Sorry Roman.
Tonight is a night to wear blue and white.
Yeah, I know everyone is jumping on the New Orleans bandwagon. One big reason seems to be simply Katrina. That was a sad tragedy, no doubt. But is it really a reason to root for the Saints tonight?
What happened with Katrina happened -- years ago. People have moved on. People continue to move on. A Saints win tonight would put a smile on Saints fans everywhere -- regardless if they've been touched directly by Katrina or not. But then tomorrow comes and regular life continues. For Katrina victims and non-Katrina victims.
Truth is, there are a lot of people out there -- not just Katrina victims -- who have had to deal with loss, with adversity, with hardship and with pain. Fans on both sides. Coaches on both sides. Players on both sides. Residents of both New Orleans and Indianapolis.
The city of New Orleans doesn't have a monopoly on hard times.
When choosing a team to root for in the NFL, it's hard for me not to look at the the ones most affected by the outcome of the game and the ones who will make the most difference in the outcome of the game. The coaches and players.
The Colts as a whole have been known as one of the 'nice guy' teams in the league for a while now. They win with class. They win with very little chatter. And they win the right way.
Indianapolis is a team molded in the image of its former coach -- the ultimate 'nice guy' Tony Dungy. New coach Jim Caldwell has come in and maintained that persona.
Of course, the real leader of the team and face of the Colts organization is Peyton Manning. Sure, he's a Tennessee grad, but how can anyone not love this guy? Just an all-around great human being, great quarterback, great leader, great competitor and great student of the game. And he does the best TV commercials. And how can anyone not love Archie, Eli and the rest of Peyton's family and how close they are and how they stick up for each other.
New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees is a good guy, too, and the team does have a former Bama player in Roman Harper, but the Saints also have a few strikes against them that the Colts don't, beginning with Darren Sharper, a guy who simply runs his mouth too much.
The Saints, lest we forget, committed a couple of bad deeds the past few weeks. They ...
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