A Very Indiana Superbowl

Superbowl XLIV will be a win-win-win-win-win-win in my perspective this year, regardless the out-come. Lemme explain:

• First, it's the Colts & the Saints, and even though the Colts beat my hometown Bears in 2007, that's ok, because Peyton Manning is such a nice guy, such a masterful quarterback, and he's so likable. And Tony Dungy (former coach) and Jim Caldwell (current coach) are both really nice guys from everything I have heard and read about them - good leaders who have the remarkably good luck to coach really exceptional players. (see point 6 below)
  
• Second, they are playing in an open air stadium as football is supposed to be played, not a dern dome (astro turf is not natural, causes injuries in contact sports, and biases games towards fleet-footed little boys who like to play indoors) as Superbowls are too often played.
• Third, the quarterback for the Saints, Drew Brees, went to Purdue, where many of my friends also went to college, and where I've been drunk a time or two. And Brees's mother died last year when the Saints were in training camp, so that made for a difficult year for him personally on some level. I almost went to Purdue, but the mid 80s recession, coupled with NW IN unemployment rates & the Rand McNally Hammond printing plant where my father worked closing when I was a kid drove me to select Terre Haute instead of West Lafayette.
  
• Fourth, New Orleans has never been to a Superbowl before in team history, and after Hurricane Katrina decimated the city, it's nice to see the underdog be successful.
• Fifth, the Colts use my alma mater, Rose Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, as their training camp. I played intramural foot ball on the same practice areas, and lived in the same dorms when I was in Terre Haute that the Colts do for 2 months each summer.
• Sixth, as I heard Frank Deford say on NPR this morning, "Should Peyton Manning lead the Colts to victory, he will absolutely have surpassed Tom Brady as the No. 1 quarterback of this generation." - and THAT warmed my heart. Sorry Patriots fans, but as Daniel Tosh succinctly summarized about Tom Brady: "Your coach is a cheater, your rings are a lie, you were a back-up from Michigan."

Dr. Desert Flower and I will be in Gilbert (which I pronounce - Jeehul-Bear... lol) grilling protein, and consuming beverages containing ethanol with our friends Tory and Alan. It should be a nice Sunday evening.