooting incident outside his nightclub. I am glad that the Colts and the City of Indianapolis won't be part of it.

I also won't miss the regression in performance. Marvin developed a case of alligator arms in 2008 for the first time in his career. Marvin dropped balls he used to catch. Marvin didn't seem to get open the way he used to. In the playoffs the last three years, Marvin all but disappeared.

While I'll miss watching Marvin Harrison, part of dealing with the end of his career in Indy is knowing that the Marvin Harrison we're losing now isn't the Marvin Harrison from 2004. I have a feeling we had lost him already.

Now we're left to wonder what the Colts will do with the $6M in salary cap savings. Will they re-sign Jeff Saturday, or will they use the money in free agency? Or will they hold onto the extra space to address the roster after the Draft?

I think the bigger question, though, is if Marvin's departure will signify an end to the high precision Colts passing offense and a transition to a run first, defensive-minded team. I'd prefer that over the high precision offense because I believe that will put the Colts in the best position to win in the playoffs.

If that doesn't happen, then perhaps the $6M will be used to acquire Marvin's replacement.

Danica Patrick in F1?

2009-02-16T19:53:00.004-05:00

Last week I blogged about the USF1 team, a Charlotte-based team fronted by Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor with the goal of being a team that utilizes American technology and American drivers.

In the post I said:

If the USF1 team wants to do it right -- right meaning making a move that captures interest quickly -- it will lure two of the five best NASCAR drivers on the circuit. It doesn't matter who of the top 5 they grab, because any of these drivers will have enough cache with American racing fans to generate a lot of buzz and interest. Who cares if they're not the best in the world? That's not so much the point now. This team needs a following more than it needs a driver that cut his teeth in Europe.

I guess I was right about the splash, but wrong about the gender and discipline. Apparently Windsor and Anderson have the IRL's Danica Patrick on their short list of drivers to test for one of the two available seats in 2010.

Danica will certainly make an impact.

But the question I've wrestled with since this piece of news broke on Sunday is if Danica will make the right impact for the USF1 team. I'm sure all American racing fans have an opinion or an idea about Danica, one way or the other. This is what I think of when I think about Danica:

I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with that. In fact, as an MBA with a marketing major, I can appreciate how she's used the resources she has available to make a nice living for herself. But what I am saying, though, is that I can't really take her seriously as a race driver when this is the image that comes to mind at the mention of her name. I'm not alone. I found these pictures using the search "Danica Patrick" in Google Images, and I made it all the way to page 3 before I found the picture of her below actually doing her day job.

My off-the-cuff argument is that USF1 should test a driver that's legitimate, and not bother with someone who's more interested in their image. But that's where the argument gets tough, because her resume isn't that bad. Here's a snippet:

She's got an IRL win ... first woman ever to win a major race
She's won several pole positions
She finished 4th in the 2005 Indy 500
She spent several years racing in developmental series in Europe
She finished 6th in the IRL points standings in 2008

In fact, this resume looks more complete than the other name thrown out for consideration of one of the USF1 seats - Scott Speed.

Danica Patrick raises a tough issue for me because I know she has talent, but I worry that her presence in Formula One would make some sort of mockery of America. If she wins the job and can't compete, she'll make herself and the team look foolish and perhaps undermine any effort to lure a competitive driver from America or otherwise.

On the other hand, if she goes to F1 and competes with big boys, it's hard telling how the Danica Marketing Machine will grip the world.

I still think that USF1 should try to lure drivers like Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards or even Marco Andretti before they test Danica. I don't think she's got the talent to be competitive in Formula One.

However, she could be an intriguing option. And like I said before, the USF1 team should look to make a splash with its first hire in an attempt to win fans quickly. Danica would do just that.

Alex Rodriguez's steroid use not surprising

2009-02-12T21:31:00.004-05:00

I'm not at all surprised to learn that Alex Rodriguez used steroids. Not even a little bit.

What I am surprised about, though, is that so many are surprised about it.

I think sometimes we want to think that athletes, celebrities and those in a position of power have a strong ethical compass, and A-Rod certainly gave us no reason to think otherwise. He's never been much of a trouble maker off the field (unless you consider flings with Madonna trouble), and carries himself well in the spotlight. He plays the game the right way, and has never done anything to earn the reputation has a player that would do anything to get ahead. He seemed like he went about his baseball business in the right way.

As it turns out, it was all a facade. While I think we can lay a lot of blame on A-Rod for his actions, at some level we need to accept A-Rod as simply another player who had a price he was willing to pay for success.

I think one factor played a big role in A-Rod's decision making process - the drive to succeed. Some are consumed with the need for success more than others, and because of the level of talent and commitment needed to play professional baseball, I believe that it tends to attract a disproportionately high amount of those who are consumed with the need to succeed as compared to the general population. When anyone with that type of disposition gets placed into an environment where, A) steroid use wasn't a punishable offense; and B) the competition had engaged in the activity, it's plausible to believe that a player with a high drive to succeed would check his ethical code at the door and participate in the activity.

Steroids can't win championships, apparently

A-Rod is who he is, and he became a victim of his environment. He's not unlike the CEOs of the major financial institutions that, despite receiving bailout money from the federal government AFTER flushing the savings of thousands of workers down the toilet, continued with their extravagant ways and poor management. Those CEOs got to where they were for a reason: they were smart and they would do what it takes to get to the top. They have no ethical code that drives them. Only their need to succeed drives them. Try teaching "soft skills" to a cohort of MBAs -- you'd be surprised how fast they'd tune you out. They know that they have to be willing to make decisions others are afraid to make to get ahead, and that means regard for what's right either goes out the door or changes substantially.

I'm not surprised A-Rod participated, and neither should you. In fact, I would not be surprised to see some of the biggest names in baseball on the sealed list of 104 perpetrators that Congress holds. The environment to support steroid use was in place; it was not illegal in that it did not merit punishment, and players were gaining a competitive advantage in terms of success and money.

What would be surprising is to see the game's biggest names not on the list.

Larry Coyer's tough task

2009-02-07T20:26:00.003-05:00

The Colts finally confirmed ex-Broncos defensive boss and former Buccaneers assistant coach Larry Coyer as its new defensive boss. Coyer replaces the fired Ron Meeks, who managed to field a top-15 defense from 2005 to 2008.

The Colts have put Coyer in a position in which he must succeed - succeed BIG - or else.

Coyer may come with a decent resume from his days at Denver, but all I can seem to remember about his Bronco defenses were the 90 points they gave up to the Colts in the 2003 and 2004 playoffs. 90 FLIPPIN' POINTS! How can I look at that and think that he can bring something to the table Meeks didn't? If his Colts defenses give up eve 30 point in the playoffs I will completely lose my mind. Peyton Manning has enough trouble trying to run the complex Colts offense in the postseason as it is. The Colts don't need to make matters worse.

He must deliver results

Meeks was doing a fine job in my opinion. When Polian finally got the kind of guys to run Dungy's Tampa-2 system, Meeks put a defense on the field that was good enough to win a Super Bowl. In fact, the year in which Meeks has his worst-ever rushing defense, the Colts DID win the Super Bowl. And it's not like Meeks had much of a chance. The Colts used the majority of their alloted salary cap space on offensive stars. Beyond Robert Mathis, Dwight Freeney and Bob Sanders, Meeks had to work his magic with young draft picks that would leave the team for richer pastures once their rookie contracts ran out. He had revolving doors at corner back, linebacker and defensive tackle, but somehow he still managed to put a team on the field that kept offenses out of the endzone.

Why the Colts fired Meeks and brought in Coyer will become more clear in the next few weeks when free agent decisions are made and the next class of draft picks are brought in. If I were a betting man, I'd bet that the Colts probably want Coyer to implement a variant of the Tampa-2, but with bigger defensive tackles and bigger linebackers. I'd say the days of playing the run on the way to the quarterback are gone. I'd also expect Coyer to blitz a lot more than Dungy and Meeks. But what Coyer will be able to do in the next couple of years will largely depend on what he can do with the talent that was brought in to play Dungy's Tampa-2. It will likely take three years for Polian to get Coyer a full compliment of guys that fit his strategy.

So what will success have to look like for Coyer to justify the change? In my opinion, Coyer's defenses must do these things:

Top 10 in least points allowed each season
Top 10 in rushing defense in each season
Top 10 in passing defense in each season
Offense averages 12 possessions a game in each season
Top 10 in takeaways in each season
Win multiple Super Bowls

Sound aggressive and perhaps unrealistic? It should. Rob Meeks accomplished several of those goals with regularity.

I don't agree with Caldwell's decision, but I'm willing to be proved wrong on this. Coyer has his work cut out for him.

Will the United States regain a presence in Formula One?

2009-02-05T21:37:00.005-05:00

A Formula One website that I visit daily, http://www.f1-live.co.uk, ran a short story on a website that has recently appeared on the World Wide Web.

http://www.usf1.com

Apparently USF1.com is the future website of a United States-based Formula One team backed by SPEED television correspondent Peter Windsor and American Ken Anderson. This team will supposedly be based in Charlotte (rather than the UK) and feature American technology and drivers.

This is great news for F1 fans in the United States.

But this is better news for F1. Regardless of what Bernie Ecclestone or any F1 management type might say, F1's presence in America is important to the long term viability of the sport. Access to the viewership alone makes it appealing to advertisers. But more than that, a potential US-based F1 team with American drivers opens the door for new potential F1 sponsors that rely more on business in North America than any other global locale. Think of all the NASCAR and IndyCar sponsors that primarily operate in the States but may also have a global presence. This team opens the door to global advertisement for those sponsors. It then becomes a win-win scenario. F1 finds new sources of revenue, and US-based companies find new ways to reach a global audience.

Now take it a step further. An American team in F1 for the 2010 season should put pressure on Ecclestone and Indianapolis Motor Speedway boss Tony George to reinstitute the United States Grand Prix for the 2010 season. The business case may not exist now given than there are no American drivers and American companies have little interest in sponsorship, but for the reasons listed above, the USF1 team changes the entire dynamic of the situation. All of a sudden the USGP becomes feasible with the interest it would generate from sponsors.

If the USF1 team wants to do it right -- right meaning making a move that captures interest quickly -- it will lure two of the five best NASCAR drivers on the circuit. It doesn't matter who of the top 5 they grab, because any of these drivers will have enough cache with American racing fans to generate a lot of buzz and interest. Who cares if they're not the best in the world? That's not so much the point now. This team needs a following more than it needs a driver that cut his teeth in Europe.

If done right, this could be the answer to F1 popularity in the US. I can't wait!

Things were not as they seemed in the Colts' front office

2009-01-20T21:27:00.004-05:00

Wow, what a difference a couple weeks makes.

Two weeks ago we were waiting to learn if Tony Dungy would return for another season. Now the Colts have a new Head Coach in Jim Caldwell, and he has taken the axe to Special Teams Coach Russ Purnell and Defensive Coordinator Ron Meeks.

Furthermore, Pro Football Talk reports that GM Bill Polian had to talk Offensive Coordinator Tom Moore and Offensive Line Coach Howard Mudd out of retirement.

So much for continuity, eh?

I thought we were getting more of the same with Jim Caldwell. Clearly I thought wrong. But what does it all mean?

On the surface, it's easy to understand why Russ Purnell was not asked to return to the Colts. The special teams play has been suspect for years, and while we saw marginal improvement this year, it really only added value to the team by not screwing up via a turnover or loss of field position. Rarely did the Colts win any field position battles with punt returns, kick returns or great coverage. In my opinion, nothing contributed more to the Colts' playoff loss in San Diego this year than the inability to win the field position battle via special teams. The Chargers clearly outclassed the Colts in that facet.

It's not as easy to understand why Ron Meeks was let go, but not a stretch. His unit never really stopped the run with any consistency. I will give him credit for two things, though. First, he shored up the pass defense over the last few seasons. That in itself made the Colts' defense formidable and capable of winning a Super Bowl. Second, he was able to make a lot out of the limited resources he had on hand. With the exception of Dwight Freeney, Bob Sanders and Robert Mathis, Meeks had to make do with players with less than 4 years experience and considered undersized for their position. He didn't have a lot to work with, but he made the defense competitive. This season was the worst for Meeks in terms of the hand he was dealt; he lost his two starting defensive tackles before week 2, lost his best corner halfway through the season and lost his starting middle linebacker towards the end. It's hard for any defense to hold their own given those circumstances, but they played well enough to win down the stretch ... including the San Diego playoff game.

A case for the moves exists, but why now? Why not last year, or two years before that? Why did this occur less than a week after Dungy retires? I think that's were this whole situation gets interesting.

I have my doubts that Caldwell is "Dungy Light". We were sold on this quiet Dungy protege that would maintain continuity for the Colts. Now it looks like "Dungy Light" couldn't wait to do what Dungy either wouldn't or couldn't do, and that make changes on a successful team.

That brings me to my next question: what exactly was going on in the West 56th Street complex? Were there divisions within the Colts organization? Did Caldwell silently disagree with Dungy and his approach to the staff and football strategy?

And where exactly does Polian stand on this? I've always been under the impression that Bill Polian was the guy who called the shots for the Colts and had veto power over everyone, including Owner Jim Irsay. If this were true, does that mean that Polian wanted Dungy to make these changes and Dungy refused? Was there some sort of a power struggle between Polian and Dungy, and the reason Caldwell got anointed was that he and Polian saw eye-to-eye when Dungy and Polian didn't? Did Dungy really retire to pursue interests outside of football, or did the dynamic within the Colts' front office play a role?

We'll never really know, I suppose, because the Colts are as bad as the Patriots with sharing insider information with the public. Personally, as a season ticket holder, I consider myself a stakeholder in the team and feel like I should have more information that I currently do, but that's neither here nor there. Whatever the case, it seems that still waters on West 56th Street run deep. All was not as it seemed.

But maybe that's not a bad thing. I won't deny that changes weren't needed. I'm pretty thankful that my favorite football team makes the playoffs every year, but I do agonize greatly over the one-and-done playoff appearances and wonder why the Colts can't be more like the Patriots and Steelers. I've often thought it came down to execution of small detail, and maybe these moves will bring change in the positive direction.

That all depends on who Caldwell brings in to fill these roles, however. If ProFootballTalk.com is to be believed, the Colts will hire Herm Edwards as the new DC and will look to become more physical on that side of the ball. Or maybe Caldwell will go a different direction and hire someone who will scrap the Tampa 2 system all together (not advisable given that the Colts have invested heavily in three smallish defensive players).

Whatever the case, I think an old Chinese proverb applies here: may you live in interesting times. I certainly didn't expect all this out of Mr. Caldwell, the supposed "Dungy Light".

Why I want the Arizona Cardinals to win Super Bowl XLIII

2009-01-19T21:43:00.007-05:00

Part of dealing with the utter disappointment that the Colts will not play in the Super Bowl is to take a stand on said Super Bowl. Every year I have three options:

Cheer for the AFC
Cheer for the NFC
Hope that a black hole develops underneath the stadium and sucks both teams in it which then stops the game before it ends and thus leaves us without a champion

Before the Peyton Manning era I usually opted for either choice 1 or 2, and I almost always rooted for the AFC because of the Colts' affiliation. Since the Peyton Manning era began, I've been opting for option 3 because every quarterback that wins the Super Bowl ultimately gets compared to Manning, and when that happens, ridicule of Manning usually ensues (What's next? Peyton's the best to have only won one Super Bowl but not as good as those who have more than one?).

That does not help me deal with Colts disappointment (keep in mind that I will torture myself and replay individual plays in my head and ponder "what if?" scenarios until the grass turns green in the spring ... and I do this for ALL Colts playoff losses).

I've decided to handle this year differently, however, and not hope for a black hole to suck in Raymond James Stadium. Instead, I will cheer for the Arizona Cardinals to win Super Bowl XLIII. Here are five reasons that explain why I have arrived at this decision:

5. To heck with the AFC. I used to always pull for AFC teams to win the Super Bowl. In recent years, though, the AFC Super Bowl representative has almost always been a Colts rival. It was the Patriots in 2003 and 2004, the Steelers in 2005, the Patriots in 2007 and now the Steelers again. Come to think of it, in this decade it's always the Patriots or the Steelers except for 2000 when the Ravens won it, 2002 when the Raiders made it and lost and 2006 when the Colts made it and won. I can't stand the Steelers and Patriots, and you can read why here.

4. The Steelers have enough Super Bowl wins. Seriously, folks, do the Steelers really need to win another Super Bowl? Like the New York Yankees, they've got enough championships to last a couple lifetimes. What in the hell happened in Pittsburgh that has brought them this kind of good fortune? I can't believe they have this much good karma coming to them. Steelers fans can withstand 20 years of not winning before their number comes up again. Six is too much when after the 49ers and Cowboys the next closest franchise has three.

3. Edge. I thought the world of Edgerrin James when he played in Indianapolis. I often spoke about how I thought he would end up in Canton beside Manning and Marvin Harrison. I always thought that he would win at least one Super Bowl as a Colt, and maybe two. But that never came to fruition. I didn't think as highly of him after he left Indy for Arizona, but only because I thought he traded in a sure-thing Hall of Fame career to bask in the sun and play for a perennial loser. Boy was I wrong about that. I'm happy to see Edge in the Super Bowl, and I hope he can get his win. He deserves it.

2. A Cardinals win makes the Cubs lonelier at the bottom. The Cardinals currently have the longest championship drought in the NFL, which puts them in close company with the Chicago Cubs. A Cardinals win would take them out of that company and thus leave the Cubs with less room at the bottom. That's a good thing for me. My friends say that I hate the Cubs, but I beg to differ ... I don't hate the Cubs, I just love to tease their fans. The lonelier the Cubs get at the bottom, the more material I have.

1. C0lts fans and Cardinals fans have a lot in common. It may not seem like it now, but a decade or so ago Colts fans and Cardinals fans had a lot in common. I was introduced to the plight of the Cardinals fan a few years ago when Kenny Mayne of ESPN produced a piece that detailed their agony for SportsCenter. In the piece Kenny showed a group of Cardinals fans at their old stadium sitting on aluminum benches in the upper deck with no one around them. "That's us!", I thought to myself. Although our aluminum benches weren't scorching hot from the Arizona sun, we Colts fans used to sit in solitude in the upper deck during football games. It was the best of times and the worst of times. We bonded with each other in our football agony and forged long-lasting friendships with the guys we sat with. Misery does enjoy company, after all. In fact, I don't think we'd have our tailgate crew today had we not endured the 3-13 and 1-15 seasons on those hard, aluminum benches that left your ass numb and wishing you had a football team that gave you a reason to stand up and cheer every once in a while. It was with happy jealously that I watched the Cardinals defeat the Eagles to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl. Jealousy because I wished it were the Colts, but happy for Cardinals fans because I knew EXACTLY how they felt. That's how I felt when the Colts beat the Patriots in '06.

The fact of the matter is, folks, that this Super Bowl will mean a hell of a lot more to Cardinals fans than it ever will to Steelers fans. That's why I want the Cardinals to win -- it will be something that Cardinals fans will never ever forget. I think it's good for the NFL to have a different champion as well ... especially one in Arizona where great year-round weather could be enough to tempt fans to not purchase tickets for a team they feel apathetic about.

The benefits of a Lombardi Trophy in Arizona far outweigh the benefits of a sixth one in Pittsburgh. The Cardinals might be overmatched by the Steelers (I think they are, anyway), but so were the Giants last year.

Where there's a will, there's a way. Go Cards go!

Thank you, Coach Dungy

2009-01-14T22:17:00.004-05:00

Dear Coach Dungy:

The last seven years have been great. I'd like to personally thank you for:

Winning 92 games
Winning 6 division championships
Keeping the faith against the Patriots in the 2006 AFC Championship Game
Being the anti-Bill Belichick and always coaching ethically
Being a good role model for men in Indianapolis
Being a good role model for children in Indianapolis
Becoming involved in children's charities
Becoming involved with fathers in Indy (All-Pro Dad, Dads Inc.)
Proving there's no one right leadership style (for football or otherwise)
Saving the Colts franchise, and making it something that I can be extremely proud of
Staying the course in 2006 when most fans thought a turnaround was not possible
Staying the course in 2008 when most fans thought a turnaround was not possible
Having a succession plan in place to ensure the franchise remains in great hands
Providing me the greatest moment that I have ever personally witnessed in sports -- defeat of the Patriots in the 2006 AFC Championship game
Making my dream of seeing the Colts win a championship in my lifetime come true

And finally ... thank you for being a great man that will forever be linked to Indianapolis and Colts football. We are all better for having you in our presence.

Sincerely,

Bryan

What's with the 2008 NFL Playoff upsets?

2009-01-11T21:11:00.006-05:00

As a Colts fan I can't help but take great satisfaction in the misery of the three teams -- Tennessee Titans, Carolina Panthers and New York Giants -- that squandered their bye week, home field advantage and everything they worked hard to earn this weekend. Now I know at least three teams fared worse than the Colts.

A lot of the banter on the Monday sports talk radio shows in Nashville, Charlotte and New York will focus on which players choked the game away, all the bad decisions each coaching staff made and ultimately who should pay for the loss with their jobs. These teams didn't live up to their expectations, and the fans will demand accountability.

Should what happened this weekend surprise really us despite the fact that three teams with bye weeks almost never lose on the opening weekend?

I think not.

I think this weekend was exactly what the NFL hoped to achieve with the salary cap system. The idea that any team can win on "any given Sunday" makes fans tune into NFL games each week. And this season I think we saw the smallest gap between the #1 and #6 seeds that we've ever seen.

Think of this: if the Colts hadn't made dramatic comebacks against Houston and Minnesota at the beginning of the season, they would've started 1-6. Season over, right? Well, if you take away the pass interference flag thrown on Jacksonville's game-winning drive against Freddy Keiaho, the Colts start the season 4-3 and eventually win the AFC South and earn the #1 seed by virtue of their win over the Steelers. One flag made the difference between the #1 seed and #5 seed for the Colts. One stinkin' flag.

Every team has a story or two like this. A play here, a flag there and a break here changes the season for either the better or worse. That's the difference between all the teams in the playoffs this year.

So we shouldn't be surprised Arizona advanced to the NFC Championship game, or that the Colts lost to San Diego in the Wild Card round despite having won four more games. The opponents were closer in terms of talent than their records indicated.

That's the beauty of the game ... it's a game of inches.

Despair

2009-01-09T21:16:00.009-05:00

I hate the days between a Colts playoff loss and the day when pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training.

During this time I rehash in my mind over and over what Colts could have achieved -- what they should have achieved -- during the playoffs. At a logical level I understand that the Colts cannot win the Super Bowl every year, but at an emotional level I always believe the Colts will win the Super Bowl. So when the Colts don't win the Super Bowl, I have to deal with that emotional let down.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), I've had enough experience at this to develop a routine to handle it. The process involves a ban of radio, television and websites that might expose me to coverage of the NFL and any negative talk associated with the Colts loss. The ban starts the day after the Colts playoff loss and ends when pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. I have included these media outlets in the ban this year:

Bob Kravitz' column beyond the day after
ESPN.com
NFL.com
Sirius NFL Radio
ESPN
ESPN 2
ESPN News
ESPN Radio
CBS on Saturdays and Sundays
FOX on Saturdays and Sundays

This doesn't seem like much, but I can assure you it has freed up a considerable about of my time. Time away from these websites lets me recover from the emotional letdown without picking my scabs. Most of these outlets will either remind me of where the Colts should have gone (i.e. the Colts should be playing in Tennessee tomorrow), or piss me off with their amateur assessment of what went wrong with the Colts. I don't care what the so-called experts think about the Colts because I don't believe they base what they say on a detailed study of the Colts. Instead, I think they base it on their employer's marketing strategy that involves pacification East and West Coast NFL fans at all costs.

It takes me the longest to replace the hope that the Colts provided me during the season. Like I said, I always believe the Colts will win the Super Bowl. No matter how negative I get on this blog, in my text messages during the games, at the tailgate or at the games, I always believe deep down that the Colts will ultimately prevail. I am an eternal optimist. So when I lose this source of eternal optimism, it takes me a long time to rebound from it because that hole fills with intense despair.

This loss has proved to be particularly hard, and I suspect that many Colts fans have taken this loss particularly hard because of the recession. It hit Indiana hard. The state has lost thousands of jobs already, and because of its heavy dependence on the Detroit Big 3, thousands more Hoosiers will likely lose their jobs if any of the American automakers fall.

At my job for the local Motor Mill, I support one of the Big 3 with 80% of my time. I try not to think what would happen to my job if that Auburn Hills-based automaker didn't make the most of the bailout money it just received. I must live and work one day at a time. If I worry about what might happen tomorrow, it will paralyze me.

As an indicator for how dire the situation has become in Indiana, a traffic jam was caused on I-74 today because a local casino held a job fair to take applications for the 350 jobs it plans to create. In great economic times when the unemployment rate is at or below the natural rate of unemployment, a job fair at a casino would hardly fill the parking lot at any one moment.

And make no mistake. Indiana didn't exactly thrive when the economy was strong. It created jobs at a far slower rate than other states. The real estate boom of the 2000s completely skipped Indiana (which, I reckon, is good now). The dependence on agriculture and low-skilled manufacturing held Indiana back, and a significant portion of its college educated natives fled to higher paying jobs in cities and states with more opportunity. Things in Indiana were never great, but the situation has clearly taken a turn for the worse. Things are far worse in Michigan, but Indiana, and likely Ohio, are following its path.

This is the time when professional sports matter to a state or region. They provide hope when it doesn't exist. They provide a diversion when people desperately need it. They give people something to talk about when they find the other topics too grim to discuss. The Colts could've been the heroes of the State of Indiana if they had advanced to the Super Bowl. A Super Bowl trophy would've had the same affect on the state as a large bottle of Prozac.

We won't receive our big, football-topped bottle of Prozac, though. At least not this year. Only time can help us move forward from the Colts playoff loss. I just hope the news doesn't get much worse.

Thoughts on the Colts loss in San Diego

2009-01-04T21:43:00.009-05:00

Another year and another excruciating loss.

I have replayed this game hundreds of times in my head over the last 24 hours trying to make sense of it. If I were to summarize in a sentence, it would be that both teams played equally well, but the Chargers made the most of their lucky breaks. The Colts did not.

The Colts twice forced turnovers in their own territory, but could not sustain drives afterwards.

The Chargers continually pined the Colts deep in their own territory and the Colts were unable to continually sustain drives to dig themselves out of the field position deficit. When the Colts pinned the Chargers deep in their own territory at the end of the game, they let them out.

The Chargers scored 14 points off of their two short field opportunities.

The Colts had no short field opportunities.

The Chargers might not be better than the Colts, but they were more opportunistic. The field position battle proved to be too much to overcome. Manning can't lead his team 75+ yards every single series of the game to get points, and frankly, I'm not sure who could.

This leads me to the points I want to make about this game.

1) This Colts team did not underachieve.

Bob Freaking Kravitz doesn't know what the heck he's talking about. This team started out with four big holes in its starting lineup. Two were on offense, where reserve offensive linemen Mike Pollack and Charley Johnson were forced into action on week 1 and never left the lineup. Folks, Charley Johnson is not a starter, and Mike Pollack, regardless of how good he might become, was not ready. I said it before and I'll say it again: this was the worst Colts' offensive line in a decade. The Colts couldn't run between the tackles, and they virtually removed the patented stretch play and all sweeps from the playbook, which are plays that rely heavily on excellent guard play. That Peyton Manning had an MVP season with this offensive line tells me how much this team OVERacheived this season.

The other two holes were on defense. Starting DT Quinn Pitcock quit, and the other starting DT, Ed Johnson, got busted with a bag of pot and found himself standing in the unemployment line. I'm not even going to suggest that Pitcock and Johnson were great defensive tackles, but see what happens to Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, San Diego and others if you gut the interior of their defensive line at the beginning of the season. Think they might experience some of the same issues the Colts suffered? I think so. Polian did earn his paycheck in getting the gaps plugged -- they were better at the end of the season -- but ultimately he got caught with his pants down not having enough depth to execute the "next man up" strategy early on.

I agree with Kravitz on one thing, and it's that Bill Polian has got some work to do. And contrary to what Kravitz says, Polian admitted as much in his Monday radio show after the last game of the regular season:

What we try to do as an organization, interestingly enough, is build a team that can win 12 games in any division in the National Football League. That’s our goal. Most years, you don’t have that kind of a team. I’ll tell you very frankly that this year we do not have that kind of a team. This year, it’s largely due to injury and defections and things of that nature, but when you do win 12, that’s a credit to the coaches, the players and the organization for having the perseverance, the dedication, the maturity, to stay with things through the ups and downs.

2) All glaring issues during the regular season became an issue because of the field position deficit.

Nothing exposes the lack of a running game like always having to drive 75 to 85 yards to get into the endzone. And nothing really exposes the lack of a running game like trying to kill the game with less than 4 minutes to go. This issue raised its head at several points during the season, and most times the Colts were able to overcome. But with the Chargers on a roll and home-field advantage despite its 8-8 record, trying to nickle and dime it in the passing down the field just wasn't going to work.

FYI -- you can go back and do a "post-mortem" analysis on each of the Colts' playoff losses in the Manning era, and I'd bet you $5 that you'd find the Colts either, A) couldn't run the football; or B) gave up on it too early because they had to play from behind. The one time the Colts got the running game working during playoff time was 2006, when they won the Super Bowl.

3) Officiating inconsistency put the nail in the Colts' coffin.

This will sound like sour grapes, so bear with me. The Colts were flagged for 6 penalties that totaled 60 yards in the 4th quarter and overtime. One penalty, on the interception return by Antoine Bethea, cost the Colts good field position. The tripping call on Jeff Saturday wiped out a 25-yard gain. A holding call on Tony Ugoh killed a drive. The three penalties in overtime gave the Chargers 3 free first downs and 25 yards in field position. What defense can possibly stop an offense from scoring when it keeps giving away first downs and yardage like that?

Now, to calibrate you -- the Chargers for the entire game were flagged 3 times for 40 yards.

Here's my beef: the refs were not consistent. I'm not saying the penalties that were called on the Colts were bad calls, but I am saying that the officials changed how they officiated the game in the forth quarter and overtime, and overwhelmingly called penalties in favor of the home team.

How can the officials begin to call every infraction against the Colts with nothing in favor of the home team?

How can the officials call holding on the Colts' offensive line when Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis get held 50% of the time they're on the field? (Don't believe me? Check the film. It does not lie.)

And this gets me to thinking ... what if officials had called a close game for each of the Colts playoff games in New England? What would've been the outcome with the Patriots continually getting flagged for PI, illegal contact and holding?

In the playoffs, you put the yellow flag in your pocket and let the players play. That's ALWAYS been the NFL's standard mode of operation. ALWAYS. So what exactly happened to the Colts in the 4th quarter and overtime? Did they get sloppy? Or did the officials change?

I think the officials changed, and frankly I'm a little suspicious. I won't say the fix was in for this game, but where there's smoke ... there's fire. I will expand upon this in a later post. I would not be surprised if the fix was indeed in.

The bottom line to all this is that the Colts go home, and the Chargers conveniently move on to play Pittsburgh. I think the NFL got what it wanted, and I'm certain NFL fans who are not Colts fans got exactly what they wanted. I hope everyone is happy.

Lastly, dopes in Indy like Bob Kravitz want Tony Dungy fired. At times, in the emotion of the moment, I've wanted Dungy fired as well. But after much reflection, I'm still game for more of the same. There are about 30 other teams that would love to have Tony Dungy, and we've got him. The Colts have been tremendously successful under his leadership, and he's put up better career numbers and had comparable postseason success to almost anyone who dopes like Kravitz would want to replace him with (see also: Bill Cowher). Tony's also a great person that coaches the game with a high standard of ethics. There is no better leader we could have in Indianapolis, and I hope he sticks around for next season at least. The Colts are only two offensive guards and two defensive tackles away from being a Super Bowl favorite.

Thoughts on Bob Kravitz, Manning as MVP and the Colts' playoff chances

2009-01-02T20:31:00.006-05:00

On the eve of the Colts 2009 Wild Card Playoff game in San Diego, I’ve got three things on my mind: a response to yet another crummy Bob Kravitz column, Peyton as MVP and a look forward (and back) on the 2009 Colts.

Response to Kravitz

In today’s Indy Star, Bob Kravitz wrote a column in which he wonders about the legacies of Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy if the Colts lose to San Diego.

I can’t help but think that perhaps Kravitz should not wonder so much.

Kravitz thinks that a loss in San Diego will cast the Colts as “the Atlanta Braves of the NFL”.

What’s so wrong with that?

The Braves have been a great franchise for decades. Sure, they’ve only got one championship to show their decade or more of winning, but it’s hard to complain about a team that finds itself in the playoff hunt every single year. So they’re not the Yankees. Big deal. I’m sure residents of Kansas City, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh would gladly trade their sorry baseball franchises for the Braves.

I have a different view of the legacies of Manning and Dungy. The Colts had a legacy of losing when they arrived on the scene, and now they’ve got a new retractable roof stadium, a Lombardi trophy and a season ticket waiting list that tops over 17,000. That’s a far cry from the 1997 season where they were lucky to draw 40,000 fans per game, played in an out-of-date RCA Dome and had no hope of winning a championship.

If being the Atlanta Braves of the NFL means they have all these things and I can expect them to make the playoffs each year, I will gladly take it. It sure beats the alternative, like cheering for the Bengals or Browns. And I think history will look favorably upon a franchise that has won a Super Bowl and consistently won in a salary cap system designed to prevent teams from consistently winning.

Peyton as MVP

I’m glad that Peyton won the MVP award. This season was not his best in terms of stats or overall record, but this was his best in terms of what he had to do to win 12 games, including the last 9 in a row, to get the Colts into the playoffs.

2009 was no easy effort. As I’ve said in the past, I think the Colts probably had their worst offensive line in the Dungy era, thanks to the departure of LG Jake Scott and injuries to RG Ryan Lilja and C Jeff Saturday. Waverly Jackson filled in adequately at RG, but in an ideal situation, he’s not a starter. Mike Pollack and Jamie Richard were pressed into action too early – both had to start on opening day – and neither really hit their stride until mid-season. I hesitate to say Pollack (and Jackson) played well this season because the Colts haven’t been able to run the ball all year, but they’ve played well enough to keep Manning upright. And that’s what mattered to the Colts the most this year.

And speaking of the lack of the running game, Peyton led the team to victory without much of one. The old NFL paradigm is that you must be able to run the football and stop the run to win games. That Peyton accomplished what he did with defenses knowing the Colts were essentially a one-dimensional team speaks volumes about his performance.

M! V! P!

I don’t think there’s any question Peyton was more deserving than DeMarcus Ware of the Cowboys or James Harrison of the Steelers. Why? The Steelers still have a dominant defense without Harrison, and despite Ware’s gaudy stats, the Cowboys not only didn’t make the playoffs, but they gave up 58 points in their last 62 minutes of football while playing for their playoff lives. Without Peyton, this Colts team is a 4-12 to 6-10 team at best. With Manning, they’re a Super Bowl contender.

A look forward (and back)

This was a tough season for the Colts (and fans). We’ve come to expect this team to get off to fast starts, and that didn’t happen this year. We’ve also come to expect explosive offenses that can move the ball at will, both in the air and on the ground. That didn’t happen either.

Instead, we had a team that had to scratch and claw its way just to get to 3-4. Without a fair amount of lucky plays (the Gonzalez lateral to Wayne in Minnesota and Sage Rosenfels becoming the Human Turnover come to mind), the Colts would’ve started 1-6. But after the 3-4 start they figured out how to win games, and once that happened, this team turned from one that seemed destined for 6-10 to one with a legitimate shot at the Super Bowl.

This clearly is not the best Colts team we’ve had. In my view, the teams from ’03-’07 were better (some better by far). But I think this team is more resilient than any of them, even the ’06 Super Bowl team. This team seems to know how to win the close games, much like the ’06 bunch. Where they’re light in talent, they’re heavy in intangibles. This team seems to make big plays at the right time to pull out victories. That’s a nice trait to take into the playoffs. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them lose to San Diego tomorrow because this team has a glaring fatal flaw – the inability to run the football. On the other hand, I secretly think this team can and will win the Super Bowl because of everything they’ve endured to get to where they are.

Let the playoff run begin!