FROM THE REAL ART SPORTS DESK
COLTS WIN IT!

From ESPN:

Manning wins big one as Colts beat Bears in Super Bowl

Despite setting a passel of passing records, the Indianapolis Colts' quarterback understood that, fairly or unfairly, Super Bowl XLI would probably define his legacy. One way or another. And then two of Manning's first four passes against the Chicago Bears were very nearly intercepted -- and a third actually was, by Chris Harris.

But Manning collected himself and, four hours later, he collected the Vince Lombardi Trophy. And so, after nine seasons, Manning finally has the one thing that matters to him most: an NFL championship.

The Colts prevailed over the Bears 29-17, but Manning would be wise to send a thank-you note to Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman. The much-maligned Grossman will be savaged far and wide after completing 20 of 28 passes for only 165 yards. His fourth-quarter interception to defensive back Kelvin Hayden was returned 56 yards for the game-turning touchdown.

In the end, the Colts' (vaunted) offense broke even with the Bears (equally vaunted) defense. The Indianapolis defense, however, was far superior to the Bears' offense in a sloppy, eight-turnover game.

Colts head coach Tony Dungy, who built a championship team in Tampa Bay -- only to be fired the year before the Buccaneers won Super Bowl XXXVII -- became the first African-American head coach to win the Super Bowl.

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Well, cool, I got what I wanted, a good game, for a while anyway, and an AFC victory. Indeed, all the rain made for some chaos on the field, and, I think, kept the obviously inferior Chicago team within reach until late in the game. On the other hand, it was early in the third quarter that I was pretty sure that Indianapolis was going to win: despite the close score at that point, the Colts were clearly in charge, making the Bears look oh-so gummy. Also, it was very cool to see Peyton win the big one, assuring himself a place in NFL history as one of the great quarterbacks of all time--I mean, until this point, it was as though he was grimly awaiting his coronation that seemed to never come. Now he's as memorable as Bart Starr, Joe Namath, Roger Staubach, Joe Montana or even that other Colts quarterback legend Johnny Unitas. It was very cool to see a good player become legendary. Speaking of legends, it's also very cool to see Tony Dungy become not only the first black NFL coach to win the Super Bowl, but also the third person to win the big one as both a player, with the Steelers in Super Bowl XIII back in the 70s, and as a coach today.

And didn't you just dig the unearthly look that all the rain created? At certain points, the graininess spawned by rain-soaked camera lenses evoked those old 1960s NFL highlight films, just trumping up the sense of football legend.

Yeah, I had a good time with this one.


Manning directs his troops. Photo courtesy of the AP.

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