Texan said:
I really want to see Manning and the Colts win it. The guy lives footbal, by all accounts, and I would like to see that kind of life dedication result in a SB win.
Okay, I must devote an entire thread to this one issue/rant. I like Manning too. He seems like the most likeable guy in the world and loves the game of football. For the record, I always thought O.J. Simpson seemed like the nicest guy too.
Still, I have to
HATE the Colts. I have to
HATE all teams that play in a dome. That's not real football. That is not the way the game is meant to be played. The artificial surfaces found in most domes already give the home team some advantage, being able to play on it all the time. More importantly is the increased crowd noise. The homefield advantage should be all about the fans and the natural weather environment. When a crowd is loud and rowdy and distracts the visiting team from its play calls, that is just part of the game. When this effect is magnified by a completely unnecessary roof, it becomes an unfair and unreasonable advantage.
Reports are that the Colts had recorded crowd noise playing over their [words=http://www.mattersofsize.com/join-now.html]
PA[/words] system in the Monday night game against Pittsburgh, in addition to the crowd noise generated by the fans attending that game. That is called
CHEATING your way to a victory. Any team caught doing that (and I'm sure it has been done before) should have to forfeit that game--plain and simple. Yesterday, in Cincinnati, the Steelers had a hard time hearing their signals early in the game, but at least that was just the natural part of playing on the road. No one magnified the impact by putting a roof on the stadium that was completely unnecessary.
Atlanta, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Minnesota, Detroit, and New Orleans: I hate your franchises for making a mockery of the game we all learned to play our in backyards when soaking wet, and I wish nothing but the worst of luck to you all. Houston and Dallas don't get off completely either. Dallas almost has a dome, only allowing a rather small opening. Houston will at least retract the roof at times and at least has real grass to play on.
Okay, I guess you folks know how I feel about domes.