Hope the Couch Slouch is right:
The Indianapolis Colts went from 14-0 to 14-2. The New Orleans Saints went from 13-0 to 13-3. And after each perfect season dissolved into season-ending imperfection, this was the loud chorus heard across Sports Nation:
The Colts and the Saints won't win another game this year -- they're both one-and-out in the playoffs.
My friends, the Colts and the Saints will be meeting in Super Bowl 44. I am sure of it.
A know-it-all sports writer for The New York Times lectures Colts fans "furious that their beloved organization had given up on a chance at a perfect season" and tells us to "get over it," by which he means we should quit our "sanctimonious tirades about the loss of integrity," which makes the decision trump Bill Belichick's decision to go for it on fourth-and-2 as the most hotly debated coaching strategy of the 21st century:
Tired this morning. I stayed up way beyond my usual bedtime, watching this on TV. Perhaps you caught it, too:
CHICAGO - Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and his offense were looking for a little redemption Monday night at Soldier Field.
They got it after Cutler threw the game-winning touchdown pass in overtime in the Bears' 36-30 victory over the Vikings.
Let's talk a little about a good sports story for a change, such as the magical year of the TinCaps, the Minor League Team of the Year:
Winning 100 games in a Major League regular season tends to be the benchmark for team excellence. The New York Yankees, for example, won 103 games in 2009 before marching on to a World Series title.
I'd hate to be a member of the Indianapolis Colts today -- either a starter who had to stand on the sidelines and watch it all slip away or a second- or third-stringer who heard the crowd's boos as he labored haplessly to contain the New York Jets yesteday.
Hell, I hate even being a Coltsfan today. When it became obvious the coaches weren't going to put the starters back in even as the Jets started racking up points, nervousness became a sinking feeling: They really aren't going to try to win this game.
Guess now we know the budget crisis is real in Indiana:
Indiana universities searching for ways to cut $150 million from their budgets by year's end say they're looking at all options -- including eliminating some sports or even academic majors.
"At this point, everything is on the table," said Tony Proudfoot, a vice president for marketing and communications at Ball State University, which saw attendance at its home football games drop more than 40 percent this year.
Bobby Knight might have a promising second career as an ESPN analyst if only he can learn to speak his mind once in a while:
"People ask me,
Go for broke, I say:
Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts have been down this road before: unbeaten after 13 games, chasing perfection and wondering what to do next. . . .
Back off or keep pushing? . . .
Wouldn't want you to get behind on your People news, so know that early this morning came the birth of Hank Randall Basket IV, son of Hank Randall Basket III, a wide receiver for the Indianapolis Colts, and Kendra Wilkinson, who said the name was important because "it was very important to us to carry on the family tradition":
Why Colts fans should be thinking "2," not "16":
It's the goal that counts and not what happens along the way.
The Indianapolis Colts will bring a 12-0 record and a 21-game winning streak into Sunday's National Football League home game with the Denver Broncos. Indianapolis has already notched a sixth AFC South crown and is getting closer to clinching home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.
