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Ahhh. Now THAT'S the way it should be: The World's biggest Sporting event, and not a trojan in sight. Unlike most preceding years, trojan-haters didn't have to worry about some ex-trojan lucking into the MVP Award. Neither the Colts nor the Bears have a Fig Techster on their roster, while both teams had Bruins see action.
The non-triumphant Bears had Ricky Manning jr. and Brendan Ayanbadejo get playing time, but neither of them was victimized by a big play. The only goat-like moment for a Bruin happened when the Colts' Tight End Bryan Fletcher lost a fumble.
But Fletcher was saved on the very next play, when the Bears turned the ball right back over to Indy. It was one of the Bears' SIX Turnovers on the night. Those miscues are definitely the reason why the Bears went down to defeat, but the Colts still had to move the ball when they got it, and they did, thanks to great blocking.
Blockers usually get NO CREDIT for doing an amazing job. In fact, they usually get mentioned ONLY when they screw up, and get flagged for Holding. But during this game, viewed by Billions, a single blocker got commended twice, and he happens to be from UCLA.
Fletch Lives: Yes, the same Bryan Fletcher, whose fumble momentarily looked like it could end up costing his team the whole enchilada, threw two key blocks that extended Indy drives, sending the Bears to their demise.
So Fletcher definitely made a positive, and NOTICED, contribution to the Colts' World Championship.
The Colts' victory was a true TEAM victory, with no stand out for MVP. It could have gone to either Indy Tailback, who both had extremely productive evenings against a formerly staunch Defense, or to the D-back who returned one of Rex Grossman's 4th quarter INT's for the game-controlling Touchdown. But the actual winner was not undeserving: Peyton Manning fought through a hard, consistent Miami downpour and made all the throws that he needed to. Manning took what the Bears' D allowed him -- mostly short dump-off patterns. But because Indy was able to run the ball successfully, the short passes were enough for the Colts to controll the ball, the clock, and ultimately, the World Title.
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As for Commercials, the Dalmatian ad was cute, and the Coke ads were striking, especially on a big Plasma screen. Also, CBS did a good job of being fairly unobtrusive as the event's broadcasters -- Just like Prince did a good job of staying on program during his halftime performance.
And congratulations to the "Coach Formerly Known as Dungy," who will now forever be known as the "First Black Coach to win a Super Bowl." Thanks to the rain and Rex Grossman's inability to get anything done, Dungy's questionably conservative coaching in the 2nd half did NOT come back to haunt him.
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In honor of the Champions from Indianapolis, here are a half-dozen Super photos of some de facto World Champions taken inside the Colts' home stadium, the RCA Dome, during last year's Final Four.
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