You’re a good man, Peyton Manning
Ah, victory is sweet. But a long-awaited victory is especially delicious. Peyton Manning and the Colts withstood harsh criticism and envious catcalling, as well as a miserably rainy night in Miami to win the forty-first Superbowl! All the boo-hooing about a supposedly porous defense and overrated quarterback turned out to be for naught, as Indy proved themselves the far superior NFL team of 2007.
Some of you may wonder how it is that I came to be an Indy fan, let alone a football fan. Inexplicably, Nathan was able to educate and turn me onto the brilliance of both brains and brawn of a professional football game. Early on, I fell in (what has turned out to be very close to) love with Peyton Manning, and in the course of last year’s season, the rest of his team. As I am from LA, and LA has proven to be a mostly inhospitable environment for most major league sports teams, I have no emotional ties to any California teams. With both the Rams and Raiders safely out of Southern California, I felt free to join any random football family. (For anyone who thinks that San Diego is the same as LA, and that I should feel a stronger loyalty to the Chargers, they need to talk to a real Southern Californian.)
Even though I am a newcomer to the world of the NFL, I know full well people’s split feelings about Peyton Manning. People pretty much either hate him or love him. I’ve gotta say, one of the most satisfying outcomes of Indy trompling over the Bears last night was watching Peyton and his team come into their own. Peyton Haters were ever ready with the cutting question, “If he’s so good, why hasn’t he been able to win the Superbowl?” As I saw it, he simply wasn’t ready. His time had not come yet, and the same went for the Colts as a whole. This year, they finally stepped into large shoes that had been waiting for them these past four to five years.
Of course, the sloppiness of the Bears’ performance–as ever, Rex Grossman caused many a groan from the Bears’ fans sitting on either side of me–only helped Indy to their victory. But, really, how could anyone expect the NFC titleholders to beat the AFC champions? It’s actually not that fair, given the incredibly disparate levels of talent and competence between the two conferences. But you can read in more analytical detail about such things on espn.com. I’m just a lovin’ fan.