Coffee Klatch

The Patriots went down!! Another Manning has a Super Bowl ring and MVP! In one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history, the New York Giants overcame the predicted 25-point loss and came through in the clutch to win 17-14. Recap and details are available at NFL.com.

Most people in Indiana like to see the Patriots and Tom Brady lose, and also feel that, if it can’t be Peyton, it might as well be Eli Manning. Congrats to the NY Giants for their win and for taking out the Patriots!

Anyone for some fantasy football? The first game of the regular NFL season is next Thursday, September 6. Since I’ve been doing this for eight years now, I’ve started a Fantasy Football league for this year. If you’d like to join, here’s the link: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/register/tos?league_id=100703&password=java

In order to join the league, follow the link above or go to http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1, click the “Sign Up Now” or “Get Another Team” button and follow the links to “Join a Custom League”. When prompted, enter the League ID# and password below.

League ID#: 100703
Password: java

We’ve still got room for more people to join up. If you’re at least semi-interested in professional football, playing fantasy football can help keep you interested throughout the season. You don’t have to know much about specific players or anything; that kind of comes as you play. You’ll just pick players from your team each week and you get points based on how well they do (as individuals) in their games. Plus, it’s always fun to have a little healthy competition.

Sound like fun? Then click the link above and sign up. We’re having a “live draft” this Saturday at 9am. If you have questions or are new to this, ask away.

Until the 2007 NFL football season starts! Yes, some people are eagerly awaiting the new season. And Yahoo! has ALREADY got the Fantasy Football system up and running! Nothing like getting prepared early, I guess!
So anyway, in keeping with tradition, I’ve started a Fantasy Football league for this year. If you’d like to join, here’s the link.

In order to join the league, follow the link above or go to http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1, click the “Sign Up Now” or “Get Another Team” button and follow the links to “Join a Custom League”. When prompted, enter the League ID# and password below.

League ID#: 100703
Password: java

Why should you join my Fantasy Football league?

1. Because it’s fun!
2. Because it’s easy to sign up and to play.
3. Because you don’t have to know tons about football (but you’ll learn some if you play).
4. Because it’s FREE!
5. Because Yahoo! manages everything for you, so all you have to do is pick your players each week.
6. Because it’s a fun way to interact with some new people and have a little competition that only lasts a few months.
7. Because if you’re in one league already, it never hurts to have a backup in case you start losing.
8. Because it might get you more interested in the sport.
9. Because it will give you a chance to beat on me!
10. Oh, and did I say that it’s fun?

Current music: Deep Breakfast, by Ray Lynch

This weekend the Sweet Sixteen is being reduced to the Final Four. Butler lost, which was sad, but at least they made it to the Sweet Sixteen. And they WERE playing Florida, which had the highest ranking out of the 64 teams in the tournament. And it was a pretty close game. So congrats to them!

And at least I’ve still got some of my Bracket Picks in the Final Four. I ended up picking UCLA to take it, and they’re still in. We’ll see how that goes.

It’s time once again for March Madness. As a general rule, I don’t follow basketball much. Or college sports in general, for that matter. There’s a slightly higher than normal interest this year since Butler’s in the Big Dance, along with Indiana University (my grad-school alma mater), Purdue, and Notre Dame. Four Indiana schools in the tournament this year.

But mostly for me the interest level is because of the Brackets! You get a full layout of the 64 teams that made it to the playoffs and you pick who you think will win, all the way to the final game. Even if you don’t know that much about the teams, it’s fun to pick and compete with friends and coworkers. Or even to try to stump your local sports newscaster.
I’ve set up a Group in Yahoo for anyone who’d like to join me. I’ve got a few friends in, but the more people join, the more fun we have. It’s very easy to use and Yahoo even has a very user-friendly interface for doing your picks. Including an Info button for every matchup, so you can look at both teams’ stats and comments before making your picks. To be honest, I don’t know much about any of them, save the notoriety of some of the school names (Duke, Arkansas, North Carolina, Kansas, etc.). And from what I read, most of them are not nearly as “hot” as they’ve been in the past. Anything could happen!

If you’d like to join us for some March Madness fun, visit http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/men and click Join A Group. It’s a private group and you’ll need the following information:

• Group ID: 134525
• Password: spring

It’s a typical bracket scoring process, where you get more points for picking correctly farther ahead. You do all the picks at the beginning, and then you just watch things unfold. If you pick second round games correctly, you get 2 points; third round=4 points, then 9, 16, and 32 for the final game. So you can still win even if you miss a bunch early on.

Hurry and join us! The games start on Thursday March 15th, so you don’t have much time to delay. Get your picks in and then watch the fun for the next 11 days.

Want to see some of those commercials again? Visit http://cbs.sportsline.com/nfl/postseason/superads

Okay, I just had to post a little writeup since it’s the biggest sporting event in the world (except maybe, arguably, soccer’s World Cup) and it’s the biggest sporting event in the history of our city.

It was a little scary right at the first, when, on the first play of the game, the Bears ran the kickoff return back for a touchdown. That was the first time an opening kickoff has been run back for a touchdown in the Super Bowl. It was also, apparently, the first rainy Super Bowl. It was also the first Super Bowl won by a team with an African-American head coach. Of course, that part was inevitable this year, since both coaches were African American.

But the Colts settled into a rhythm after a while and were able to capitalize more than the Bears on all the turnovers that the rain helped induce.

So the Indianapolis Cots have their first Super Bowl win ever! The franchise did have win, back in Super Bowl III, when they were still the Baltimore Colts, but that was a totally different team, for all intents and purposes.

Hopefully this will give Indianapolis an edge in the bid for hosting Super Bowl XLV in 2011. And in the brand new stadium that’s scheduled to be finished in time for the 2008-2009 season.

Final score: Colts 29 - Bears 17

Woo-hoo!!

[tags]Super Bowl, NFL, Indianapolis, Indianapolis Colts, Indy, Chicago Bears[/tags]

It has been clearly explained that Super Bowl games are no longer played in cold weather stadiums unless they’re domed. The reason is because the weather is so much of a factor when it’s freezing and snowing and all that. I thought that meant that domed stadiums were the only places they’d have the Super Bowl games.

So the game’s in Miami this year and it’s pouring rain. Just in the first quarter of this game there were three turnovers and a missed extra-point snap which were all because of (mostly) the rain making the ball slick. Not to mention the tons of missed tackles because the runners were wet and slippery. Or the fact that so many of the camera lenses were covered with raindrops, making it hard to see.

If the powers that be are wanting to take the weather out as a factor, so we can see a more “honest comparison” of the two teams, then they need to restrict the Super Bowl games to ONLY domed stadiums. The other option is to stop favoring warm-weather teams and allow the games to be at ANY location. I’m not one to complain about rules, but I AM one to complain about inconsistent enforcement of rules.

For me, I’d just as soon have the Super Bowl games be “real” games and be played anywhere, regardless of the climate. Football’s different from other sports like basketball or baseball in that the games are played in all kinds of weather. That’s just part of the game. If that’s the case, they the Super Bowls should be played the same way–in ANY kind of weather. Even in Green Bay or New England. THEN you’d have an accurate picture of the football teams.

Either way, pretending to sterilize the Super Bowl setting but allowing rain to be a factor is inconsistent and wrong.

It’s kinda funny, but there’s so much talk about the Colts playing in the Super Bowl Sunday, and Friday is always the big celebration day before games since it’s the last work day, that people have forgotten the so very important holiday that is today: GROUNDHOG DAY!

I mention it partly because nobody’s talking about it today and partly because it’s cloudy here in Indianapolis and getting colder all day today, with a chance of show this afternoon. In fact, it’s starting to flurry right now! So, what does Groundhog Day lore tell us if it’s a cloudy day? Why, it says that the groundhog WON’T see his shadow, so won’t get scared and Spring is just around the corner! Here’s what Punxsutawney Phil says. Woo-hoo!

That being said, GO COLTS!!

Hallelujah! After so many years of having New England as their nemesis, the Indianapolis Colts are finally going to the Super Bowl! And this AFC Championship game was as close and tough as anyone would have hoped for, despite the 21-3 score at halftime. What an amazing second half for the Colts! Now at least nobody can say that Payton Manning hasn’t gotten to the Super Bowl. It’s nice to see an AFC Championship instead of just an AFC South Division Championship. It means so much more. Plus it means going to the Super Bowl! When the game finished tonight, Alaric and I were chanting lines from some recent commercials, like “We’re going to the Super Bowl! We’re going to the Super Bowl!” and “I… get… a Diet Pepsi! I… get… a Diet Pepsi!”
Congratulations to the much-improved Colts Defense, the diligent Special Teams squad, and especially to Manning for finally getting to the Super Bowl. Woo-hoo!!

On a side note, this game was especially important for the city of Indianapolis, which is in the process of building a new Colts Stadium and is hoping to be selected for the next available Super Bowl venue. The city and game had a chance today to demonstrate that they’re able to manage all the details that come with a Super Bowl game.

Also, interestingly enough, the Colts haven’t been in the Super Bowl since Super Bowl V, 36 years ago, when they were the Baltimore Colts. The Bears haven’t been since Super Bowl XX, 21 years ago. Great for both teams and it should be a great game in two weeks!

[tags]Super Bowl, colts, Peyton Manning, AFC, NFL[/tags]