INDIANAPOLIS
COLTS
FINAL SCORE: NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 31, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS 17
Thoughts:
- As I suspected, this game was not as close as they thought, and
for the first quarter anyway I thought the Colts were going to run away
with it (which would have led me to consider opening up a sports
handicapping service since it'd have put me at 5-1 ATS). Then the
Saints found their stride. So, now my reckless predictions are now
looking truly reckless, falling to 4-2 against the spread and 2-4
straight up. On the bright side, both misses have involved a Colts game
on CBS... so if I steer clear of those, I'm 4-0! Apparently I estimated
the Saints pretty well-- it's just the Colts that are hard to judge
(without the late Manning INT, the Saints score-- you guessed it-- a
perfect 24 points). Maybe that handicapping service might be viable
after all...
- PROPS: Tony Hargrove and Jabari Greer. The Buffalo Bills had both
at one point. Then they dumped Greer for a far more expensive Leodis
McKelvin, and let Hargrove walk when their defensive line was already
in trouble. Yeah... not so smart.
- PROPS to MVP Drew Brees... for the obvious.
- DROPS to Peyton Manning for stinking it up after the first
quarter. Kind of like Super Bowl V, but without an Earl Morrall to bail
him out.
- Props to Carrie Underwood for going with a live, a capella
performance of the National Anthem, and for mostly sticking to a purist
rendition of the song. However, the voice was weaker than usual,
forced, and cracked a few times (it also seemed a little too twangy for
my tastes). That'll happen-- I've been there. All in all, a largely
forgettable performance, but I give her a lot of credit for effort.
Hopefully this won't discourage other performers from doing live
renditions.
- I have been very impressed with the commercials this year, even
if I think the distribution of them has left me a little overloaded.
Bud Light has been the lousiest, again, but even lousier than usual.
Chicken panic was hilarious. Doritos was a little disappointing. There
wasn't a clear winner this year, but a generally pleasing batch
overall. I do notice a lot of ads for
CBS and other media companies. That might be recession related.
- The halftime show was very good. The Who still has it, even if
their voices may not anymore, and the
crowd seemed to love it. The mikes were a little too loud, but for a
live performance, I guess that's to be expected. They could've used a
few slower, less strenuous songs, and I think that would've helped a
lot.
SUPER
BOWL XLIV FULLERVISION STYLE
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2010, 6:15 PM
SUN LIFE STADIUM, MIAMI, FL
THE TEAMS:
Indianapolis
Colts
2009 Record: 16-2, Lifetime Super Bowl record: 2-1 (wins in V
and XLI, lost III)
Indianapolis continues to ride the arm of superstar quarterback Peyton
Manning. The team's offensive talent includes Manning, RB Joseph Addai,
WR Pierre Garçon and Reggie Wayne, and TE Dallas Clark. S Bob
Sanders and DE Dwight Freeney lead the defense. Head
coach Jim Caldwell is only the second rookie head coach to ever lead a
team to a Super Bowl; other than that, the bulk of the team is the same
as the one that won Super Bowl XLI back in 2007. Incidentally, the AFC
championship game proved to be a rematch of Super Bowl III.
New
Orleans
Saints
2009 Record: 15-3, Lifetime Super Bowl record: 0-0
The Saints are appearing in their first ever league
championship. For decades, the "Ain'ts" symbolized futility in
professional football, rarely ever making the playoffs, let alone
winning in them. However, in the early 2000s, things began to change
for the better. After a devastating hurricane quite literally forced
the team to rebuild in 2005, the Saints have since propelled their way
to the top of the NFL. Their offense is relatively one-dimensional, but
highly potent. QB Drew Brees leads the franchise, with weapons
including RB/WR Reggie Bush, RB Pierre Thomas, and WR Marques Colston.
#1 vs. #1. It doesn't happen often
that both top seeds in the playoffs make it through to the Super Bowl
without at least one of them getting upset along the way. However, it
happened this year. One, the New Orleans Saints, is a very unlikely
team for such a feat. New Orleans won its first 13 consecutive games
before their perfect season was spoiled, a far cry from the days when
Archie Manning led the team to years of futility.
Speaking of Archie Manning, the team on the other side of the field is
the Indianapolis Colts, who are quarterbacked by Archie's son, Peyton.
The Colts threw away their chance at a perfect season after winning
their first 14 consecutive games, deciding to play their third string
crew for the final two games. A wise decision to protect stars from
injury, or bad karma? We all find out on Super Bowl Sunday. (For the
record, Archie is supporting his son's team over his former team.)
TELEVISION: CBS TELEVISION
NETWORK (CTV IN CANADA)
Market
|
Call
|
RF
|
VC
|
New York City
|
WCBS
|
33
|
2
|
Buffalo
|
WIVB
|
39
|
4
|
Rochester
|
WROC
|
46
|
8
|
Syracuse
|
WTVH
|
47
|
5
|
Watertown
|
WWNY
|
7
|
7
|
Elmira
|
WENY
|
36.2
|
N/A
|
Binghamton
|
WBNG
|
7
|
12
|
Albany
|
WRGB
|
6
|
6
|
Erie
|
WSEE
|
16
|
35
|
Toronto
|
CFTO
|
40
|
9
|
Kitchener
|
CKCO
|
7
|
13
|
RADIO: WESTWOOD ONE (UNITED STATES AND CANADA)
50 kW broadcasts: WHAM 1180, WTAM 1100, WLW 700, WSCR
670, WFAN 660
Other: WGR 550, WJTN 1240, WACK 1420, WHEN 620, WOFX 980, WPIE
1160, WELM 1410, WENT 1340, WESB 1490, CJCL 590, CKGL 570
Sirius Channel 124*
BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA (UNITED KINGDOM)
Sirius Channel 125*
Internet: Fuller Sports Broadcasting
*In addition to WW1 and BBC5, both
teams' feeds are available on other channels and two alternate
English-language feeds (PA announcer and statistician).
OFFICIAL WEB SITE:
http://www.superbowl.com/
MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT
Pregame: Queen Latifah (America the Beautiful)
Halftime: The Who
National Anthem: Carrie Underwood
ODDS LINE: INDIANAPOLIS -5 [57]
PROJECTED SCORE: Indianapolis 31, New Orleans 26
RECKLESS PREDICTION (Record:
2-3 straight up and 4-1 against the spread):
Indianapolis wins and covers the spread. This game will be a high
scoring affair, but I don't think it'll be as close as previous
contests. Indy wins by at least a touchdown.
Indianapolis 35, New Orleans 24.
SLNIVS
SNV37JO
M3N