Blog Relaunch

With the recent championship win by my Noles and a move back to Tallahassee, I thought this the perfect time to relaunch my blog about college and NFL football, namely my two teams in each category, the Seminoles and the Colts.

I have missed blogging here the last couple of seasons, except for occasional posts here and there. Life just got in the way.

Now that things are settling down, I want to post a regular column here and get ramped up for the 2014 season. I saw somewhere a couple of weeks ago that we are 2 Sundays past the 2013 NFL season with just 28 Sundays to go. When put in that perspective, it's not too long a wait. I'll bide my time the next month or so, watching college hoops. It is March Madness, after all, and this Hoosier is a basketball junkie this time of year. But I digress...

It was a stellar year for my Seminoles, reminding the nation once again that the mighty Seminole tribe is not to be forgotten, beaten or taken for granted. And just like our namesake, the Florida State Seminoles were UNCONQUERED in 2013, completing the perfect season, catapulting Jameis Winston to the Heisman Trophy winner's circle and FSU to it's third national title. It was a tri-fecta, much like the one we accomplished in 1999. Did you know that every year the Seminoles have won the National Championship in college football, they've also been led by a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback? First, it was the venerable Charlie Ward, then the veteran Chris Weinke, both leading our teams in a successful bid for the Sears Trophy. All three Heisman winners got to jubilantly hoist that coveted crystal football in the air!

KUDOS to Winston, Benjamin, Jernigan, Joyner and Co. on completing the perfect season, making all of Seminole Nation proud!

COLTS
Will my NFL team be making a run at a Superbowl ring anytime soon? Who knows. Current, pre-NFL Draft thinking has them focusing on receivers and key offensive positions. I'm not so sure that's the best approach to bolstering this roster for future success. If Reggie Wayne returns to a decent receiver corps, we should be solid in that area. Without the Pro-Bowler, we were still an offense to be reckoned with...just ask Seattle or San Francisco! So why are we not focusing instead on our defense. The bend-but-don't break, two deep safety system we've employed since the 1990's isn't going to get us to our goals. As Seattle proved once again, the old adage is most certainly true, "Defense wins championships!" When is the Irsay brain trust going to get it? I've been very happy with the young GM Grigson, but he needs to set Irsay straight and let Luck and Co., as is, handle the advancement of the football. He needs to set his sights on building the best defense in the league and break the pattern of mediocrity Colts fans have become so accustomed to. A stout defense puts the offense in better field position, helps them by scoring points and giving Andrew Luck the ball. The future HOF'er can't score touchdowns from the sidelines. The defense makes certain he stays on the field. It's kind of a no-brainer.

Well, that wraps up this overdue relaunch of my Colt-Nole blog. I'll leave you with this breaking news from legendary cable newsman, Ron Burgundy...

END OF HISTORIC ERA

While the rest of the world is contemplating where the invaluable HOF quarterback will land, allow me to reflect on 14 great seasons with Peyton Manning. After a tearful goodbye in Indianapolis, everyone and their neighbor is speculating where Manning will land. Personally, I'm hoping for Miami, as I am now only a 2-hour drive away. I'd love to see #18 and #87 dawn the Dolphin aqua-marine! Manning to Wayne for ANOTHER DOLPHIN TOUCHDOWN! But I digress...

This is a retrospective post.

I wasn't even 30 years old when Bill Polian and the Colts organization drafted a rookie out of the University of Tennessee. All I knew about Peyton Manning, other than his pedigree, was that he was never able to overcome his nemesis, and hated rival of my Seminoles, the Florida Gators. They just seemed to have Manning and Tennessee's number year after year. So, I wasn't the most ecstatic fan in Indianapolis the first day of the 1998 NFL Draft.

Once he got into his groove, there was no telling how far he would take the underachieving Colts franchise. I mean, we used to marvel at Captain Comeback, aka Jim Harbaugh, but he was no Peyton Manning. A few years into his career and I was still wondering if he'd ever be capable of winning the "big one." My doubts were never higher than the year we went into the playoffs undefeated, only to be humiliated by the New York Jets.

Then there was always the Colts defense, or lack thereof. I feared that no matter how perfect a game PM put together, our defense would always let us down. And even during our first Super Bowl run, the defense played terribly right up until the playoffs. The porous D who let Maurice Jones-Drew slash them for 200+ yards, suddenly became a brick wall in Kansas City and throughout the 2007 NFL Playoffs. It seemed as though destiny had finally taken over.

In the Miami rain that year, Peyton put all fears to rest and quieted all doubters, even me. He led the Colts to their first Super Bowl win since arriving in Indianapolis my freshman year of high school. He made us forget all about Captain Comeback with flashes of Unitas-like brilliance. His line-of-scrimmage antics have become the stuff of legend, and they pale in comparison to the split-second reads and laser-accurate throws that have wowed us for years!

Yes, Peyton Manning is the REAL DEAL! A solid, first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, the guy is not only a brilliant on-field general, he's a class act all the way around. The namesake for St. Vincent's Childrens Hospital, he's been a great champion for the terminally ill and less fortunate in Indianapolis. A devoted family man and philanthropist, he quickly won the hearts of Hoosiers who respect and admire his character. A humble guy who has every reason to gloat, he is just a stellar human being. I cannot say enough good things about him.

I am very grateful that he became and remained an Indianapolis Colt. And while I am sad to see him go, I wish him well with whichever team is lucky enough to land him. I hope his recovery continues and he regains his throwing strength. No matter to what capacity or where he lands, I'll always be a fan of #18.

Thanks for the great memories, Peyton. Sorry that I ever doubted you. Peace!