Blayne Sucks

The Indianapolis Colts have signed Dwight Freeney to a record contract and not one that requires him to sing. The contract is 6 years for 72 million, including 30 million in signing bonuses. John Clayton reports that as a result he will only count 5.75 million against the salary cap the next two years. The contract also means that the Colts won’t have to use their franchise tag on him, which raises the question whom will they use the franchise tag on?

Personally, I think the contract is a good move. I rate Freeney as the second best defensive end in the league with Julius Peppers the best. Since he’s signed early, the Colts can avoid the one-upmanship that might take place when other free agents at defensive end are signed. More importantly, he is the backbone of the defensive line. He fits perfectly into the style of defense the Colts play. I also think that contracts in the NFL are only really important for the first few years. It seems that they change with some regularity beyond that.

Despite all the preparations, it appears that the Dallas bid won the right to host the 2011 Superbowl. Although, I understand that there is a strong football tradition in Dallas and in Texas in general, I don’t think that a football tradition really matters much when it comes to the Superbowl, which is less and less about football and more and more about parties, media days, and advertising. The bottom line is that the NFL’s decision was based entirely on money and had virtually nothing to do with football, which truly bothers me as a fan.

Though, perhaps I should also be upset with the media. They lambasted the NFL’s decision to reward smaller markets like Jacksonville and northern markets like Detroit who have recently hosted Superbowls. Today on ESPN’s FirstTake, Skip Bayless claimed that the Superbowl should be a ‘reward’ for the players and said that as such it should be played in San Diego, Miami, New Orleans, or Honolulu.

Personally, I think that’s what the Pro Bowl is for and that the Superbowl should be a reward for the fans. Maybe I’m just biased since I’m not a part of the media elite that gets to go to the Superbowl every year. As a reward for the fans, I think it is important to make it accessible to the fans. This should mean that it goes to new cities as often as it has been over the last several years. Of course, Dallas has never hosted a Superbowl, so I can’t really be too upset on this criteria.

However, the one thing that really bothers me is that smaller markets have a lot of trouble building stadiums that can compete with larger markets. For example, the new Lucas Oil Stadium will cost $675 million and would be able to seat roughly 70,000 for a Superbowl. However, the new Dallas Stadium is now estimated to cost $1 billion and will be expandable to roughly 100,000 seats for a Superbowl. That’s 30,000 more seats at 500-1,000 bucks per occupant. This sort of disparity makes it very difficult for a smaller markets to build new stadiums. In fact, I would be willing to bet that Indy would never have been financially able to build this stadium without their pull in hosting NCAA Final Fours.

This is seriously detrimental to the league as a whole. Although the NFL can adopt revenue-sharing policies, it is almost certainly impossible to properly compensate the NFL cities for the lost revenue from a Superbowl. This revenue is commonly used in discussions as to how a city can help pay for a new stadium. Over the course of that one weekend, millions of dollars would flow through the city.

Every time a small market tries to build a stadium and uses the promise of hosting a Superbowl, but then fails to deliver on that promise the chances of that team’s owner pushing for a move to a larger media market increase. While this might make good business sense, it is devastating to the fans. Anyone from Indy or Baltimore should be particularly aware of just how possible this reality is, particularly with Los Angeles in the perpetual hunt for an NFL franchise.

Overall though, the NFL has done well in the past with regard to these decisions, but it remains to be seen how the small market – large market battle plays out under Goodell. Houston, Jacksonville, Detroit and Arizona have all built new stadiums and been able to host a Superbowl within a decade after building them. Kansas City and Indianapolis are the two small market teams hoping to host a Superbowl in their new stadiums in the coming decade, but I think it’s safe to say that as their stadiums get older it will be harder and harder for them to win the bid. The next four years will see Arizona (1st), Tampa Bay (4th), Miami (9th), and Dallas (1st) host the Superbowl. There are certainly those who want to see the interests of the small market protected, but I think the reality is (ironically) best stated in an article from the Dallas Morning News, which said:

But is there enough support from the small markets to deny North Texas? The winning bid requires 75 percent of the vote. After two ballots, the low vote-getter is eliminated. After three ballots, a fourth ballot would require just a simple majority.

There are 32 votes. Most of the NFL owners are successful businessmen. When money talks, they listen – and no one in the NFL talks money better than Jerry Jones.

The Colts selections are in! It appears that they are pleased with the results. As a fan though, I have to admit that I’m a bit puzzled. I went into the draft thinking the two spots we needed to fill first were at corner and linebacker because of the loss of Jason David and Cato June. However, we ended up drafting a wide receiver and an offensive lineman first.

I suppose I can understand getting a wide receiver if you think he’s the best player out there, but I don’t understand trading two picks to get into the second round and grab an offensive lineman. A friend of mine explained to me that Tarik Glenn is an Unrestricted Free Agent after this year, which explains the need a little bit more to me, but I am still a bit confused because the move seemed extreme to me. I guess I can’t complain. I mean, we did just win the Superbowl and all.

I’ve been pretty busy with end of the semester stuff, but I would be remiss if I didn’t post about the Colts trip to the White House. Let’s hope this becomes an annual thing. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to the upcoming NFL Draft this weekend!

I’m not sure if UNC collapsed or if Georgetown rallied really well, but regardless of the method, the outcome is the same: the Tar Heels failed to make their 17th Final Four. I really didn’t think they would lose a fast paced game that favors their style, but they couldn’t close out regulation and just didn’t hit any shots in OT until the game was already lost. I suppose I don’t mind the loss considering they won the national championship in 2005, but when college basketball teams change as much as they do from year to year it is a shame that they couldn’t capitalize on the really excellent team they had.

I hesitate to mention this because it’s not directly related to the team, but the UNC student, Jason Ray, died in the hospital. Ray played Rameses, the Tar Heel mascot and was hit by a car while in New Jersey for the NCAA Tournament.

I know that things like this happen all the time and only some of them make the news. Usually this happens when it’s someone famous or under strange circumstances. I think about the people I knew that died when I was in high school, how much I’ve changed and grown since then and how much life they had in front of them.

So while it is unfortunate that UNC didn’t make the Final Four, I have found myself not as upset as I thought I would be. There are certainly bigger things in life. Plus, with the Colts winning the Superbowl this year, how could I really complain?

For those of you who haven’t heard of Rulon Gardner, he’s the survivor of truly a most unreal combination of incidents. First, let’s talk about the good. He’s an Olympic Gold Medalist from Wyoming. He was certainly not the favorite to win Gold, but pulled off a stunning upset in 2000. I remember hearing about it and thinking it was pretty sweet to see. Four years later, he won the Bronze medal and retired. All in all, an impressive career.

Now, let’s get on to the strange. This dude has survived some messed up stuff. First, when he was very young he survived an arrow injury that very nearly punctured vital organs. Then he got lost on a snow mobile trek into the wilderness and ended up being stranded over night in freezing weather. This resulted in the loss of a toe on his foot. Actually, it’s a lot worse than that. Doctors said that if he was anything other than a giant of a man with Olympic sized muscles to produce heat and keep his core body temperature up then he would have died. He spent the whole night gritting his teeth through the pain of trying to stand up on nearly frozen solid feet. After that, he was involved in a motorcycle accident where he was thrown off his bike and survived with no serious injuries.

Of course, the story doesn’t end there. He’s recently survived a plane crash, from which he swam in 44 degree weather for an hour or so to get to shore where he spent another night out in the freezing cold. Naturally, he survived. Is this man lucky or unlucky? Either way, it’s unbelievable. I am starting to get this feeling about him. It’s kinda like Steve Irwin at this point. You just knew he wasn’t going to die of natural causes. I guess we’ll see what happens next.

It’s almost hard to believe that I’m actually writing this, but the Colts have won the Superbowl! I’m obviously over-joyed at this, but at the same time I’m still just stunned they actually won. In particular, I’m stunned with the way they won. I keep thinking of all the years where the Colts were just horrible and the years they were knocking on the door, but unable to get it to open. It’s the first championship for an Indianapolis area sports team in my lifetime. I would have loved to be able to go downtown and celebrate.

Peyton Manning won the MVP award, which I suppose I don’t have a problem with, but it certainly wasn’t as if he was the only player who played well. Personally, I think I would have picked either Dominic Rhodes or Joseph Addai. The MVP of one game of football is a bit distorted anyhow. Football really is a team game. It would have been hard for Addai to get that many catches or Rhodes to get those yards were it not for everyone else on the field. Besides, at least we got the MVP this time. The Colts won Superbowl V, but the MVP went to a player on the losing team.

Now the question becomes, “What about next year?” It may be a cliche, but the NFL really is a Not For Long league. Dungy appears to be coming back. I am really not too worried about the players. Bill Polian is a great GM. John Clayton’s article breaks down some probables heading into the off-season. For now though, I just want to enjoy this win.

Yes folks, the Colts are headed to the Superbowl. Obviously, I’m overjoyed at this.

The game was an instant classic. It’s something I certainly want to see again, and I typically don’t like re-watching sporting events. There’s something that gets lost when you know what’s going to happen, but there was just too much going on in this one to pick it up with only one viewing. At one point this game was all but over and the Pats appeared to have a virtual lock on keeping the dream alive for yet another Superbowl. I know there’s another game to be played yet, but getting past the Patriots certainly feels like something worth celebrating.

Now, that last game could be disappointing. I remember the Pacers finally getting to the NBA Finals only to get beat 4-2 by the Lakers. I definitely don’t want to see that happen to the Colts. There are a few reasons that something like this could happen. The Bears for one. Peyton’s possible thumb injury for two. I’ll go ahead and add Nick Harper’s ankle injury for three. Harper has been outstanding for the last several years and I would really, really like to have him back for a game as big as the Superbowl.

I’m looking forward to the coaching match up. There’s been a couple of interesting mentor – pupil match ups over the years, but this one certainly stands to be a good one. Lovie Smith will be getting a big pay increase regardless of the outcome and Tony Dungy will have a chance to silence his critics and win the championship he probably deserved to win in Tampa Bay. Either one would be a credit to the league in victory.

Of course, I wanted to save the best for last. Finally, Bill Simmons had to write the article I’ve wanted to read for years.

Well folks, I think we’re in for a real treat. Yesterday, the Colts beat Baltimore despite the very inhospitable environment at their ancestral home. Today, the Pats beat San Diego on the road. This sets up a truly awesome AFC Championship game in Indianapolis.

The Colts beat Baltimore in an unusual display of defense. The passing game wasn’t great, but it was enough. Actually, the game was reminiscent of Tony Dungy’s time in Tampa Bay. This is the second game in a row where the defense has really kept the Colts in the game despite their offensive struggles. The NFL isn’t really a league where you can turn it on and off, so I think some of the early series against the Patriots are going to be even more critical.

Tomlinson had an outstanding game with 123 yards and 2 TDs, but it wasn’t enough for the Chargers. Rivers wasn’t exactly confused by the Patriots, but he certainly didn’t play well. He had a completion percentage less than 50%, an interception and a fumble. He looked composed when it mattered though and got the team in position for a FG to tie the game as time expired. Unfortunately for San Diego, Kaeding missed it.

This sets up a huge rivalry game for the chance to go to the Superbowl: Brady – Manning. Patriots – Colts. One game to go…

The Colts won! Amazingly, our defense set all kinds of franchise records against Kansas City. Bob Sanders was back and the whole defense just felt different. They were tackling on the first touch. They were getting pressure on Trent Green every time he dropped back to pass. They just looked like a totally different crew than we had out there all year long. I’m not sure if it was Tony Dungy’s cool confidence in them all season long, the return of Bob Sanders, the hype given to the game or something else, but whatever it was, I hope we take it with us to Baltimore.

The game was a bit nerve wracking despite the defensive play. Peyton Manning played well but had three interceptions. (If it’s possible to play well and still have three interceptions…) It also looked early on like we wouldn’t be able to get in the end zone and they might be able to trade touchdowns for field goals against us later in the game. However, we responded well after the Chiefs managed their lone touchdown of the game. All in all, it was an impressive playoff win.