XLI should be spectacular

Boy, the Colts have come a long way since the days of Jim Mora (above). What a great montage of his two memorable press conferences, one as coach of the Colts, and one as coach of the Saints.

What a fantastic game by the Colts to beat their chief tormentors: Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and all of the New England Patriots. It's been a long time coming, but Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning deserve the euphoria of their awesome victory today. Peyton Manning has overcome so much - how can anyone outside of New England not be thrilled for him?

Wow, I'm still blown away by what we just saw - one of the best NFL Conference Championship Games I've ever seen. And the cool part about it is that we saw history today, and that's always cool - the greatest comeback ever in a Conference Championship Game. Impressive. It just goes to show you the mental toughness that both Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy have (not to mention the rest of the Colts!). I'm very happy for them.

Even the most callous of NFL fans has to feel happy seeing the looks of joy on the faces of Dungy and Manning. (Althought the look on Manning's face could be better described as relief.)

It's gonna be an awesome Super Bowl with plenty of story lines. The one we'll hear most is how these are the first two black head coaches to make it to the Super Bowl. And one of them has to win, and that represents real progress for the NFL and all levels of football.

Although, I have to admit, I'm already sick of hearing about it. Reporters jamming mikes in the faces of both coaches after the game, asking them all sorts of questions about race was absurd. I'm sure this will be twice as bad as when Redskins QB Doug Williams led the Redskins to victory in Super Bowl XXII, when that was all he was asked before, during and after the game. I'm sure he was proud to be the first, but I also remember him being obviously sick of answering questions of race. Who could blame him?

Our country, and the press, are obsessed with race. A great deal of it is understandable, considering our country's racial past and oppression of Native Americans and African Americans, but I wish I could say it isn't going to be the predominant story of Super Bowl XLI, but I know it will be.

On another note before I get back to the game, I was happy to hear Bears Head Coach Lovie Smith refer to himself as a "black coach." The use of "African American" to refer to people of color is starting to get tiresome. Ahh, political correctness - don't you just love it?

Anyway, it's going to be awfully hard to root for a winner in the Super Bowl, but I'm going to have to root for Dungy, Manning and the Colts. Lovie Smith is a great coach, and he'll certainly get another shot at a championship after this year, the way the Bears are progressing, but Dungy (above, with the Lamar Hunt Trophy) and Manning have been left at the altar too many times. This is their year.

And don't feel too dejected for Patriots QB Tom Brady (above, after his interception late in the 4th quarter which sealed New England's fate) or Bill Belichick, both of whom are class acts and who know how to win. The Patriots will be back, but they need better players (Duh, right?). At 29 years old, Brady still has 6-8 great years left in him, barring injury. When he's finally finished, he could have more Super Bowl Rings than any quarterback in Super Bowl history.

If you need a good example of how much the Patriots' talent level has declined, look no further than their WR corps. Reche Caldwell has got to be the biggest goat in this game. He dropped a TD pass I could have caught, in the endzone. Caldwell was saved from Bill Bucknerdom one play later, when Brady threw a TD strike, but to Jabar Gaffney instead.

But, one of the biggest differences between this Patriots team and the one that one three Super Bowls in four years is their receivers. New England desperately needs new ones, and I fully expect Belichick and company to go get them this offseason, either in free agency or the draft.