Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Late to the Party

It's been over 10 days since the AFC Championship game, so my self imposed ban from public comment on the game has officially been listed. It's not that I didn't think it was an amazing game (I did), and it's not like I'm not a huge Colts fan (I am), but I broke the cardinal rule of 'true' fans: I stopped watching the game after the Colts fell behind 21-3. I knew that if I started popping off right away about what a great comeback it was and how the Colts finally got past their nemesis, my evil twin (Arrowed) would call me on the carpet for being Mr. Bolts-when-things-look-Grim.

But c'mon. What Colts fan wouldn't turn the TV off? Manning looked jumpy and frustrated when the game was still tied at 0. And when he threw an interception to go down 21-3? Show of hands, who thought the Colts had ANY chance?

Yeah, thought so.

In my defense, I did at least tune in to listen to most of the game on a scratchy AM station as I drove back to Los Angeles. When the Colts pulled ahead late in the game I had to pull off the road. I was just too excited to concentrate on breathing, let alone driving. I'll always remember where I was the moment Marlin Jackson stepped in front of Tom Brady's last pass of the 2006-2007 season: At the intersection of I-5 and West Kamm Avenue in... Tranquility?... California? I can't say for sure. It was a virtually empty interstate exit ramp miles and miles from anything. Just me, a lone coyote, and a serial killer off in the bushes on the lookout for busty teenage co-eds to slaughter in cinematically interesting ways.

I spent the next 20 minutes parked there, listening to the post game festivities, calling friends and family and celebrating, FINALLY, a trip to the Super Bowl.

As for the Super Bowl? I have a bad feeling about it. Even though the defense has played decently the last three games, the spectre of the godawful regular season still hangs over them. And the one thing nobody seems to be talking about is the Bear's superb special teams play going up against a Colts team that seems to have at least one big special teams breakdown every week.

But then, I've always been a glass-is-half-empty kind of guy in sports. Following a team week to week, I'm more prone to notice the weaknesses (small linemen, untested pass defense) than the strengths (Hall of Fame QB, Hall of Fame WR, etc.). Plus as an underdog, there's always the 'out' of not being expected to win. I'm just hoping for a good game.

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Okay, I'm hoping for a win, but I won't be devestated if they lose a well played game.

Now Playing on iPod Shuffle - The Refreshments - Broken Record : Best known for doing the King of the Hill theme song and that song that says 'your ID is Jean Luc Picard', the Refreshments were an underrated western-alt-pop-rock band from the late 90s.

2 comments:

Arrowed said...

Jeez, you finally make a Super Bowl post and you don't even make a prediction. What use are you? ;P

Tim Susman said...

I think one of my favorite moments around that championship game was calling you and having the first thing you say into the phone be to yell, "WE'RE GOING TO THE F***ING SUPER BOWL!!!" I'd watched the game, cheered for the Colts (along with, it seemed, most of the bar), but that moment really encapsulated all the emotion and what the game meant to Indy and Colts fans.