The Playoffs

time for the playoffs. the regular season's done. the colts finished 14-2. the colts WERE 14-0. they ended with the best regular season record in the nfl. six players were selected to the pro bowl.

this picture was taken from my seat, which i have a season ticket. i paid out the ass for it. i'm in the 4th section off the field at a 45 degree angle to the south endzone.

bob sanders is out for the season. again. tony gonzalez is out for the season after getting hurt in the first game. adam vinateri is possibly returning for the playoffs after being out. jim sorgi's on season-ending IR.

now let's put all this together.

1.) the colts had a good season. good? their season was rife with comeback victories. several times they were behind at half and tied or behind at the beginning of the 4th quarter. probably the most memorable was the patriots game at home.

as that game wore on and the colts were getting drubbed in to submission, fan after fan began leaving for home "knowing" the colts would succomb to the inevitable defeat. didn't happen. i remembered watching the colts play in tampa several years ago on espn world when i was in nigeria. the colts came back from 21 down in the 4th quarter to win on a mike vanderjagt field goal in overtime. even the kick was amazing. missed the first one and a fluke penalty was called against the defense for allegedly climbing on the back of another player to attempt to block the kick. he had missed that attempt. so he kicked again and the colts won.

by the time the game was over against the pats the colts won by the score of 35 - 34. about 25% of the crowd had already left. my voice was hoarse. i had a headache from yelling so much. the colts refused, absolutely refused to roll over and die. they played hard to win. they put on one hell of a show. that game showed they were deserving of their undefeated record.

then came the jets game. 14-0 gone. they made a bunch of records and made caldwell look like a genius. all the boos came when curtis painter (go purdue!) came out to play. i felt bad for him having to hear that. i wondered if he actually wished peyton was still in trying to get to 15-0. regardless, a poor showing and the colts lost their perfect season. the same result this last week in the snow bowl in buffalo. BIG loss. peyton stayed in just long enough to get wayne and clark their 100 receptions for the season.

two very, very deserving people right there who got selected to the pro bowl. dallas finally got in and will start. he's a hoss on the field. big, bulky, amrt, and has great hands. reggie has made some hellacious catches in his career and made some more this year. very smart player who knows where the markers are and how to get out of bounds. saturday's back as a reserve, freeney and mathis both start, and peyton's starting again in his 10th selection. well done.

but to lose the chance at perfection? hmmm,... straddling the fence on that one.

2.) i pay a lot for my 2 season tickets. the seats aren't worth that kind of money. i know they have to pay the players, pay for the stadium etc,.. but we pay for the team. we want to see wins and production, not giving up like they did the last two games of the year. i pay $7.50 for a 16 oz. beer and $8.00 for a burger and fries. $89.00 is what my best pal paid for a cheap jersey in the pro shop. each ticket has a $94.00 face value, including the meaningless preseason games. wow, that's a lot of money! and the playoff tickets were even more; $130.00 for game #1, and $155.00 for the afc championship game.

while a lot of people have bitched and moaned about missing perfect season i've been right there. i can also see a couple other angles. one is that they need the rest. a lot of people are hurt or banged up. addai needed some rest. garcon's hurt his hand, vinateri banged his knee, freeney hurt his belly, simpson cracked his noggin. oh, and don't forget about the never present bob. how much do we pay him a year for riding the bench? what bs.

another angle is, look what happend to wes welker. last game of the year and he tore is acl and rcl. he's done and will be questionable for next season, depending on his recovery. HUGE loss for the pats. that could have happened to any of our starters, even wayne and clark as they tried to get their 100 receptions. coulda happened but thankfully didn't.

another side is rest and rust. in the past the colts have had bye weeks and came out looking very flat, and have lost in the second round. embarrasing. this year too they lost their momentum going in to the playoffs. 2 game losing skid doesn't help matters. it gives rest and protects players but pisses fans off and we remember those losses after resting the extra week (s). it happens. it HAS happened.

so, i'm selling both tickets to the 1st playoff game. if they lose i'd be pissed off if i were there. if they win, i'll be at the championship game and be money ahead. my boss actually gave me that idea and it seemed pretty smart. still does.

the colts are the odds-on favorite to win the super bowl. one thing about them this year; not once did i ever hear, not that it hasn't been uttered, a colts player mention their goal was the super bowl. it was to play "one game at a time" and to keep improving each and every game. they accomplished a lot and could have accomplished more but stopped just short.

beginning january 16th we'll see if they continue their march to excellence or fall flat on their faces and draw the ire of colts fans everywhere. good luck and GO COLTS!