The Monday After

Quite a weekend to be in Indianapolis, and it was an interesting night to say the least. After the Colts prevailed, the city celebrated. And while I only saw it on TV (it was below zero wind-chill), I’ve never seen anything like it. A traffic jam at 11 pm over a mile long leading to downtown… People climbing in the circle monument… Stores opening for a few hours to sell shirts (some waited 2 hours in line just to pay for the shirts)… Schools delaying the start or even closing… Businesses closing… The reactions to this football game are much more drastic than the announcements of armed conflict / war that I’ve been alive for.

I’m still processing it all. There’s a parade this afternoon and a rally in the dome, but I’m not going for a few reasons… One is that it’s before I get off work… and then because the parade will be players inside buses due to the frigid conditions (My car said -2 this morning when I arrived at work)… If Indianapolis had better parking facilities, I’d go… I’m more interested in taking pictures of the fanatical nature of my fellow citizens than cheer on the Colts. Sure, I’ve really enjoyed the past month and am very glad they won… But it’s just a game. They won… The season is over… Celebrate some, but I’m starting to be more interested to see the proposed national budget at this point. $2.9 trillion and a fistful of CO2?

Tickled Saturday (think about it – or not)

Professional football season is coming to a close, and the next week is going to be interesting – which may lead to an even more interesting next month.

Why? Because as you all know, I live in Indianapolis. Our beloved Colts are going to the AFC championship game (the semi-final). We’ll be playing the New England Patriots who have knocked us out in years past. It’s also the team my sister’s husband swears some kind of unnatural allegiance to. You know how most Texans love G.W. and Capital Punishment? That’s an illustration of how much he loves his semi-local team.

Sure, he’s already forced his feelings onto my nephew (and probably my niece who is only a few days old right now), but I’ll wish him and his team the best of luck. In the grand scheme of things, I could care less. It is just a game, and professional sports should only exist as entertainment. Not some life-affirming event.

Sportsmanship

I watched the first three quarters of the Colts vs. Patriots game last night, and I was glad to find out that the Colts prevailed. I’m not writing about that as much as I’m writing about one specific thing in the game that bothered me. The fact that Adam Vinatieri was booed pretty consistently each time he was announced.

Yet I find this to be another very poor reflection on the fans in the New England / Boston area. This player in particular was not only part of their three recent Super Bowl teams, he was responsible for the winning points in two of them. Regardless of anything, there should always be more adoration than any other sentiment towards anyone who who does such things for any sports franchise.

Jordan was still cheered when he played the Bulls as a Wizard. Gretzky was cheered wherever he went regardless of his playing on that team in the past. Is Vinatieri on that level, not really – but that’s another reason why he shouldn’t be chastised for leaving (wait for it). Colts fans cheered Marshall Faulk and Jim Harbaugh upon their return wearing a different uniform. I’m pretty sure Edge will be cheered upon his eventual return.

Lets face it. Kickers aren’t the most popular figures on football teams. They always get the blame if they miss a kick, and only partially get the credit if they make the kick. They don’t get endorsements, and their contracts are less than some signing bonuses for quarterbacks and running backs. So I think he deserves it if he wants to line his bank account in the few years he has left as a top tier position player. New England had the chance to match or surpass the bid. They certainly rewarded Tom Brady with an overly fat contract that probably could have easily allowed the Pats to keep Vinatieri and Deion Branch. But what am I talking about? Bill Belichick and the New England team never does anything wrong.

So go ahead and boo the man who brought you championships, and the rest of us watching will increasingly root against your teams. Not because your teams don’t deserve respect, but because your fans never cease to be overzealous and irrational while thinking their teams are the greatest gift to the sporting world.

wasted hours to come

Today one of those days that only come once a year. An occurrence that appeals to some weird primal competitive part of my mimd. I could challenge myself and try to make more allusions while not revealing what I’m talking about, but I don’t feel like it. It’s the first day of the professional football season.

Sure, it’s “American” football, but I grew up watching and playing it. Call me weird, but I’m not a huge fan of anything but professional football in terms of being a spectator. This goes for all sports. While the whole seeing spectacular moments from athletes of many classes can make great highlights, it’s not as fun after watching the best of the best. Everything else just seems to be different degrees of amateur.

Anyway… I’m looking forward to see what this season holds.

Brady Bunch

Yesterday a NFL quaterback was in a motorcycle accident, a la Gary Busey, and it always makes me think of Charles Darwin… It’s just proof of evolution in that natural selection is weeding out the population as we watch people do such things.

For those that don’t know, the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger, was in a serious accident yesterday morning. If you want to read about the story, GO HERE. But in this whole process there was an interview with Mr. IQ, Tom Brady.

“A lot of times you might think you’re kind of invincible as a person. You drive fast, or do things you probably shouldn’t be doing. I know guys who ride motorcycles and it’s scary stuff. I don’t know why that accident was caused but hopefully he is OK.”

Thanks Tom. My issue that his first three sentences in that he is making a judgement of fault simply because he was riding a motorcycle. Sure, he tries to attone with the last sentence, but he’s already assumed and made an ass out of himself to me.

Part of why I’m taking the time to blog about this is because I’ve been in an accident where someone going the opposite direction makes a left and made an accident unavoidable. Now there is the possibility that “Big Ben” may have been exceeding the speed limit on his insanely fast crotch rocket, he was not turning into oncoming traffic and deserves a higher standard of presumption of innocence.

So even though I’m not a fan of Roethlisberger, condemning him when someone turned into oncoming traffic is pretty dim, even for Tom Brady. Even if we later find out he was speeding, you shouldn’t assume so until there is proof.

Making statements on incomplete or faulty information… Hmmm… Who does that remind me of?