The Sadness of Manning Madness
The sports world remains fixated on the Peyton Manning situation. From Jim Irsay’s late night tweets to the pasta-like quality of Peyton’s arm, very few sports media outlets can afford to stop and consider the reality of the situation: one of the best quarterbacks of all-time will be leaving his hometown team the season after his worth was demonstrated.
Let’s consider the history of the pre-Manning Colts for a moment. The Baltimore Colts boasted the services of Johnny Unitas, a man who won three MVP awards in 8 years (1959-1967) and drew the admiration of football fans nationwide. While the heavily-favored Colts lost to the Jets in Super Bowl III, two years later saw them as the winners of Super Bowl V, a championship legacy cemented in the post-merger NFL despite the game being known as “The Blunder Bowl” with 11 combined turnovers.
Then the bottom dropped out, plunging the franchise into the depths of mediocrity and, at points, downright fecal matter. In the 28 years between the Super Bowl win and Manning’s 1998 debut, the Colts won 4 division titles and made the playoffs 7 times. In the 13 years since Manning, the Colts made the playoffs 11 times, 7 of those divisional wins, two of those Super Bowl appearances with one win. Manning has built the Colts from the NFL’s proverbial garbage heap to a perennial power.
This year the Colts had to rely on Dan Orlovsky, who once forgot the end zone has specific boundaries , to win twice. Most of America suffered through multiple Colts primetime games. The team was outscored by 187 points over the season. Peyton was sorely missed.
Many media outlets accused NFL Magazine of callousness for recommending Manning as the 2011 MVP. And yet, the Colts had eight less wins than 2010 without Peyton, meaning Manning was worth eight wins (also known as half the season).
This is all to say: Manning deserves the respect of Jim Irsay and the Colts organization. Irsay’s success as a Colts owner is due to Peyton Manning and to no one else except perhaps Bill Polian. And yet each morning I hear Irsay bending over backwards to disconnect from Manning, expressing no joy when hearing he had been cleared to play. I have difficulty understanding how a man can act in such a way towards the one player who brought his franchise, stadium, and profits from the pit of despair.
Peyton deserves sympathy from all of us. This past season proved his worth and value, and yet he will most likely be sporting another jersey next year. While that is the business of football, it doesn’t jive with how a franchise should treat its most valued player.
Bit #1: Tiger’s Shoes
Watching the Pebble Beach Pro-Am this week has brought joy to my heart. The sports world sees the crisp breakers and craggy landscapes of the Northern California coast only once a year. Regrettably, we can’t watch Bill Murray play in a ghillie suit every day. Yet, this week attention diverted to Tiger Woods revitalizing his game, currently sitting four shots from the lead.
One area of Tiger’s game exempt from rejuvenation is his footwear. While healthier for the golf course, Pebble Beach was not made to be walked in sneakers or the sneaker-golf shoe monstrosity on Tiger’s feet. As if I didn’t know about Tiger’s advancing age, he now looks as if he’s going to play tennis with the married couples on Saturday morning (too soon?).
Bit #2: The final plunge of the Big East
This past week the Big East added Memphis as its most recent member. Many in the Big East might be happy until they realize the drudgery that is Memphis Tigers football. Memphis has attended 6 bowls since its first season in 1912, many of those coming behind DeAngelo Williams earlier this decade. Memphis has gone 5-31 in football over the last three seasons. If football drives the recent spate of conference alignment, how does Memphis fit the bill? Certainly the basketball program provides value to the best basketball conference in the country, but why wouldn’t the Big East continue its disgust for geography and add Nevada as football member? The rivalry with Boise State could be continued and their football program has won its conference in the last three years, more than can be said for Memphis.
Bit #3: A very bad week in Waco
After starting the season on a tear, Baylor worked its best impression of a lawn chair this week, folding in two huge games against the class of the Big 12: Kansas and then Missouri. The Bears are now 0-4 against those two teams this season, but averaged 55.5 points this week, 20 points beneath their season’s average. In addition, Baylor’s last three wins have all been by less than 5 points, raising serious doubt about Baylor as it goes into the homestretch. Needless to say, Baylor must regain some confidence this week to feel like they belong in the Big 12 when they clearly don’t.
Bit #4: The most hated hockey player ever
Tonight I watched the Toronto Maple Leafs retire Mats Sundin’s number. My brief appreciation for a great player immediately gave way to disgust when Tie Domi was shown smiling from the stands. As many of you won’t know this, Tie Domi deserves to be reviled by all sports fans. In addition to resembling a beardless Gimli from the Lord of the Rings, Domi epitomized cowardice and peevishness during his career in the NHL. While his fights with Rob Ray remain legendary, Domi showed his true colors when he knocked out Scott Niedermayer in the 2001 playoffs with a deliberate elbow to the head. While I’m sure Toronto fans appreciate him, Domi does not win any points in my heart. (This was more of a rant than a Bit).
Bit # 5: February 11, 1990 – Douglas KO’s Tyson
On this day 22 years ago, Buster Douglas, a 42 to 1 underdog, defeated Mike Tyson in Tokyo . Coming into the fight, Tyson was 37-0 while holding the WBC, WBA, and IBF heavyweight titles, one of the most feared boxers ever. Douglas, a journeyman, entered the fight 22 days after his mother’s death with almost no believers. In the 10th round, Douglas knocked Tyson down for the first time in Tyson’s illustrious career, ending the match. While the fight marked Douglas’ high point, he exposed the first chink in Tyson’s armor in one of the biggest upsets ever.
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