Big Football Weekend

With the AAFL draft and a Colts preseason game, I was pretty busy with football related activities on Saturday. Check out pictures and more on my sports blog.

Colts Get Bling

My birthday is next month and just in case you were wondering what to get me...

The Colts received their Super Champion Rings. Priced at "only" $5000, this would make an excellent gift. If only they were for sell to the general public. Rachel has a coworker who's brother works for the Colts who might have got a scaled-down version. I'm hoping he gets short on cash some day and has to hawk in for money.

Congratulation Colts!



Here's the Indy Star and Colts.com articles.

High Class Peyton

Among the dignitaries for Queen Elizabeth's white tie state dinner were Indianapolis own, Peyton Manning and his wife. They wife had the honor of going to the White House, again (I wonder if he feels like Forrest Gump?).Jim Nance even reported on Tony Kornheiser's show that Ashley Manning sat at the head table. Not bad. I wonder if the Queen had come last year if Ben Roethlisberger would have been invited?

Boo Cam Cameron

Ladies and Gentlemen of Miami, your head coach Cam Cameron!





Yes, Cam Cameron in his first public appearance following the 2007 NFL Draft gets booed before he even gets to the podium. I'm not sure, but from the chants of "Brady...Brady...Brady!" I think the Dolphin fans wanted Brady Quinn. I would have at least picked some quarterback since the Dolphins' incumbent QBs are Daunte "I was just gambling" Culpepper and Cleo Lemon.

SI Package Has Arrived

My Sports Illustrated package for the WORLD CHAMPION INDIANPOLIS COLTS has arrived. Check out the contents:





Also, here is my little Colts corner of my Purdue room:

Bush now a Colt

Even though I knew the Colts were going to visit the White House Monday, when I first saw a "Bush" Colts jersey my mind immediately thought, "Holy cow! How'd we get Reggie Bush?" Unfortunately, the Bush that gets the Colts jersey is the President, George Bush (Nothing against the president, but I hear he can't match Reggie's 4.3 40 time). The Colts got to visit the White House and spend some time with the Washington big wigs.

My favorite part (I'll try to find the exact quote later) was an interview with Peyton Manning that he started off with "Oh, we just spent 20 minutes in the Oval Office." Can you imagine how many lobbiest and foreign ambassadors that would love to get 5 minutes with the President to discuss legislation or global issues? Peyton gets 20 minutes just to chit-chat! I also loved Bush's quote:

"A lot of people here in the White House compound have been really looking forward to seeing Peyton Manning," Bush said. "They wanted to see a guy who gets more air time than I do."

Say what you want about his presidency, but at least he has a sense of humor!

I understand why Bush got a Colt's jersey (it's pretty customary when a winning team visits the White House), but why in the world did the Colt's give him a cowboy hat?

Colts Nation Rejoices

After the Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl, I knew they would receive lots of publicity. One piece of media I was hoping they would avoid is the cover of EA Sports Madden '08. The player on the cover of Madden in the past has met with all kinds of problems. A complete list is below, but no player on the cover of Madden since 2000 has had a good year. I could just see EA Sports wanting to ride the wave of Colts success and placing Peyton Manning or Dwight Freeney on the cover, only to have Peyton blow out a knew or Dwight to separate his shoulder. Thankfully, EA Sports has decided to let the Colts fans continue to enjoy their post-Super Bowl celebration. Not only will EA Sports pass on dooming a Colt player, they've decided to curse the QB of a division rival. Vince Young of the Tennessee Titans is going to grace the cover of Madden '08. Could it get in better? (Besides of course Tom Brady being on the cover, breaking both legs in the preseason and having Gisele Bundchen and Bridget Moynahan dump him) We can now start the pool of what week Vince Young will be injured. Week two they play the SUPER BOWL CHAMPION INDIANAPOLIS COLTS. I think I'll take that week for the curse to hit Young.

In case you don't follow this curse and don't believe me, here is USA Today's break down of all the doom that has fallen on those who have been on Madden covers:
• 2006 — Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander (2006): He broke a bone in his left foot early in the season and finished with 896 rushing yards.
• 2005 — Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb (2005): Eagles started out 4-5, and McNabb missed the final seven games because of a sports hernia.
• 2004 — Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis (2004): Suffered wrist injury, which caused him to miss a game and limited his production. It was the only season of his career in which he had no interceptions.
• 2003 — Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick (2003): Suffered a broken right leg during an exhibition game, causing him to miss the first 11 games of the season.
• 2002 — St. Louis Rams RB Marshall Faulk (2002): Missed two games with an injured ankle.
• 2001 — Minnesota Vikings QB Daunte Culpepper (2001): Missed the final five games with a knee injury after throwing almost as many interceptions (13) as touchdown passes (14).

WORLD CHAMPION COLTS Schedule

I plan on using the phrase "WORLD CHAMPION COLTS" as often as possible. Here is the newly released schedule. Five prime-time games means I'm going to be losing a lot of sleep. Oh well, GO COLTS!

1 Thursday Night 9/6 NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 8:30 PM
2 Sunday Early 9/16 @ Tennessee Titans 1:00 PM
3 Sunday Early 9/23 @ Houston Texans 1:00 PM
4 Sunday Late 9/30 DENVER BRONCOS 4:15 PM
5 Sunday Late 10/7 TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 4:05 PM
6 BYE 10/14 BYE -
7 Monday Night 10/22 @ Jacksonville Jaguars 8:30 PM
8 Sunday Early 10/28 @ Carolina Panthers 1:00 PM
9 Sunday Late 11/4 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 4:15 PM
10 Sunday Night 11/11 @ San Diego Chargers 8:15 PM
11 Sunday Early 11/18 KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 1:00 PM
12 Thanksgiving 11/22 @ Atlanta Falcons 8:15 PM
13 Sunday Early 12/2 JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS 1:00 PM
14 Sunday Night 12/9 @ Baltimore Ravens 8:15 PM
15 Sunday Late 12/16 @ Oakland Raiders 4:05 PM
16 Sunday Early 12/23 HOUSTON TEXANS 1:00 PM
17 Sunday Early 12/30 TENNESSEE TITANS 1:00 PM

I Touched the Trophy

The Colts are taking the Lombardi Trophy on a 50 city tour. Fortunately, I had the chance last Friday to see AND touch it. I had the morning off for a doctor's appointment and then headed over to the Southport Meijer. I arrived around 8:15 and, to my great delight, found only one person in line. He had been there since 6 a.m. I spent the time playing Tetris on my phone, reading Friday Night Lights, and chatting with some of the three to four thousand people that were eventually in line. We all had our Colts stories to share. An older gentleman who was third in line told us stories back from when he first got season tickets when the Colts first moved here. He could name every Colts QB going back at least 20 years. The manager came out and talked to us around 9 a.m. He told us how excited he was to have his store chosen to be the first to show the trophy. His wife, he explained, was friends with Tony Dungy's wife, but he hadn't seen the trophy yet. Around 10 a.m. Colts employees began setting up tables, putting out posters, and arranging a podium for the trophy. They also put up a giant inflatable trophy (which would look ideal on my lawn, if you're looking for a birthday present for me!). Julie Pursley from WRTV 6 interviewed the guy first in line and had her cameraman start setting up. The trophy finally arrived around 10:45 a.m. Four large gentlemen in dark suits and white gloves carried it in and put in on the podium. Then a glass case was put over it and sealed, although there was a hole in the top so that you could still touch the trophy. The line started moving and we were handed some freebies. I got a Tarik Glenn United Way card, an "I touched the trophy" button, two cool large posters (one with the trophy, the other said "Go Colts," and autographed pictures of Blue and the cheerleaders (which my wife promptly threw out later). They also handed out a special cardboard frame for you trophy picture if you dontated $1 to United Way. Finally, we got up to the trophy. The Meijer manager had assured us that someone from Meijer or the Colts would be there to take pictures. The Colts, apparently nixed that idea. The security guards, some employees, and cheerleaders wouldn't even hold your posters for you let alone take a picture. The guy in front of me and I exchanged cameras to take each other's pictures. I kinda look like I'm gritting my teeth, but you only got one picture and then they quickly ushered you out of there. I stood for the picture and then briefly stuck my hand in and touched the trophy. Julie Pursley grabbed me on the way out and interviewed me for the news. She asked me several questions, but it got editted down to about 2 seconds. So if I sound like an idiot, my comments were definitely out of context. All in all, not a bad experience. The wait wasn't as tortuous as it could of been (I was scared they might make us wait outside) and I have an awesome souvenir picture.

You can find the WRTV 6 broadcast from the Meijer (including my EXCLUSIVE interview by Julie Pursley) here.

You can find all my pictures of the day here.

Awesome Tony Dungy Video

My friend David found this great testimony from Tony Dungy. Have a look and listen.

Lovie speaks on Faith

Great quotes from Lovie Smith at Media Day:

"My relationship, first, is with Jesus Christ and he is the center of my life. I try to live a Christian life. I would like for guys to know my faith based on what they see on a day-to-day basis. I had a chance to see that on a daily basis with Tony Dungy. I had a chance to see Tony through a lot of storms and he has been the same guy all the way. This is also an opportunity for us to acknowledge our belief in Jesus Christ, which we do, and hopefully more people will come around to him based on that."

Quote of the Day: Muhsin Muhammad

From Muhsin Muhammad during the Bears media day: "I'd like to say hi to all of our troops fighting in Iraq and Iran."

Funny, I didn't know we had troops in Iran.

Hats of a Champion

Thought I'd show off my hat for the AFC CHAMPION COLTS!

Also, I took a trip down memory lane and visited some souvenirs of past championship teams I have followed. And now, through the magic of digital photography, you can relieve these moments too. Ah memories!

Super Colts!

I'm pretty hoarse and tired, but I'm still excited. The Indianapolis Colts will face the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl!

Obsessed?

This will be covered more in part III of my Christmas 2006 saga, but I thought I put up a quick sneak preview of one of my Christmas gifts.












I'm still confused why people think I'm obsessed with Drew Brees though.

NFL: MVP - Brees vs. Tomlinson

My friend Jason has asked me if I could make the case for Drew Brees over LaDainian Tomlinson for MVP. I'm sure it will not surprise anyone that I do indeed have an opinion on this, so (at the risk of furthering my wife's opinion that I am in love with a certain NFL QB) here are my thoughts as well as a plethora of stats to back up my assertions.

1. Most VALUABLE player. LaDainian Tomlinson puts up great numbers and scores seemingly multiple times ever single game. However, he also plays with a talented QB (Phllip River's numbers compare favorably to Drew Brees' in SD last year) and a dominant defense (giving up less than 100 yards rushing is just one of their impressive statistics). LT also plays for the always conservative Marty Schottenheimer for whom the term "Marty Ball" was coined to describe a coach who gets a small lead and then runs the ball to avoid turnovers and run the clock down. This means that there are games where LT is frequently piling up yards long after games are over and in situations where most coaches would not dare run the ball, giving him much inflated stats. Despite all of this, LT only contributes 41% of his team’s offensive yardage. Drew Brees is vastly more valuable as he contributes over 75% of his team’s total yards despite not having any of the factors that inflate how good he and his team are. It's hard to make an argument that a player that makes up three-quarters of his teams offense is not more valuable than a guy who makes up less than half of his team's offense. Plus, Brees has been responsible for nearly two thirds of this teams first down, while LT is apart of less than half of first downs for his team.

2. Vast improvement. Brees has increased NO's yardage 27% over the year before (SD's yardage per game has only change less than 5%) over the previous year. But all that would be meaningless without improvements in wins. Brees has taken a team that won 3 games last year and has not made the playoffs since 2000 and led them to a NFC South Division championship. Making that fact more impressive is the fact that the NFC South was said in the preseason to be one of the toughest in football and was the home of Sports Illustrated's pick for Super Bowl Champion, the Carolina Panthers. Individually, Brees has improved his completions, completion percentage, yards per game, and TDs while decreasing the number of turnovers he has thrown.

3. The preseason poll factor. Every year in college football is a preseason poll. The poll is based on nothing but opinions (no game have been played to have concrete data!), but anyone not in the top 10 will certainly have a hard time moving up. Consider undefeated Boise State which started so low in the preseason polls that it was impossible to gain enough respect to crack the top two. Now in the NFL, LT was obviously going to be considered a MVP candidate before the season even started. He was coming off an impressive year and was virtually unanimous in being a top three fantasy pick. So LT has always been front and center in the race. Drew Brees was almost an afterthought; not just of NFL players, but of the free agent class. Daunte Culpepper and Terrell Owens were seen as much bigger free agent signings than Brees. They both got considerable attention in the preseason. Overall, Brees was barely ranked in the top 15 of most sources fantasy picks, not overall, but of quarterbacks. This inattention has always surrounded Brees since his college days at Purdue where he broke multiple Big 10 records, but could only manage a top four finish for the Heisman trophy. Despite all of this lack of knowledge about Brees, media, players, coaches and fans have elevated him into the top two of the MVP discussion. He has impressed virtually everyone with his play this year and is largely seen as one of the main reasons that this New Orleans team has been turned around. The fact that Brees' name is even in the MVP discussion is a testament to how well he has played because so often MVP discussions center around "big name" players, not who is playing the best or is actually the most valuable to his team.

4. Community impact. Everyone knows of the devastation that New Orleans and the Gulf Coast area have suffered. Brees and his wife decided when he came to New Orleans that they would move into the heart of the city, near places hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. Brees, despite not being from the area or even having ties to the Gulf Coast, has been seen out in the community meeting people, giving donations and has set up his own charity for the people of the area. ESPN sportswriter Bill Simmons even commented that Brees probably deserved Sports Illustrated's Man of the Year because of all his contributions to the city and surrounding neighborhoods. While other professional athletes are giving their sports a black mark with suicide attempts, gun charges, shootings at strip clubs, spitting on players, and brawls on the field, Brees has become a national example of how athletes should act in their community.

5. History. Major League Baseball has the same discussion every year: How to compare a DH or pitcher to an everyday player. Pitchers only pitch every three to five days, DHs don't play offense, but position players are on the field for usually nine innings, everyday of the season. That is one reason why only one non-everyday position player has been a league MVP in the last 20 years. The same logic could apply to football. Drew Brees has taken over 900 snaps this season whereas LT has only touched the ball 366 times. Brees' position is far more complex than LT's. Quarterbacks must make quick reads, call audibles, and make sure the ball gets to the correct player. No one doubts the performance LT has put on this year, but the quarterback position has a built in degree of difficulty that makes what Brees has done even more impressive. That is why, like baseball considering everyday position players as more valuable a player than pitchers and DHs, historically more QBs have been named MVP than any other position.

6. Drew Brees has a degree in Industrial Management from Purdue University ('01). I have no statistics to back this up, but it's pretty common knowledge that Industrial Management majors from Purdue are among the best at their professions and all around great guys.

Troy
BSIM, Purdue '99

NFL: Generous Comments on Brees

I swear I neither made up this article, nor did I cry while reading it. But's wonderful to read someone beside me talk about how great Drew Brees has represented his new team and (by prior association) his university.

Bill Simmons, ESPN.com:

"Anyway, I thought Drew Brees should have been named Sports Illustratred's Sportsman of the Year and would have been more upset until I realized that it's not 1977 and SI's opinion doesn't matter that much anymore. Brees exemplified everything you'd ever want from a sportsman in a given year: He took an enormous gamble by signing with the Saints last spring when they were in shambles; he fought back from a serious injury and ended up playing his position about as well as it could be played; he gave himself to a wounded city, played a huge role in its ongoing recovery process and turned a below-average team into a playoff contender; and his consistency from week to week was remarkable. With the possible exception of Roger Federer, was there a more memorable, inspirational, talented and influential sportsman in 2006 than Drew Brees? I say no."

NFL: Worst decision of the year

Bill Simmons: "The Dolphins are 0-7 against the spread. They've lost to a 2-4 team and three 1-5 teams. And Drew Brees has emerged as an MVP candidate in New Orleans. Yup, it's safe to say that Culpepper-over-Brees has officially passed Williams-over-Bush as the single-worst NFL decision of 2006."
I'm giddy.

NFL: Getting Breesy in The Big Easy

Random Drew Brees Notes:

- I'm not saying it's the greatest website ever, but I'm not saying that it's not either.
www.drewbrees.com

- Peter King of Sport Illustrated wrote in an article that Drew Brees had dinner at Emeril Lagasse's restaurant and the crowd there broke into applause. Pretty soon everyone in the restaurant was standing giving him a rousing ovation. New Orleans fans: We Purdue alum know how you feel.

- Fortunately the auction for this was over. Otherwise I may have had to mortgage my house and sell all of my possessions to bid on it:

A New Orleans Saints Football Fantasy Trip*
--  Two seats in quarterback Drew Brees' private luxury box at the
    Superdome for any game in the '06-07 season (excluding playoffs); a
    visit to the Saints locker room; photos and autographs with Brees,
    including a signed football and game jersey; and dinner that evening
    with Brees prepared by legendary New Orleans chef Emeril Lagasse.

NFL/Purdue: Brees vs. Culpepper

No, I didn't write this article, but it certainly sounds like something I would write, doesn't it?

"Brees making Miami regret QB choice
By Ken Thompson
Lafayette Journal & Courier

If I'm Miami Dolphins coach Nick Saban, I'm looking for new team doctors.

The physicians' concerns about Drew Brees' shoulder led Saban and the Dolphins to shy away from the former Purdue great, unwisely cut loose by the San Diego Chargers. Instead, Miami sent a second-round draft pick to Minnesota for Daunte Culpepper. Culpepper was available because of a severe knee injury, which apparently didn't bother those same doctors.

But Saban doesn't get a free pass. An experienced coach should know that a mobile quarterback will have a more difficult recovery from a knee injury than a pocket passer like Cincinnati's Carson Palmer. Not coincidentally, Palmer's comeback has been far more successful.

Sunday, Culpepper wasn't even active for the Dolphins' game against the New York Jets, benched last week in favor of Detroit Lions castoff Joey Harrington.

Brees? He merely threw three touchdown passes for the New Orleans Saints and led an eight minute game-winning drive against NFC East leader Philadelphia.

With Brees, New Orleans owns the second-best record in the NFC behind the Chicago Bears at 5-1. Miami? Last place in the AFC East.

Brees is 138 of 207 for 1,509 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions. He entered Sunday fifth in the NFC in passer rating (91.6).

Culpepper: 81 of 134 for 779 yards, two TDs, 3 INTs, passer rating of 77.0.

Oops.
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Original Story.