It Gets Tiresome To Keep Chasing That Bandwagon
To get it all started off today, people born today: singer Sam Cooke (1931), horror legend Linda Blair (1959), former INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence (1960) and rap artist DJ Jazzy Jeff (1965).
So it finally happened. The New England Patriots lost an AFC Championship game. The Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning have moved forward and will play the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI. I am sure that it is nice to beat the team who you consider to be your rival and get what the media calls “the monkey” off of your back. The Patriots were able to do that back in 1986 when they beat the Miami Dolphins on their way to Super Bowl XX, ironically to play the same Chicago Bears. Considering that football is a team sport I can’t seem to think that Peyton Manning even had a monkey on his back. If he did; however, have a primate climbing upon him, I cannot help but think it is still clinging on tightly.
If you watched the game and were not pulling for the Colts you might have had a bit of excitement in the first half. Only once did I actually have any inkling that the Patriots would win the game. When the Pats returned the Peyton Manning pass for a touchdown I actually had a twinge of excitement. I remembered; however, that the Colts came back on us only a couple of years ago from a bigger deficit. The commentators were sure to remind everyone else sitting at home. I was not positive of a Colts victory until after their first drive in the second half. The Colts came back from halftime and scored a touchdown to put them behind by only two points. Generally in this situation, a team would kick the extra point and be down by one hoping to make it up later. The Colts gambled and went for a two point conversion and got it. I looked over at the School Girl and told her that the game was over. We would lose. The momentum had swung, our defense was gasping for air, they were cramping, they had the flu…they couldn’t compete. They never gave up even to the end but the better team won last night ultimately.
There are parallels with this year’s current Colts team with another team of old that had similar trials and tribulations…the 2004 Boston Red Sox. Both teams were many years without participating in their respective sports’ championship and have perennially been denied by who they consider to be their rival. In the baseball scenario, the New York Yankees prevented the Red Sox from achieving their goal as the Patriots have with the Colts.
In 2004, the Red Sox were able to beat the Yankees and move on to the World Series where they ultimately won, breaking an 86 year old drought. This year the Colts beat the Patriots but if they lose to the Bears, then what? There would still be no championship and they would still be carrying that monkey. The monkey is not Tom Brady and the Patriots. The monkey is Bob Irsay and his secret negotiations with the city of Indianapolis to move the then Baltimore Colts out of town under cover of darkness in Mayflower Transit trucks way back in 1984.
Maybe Peyton will overcome 24 years of adversity and win. He seems like a nice enough guy and I should root for him, right? He played at the University of Tennessee so that means I should root for him, right? Well, I won’t be rooting for Peyton or the Colts. It pains me to pull for the Bears but I have to do it. I don’t think I would be able to take all of the Colt band wagon fans sitting around patting themselves on the back (or whatever they do in that circle-jerk of theirs) until next season rolls around. When training camp starts they will pull that horseshoe off and put a Tennessee Titan logo on themselves…that is until the Titans get eliminated from the season or the playoffs and they stand in line for the fair weather of being an Indianapolis fan.
So it finally happened. The New England Patriots lost an AFC Championship game. The Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning have moved forward and will play the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI. I am sure that it is nice to beat the team who you consider to be your rival and get what the media calls “the monkey” off of your back. The Patriots were able to do that back in 1986 when they beat the Miami Dolphins on their way to Super Bowl XX, ironically to play the same Chicago Bears. Considering that football is a team sport I can’t seem to think that Peyton Manning even had a monkey on his back. If he did; however, have a primate climbing upon him, I cannot help but think it is still clinging on tightly.
If you watched the game and were not pulling for the Colts you might have had a bit of excitement in the first half. Only once did I actually have any inkling that the Patriots would win the game. When the Pats returned the Peyton Manning pass for a touchdown I actually had a twinge of excitement. I remembered; however, that the Colts came back on us only a couple of years ago from a bigger deficit. The commentators were sure to remind everyone else sitting at home. I was not positive of a Colts victory until after their first drive in the second half. The Colts came back from halftime and scored a touchdown to put them behind by only two points. Generally in this situation, a team would kick the extra point and be down by one hoping to make it up later. The Colts gambled and went for a two point conversion and got it. I looked over at the School Girl and told her that the game was over. We would lose. The momentum had swung, our defense was gasping for air, they were cramping, they had the flu…they couldn’t compete. They never gave up even to the end but the better team won last night ultimately.
There are parallels with this year’s current Colts team with another team of old that had similar trials and tribulations…the 2004 Boston Red Sox. Both teams were many years without participating in their respective sports’ championship and have perennially been denied by who they consider to be their rival. In the baseball scenario, the New York Yankees prevented the Red Sox from achieving their goal as the Patriots have with the Colts.
In 2004, the Red Sox were able to beat the Yankees and move on to the World Series where they ultimately won, breaking an 86 year old drought. This year the Colts beat the Patriots but if they lose to the Bears, then what? There would still be no championship and they would still be carrying that monkey. The monkey is not Tom Brady and the Patriots. The monkey is Bob Irsay and his secret negotiations with the city of Indianapolis to move the then Baltimore Colts out of town under cover of darkness in Mayflower Transit trucks way back in 1984.
Maybe Peyton will overcome 24 years of adversity and win. He seems like a nice enough guy and I should root for him, right? He played at the University of Tennessee so that means I should root for him, right? Well, I won’t be rooting for Peyton or the Colts. It pains me to pull for the Bears but I have to do it. I don’t think I would be able to take all of the Colt band wagon fans sitting around patting themselves on the back (or whatever they do in that circle-jerk of theirs) until next season rolls around. When training camp starts they will pull that horseshoe off and put a Tennessee Titan logo on themselves…that is until the Titans get eliminated from the season or the playoffs and they stand in line for the fair weather of being an Indianapolis fan.
posted by LeBlanc at 10:45 AM
1 Comments:
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